GINEVRA
I had never imagined the level of difficulty to be faced with whilst initiating peace after trouble had been stirred up.In the underworld, trouble was easy, but peace and settlement were the most prominent stumbling blocks ever to be faced. That was the reason a lot of families fell out a lot of times and made sure to burn themselves to the ground.There was no room for peace.That was beginning to seem like my case with the Sanchez’s.A meeting that was held and concluded in less than an hour, a meeting that a few words were said, a meeting that held a lot of unforeseen promises, a meeting that was merely two individuals of the same age group stroking each other’s ego—in a bad way.That meeting had resulted into something far worse than the most talked about and feared Armageddon.Days had turned into weeks, weeks into months and yet, the Rodriguez’s and Sanchez’s were yet to find common ground. Both parties at a loss of money, products and lots of lives, and yet, we remained stubborn until it became a battle of Ego.It was no longer a battle with a course. It was no longer a quest for more money or more power. It became the desperate need to prove a point.I and Ghost were desperate to prove a point to one another so much that we were willing to burn the world to the ground.Winning was my endgame. Ghost was after all a common messenger and I was the head of La famiglia.The Rodriguez famiglia. A name not to be toyed with.I couldn’t lose.But I fought that battle, spilled so much blood until I became blood sickened. Of course my inability to take a life by my own hands had set me back. My reputation was ruined and once again, it was proven that all I was was just a pretty face and a sharp mind.I had many times fantasized about the many ways to take a man’s life but always made certain to hold myself back. It wasn’t the lack of courage nor was it fear—I had set my eyes on a goal, I had promised myself that the first blood I would spill would be that of a Rodriguez.The monster in me wanted blood but it had its preference.So, when the war appeared to have no end, I began seeking the face of Luigi Sanchez, the head of the Sanchez famiglia—all to no avail.Just like Ghost had promised, I swallowed my pride and got down on my knees. I crawled and begged for his attention. I gave him what he so desired until he finally came out of the shadows and beckoned to my calls.Ghost, the messenger was in my office and all I had to do was say the right things and all of this troubles would go away.“You have a mask on yet again, why?” Too tensed by his presence, that was the first question I asked on seeing half of his face covered. Again.He raised his brows, staring at me intensely, his eyes glistening with excitement and loathe. “You didn’t leave tons of messages just so you could ask questions about the accessories I chose to adorn myself by, did you?” His voice hoarse as he made a move for the door, intending to storm out.“Let’s stop already.” I immediately called after him, causing him to stop in his tracks.With a scoff, he turned so that he was facing me. “Why?” His question vibrated against his throat and for a few minutes, I fell silent, not having an appropriate answer for his ridiculous question.Wasn’t he tired of the bloodshed?Was he not blood sickened? “Because I want to stop. I’m blood sickened and tired.” I could tell his irritation by the movement of his eyes. And then he began to take short and yet, calculated steps towards me. I mirrored him by taking a step backward with each step he took forward. “You selfish, little bitch.”His fingers curled into a fist, his veins popping out and the look in his eyes that of a man struggling to stay in control.For minutes, I stood silently before him whilst he cursed me out. He called me names that were extremely disgusting, distasteful and disrespectful, yet, I took it silently.I couldn’t understand his anger. Was it because of the reason behind my desire for peace or was the fact that I desired peace?Ghost left me in utter confusion.“It was you and I who sat in this room and made decisions that affected a lot of people. A decision that has taken a lot from my family and yours, and yet, you delude yourself with the idea of wanting to make peace just because you’re tired? People have died! I have lost people of my own and all you did was hide in the shadows whilst others fought your war for you! So cowardly.” He breathed. “If you want peace, go find it on the battle ground.”I froze at his words. He was angry, so angry he didn’t want this to end until I fell and he didn’t care to hide the fact from me.My fear threatened to creep out, my heart pounded so hard against my throat and the inhale and exhale of my breath became a mess.Ghost was crazy and he wanted to drive me out of my mind. He saw me for what I was. He saw me for the scared, little bitch I was and he wanted to use it against me.Letting out a shaky exhale, I made sure to think carefully about the words I had forced out of my mouth.