Men of Mayhem (61 page)

Fabrizio

Eight Years Later

“Papa, one of the boys at school told me and Julius you are a mobster and you kill people. What did he mean?” Vincent asked when we were all seated at the dinner table.

Allegra and I looked at one another in shock. I closed my eyes briefly, trying to restrain myself and not break down. I knew this day would come but not like this. It wasn’t what I wanted for my family and it wasn’t meant to go down this way.

“So you kill people, Papa?” Valentina asked with tears in her eyes. “Is that your real job?”

“No, Valentina! Our friend Mario said Papa only kills them if they deserve to die. Isn’t that right, Papa?” Julius said proudly.

Fuck, I had no idea how to respond or handle this situation. My eyes pleaded with Allegra’s for an answer. By the look on her face, I could tell she was furious.

“Boys, Valentina, let’s finish our food in peace and we can discuss this later.” Allegra waited until the children were in bed to give me a lecture. “This is not good, Fabrizio. Julius was all but praising the fact you kill people. It’s scary for him to think like that.”

“I know,
cara
. At least I don’t drag them along with me like my father used to do with me. I witnessed everything from such a young age. I’m trying to bring them up different to how I was raised. I don’t want their childhood to be tainted with—”

The buzzing of my phone interrupted us. It was Luigi, informing us Allegra’s parents had died. They had been killed.

Allegra

Losing a parent is hard, but losing both at the same time to a vicious double murder was inconceivable, horrific. Not only were they murdered, but slaughtered while sleeping at home.

I wish I’d listened to Fabrizio. He hadn’t wanted me to go to the house, but I was stubborn and demanded to go. Police flooded the house and yellow tape was everywhere.

“Allegra, don’t go upstairs, it’s a crime scene,” I vaguely heard Fabrizio call out to me, but I made my way upstairs and saw my parents’ slain bodies in their bed. The once white sheets were stained with blood and brain matter, numerous bullet holes covering their bodies.

“Get her the fuck out of here!” I heard someone yell from behind me, but I was incoherent as to who it was. I felt strong arms pulling me back and taking me outside.
Fabrizio.

“
Signora
Candetti, I am Detective Francesco Mignone.” I stared at him with tears in my eyes, which were on the verge of overflowing down my face.

“How…what…happened?” I asked him, and he gave me a look of sympathy.

“It looks like a home invasion,
Signora
, probably some young punks looking for money. My team will be going over the crime scene carefully to find any incriminating evidence,” he informed me, but he gave Fabrizio a steely look. “Your husband has many enemies, and your father worked for the Candetti
famiglia
. Therefore, anything is possible.”

“It shouldn’t matter if my father worked for Fabrizio or not, it doesn’t warrant a blood bath death such as this,” I rebutted. “You find the killer who slaughtered my parents and you bring them down.”

“
Si Signora
, as long as your husband keeps his nose out of it, I will do my best to see justice served,” he said, his gaze zooming in on Fabrizio.

Fabrizio didn’t say a word. He only returned Mignone’s stare and grunted as he steered me toward the door. “Allegra, we are leaving so the police can do their job.
Andiamo
.”

Fabrizio

Gio Firone was a father figure to me and to see both my in-laws murdered in such a way had me feeling a sense of great bereavement and animosity. Allegra was experiencing emotional agony and I had no idea how to console her. I barely knew how to control my own emotions, let alone hers.

In bed that night I held her, raining tender kisses all over her face. “I love you, Allegra. I will be here for you, I—”

“Find them,” she blurted out, shocking me. “Find them and kill them,” she repeated.

“What?” I asked, thinking I’d misinterpreted what she’d said. Killing was something she abhorred.

“My children will grow up with no grandparents. I want justice, and I want you to do it. I know you’re probably confused as to why I’m asking this of you, seeing as I’ve never accepted what you do. I see things differently, with a new pair of eyes. Being the wife of a crime boss, I understand it better,” Allegra admitted, but what I saw in her eyes was not acceptance, it was brokenness. Flawed, just like I was.

Allegra

Within days, Fabrizio, Luigi, and Rocco had found the murderers. When Fabrizio returned home from the hit, he sat on the couch silent and subdued. Luckily, the children had gone to bed as his clothes were splattered with blood.

“Tell me what happened.” I kneeled down in front of him and looked into his haunted eyes.

Fabrizio licked his lips and cleared his throat. “The police were correct, it was a bunch of young kids. But when we found them we interrogated them and made them talk. The truth came out. They were sent to kill your parents by Carlo Romero, an enemy of the
famiglia
for years.”

“Did you…”

“Yes,” he whispered. “I killed him too, but he has a grown son and I know he will enact his revenge. If I were anything like my father, I would’ve killed the son too, but I didn’t. Perhaps this is a sign for you to take the children and leave, Allegra,” he said with tears forming in his eyes. “There’s no way of telling how all this will turn out or how much protection I can offer my family anymore.”

“I’m never leaving you, Fabrizio. I made a vow and I will be by your side through the good and the bad. We’ll get through this. Let’s focus on each other tonight and block it all out. Just for one night.”

I planted a soft kiss on his lips and we made love there on the couch. It was the gentlest lovemaking we’d ever shared, almost like it would be our last time together. Nothing else mattered at this point in time. Just us. Our love for one another could endure anything.

Fabrizio

Later in bed, I held Allegra close, wrapping my arms around her waist as we came down from our climax.

“I apologise for asking you to kill them. I shouldn’t have. I’ve only made matters worse,” she muttered into my chest.

“Even if you didn’t ask me, I probably would’ve done it regardless. It’s what I do. It may not be what I want to do for the rest of my life, but I do know I want to spend more time with my family,” I said, hugging her tighter. “I want to see my children grow up happy and live a life better than what I’ve had. I want to grow old with you, Allegra, and I want my children to find what we have.”

“Our love is a love I thought I’d never experience.” My heart skipped a beat at her words.

“No matter what happens, we support each other. You need to promise me if anything were to happen to me I want you to be strong,
per la famiglia
. You will be their rock.”

“Don’t talk like that, Fabrizio,” Allegra scolded. “We will get to grow old together and I won’t ever find another love like ours. There will never be a second chance for me. You are the only man I will ever be with.”

“You and the children have been my saving grace. If and when I die, I want to go knowing you’ve had a lifetime of happiness. My bitter soul was saved the day I met you, Allegra.”

Allegra

Fabrizio kissed me and made love to me again. No other woman could understand him like I could, and no other woman would ever love him like I could. A love full of passion and danger was all I knew and all I could ever want.

“We were always destined to be together, Allegra,” Fabrizio whispered against my temple.

I closed my eyes and snuggled against the man I had been forced to marry because of a family debt.

The danger surrounding me being the wife of the Don was worth every minute because I lived a life with him. Amongst all the pain and all the danger I’ve experienced living my life with Fabrizio, I have no regrets. I love Fabrizio Candetti, the most powerful Don in all of Calabria. I know I may not have the typical family, and I was not betrothed in the usual manner, but this is my life, this is my
famiglia,
and doing the honourable thing had never felt so right.