By Antonella Santinelle

“Ouch... Ouch... Stop it Antonella.”

My brother grumbled through tears, like a broody chicken, but I enjoyed every hair I pulled out of his chest using only tweezers. Who did that bastard think he was, to hang me like that?

“Aren't you clever? Then find a way to get out of my hands, because if it's up to me you're not leaving this room until I pull the last hair out of even your..."

“WHAT?” He didn't even let me finish my sentence. “HELP ME...”

I was amused to see Dante's cold sweat dripping down his face, after all, he and I knew he would never get out of there, his hands and legs were tied to the bed, I had tied him up myself while he slept.

“Why the hell did you get me into such trouble, Dante Santinelle?”

“What's going on here?” My mother opened the bedroom door in terror, but when she saw the scene, I wasn't sure whether she was holding back her laughter or trying hard to look shocked.

“By God, mamma. Antonella wants to kill me with this thing she calls a female accessory.”

Mamma sighed, but before she could intervene in the situation, daddy came up behind his wife.

“What the hell is going on?”

“Your daughter has learned foolproof techniques for torturing a thirty-three year old grown man.”

Daddy shifted his gaze from my hands to Dante's face.

“By God... I can't believe you're crying like a little woman over this, Dante. Shame on you!”

“Why don't you try being in my shoes, then?” You have to be really terrified for Dante to defy our father like that. “Con questa cosa hurts more than a blade cutting into his flesh, Papa.”

Papa rolled his eyes, visibly displeased with the desperation of the man son he was so proud of.

“Antonella, put down that highly dangerous weapon, and untie your brother. You have half an hour to meet us downstairs. We need to talk before our guests arrive.”

I knew who these guests were and remembering this only fueled my anger toward Dante even more, but I also knew that it wouldn't be smart to question my father, at least not at that moment.

“Si, daddy.”

Shortly after

“I told you I'm not marrying any unhappy man.” I shouted as I paced back and forth.

“Now, don't be spoiled. I did this not only to save your future, but also to avoid losing you. Besides, I knew that Luigi could come out of that place hurt if someone didn't help him. I just put the good and the bad together.”

Dante's explanation made me shudder even more with anger.

“Fuck me! And what Cazzo are you talking about? My future has never been threatened, dammit.”

Dantes took a deep breath, and soon I saw his expression turn sad. Just like me, our parents were also waiting for an answer from my brother.

“After Alessandro became obsessed with the idea of asking Babbo for his son's permission to court you, I overheard you talking on the phone with cousin Rita. I know that you were prepared to run away if our father allowed the boy's visits.” This time it was my turn to be scared.

“Oh, holy God.” Mom covered her mouth with her hands, unable to hide her horror.

“I also know why. You have too free a soul to allow yourself to follow mafia traditions or impositions.”

“Did you intend to run away?”

Of all the things Dante had said, that part seemed to be the only one that had remained engraved in the memory of my father, who by now seemed enraged, but fuck it! I did intend to run away, in case he decided that it would be a great idea to imprison me to a man in exchange for business. Please, who in the 21st century accepts to be a bargaining chip? By the way, who nowadays marries without love? That completely outdated tradition was one of the many things that annoyed me about the mafia world I was born into.

“Yes, I did! In fact, it's not a completely out of the question idea if you take this marriage thing further.” I told my father without fearing his reaction. “We don't live in Grandpa's time and I won't allow myself to be treated as a bargaining chip, Dad.”

I stared him in the face as he stared at me. His hard expression gave me chills, but I didn't let him see it. If there was one thing I had learned in that criminal world, it was that our adversary took advantage of our weaknesses, so we needed to be impassive at all times to gain time to study the possibilities of the situation around us.

Hours later

“Forgive me sister, but at the time I just thought how much I didn't want to lose you.” I could feel the sincerity in Dante's words. “It may sound selfish, but in that instant I saw a solution to continue having your presence in our lives.”

“You men tend to think with your heads down, so only shit comes out as thoughts.”