“If we don’t stop, we’ll lose more lives, more money and even the source our money. Nobody wants to associate with trouble and you know this. Our families are able to excel above others in this business because we know how to stay away from trouble. We know how to keep our ego aside and treat business as business. This fight is changing that fact and we’d lose a lot more of don’t get it together.”Ghost had uttered not a single word.A silence so discomforting had stretched out for long minutes until he decided to turn his back on me. He once again made a move for the door. Something had snapped in me but I held it all in. I had to be the bigger person.If I couldn’t use my strength then my wit could suffice.I took deep breaths and began speaking again.“The FBI.” The mention of those cocksuckers had him halting his movement. I continued. “They’re investigating this chaos. They’ve shown interest in this war of ours and it’s only a matter of time before they get hold of information, information that could ruin us all. Tell me, Ghost, your freedom or your Ego?”That was it, my card all laid out on the table, fingers crossed that he took the bait.Ghost stood there by the door, his gaze never shifting from mine and I could tell he was conflicted. To walk back in or to walk away? He was too conflicted to make a decision.It became a hassle, watching his excellent figure by my door and his unnerving eyes on me. I gave him a choice. “I have a shipment coming in tonight, if it crosses over and gets to my warehouse safely, then, I’ll have my answer.”With a single nod, he walked away, disappearing down the hall.I waited for hours until I heard the good news that had my lips stretched out into grin.It must’ve cost me my pride, but at the end, I won. And I had to celebrate my first win after such a long and excruciating time period.. . .“Another glass of scotch please! Neat!” I yelled out as I emptied the content of the glass in my hand into my mouth.Was I tipsy? Yes.Was I going to stop drinking just yet? No.The night was young and I needed to drink my sorrows away. I needed to celebrate my recent win but since I had no friends to hangout with at a normal club, I decided to sit at the boring bar and drink myself into the realm of nothingness.“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” A familiar husky voice rasped from the left of me.My head whipped towards that direction and my words were immediately caught in my throat.It was him.Him. Ghost. The messenger.Without the mask.Were my eyes deceiving me?Was the alcohol getting the best of me?“Have I seen those eyes before?” I breathed, my eyes narrowed into slits and my bottom lip caught between my teeth.A chuckle vibrated out of him. “Perhaps.”“Did you follow me here?”He chuckled. Again. “Maybe.”I fell silent, watching him with curious eyes and taking the liberty to familiarize myself with his features. So peculiar. So immaculate. So exquisite.I had never seen a man as beautiful as Ghost. He was out of this world. His features like a perfectly created art, perhaps a perfectly written poem.There was an edge of darkness to him, and yet, he seemed to shine the brightest in the room. So bright that everyone had their eyes on him. Men and women.My eye dropped to his lips as there parted to entertain the glass been slid between them.The manner at which he sipped his drink, the manner at which he swallowed the liquid and the manner at which his throat bobbed—there were all special.He was special.Too special to be an ordinary messenger.He had a composure of a leader which made me wonder who the man really was. He had to be something. Something more than a mere messenger.“And there I was, imagining how atrocious your face looked for you to have continuously gone through the troubles of shielding it away from the world. Guess I was wrong.”He snorted a laugh, revealing his perfect, pearly dentition. “Did you just call me handsome?” He quirked a questioning brow.A ghostly smile played at my lips. “Maybe.”“Your accent,” he observed, index finger gliding in a circular motion around the tip of the glass cup on the table. “You’re not Italian, are you?”My jaw locked in an instant, my grip on the tumbler in my hand tightening so hard that my knuckles paled. “I’m a Rodriguez.”He tsked. “Not by blood.”“I am a Rodriguez. I was legally adopted.” I retorted.His lips stretched into a smile. “There’s nothing legal about that family and there was nothing legal about your adoption.” He leaned back into his seat, his legs thrown apart in a manspread. “You were auctioned. Say it as it is, Ginevra.”“Adopted.”“Auctioned. You were sold to them, embrace it.”“I was sold to no one.”“You were.”“I was adopted.”“You were bought.”I couldn’t hold back any longer. He was getting a reaction out of me and he smiled through each irritated tick of my jaw and each enraged flex of my fingers.Slamming the butt of the cup against the table, I hissed. “What do you want?”“To help you.”His statement drawed laughter out of my throat. “And you think I need your help?”Leaning his back on the backrest of the cushion, Ghost hummed his response, “I don’t do thoughts, I do beliefs. So, yes, I do believe I can help you.”My interest piqued. “And this thing you believe you could help me with, what might it be? Ghost?”