Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
CELESTE
“Swift as the wind. Quiet as the forest. Conquer like the fire. Steady as the mountain.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War
“Celeste, what the fuck is going on? Tell your goons to untie me right now. I’m not one of your bitches you can do whatever you want with,” Mike snarls, thrashing in his chair.
“Oh, brother. But you are a little bitch. You want to tell me why you have all that cash stashed in your apartment? You really need to think of a better hiding spot than your mattress.” I pull up a chair to sit in front of him, watching the confusion contort on his face.
He had fifty-thousand dollars stashed for god knows what. Clearly, no intentions of putting it back into the business as he claimed. I don’t even have that amount of cash laying around for easy access.
“Why were you in my apartment? The amount of cash I have is not your concern. You’re taking your position too seriously. You think you can replace your father? You’re weak.” Mike shoots insults like I give a fuck what he thinks.
He’s so damn adorable. Like a cute little chipmunk pissed someone stole all their nuts.
“For someone who’s tied up, you sure have a lot to say.
Keep going. I want to hear how you really feel.
You think I’m weak, not fit for the position.
A female who can’t end someone with a snap of the wrist. But while you were shipped off doing petty work, my father trusted me with the ins and outs of the Mafia.
I earned the trust of our allies. I’ve endured more than you can imagine, compared to your sheltered life.
” I lean back in my chair, crossing my leg over my knee.
“You think you have the trust from the Mafia? Princess, they will never accept a female as an ally. I feel sorry for you, truly. You need me as your partner to gain respect. Please, I’m your brother,” he pleads as if I have an ounce of love for him.
Larson joins us in the room, another one of my most trusted guards and friends.
He takes one look at Mike and snickers as he approaches my side.
Other than Antonio, I trust him with my life.
The three of us grew up together training, getting into trouble and learning the ins and outs on how to survive through our world.
His father was my father’s childhood best friend.
Larson and Antonio are the only ones I consider to be my brothers.
Everyone always thought that one of these days I would marry Larson because of how close we are.
We would look at each other and break into a laughing fit.
We have never crossed that line with each other and frankly, we never would.
He hates Mike just as much as I do and I know he’s going to enjoy every bit of this.
“You look rough, Mike. What did you do this time?” Larson teases.
He leans against the wall looking almost bored. Almost. The gleam in his eyes tells me anything but. When we were kids, Mike had snitched on him when Mike caught him sneaking out. Larson received beatings for that and ever since, he’s been waiting for karma to come and bite Mike in the ass.
“I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing here. I haven’t done anything. Celeste, please. You know I wouldn’t do anything stupid. I run the club and I go home,” he begs like a toddler.
“So, you mean to tell me that stealing cash for a mysterious cut wasn’t anything?
Or touching the girls inappropriately, isn’t anything?
I don’t take these accusations lightly. Not only are you stealing from them, but you’re also stealing from me.
You disrespect them, you disrespect me. So tell me stepbrother, are you going to admit to your sins?
I would advise it, if you want to live.” I stare daggers at him, letting him know that this isn’t a game.
Getting up from my seat, Larson hands me a pair of black gloves as Antonio moves to untie Mike from the chair, shoving him over to a metal table.
I’m not going to kill him yet. I’m going to make a statement that I’m not one to be crossed.
He’s lucky he’s technically family or else he would be six feet under.
This is his one and only warning that if he steps out of line again, he’s done for.
“Celeste, please! You can’t do this to me, I’m your brother. Please, I swear I’ll never take money again. I’ll do whatever you say. Celeste!” he wails, trying to break out of his tight grip with tears rolling down his face.
He truly is a sad little man. He thinks he would be an asset to my side, yet he folds so quickly.
Any of my men would take the torture and pain without a single tear, without a single word.
He’s already proven he can’t be trusted and with that I can’t fully execute him when he has a loud mouth of a mother but I can send a warning to them both.
A warning of a sliver of what I could do to them.
I already started with his mother, now with him, I’ll show him pain and what it feels like for something so precious to be yanked from his feet.
“You know, Mike, I should get rid of you for how you talk to me. I should wipe you from existence for your theft and the treatment of the girls. Also, you’re not my brother.
You’re baggage that came along with your god-awful mother.
” Walking over to the table, I pick up a hammer as the boys hold him down and spread his hand upon the surface.
“But, I’m feeling a little generous today. You will never cross me again. This may hurt a little.” I swing the hammer down, connecting with his hand. Bones crack and a scream ricochets off the walls. Those sounds are music to my ears.
Swing.
Crack.
His body shakes uncontrollably as tears and snot run down his face.
Good, he feels pain. He feels a sliver of what it’s like to be out of control, the suffocating pressure building against your chest. His hand is shattered, fingers going in different directions.
Good luck to the doctor who has to fix that mess.
This doesn’t satisfy my thirst for blood.
Ever since I came back, it’s clouded my head as if I'm some sort of monster waiting to get my fill. I push it back painfully, forcing it away from the surface as I need to save it for the real hurdles that I know are to come. I could easily destroy him. But he’s a message to anyone in our inner circle to pick a side, and if you pick the wrong one, things will be a lot worse for them.
The older members aren’t an issue, but the new ones that were brought in under our noses by Mike while I was away are.
“You will step away from the club. You will no longer have access to the money or the girls. You breathe a word of who did this to you, I’ll know. You step over the boundaries again, I’ll end you. Do you understand me?” I lean down so my face is mere inches from his.
