NERO'S LITTLE WITCH

CHAPTER ONE

[Palermo, Sicily - Hella's Apartment]

Hella's father had one talent that never failed him–leaving his two daughters standing in whatever mess he'd made but nothing prepared Hella for this greater mess.

Hella was eating leftover pasta and her phone had lit up on the kitchen counter. Unknown number. She almost ignored it but somehow she reached for it and flip the screen over.

The picture loaded slowly on her bad wifi connection, pixel by pixel from the top, and by the time the full image settled, Hella's fork was already on the floor.

Amara.

Her little sister was sitting on a concrete floor somewhere, knees pulled to her chest, still wearing the yellow hoodie with the broken zipper she'd been meaning to fix for two months. She wasn't visibly hurt. But her eyes were doing that thing they did when she was terrified and trying not to show it.

A message came under the picture.

★ Your father owes the Vitale family 4.2 million euros. Bring him or bring the money. You have 48 hours. Don't involve the police. You know what family this is.

Hella read it twice, set the phone face down on the counter, then picked it back up and read it again.

She knew what family it was. Everyone in Palermo knew what family it was.

She sat there for six minutes exactly, staring at the wall above the stove.

Then she got up, washed her face, found her jacket on the back of the door, and left the apartment.

[House Of Vitale, Palermo]

Hella arrived at the gate at half past midnight with her hands in her jacket pockets and her inhaler in the right one where she could reach it fast.

She told the guards her name and why she was here. They made a call and then led her to a room.

The room had three people in it.

Fred Vitale was the only one she recognized and another man that was sitting in the far corner of the room. He looked at Hella when she entered and she looked back at him for exactly one second before something told her he wasn't the one she needed to pay attention to.

There was another man standing at the desk with his back half-turned, finishing something on a document in front of him. He capped his pen and turned around fully.

"Sit," he said but Hella refused.

Nero looked at her for a moment longer, then pulled the chair out from the desk himself and sat down.

"Your father," he said. "Where is he."

"I don't know where he is," Hella replied "he left eight months ago. No contact since and I'm here because I want my sister."

"You came with no money and no father," Fred remarked pleasantly from the wall.

Hella kept her expression even. "I barely know the man. But whatever it is, whatever he owes, I'm telling you I will clear it. I'll work, I'll pay, I'll do whatever arrangement you want. I just want Amara back."

Fred laughed like she'd said something funny.

Luciano in the corner said nothing. He was looking at Hella now with those quiet unreadable eyes, and she noticed without meaning to that he hadn't reacted once to anything that had been said in this room.

"Last time," Nero said. "Where is your father."

"I told you the truth," Hella said. "If I knew where he was, I would tell you. He left me with nothing the same as he left you with a missing debt. I have no reason to protect him."

Nero looked at her then he said, "Bring the girl," without raising his voice, and a door to the left opened.

Amara came through it looking small and frightened and deeply relieved all at once, and the sound she made when she saw Hella wasn't quite a word. Hella took one step toward her automatically.

"Tell me where he is and she walks out with you right now."

"I don't know," Hella said again looking at Neroa and Fred lost all patience. He removed his gun from wherever he was keeping it and aimed at one person in particular and clicked.

The bullet hit Amara's chest and Hella felt her heart evaporating.

"Amara! Amaraaaaa!!!!" Hella screamed insanely running across the room and catching Amara in her arms before dropping to her knees.

"Amara, baby look at me, look at me... please" Hella cried touching her pulse. There was no breath and her body was already limp, the bullet hole deep and dark.

Fred lowered his gun looking satisfied with the chaos that just broke lose.

"Beautiful chaos," he moaned disdainfully.

Nero signalled at some of the mob guards by his left, and they began rushing to the center and they carried Amara's lifeless body away.

On their way out, Hella's eyes met Nero's, her tears so bitter in her mouth as their eyes hooked.

She wants to take his soul to hell, she wants to bloody his body.

She wants to.....

Her thoughts were cut when she was forced to stand and then was scurried away to where she don't know.

Hella screamed as they pulled her through a door and down a corridor and shoved her into a small windowless room.

She hit the door once with both fists before slid down against the door.

Then pulled her knees to her chest.

She was still there when the lock turned again.