“Power.” He breathed wordlessly. “You crave power. The power that’d give you the freedom you desire. The freedom to destroy Dario Rodriguez and his family.”My eyes widened and Ghost scoffed at my reaction. “Don’t look so startled, Ginevra, you should know by now that digging up information on anyone is the least difficult task to perform in our world.”I nodded in understanding. Still, I was hesitant to accept his offer. There was something fishy about his proposition and I couldn’t allow myself fall into danger because of my unquenchable thirst for power.“You belong with the Sanchez’s,” I had stated as I emptied yet another glass of the burning liquid into my mouth.Ghost nodded in agreement. “A fact that will remain unchanged for an unforeseen period of time.”Another pour of drink found its way down my burning throat.I needed to be drunk, I needed to make this decision without being completely aware of it, I needed to blame my poor decisions on the alcohol when I sobered up, hence, I continued downing glass after glass of scotch and yet, I was still so sober that I began to question the originality of the drink.“Then, why would you want to help me? What do you stand to gain?”“Mental stimulation.” He quickly answered, causing my eyes to narrow at him. “You’re an enemy but a powerless one and there’s no fun indulging with people with no power.” He leaned forward, fingers interlaced and clamped together in between his bent knees, elbows resting above his knees.“I desire to make a powerful enemy out of you and I desire to join hands together with you for the destruction of the Rodriguez name.”“You’re ambitious.” I commented.“I am.” He affirmed.“How do you intend to make me powerful when all you are is just a messenger? You should seek out power for your own self before pinning to seek it out for another.”Excitement danced in his ocean blue orbs. His lips twitching at the corners as he heaved out a sigh, leaning back into the soft leather of the couch. “I am a messenger, and yet, I am so much more.”Of course he was.“And this power, how do you intend to help me get it?”A moment of silence stretched between us. Minutes passed and he still stared at me absentmindedly like he was in deep thought.With a heave of a shaky breath, he rose from his seat as her ran his fingers through his disheveled hair.“The pakhan of Russian Bratva. Viktor Nikolai Advik.”The glass in my hand shattered, my blood trickled down my clothed thigh, my eyes stayed widened and unblinking and I remained unmoving.I was frozen with shock because of the name which was mentioned.Viktor Nikolai Advik.This was about to be my doom.GINEVRA When I was bought and brought to be groomed as a part of Dario Rodriguez’s family, my life had immediately taken a turn for the worst.It was a hassle, growing up in his Godforsaken estate. The house was so beautiful and eye catching on the outside but on the inside, the people who dwelt in it made it a hell hole.Dario Rodriguez’s children loathed me, especially his eldest and only son—Gustavo.The boy detested me so much and wouldn’t hold himself back from physically harming me whenever he had the opportunity to, and whenever he set his eyes upon me.One day, whilst I was being tortured by my brother dearest, the door had swung open and the most beautiful middle aged woman I had ever seen swaggered in with a huge smile.And when he eyes landed on my tiny figure curled up into a ball on the floor, her smile had dropped at the speed of lightening.She came close, held my hand, picked me up and held me to herself. She soothed me. And for the first time since I joined the Rodrig
RICARDO Ariana Viktor Advik was dead.I was to be happy. I was supposed to be extremely happy, ecstatic, elated, grateful—but I wasn’t. Why? Her death was too easy.She wasn’t supposed to die such a peaceful death after wrecking havoc in my own life.She didn’t deserve a simple death.For me, there was always a fine line between hating a person and just not liking them. But when it came to that conniving bitch, Ariana, I hated her with all that I was.I loathed her existence to a point where I began fantasizing her death.She had taken something from me, something of great value, and I couldn’t ever forgive it.God, I desired to be her punisher. I desired to be the one who watched her breathe her last, but I had to be careful.She was the daughter of a man whom I’d never make a mistake of crossing. The Godfather of Russia—Viktor Nikolai Advik.They were only a few people whom I feared, and that dreadful man was on the top of that list. I had to be careful with him no matter what I di
GINEVRA Sometimes, I wondered how many raptures I had missed. I’d sit in my room and hear about all the massacres, the genocides, volcanic eruptions, suicides, homosides, and every natural and unatural causes of death—and I’d ask myself, was it rapture for the victims?Rapture had after all been painted that way in my head—a few would be taken, and those undeserving would be left behind.Why was I always left behind?365 days in a year, millions out of billions of people would cross over to the other side, they’d get their rapture—but me, was I unrapturable? Had I done something wrong? What was it about me that had death spitting me out? I asked these questions because at the end of the day, I desired to be raptured.I wanted to be raptured.Why was I still breathing? The thought had popped into my head as my eyes shot open. The thought popped into my head in between the pain and muscle spasms I felt.Through the strong odor of alcohol swabs. Everything was a little blurry, but I c