“Y-yes, I—I understand.” He slumps onto the floor, holding his hand against his chest as his whole body trembles from the excruciating pain.
“Good. Get him cleaned up.” I pull off my gloves, handing them to Antonio before I disappear from the room with grace.
Gravel kicks up against the vehicle as the tires glide up the driveway. A mansion comes into view with beautiful bushes decorating the front along with long windows letting the light cascade through, bringing life to a once happy home.
A ghost of a man playing out front with his daughter playing ball, laughter filling the air.
A little girl with overalls and pigtails running to chase the man with a wide smile on her face.
He’s the highlight of her life. No worries in the world.
No monsters or danger lurking the shadows.
This is what peace had looked like. These moments were the happiest, purist times before the world came crashing down.
Coming to a stop, closing my eyes, I take a deep breath.
As I open my eyes again, the memory washes away.
Tears trickle down my face. I miss him so much.
I didn’t get to say goodbye. I didn’t have a chance to hold his hand when he took his last breath or fight to find something or someone to help keep him alive.
I wasn’t here. Guilt washes over me like I’m drowning and can’t come to the surface.
If I was able to get out sooner, I could have kept him alive.
Movement catches my eye causing me to wipe away the tears quickly. Opening my door, I’m greeted by my father’s housekeeper. She stayed. She stayed for me. A smile spreads across my face as we embrace in a hug.
“Oh, Celeste. It’s so good to see you. I’ve missed you so much! Welcome home, bella ragazza.” She pulls away, grasping my face in her soft hands.
“Adelina, I’ve missed you too. Please tell me you’re staying? You’re a piece of my father I still have left and a mother to me. I mean I won’t stop you, but it would be my honor.” My chest tightens waiting for her response, not wanting to hear that she’s leaving me, too.
“Oh, you poor girl. I will never leave you. You can’t get rid of this old woman. But a little birdie advised me you’ve stirred up a pot. Bianca is not very happy with you.” She smirks as she turns back towards the house.
“I thought you would be so thrilled you wouldn’t have to deal with that wretched woman anymore. We can have our home back with peace and quiet. Unless you want me to bring her back?” I laugh as we enter the greeting hall.
Entering my old home, the smell of familiarity collides into me.
Peace. This place brings nothing but it and relief rushes through me.
I’ve been avoiding this place like the plague.
Not that this home was full of dread but because there were reminders around every corner of the person she wished was still alive.
“You better take those words back! Remember who will be cooking your meals again. By the way, does this mean you’ll be moving back home? I can get the master ready for you?” Adelina shakes her finger at me.
I never thought of coming back home full time. There was so much going on that I needed to be caught up on but maybe the energy of this place will bring me strength to take the bull by the horns.
“Yes, I’ll be moving back home. I’ll keep my apartment for long nights when I'm not able to drive home. I’ll take my old room, please keep the master the way it is.
I’m not ready to let that piece of him go yet.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready, Adelina.
” I can’t hold back the tears as they again drip down my cheeks.
“He loved you, Celeste. He wasn’t able to speak when he was laying in his bed.
There was no explanation of how he got so sick so fast, how he wasn’t able to move or communicate.
But when he took his last breath, I swore I heard your name before he passed.
He would want you to be strong, fearless, and the woman he raised.
I won’t touch his room. I didn’t let Bianca touch it either when she left.
” She grabs my hand, giving it a squeeze.
I’m speechless, unable to form any words. I just nod with a sad smile. She leaves me to my thoughts and my feet carry me to his office, my office now. The smell of cedar and tobacco fills the room, bringing a sense of calm over me. He’s with me. He will always be with me.
A picture frame sitting on the desk catches my attention and I walk over and pick it up.
It’s a picture of him and my mom with me in their arms. My heart squeezes at the thought that he kept this picture with him even after he had remarried.
No one would ever replace my mother. Hell, he even made Bianca sleep in a different room and only took her in hers.
She always hated that she couldn’t step foot in his room.
Like he was keeping a secret from her. But really, he was protecting the only peace he had.
My mother died from cancer. We never saw it coming as she looked so healthy and so happy.
One day she woke up feeling extremely sick, not able to move out of bed even to relieve herself.
We had taken her to the best doctors, flew doctors to our home.
Radiation and chemo made her weaker and she’d decided she didn’t want to do it anymore.
She wanted to rest, and live out her last final days with her family.
My father had to leave due to a matter that he had to handle.
I promised I would watch over her and I did.
We snuggled in bed watching a movie when her breath started to get shallow.
I looked up at her, catching her eyes full of tears.
She knew it was her time. She told me to never leave dad’s side.
To be a strong princess. She’d told me she loved me before her body relaxed and her chest heaved one last time.
Now both of my parents are gone and I’ve never felt so alone. Cancer took my mother but what bothers me most, is this mysterious illness took my father too. When I left for Rome to fulfill an agreement, he was perfectly fine. Time left me when I was there and took me away from him.
I sit in his chair taking his lead. It all hits me now.
I’ll run his empire and I’ll make him damn proud.
He raised a strong woman and no matter the amount of enemies that may be thrown my way, I’ll stand tall and show them the reason my father left me in charge.
Why I can be effective and destructive if need be.
He always believed that one day I would take over when he retired and guide me.
Now he’s a ghost but I feel phantom whispers of guidance. I will not break.