“Antonella, mind your manners.” My mother scolded, but I shrugged, but at that moment a female voice sounded in the room.

“Wow, we've come at a great time. I must say that I already love her. Marriage approved!” Cazzo, another crazy woman to annoy me. “Giovanna Salvatore, your future sister-in-law, after all, I am like Luigi's legitimate sister.”

I looked at the blue-eyed girl who was visibly excited. Beside her were two twins just as excited, but it was the dark-haired man with black hair and an unreadable face who caught my attention. Just like on the day of the mass, at this moment he showed no emotion, but seemed to study me thoroughly, which bothered me immediately. Who does he think he is?

“Antonella Santinelle.” I shook the hand that Giovanna had extended to me. “But I am sorry to disappoint you by saying that I have no fiancé, so I have no sister-in-law or brothers-in-law either.”

I saw the man next to Giovanna narrow his eyes. ÔThe petulant cur... Handsome, I admit, but what he had of beauty he also had of petulance.

“Don't worry, Miss Santinelle.” The man's hoarse voice surprised me. He took a step forward, standing a few inches away from where I was standing. “As you can see, I am as excited to take you as my wife as you are. By the way...” Without letting me think, just as he did in the church, the man took my hand and boldly brought it to his thick lips. “It's a pleasure to see you again.”

It was my turn to narrow my eyes; I knew he was teasing me. Probably Luigi was one of those who thought he was the indispensable hunk, but guess what, I cared little for the title of capo do Norte that now belonged to him.

We stood there staring at each other, he with that look of superiority that irritated me so much, and I probably couldn't hide the murderous look I had. The atmosphere was heavy between the two of us, but some were clearly enjoying the situation. While an excited Giovanna clapped her hands, one of the twins next to her looked as euphoric as if he were facing a soccer match of his favorite team.

“This should be interesting.” The mustachioed twin said with an evil laugh at the corner of his mouth.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll retire.”

I watched Antonella walk away like a whimsical child. Being followed by his mother and Giovanna, I did not know well what they talked about, but by the euphoria, I had no doubt that it would be about the preparations for the wedding, which obviously was not leaving my bride any little happy, but still I was finding it very funny your way as a troublemaker girl.

“Well, now let’s talk about something that interests me.” Capo Giuseppe settled back into his brown leather armchair.

“And what would it be?” I wanted to know curious.

“Apparently for a considerable time we will be seen as a family, that is, we cannot behave like rivals in search of territories and goods.”

“I thought that had been settled for years.”

“But the agreement I made with his father was that each one should command his own side.”

“Which will not change.” Matteo stepped up.

“Need to change, kid. Or at least that’s what we need to make them believe has changed. In our world, which family isolates itself from each other?” I understood exactly what he said, after all, distancing in business would cause strangeness to other members. “I’m not proposing to run each other’s businesses, Luigi. In the meantime, why act alone if together we can be stronger? My father and his grandfather hated each other, but me and Enzo...” Giuseppe seemed nostalgic.

“You and my father?” I encouraged the elder to continue

“Well, what I mean is that now the times are different and apparently Santinelle and Salvatore are now one. There will be no south or north side, we will be just Italy.”

“My father is right.” Dante was serious as few times I saw him so. “If we are targets, to hit us you will also be targets, or vice versa. Which also means that we want to help you stop the attacks you’ve been suffering.”

“If you as children allow us, of course, we will investigate the death of your parents.”

“In exchange for what?” Paolo seemed annoyed.

“Who assures us that we can trust you?” It was Matteo’s turn to confront the two Santinelle.

“My daughter will be living with you. Become a Salvatore! Fighting to ensure her life intact seems little?” The elder responded by facing the twins. “I don’t want anything from you, but my son took us to take this fight to us when he offered Antonella’s hand to the heir, so I can’t back down now. Not when she’ll say yes to her sister.”

