1 - Alessia
I walk through the ever-rotating door of this godforsaken hospital I call home for about forty hours a week. It’s scent is familiar and I greet Greta who sits at the reception with a smile that doesn’t reach my eyes. Today I’m not here to work, I came to visit my father.
Elio walks a few steps behind me, always watching and assessing the space around me. That’s the burden of being a Mafia Princess, you never have a moment alone.
To feel.
To cry.
To just be.
I walk to the elevators and the doors slide open. A bed is rushed past me, probably to the OR by the looks of the heart monitor that’s hanging of the bed. I step into the elevator and push the button for the third floor where my father is lying in a bed. Hooked to one of those heart monitors.
It’s kind of symbolic, one of the great mafia leaders is dying because the cancer that infected his lungs has reached his rotten heart.
At least his sick body now matches his wicked personality.
My father was one of the most feared men in the mafia world, and even from his deathbed he still is.
The body count of that man is endless. He says he stopped counting when he reached three hundred and fifty bodies.
That was forty years ago. Now at the age of sixty-five, his own body is going to be added to that list in a matter of weeks or maybe even days.
Killed by something he can’t stop, alter or fix.
I walk through the hall to the last door on the right. Of course the bastard had to pull some strings to get a corner room. I stop and inhale a deep breath.
“You good Ma’am?” Elio asks behind me.
I turn around. “Yeah, never better.” I say with the sarcasm dripping off my tone.
“I know you don’t want to be here, but it will be over soon.” He says.
“I know, but then I need to step up and take his place. Even though he thinks I’m ready, I don’t know if I can do it. I work here , in this place, to help people and when I leave this building, I need to do the things that put people in the basement of this same building.”
Elio looks at me, his dark-brown eyes look at me with so much care and worry.
“Stop looking at me like that!”
“Like what? Like I care? Like I want to protect you? It’s my job Alessia, of course I care.”
I let out a deep breath.
“Never mind, let’s get this over with. ”
I push open the grey door and walk into my father’s room.
The scent of my father’s cologne fills my nose.
Even though I hate the man with every fiber of my being that scent reminds me of home.
The time when my mother was still alive, and we were happy.
Happy and on top of the world. Just the three of us.
“Ah Alessia there you are.” My father’s voice sounds weak, nothing left of that powerful man people fear. Outside this room the mafia world still thinks he’s on top of his game, only the people closest to me and my father know the real story.
“Hi Leo, how are you today?” I walk over to his bed and put a soft kiss on his head.
“As well as I can be hooked to all these machines and dying.” He says with irritation.
“How’s it at work?”
“Good, I got to assist in the OR yesterday so that was awesome!” I say, eyes sparkling.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it Alessia.” his voice stern.
“Oh… Yeah… OUR business is doing great. Elio has been helping me make arrangements for my coronation. So that’s all set. And the latest shipments from Italy ran like a well-oiled machine. And I’m meeting the buyer tomorrow morning to handle the paperwork.”
He just nods.
“And how about your wedding? Any improvements on finding a husband? ”
Tears sting in my eyes. He knows I will never marry a man, but he just will not accept it.
I know I need to get married within the first year of being a Donna, but I’ve never been attracted to men.
I came out to my father and stepmom when I was in high school but he’s an old stubborn Italian man,. He’ll never accept it.
“Yes father, Elio and I talked to a few potential husbands and narrowed the list to the last three possibilities. I’m seeing the first one for lunch tomorrow after I deal with the shipments buyer.”
“Good, good…” He coughs through the words, and I see the blood coating his lips.
A part of me wishes he didn’t have to die, that he could stay the Los Angeles Don and I didn’t have to take his place.
The other part of me can’t wait to get rid of him.
To finally live my life the way I want to, with the girl I want, with the business I want to lead.
If the old man knew how I wanted to change his business, he would personally cure cancer.
“I have to go to now, my shift starts in thirty minutes.”
“When are you going to quit this sham of a job? This is not where you’re needed, and you know it.” His voice is laced with disdain for what I’m passionate about.
“Soon, father…” With that I place another kiss on his head and leave him with his beeping machines.
As soon as the door behind me closes I let out a breath that I’ve apparently been holding this entire time.
I straighten my back and lift my head. Time to put on my big girl pants and get to work.
Unlike what my father thinks I still have an hour before my shift, so I put in my earbuds and decided to take this time to go up to the roof of the hospital.
It’s the only place in this city where I can just unwind and let the breeze take all my worries away.
“Elio?”
“Yes Ma’am?”
“I’m going up to the roof. Can you give me thirty minutes? After that you can come and get me. Please check in with the others about any developments and report back to me then.”