GINEVRA My hair in a messy bun, an all black two piece sweat pant and shirt was all I adorned myself by. Today was not an official day, today was the day I would feast on blood, today was the day I was going to let the monster that had relentlessly clawed at my soul have a taste of what it had been yearning for.Today was the day I was going to leave my mark, and gain myself a lasting reputation and respect in both my clan and all of the crime families in Cosa Nostra.In the world of crime, women were almost never taken seriously—young, vibrant women like myself especially. We were bred to become wives and mothers, we were used as tools to initiate peace treaties between rival families.We were regarded as nothing but princesses with pretty faces, nice bodies, and a good pussy.But I wanted nothing to do with that absurd arrangement. I wanted more. I had always desired to be more than a princess.And when I was declared and sworn in as the head of my clan, a lot of Capo’s expressed
GINEVRAFear had erupted deep in my soul.With every click of my heels against the floor, came fear.With every rattle of chains, came fear.With every strained whimper, came fear.I trembled tremendously as I walked through the tunnel-like structure leading into the holding cell where Maxwell was held captive.Cold shivers coursed through my bloodstreams as I had a recollection of about a week ago, when I was in the same situation as Maxwell. I was held hostage by the same man, I was familiar with that evil smirk plastered across his lips, I was familiar with the stench of blood and human feces, I was familiar with the smoke from his burning cigar, I was familiar with those chains, and I was familiar with the fear in Maxwell’s eyes.But I wasn’t familiar with the way my heart almost leaped with joy at the suffering of another.I was unfamiliar with the way my adrenaline pumped.A few hours ago when Maxwell was delivered to the Pakhan during the procession of his daughter’s funeral, t
GINEVRA When I told my father that helping his son escape Don Viktor’s wrath came with a price, he had imagined that price to be money.It was after all what the average human pined after—money.But for me, money was not an issue. Julia left me a shit ton.So, when I had demanded that ownership of the Rodriguez group of companies be passed down to me, it caused a stir of trouble in the Rodriguez home.Gustavo came at me, Sophia Rodriguez—my mamá—came at me, and my eldest sister came at me.Selfish.Insensitive.Greedy.Fool.Wicked.They had all called me names, slapped me across the face even. And all I did was wear a smile. I wore a smile with pride and sat there until their ranting died down.Mio padre knew, he knew there was no way out of the mess his son had caused him. So, when his extremely loud family had the decency to keep their tongue at bay, he simply got the documents ready and his companies were transferred under my name.It took hours, but I waited. I had no issue wait
GINEVRA The day of the hijack.“Padre Nostro, che sei nei cieli, sia santificato il tuo nome.”My shoulders slumped. “Venga il tuo regno, sia fatta la tua volontá.”My knees burnt against the ground as I had been kneeling for too long. “Come in cielo, così in terra.”The metal rosary dug into my palm, drawing blood. “Dacci oggi il nostro pane quotidiano.”I shook. “E rimetti a noi i nostri debiti.”I quaked. “Come noi li rimettiamo ai nostri debitori.”I feared the unforeseen. “E non ci indurre in tentazione.”I murmured to myself. “Ma liberaci dal male.”I begged for redemption—a chance to be saved. A chance to walk away from this unscathed. “Amen.”I rose to my full height, swallowing the lump in my throat, firmly holding on to my last string of courage.Walking out of my room, energy surged through me, adrenaline pumped, I became more resolved—more determined to emerge a winner in my conquest.Seven days had rolled by quicker than I had anticipated, and today, after so many
RICARDO Twelve days before the hijack.I was born with a purpose.During the days of my mother, as related to how the story was told, women were looked down upon.There weren’t allowed to be involved in the business that concerned the men—those businesses included running the family, and bringing honor to their name. Sometimes, because of the strong affiliation to crime, drug trafficking and every other thing that had a connection to criminal activities were also handled by the men. Murder included.But my mother was a woman who was born different. She wanted different. She craved different. She was rebellious, too rebellious to be regarded a woman.Unfortunately for her, her father wasn’t a very flexible man. He needed her disciplined, he needed to tame her. And his idea of taming his daughter was marrying her off to a man she barely knew. My father.Their marriage wasn’t born out of love, but out of a business alliance.My mama’s world had shattered, and she began to desperately se