“Trusting us seems to be the only way out for you, who over the past few months seem to be collecting enemies like you’ve never collected before.” Dante confronted Matteo about it.

When my grandfather died, Dad decided to undo all the alliances that the Salvatore had, it was his decision to choose what he did from that moment when power was in his hands and he did it taking into account what he thought the moment required. Now it was my turn to do the same, and given the circumstances that we were going through, one thing I had no doubt... Fighting alone against someone I didn’t even know was suicide.

“We will be one.” I reached out to Giuseppe who let a satisfied smile appear on his lips.

“Like a real family, Luigi.” The man firmly shook my hand. “Finally the Italian mafia will be truly unified as it should have always been.”

When in life could I imagine that by choice of mine, my family would be united the family of my grandfathers' worst enemy? Probably their bones would be turning in the grave right now, but what could I do? Yes, I could turn to my Aunt Kenya, who now ran what was left of the Russian mafia, but if when she lived, not even my mother trusted her family, why would I? Something in my heart said that it was with the Santinelles that I should be.

By Luigi Salvatore

“Luigi, that was the last one.”

Guido said as he went through the list with the names of the men who were on duty the day the farm was set on fire. I decided to follow the advice of my future father-in-law and as hard as it was to consider the idea, we had come to the conclusion that we would start looking for answers at home, after all, some pieces were not fitting right in everything that was happening.

“Well, at least of those who appeared.” He said again almost in a whisper.

“Of those who appeared?” I answered coldly.

“Apart from those who died in the attack, we noticed the absence of two more security guards, brother.”

Matteo said cautiously as he exchanged glances with Guido. I hated it when the men around me seemed to fear saying things to me, so they decided it was a great idea to tell me the shredded details.

“Dead?”

“Alive!” Matteo answered bluntly.

“Really, Matteo? And why the hell am I only knowing about it now?”

“Well, we... you were just too tired.”

“We thought it might be better to rest, Luigi.” Guido interfered. “Since the death of your parents, you do not do this. Maybe that’s the explanation why so much is happening and you can’t handle it. Your mind is overloaded, Luigi.”

I knew that was true, but I hated that people made decisions about my life when it was up to me. However, what bothered me most was feeling the weight of Guido’s words. Was my own family holding me accountable for everything that was happening? Maybe so, since I as the new boss had a responsibility to make things work.

For a moment, letting anger take over me, I found myself holding Guido by the collar of the black leather jacket that covered his body. Her suddenly frightened look wasn’t enough to bring me back to my senses, not when a world collapsed on my ceiling.

“Are you blaming me for the misfortunes that have happened, Guido?”

“That’s not what I meant. Just that with a clear mind you could think better about it.”

Although I spoke calmly, I realized he was nervous.

“Luigi...” Before Tony even approached, I had already removed my dagger from the waistband.

“Do not dare to interfere.” I turned my gaze to Guido. “Do you want to know what I think? Well... If your fucking amateurism hadn’t been so strangely hot lately, we wouldn’t be going through this shit. Tell me Guido, you as my trusted man, my advisor, my friend... Where were you when you entered the farm? And you Matteo? Aren’t you and Paolo in charge of the security team? Well, why don’t you explain to me what the hell is going on with your team?”

Giovanna arrived accompanied by my other brother.

“Oops, we arrived at show time.” My cousin said sarcastically, but she was clearly tense, as Guido and I dueled in a cold, silent gaze.

“Luigi, release him.” Paolo risked asking patiently. “He is your best friend. Your trusted man, and certainly you do not want to hurt him.”

Still pondering what to do and confused by my sudden reaction against the one I trusted most, I did what Paolo asked... I pushed Guido who fell under the leather armchair and kept my dagger.

“What’s going on here?” Giovanna ran her eyes around the place hoping one of us would answer.

“It is happening that by the mistakes you make the weight falls only on my back, but this party will end.” I punched the table leaving them scared. “Now I am in charge, the orders are mine, I told them and you obey. As much as I love them with all my being, I will not tolerate any more mistakes here. Just as I will not allow you to make decisions for me.”