“Yes, of course Ma’am!”
I walk to the stairs and start the four floors walk up to the roof.
I scan my badge and open the steel door at the top of the stairs.
The warm LA wind envelops me, and I feel like I can breathe again.
I scan the roof and my heart stops. What!
This is my sanctuary, who the hell is that and why the fuck is she up here!
I walk over to the edge of the roof where a girl with blond hair is sitting, her hair is intricately braided into a bun on the back of her head.
Her crimson scrubs ripple with the wind that blows across the rooftop.
“Who are you and what are you doing here!” I say to her.
She lets out a yelp and turns to face me. Holy fuck, she’s been crying. Her dark brown eyes are red rimmed, and the evidence of tears lines her face.
“What the hell, bitch! Don’t you know you shouldn’t scare someone on the edge of a roof? You want to have my death on your conscious? ”
“You didn’t fall now, did you?” The corner of my mouth creeps up into a smirk.
She looks at me, those tears now nowhere to be seen and replaced with a fire that makes those gorgeous eyes burn right through me.
“No, I didn’t. But I could have! I’m Harper and I came up here to clear my head. Probably the same thing you were going to do up here.”
She’s got me there.
“And who might my potential killer be?” She pulls her notepad and pen from her scrubs and raises her brow, waiting for me to answer. “Just in case I die, I want somebody to find your name, so they know who to talk to first.”
I let out a laugh. Her eyes started to sparkle again. She’s feisty and I’m here for it.
I put out my hand, “I’m Alessia. Sorry I scared you. I wasn’t expecting anyone up here. Usually, I’m the only one here so you caught me off guard.”
“And your last name?”
“DiSantis…” The name leaves my lips before I can do anything to stop it. I never tell people my last name. Why did I tell her?
“Alessia DiSanti…” Her voice trails off while writing down my name. She clicks her pen and puts it and her notepad back in her scrubs.
“Nice to meet you. Next time try not to kill me please.” She stands and places her hand in mine. It’s so soft and my stomach flips with this single touch .
I focus on her eyes. “Hi Harper, nice to meet you. I’ll try not to kill you.”
Fuck she’s gorgeous. Her slender neck, athletic but curvy body and her full tits strain against her scrubs. She doesn’t smell like death and hospital, instead her rose and jasmine perfume fills my senses.
“What happened that you needed to come up here?” I ask.
She sighs and looks at some distant point behind me.
“I lost a kid today. He came in trough the ER yesterday, hit by a car. I thought he was out of the woods when all of a sudden, his organs started to shut down an hour ago. I couldn’t do shit to help him.” Tears fill her eyes.
“How old was he?”
“Seven, he was so sad about his bike being totaled.”
I can’t help myself, but I step closer and pull her into me. I hold her tightly, her body flush against mine, her perfume enveloping us both. Her shoulders start to shake, and I feel her tears starting to leak through my shirt onto my skin.
“Shhh… It happens, you know that. These kinds of deaths hit hard.”
She looks up through her lashes, a small smile on her lips. I could get lost in those eyes.
I hold back the urge to kiss her on the head. That would be so inappropriate right now. I mentally slap myself in the face. Get a grip . You just met her!
“Thank you”, she whispers, “I needed that more than I thought. ”
I smile back at her, “Don’t mention it, us nurses have to stick together, don’t we?”
Behind me I hear the steel roof door open. That’s my cue, I guess. Elio scratches his throat. I scan Harpers face one last time before I let her go.
“I need to go. My shift starts in fifteen minutes.”
Harper looks to Elio and raises a brow. “You have someone who comes to get you before work?”
“That’s a story for a different rooftop meeting, okay?” I say with a chuckle. “Bye Harper, I’ll see you around.”
With a small wave she says goodbye and I turn around and walk to Elio. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing much boss, everything’s in place for your breakfast and lunch meetings tomorrow, Italy just gave word of another shipment that’s loaded up today.” He opens the door for me.
“Good, you can go back to the house, pick me up at four, and please let Carmen make that delicious mushroom risotto for dinner tonight. I’m craving carbs and a chick flick tonight. And could you please pick up a tub of that white chocolate ice cream from that little shop on Vicente Terrace?”
Elio laughs and nods.
“Great, I’ll see you at four. Text me if anything urgent comes up or send Vinnie. I want you to oversee things at the house.”
“Yes Ma’am, I’ll let Vinnie know he’s on stand-by. ”
I pull my hair into a ponytail and throw a grin his way. “Well, off we go! See you later.” I hurry to the dressing room, ready to start feeling normal again.