Mafia Puppet

FRANCESCA

I WAS TOO late. My sister’s body lay unconscious on the rich, white marble floors where Father had thrown her down. Blood oozed down her forehead, covering her tan face.

But Father was not done yet. My footsteps echoed in the large house as I ran down the stairs only to be held back by Silvio’s tight grip on my elbow.

“Father, please stop!” I yelled before I could stop myself. Father’s hand stopped in midair before he stood up slowly. My heart froze. I was next. He wasn’t going to spare me anymore.

Silvio’s grip on my arm loosened as Father stalked toward me. “I’m sorry, Father. I’m so sorry. Please,” I begged helplessly.

“How dare you, whore?” he snarled as he raised his hand to smack me.

But it never landed.

“Mr. Lastra, the Don wants Miss Lastra clean.” There was a slight warning in his voice as Silvio stepped in front of me, protecting me from my very own blood.

Father lowered his hand, even though he didn’t like it at all. His glare never left my face as I stood timidly behind the bodyguard.

It wasn’t the first time Father had hit me, but it was the first time he’d done it in front of the Don’s man.

His eyes never left my face as he walked past us. He walked up the stairs. Once he was out of sight, I ran toward my sister.

“We need to take her to the hospital, Silvio!” I cried, cradling Arianna’s head on my lap. I heard him come closer.

“The Don has not permitted you to go out. I’ll send men to take her,” Silvio said as he crouched down beside me.

I immediately shook my head. “No, please. I need to stay with her.”

Silvio didn’t spare me a glance as he picked her up and started moving toward the large glass doors. I ran after him, my shirt spattered with red. I didn’t care. She was more important than my shirt.

He didn’t think I’d follow, so when I slid into the back seat, where he had laid my sister, he glared at me.

“Start the car,” he told the driver. I didn’t think he would come. That soon changed. He sat in the passenger seat and ordered the driver around, highly annoyed and looking like a grumpy kid.

Arianna looked close to death. If not for the small pulse that I could feel on her wrist, I would’ve assumed she was. I couldn’t lose her.

She was the only light in my life of darkness. I couldn’t lose my only hope of love.

I didn’t even realize when we arrived at the hospital. In fact, I didn’t even think we were supposed to be here. What would we tell them if they asked?

***

“Miss Lastra, it would be better if you stayed in the car now,” Silvio spoke once they started the procedure on Arianna. It was a deadly hit to the head.

When they asked, Silvio had lied and told them that she fell down the stairs. That she did, but it wasn’t all that happened. It didn’t exactly matter because the doctor was following the code.

He was with us.

“No, I will stay.” Apparently, I was in full rebel mode. I had never disobeyed anyone as much as I did today.

My tears had dried, and I made no attempt to cry more. It was a sign of weakness to cry, and I certainly wouldn’t want to break all the rules today, especially not in front of everyone.

Silvio stood in front of me, making me glance up. His face was hard and uninviting, but it gave me the comfort that I needed.

In some twisted way, at least I knew that there was someone who wouldn’t leave me. Plus, Silvio had been the only constant thing in my life for years.

“The Don wants you home, so you will go home, Miss Lastra.” I didn’t disobey him this time. It was the Don’s orders.

I didn’t need to see him to know that I’d be punished severely if I argued any further.

“Miss!” someone dared to yell while I followed the bodyguard out. I turned around to find a man running toward me.

He still had boyish features but he didn’t look any younger than me. “You dropped your ten-dollar bill,” he said, handing me something I’d never carry in my nightclothes.

I didn’t know whether my resolve was that good or if he was just blind. Didn’t he realize that this was a hospital where people came to mourn?

He seemed flustered, and not in a sad way. He seemed familiar to me. Then I realized he went to the same university as me.

“It’s not mine,” I brushed him off. I didn’t need Silvio mentioning this to the Don, which I was sure he was going to. I didn’t need a beating for it either.

“Are you sure?” He grabbed my hand out of reflex when I tried to leave before quickly letting it go. “Sor—”

But it was too late. He was already slammed into the wall before I could even blink. “You’re dead, kid. Dead.” Silvio had a snarl to his voice.

I didn’t interrupt. I’d heard the stories and witnessed them firsthand. I didn’t want to add any more fuel to the fire. It would just make things worse.

Getting hit by the Don was much worse than getting a beating from Father. I was not going to be that someone, especially since I’d have to live the rest of my life with him.

So I didn’t interrupt his men. I needed to be good and obedient, just like the Don wanted.

“I’m s-sorry. I didn’t know she had a boyfriend,” the poor boy stuttered. I could see that this caught the attention of a lot of people, but no one dared call the police.

Everyone had a hint of who we were. Silvio was wearing a fitted black shirt with jeans, not to mention his many tattoos.

He looked like a cliche gangster. Who would want to mess with someone like that?

I didn’t know if she was his sister or girlfriend, but some idiot thought it would be helpful to intervene. Even I wasn’t that stupid. This only landed the man another punch in the gut.

“STOP! Help him!” she screamed at me, making me hide my flinch. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she tried to push Silvio off, only to be backhanded by him. I visibly flinched this time.

A gasp of relief left my lips when Silvio let go of the man. He fell to the ground cradling his stomach, with blood sputtering out of his mouth and wetting the white tiles.

I didn’t stop to see his state and quietly followed the buff bodyguard out.

It wasn’t until I sat in the car that I realized how revealing my clothes were. I quickly tried to bring my shorts down a bit.

When that didn’t work, I tried to pull my baggy shirt down. That didn’t work either.

I’m dead, was the only thought running in my head. Dead. Dead. Dead