“That means what exactly?” Paolo wanted to know.

“We are going to have changes. Uncle Dario is traveling to take care of the vineyard’s finances and for now, it will be up to him only that. Tony and Paolo, from now on you will be responsible only for the goods. If any of them are intercepted, I swear I will make them pay without remembering that they are my brothers.” My brothers exchanged frightened looks, after all I had never been so rude to both. “Guido...” The same looked at me calmly. I liked it in him, he did not let himself be shaken easily. “His team is infected. We can not continue to trust these men. Let’s reformulate it!”

“They’re my best men, Luigi. Besides, how am I supposed to command a new troop if we don’t have a place to get them? Since your father broke the alliances, our terms have become limited.”

“Don’t worry about it. I know where to get them, and you’re coming with me.”

“Where?”

He smiles at the memory of Antonella, who with only one meeting, had already made it clear that she was a sneaky pest. You’d give me a job when you were my wife. For now I had fun with all her rebelliousness, and if my plan went as expected, in a few minutes I would see her again, and of course, I would not miss the chance to annoy her a little more.

“Well, as my worthy bride says, if we have lemons, we’ll make lemonade. For something this marriage has to serve me, so let’s go to my future father-in-law’s house for help.”

“So cute, he is already learning new things with the bride.” Paolo mocked, but my look soon made him stop. “Sorry!”

“And me?” Giovanna seemed anxious.

“You?” He laughs. “He will do what he knows best.”

“Kill?” Like me, Giovanna also smiled with mockery.

“Find the traitors and have fun, but bring them to me.”

“You can leave it to me.”

If there was one person I trusted with the search tasks, it was Giovanna. My cousin was smart, knew how to plan her ambushes well and never failed.

By Luigi Salvatore

Some time later

I particularly did not have the patience to deal with that kind of work. The choices for security were always damned by intense demonstrations of skills, in other words, all needed to demonstrate being able to fight body, as well as psychological.

After talking to my future father-in-law about the need to completely change the security of my team, and receiving his permission to choose the best men from his own team to come to serve me, I went personally with Guido and my future brother-in-law, the academy of the Santinelles.

I don’t know how long we’ve been there, but from the sweat that was running down the body of that gang of men fighting each other at the Santinelles' private academy, I could tell we’d been gone for hours. Unlike Dante and Guido who seemed excited about the choices, I felt bored.

I decided to leave a little out of the environment in search of fresh air, but when I arrived at the outdoor area I felt something collide with me without having the slightest effort to get me to the ground. The blow made my spine hurt like hell, which only got worse with the weight on my body.

“Don’t look where you’re going?” Antonella would remove the hot blonde strands from her face, while already demonstrating how angry she was.

“As far as I know, you’re the one who bumped into me.”

I noticed that her green eyes, showed surprise when she heard my voice.

“But what the hell are you doing in my house, you devil’s groom?”

“You know the bride is you, don’t you? Soon...”

“Are you calling me a devil?” She narrowed her eyes and I for a moment endeavored not to laugh at her temper.

“Me? But who said that was you.”

I only realized that until that moment the blonde was still over my body, when she got up snorting irritated.

“I hate you!”

“Believe me, the reciprocal is true. I personally never had the vocation to put up with spoiled and untamed patricinha.” I dusted my pants not caring about helping her up.

“This is simple to solve, baby. Give up the marriage and die. Believe me... You’ll be doing us both a favor.”

Antonella spit the words with contempt stamped on her voice, which in fact did not surprise me, since I knew she was hating the fact of marrying me.

She was gonna walk right past me, but I didn’t allow... I held firm the arms of the blonde without the slightest worry of being or not hurting her, but by the expression of hatred reflected in her face, I was sure she could feel everything at that time, less pain.

“If you hate the idea of this marriage so much, then why don’t you just give up?”

“LET ME FUCKING.” Antonella raved without worrying about answering my question.

“Rebel... I confess that it would be interesting our coexistence, if you were not such an annoying woman.” I provoked a little more his fury.

“Unlike you, who is just an idiot who does not arouse the slightest interest in me.”

I smiled at the debauchery of the other, because in spite of everything, I could have sworn that for a moment I saw Antonella with shivering arms when I pressed her body a little more against mine.

“Do you think it awakens something in me? Girl, you ain’t nothing but my life insurance, but you bet your ass when all this shit blows over, I’ll personally give you back to your father.”

“YOUR ASS FROM HELL, I AM NOT A DEFECTIVE COMMODITY TO BE RETURNED.”

At that point, Antonella was already punching my shoulders.

“I didn’t ask to marry you. It was your brother’s idea.”

“Then marry him, you bastard.”

“Why are you so angry, huh? Weren’t you the one who said you didn’t want this wedding?” I pressed Antonella’s arm even tighter, standing inches away from his face.

“And I really don’t want to! I will leave this marriage at the first opportunity I have, but it will happen when I want, baby. I’m not gonna let people think I got kicked.”

“But you want them to think you kicked me out?” Antonella’s will to choke.

“I don’t care about you, Luigi Salvatore. You’re kind of cute, but you’re just an unscrupulous mobster who thinks he’s the king of the universe.”

It wasn’t just Antonella’s cheekiness that annoyed me, but her wretched mania to leave me speechless. What the hell kind of woman was that?

I got a little closer to Antonella without looking away from her. For a moment I could have sworn that the cheeky woman gave way to a frightened little girl, probably because my eyes were frozen, but little did she know that inside my heart burned like fire. Antonella’s boldness was annoying, that’s true, but it also aroused things I didn’t know how to describe.

“So that’s what you think of me, Antonella?” With my thumb I caressed the face of rigid features. Antonella was scared, she did not wait for that reaction of mine. “I’m just a cute man?”

I whispered in his ear and it was impossible not to smell his hair invade my senses. I smiled when I realized that Antonella’s skin was goosebumps, the crest was no longer the same and I was certainly finding its weak point. Score one for me!

“But you know what?” I slid my lips gently down the curve of your jaw. “I don’t know if I believe you. Maybe you’re just really curious to find out who the real man is who will take you in his arms as his wife right after our marriage.” I touched my hand and my fingers began to slide gently down the arm of a paralyzed Antonella.

“You... you wouldn’t dare.” For the first time I saw Antonella’s voice fail. “We have a deal. You can’t touch me.”

“You don’t think so? I’m not cruel?” I whispered in your ear again. “Unscrupulous? I wouldn’t worry about anything, would I? You will be my wife and you must behave like one.”

“Dare and I swear I’ll shoot you in the forehead.”

Despite the threat, Antonella remained goosebumps, so I brought my lips closer to hers, but did not touch them.

“Although your body makes it clear to me that I would not find the slightest resistance if I claimed you, you can be sure that I will not touch you.” I saw the green eyes darken. “You awaken me nothing but fun.”

I moved away from Antonella with the intention of going back to the academy, but it was not possible, because without at least leaving me time to reason, she had already trapped me against the wall of the place. His leg climbed up the side of my thigh to reach my waist. Unexpected attitude, I confess.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Antonella’s hands held my wrists at the height of my head and her lips were not shy to reach my ear. Cazzo! Her breathing close to my neck was enough to make my body shiver.

“What’s the matter, Luigi? Feeling uncomfortable?” She whispered and I could swear that I felt the tip of Antonella’s tongue, in the lobe of my ear. “Tsc, Tsc... So tough, but now nothing looks like a sneaky wound.”

“You wretch...” I hissed, but my voice was cut off. Frustrated, better said.

“I am! Actually, I’m no good to Luigi, and believe me, you don’t want to play this game, because if you want, know that I can play as much as you can.”

I shuddered when Antonella left a kiss in the corner of my mouth and left without even looking back. Devil of a woman!