Chapter 1

Three years later
Anastasia’s pov:

“Ana are you in there?, Can I come in?”,

The voice of Matteo from behind the door draws my attention away from my thoughts and brings me back to reality, A reality I tried to escape countless of times when I was younger, But, at each time, I failed until I finally came to peace with it, I accepted who I am and most importantly the family and the word I both belong to,

Matteo opens the door and steps in my office, “Ana why didn’t you tell me that you were here when I knocked the door for like five times successively?”, He says worry visible on his face,

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t hear anything, “Sorry I didn’t hear when you knocked.”, I say,

“I already checked on you in your room, but you weren’t there, So, I figured out that you would be here.”,

Matteo is one of our soldiers, But, the of us don’t have a relationship like a boss and his employee would have, He is my friend and my confidant, In other words, he is the brother I never had, He always had my back when I needed him,

I had known him since I was eight and he was ten, His father was one of our underbosses, When he died, twenty minutes, Papa took care of him,

In this bloody world, I feel so lucky to have him, He takes care of me, He is the one who reminds me to eat my anxiety pills, He is the one who brings me takeout food when I skip meals, He is even the one who helps me change my bandages when I get myself hurt,

“You didn’t sleep last night, didn’t you?”, He asks, Of course he did notice the purple bags under my eyes, I shake my head to agree with what he just said,

“I spent the entire night studying the incomes of our casinos and bars, I developed a new strategy to improve our profits from the bars and the casinos, I will put it on execution the next month, You can say that It was a long night, a productive one as well.”,

“Is it insomnia again?”, He asks,

“Yeah.”, I reply with a low voice, I have suffered from insomnia for several years now, I blame it on being a part of the mafia, I need to be on alert 24/7, I used to take some sleeping pills before going to bed until I decided to stop using them few months earlier,

Matteo makes a few steps towards my desk and sits on one of the leather chairs, “Look, maybe it is time to get some help, I know a doc-.”,

“No.”, I cut him off immediately not letting him finish his sentence, We already discussed this matter countless of times and my answer didn’t change and it will never change,

“But, you always say this.”, He says frowning at me, I avoid his eyes that are fixed on me, “Why are you here so early?”, I say trying to change the subject much to Matteo’s dislike since he rolls his eyes,

“Trying to change the subject, aren’t you?”, I think he got my answer though my silence,

“Mr, Antonio is expecting you at his office.”, I raise my eyebrows in surprise, “In this time the morning?,Isn’t it early?”, I question, He simply nods,

Papa rarely asks me to meet him this early in the morning, So, this needs to be important and serious,

“Let’s not make him wait then.”, I say as I rise from my chair and leave my desk behind me where are laying tones of papers, I make a mental note to collect them later, Matteo opens the door for me, “Thank you.”, I say offering him a simple smile,

I walk down the corridor where Papa’s office is situated, I knock the door, It is a ritual I am used to do since I was little as Papa cares a lot about etiquette, Hearing him say « come in » from behind the wood door, I turn the knob and enter his office,

He is standing by his window contemplating the outside view, One hand is tucked in his pocket while the other one is bringing a cigarette to his mouth,

My father is one of the best ever existing mafia leaders, He built an immense mafia empire out of nothing, When he got the power from his father, thirty years ago, our mafia family had a bad reputation, We were so weak and other mafias represented a threaten to us, Now, thanks to Papa who worked day and night for many years, we are one of the ten strongest mafias in the world, We have an army composed of thousands of men, we have a lot of allies and we produce one of the best qualities of drugs,

It is impossible not to admire my dad, a man full of strength and power, Growing up he was my idol and my number one example, The most thing I admire about him is that he succeeded in separating his duties as a capo and his role as a father, He was always there for me when I needed him, He made sure that I never feel the absence of my dead mother,

As he turns his head toward me, I say: “Good Morning Papa.”,

“Buenos Dias.”, (Good morning, Spanish),

Papa always made sure to speak to me in Spanish, Our beloved native language, his words not mine,

“Is everything okay Papa?, I thought we had a meeting with our underbosses at 10.”,

“Si yo se, But, I need you for another matter in private.”, (Yes I know, Spanish),

My mom died years ago when I was four years old during an attack caused by the Cosa Nostra, Her and Dad’s love was unconditional, That’s why he chose to not remarry which was a difficult decision to take as a Capo, At first, people talked a lot behind his back, They expected him to marry again in order to produce an heir, I am his only daughter and according to traditions I can’t take the lead over him because I am not a boy, Papa thought that this mentality was so out dated, That’s why he decided that when he retires, or dies before that, I will take over him which will make me the first woman capo in my family,

To stop all the gossip, during my childhood till my teenage years I was trained like a boy, From the age of six, I learned how to fight, how to shoot and how to defend myself, At twelve years old, I had my first kill, And, as they say, the first kill is always the hardest one, The ones that succeeded were much easier,

“I am all ears.”, I say,

“There are news concerning the war with the Nosa Costra.”, I nod , making him carry on “Their Don delivered a message this morning, He wants to make peace with us.”,

Cosa Nostra is the Italian mafia, We have been in war with them for two years now, For years Dad wanted to take revenge from them for the murder of my mother, He saw the best opportunity, when Dante their actual don took over his father, We expected that he would be an easy target and that he would loose easily against us due to his young age, But, we were so wrong, Till this day, he only showed strength against us,

“Peace?, Did Dante really give up?”, I question him,

Knowing Dante through what people said, as I have never seen him in person, he was arrogant, So, taking such a decision is unlike him,

“He wants to make a truce with us, It is the best decision for both sides, This is actually a good opportunity for us, We can’t fight him longer, You know our current situation, Our arms savings are being used day by day, Plus, the Russians are causing us more and more problems.”, Papa explains,

The Russians have forever been the most powerful mafia family in the world, For generations they have been the best, Recently, they have been making trouble for us and for everyone else: stealing shipments, blocking the deals of drugs and kidnapping people, So, I can’t deny the fact that Papa was wright, It doesn’t need a genius to figure out our current difficult situation,

But there is one thing that bothers me, What about my mother’s revenge?, Will we give it up this easily?,

“I totally agree with you, But, won’t we take revenge for mama?”,

Sensing my discomfort, he approaches me and he puts a reassuring hand over my shoulder, Then, he says: “Hija, don’t be upset, This peace is only momentary, We will start war over him when we are well prepared again, Trust me, I won’t rest an eye until I take my revenge from them.”,

His words reassure me a little, I put my hand over his and I offer him a simple smile,

“The problem is how are we going to make peace with the Italians?, This war has been going on for years now, I don’t think that an agreement between the two forces will be reached easily, I assume that we are not going to kneel in front of Dante.”,

“Of course not, we are still one of the most powerful mafia families in the world, By the way, he wants a meeting to discuss this pact of peace, He says that he has a riveting offer to make, As I have business to deal with here you will be the one meeting him.”,

“Me?, Why don’t you send uncle Mario?, He is your consigliere after all.”,

“Oh no, I can’t count on him in this matter, Who know how your uncle is, He is quick tempered and he gets bored so easily, That’s a lot for him to handle.”,

“I can’t do it, I don’t think that I can deal with Dante.”,

“Yes you can, I can’t trust anyone but you with this matter, You are better at negotiating than any other man, I sent you to study international relationships at college for times like these.”,

“Do you say no to your Capo Anastasia?”,

“Of course not, Your word is law.”, I say as I lower my head avoiding any eye contact with Papa,

“That’s what I want to hear from my sweet girl.»”,

“He is expecting you today in a hangar in Mexico, It is a neutral ground, I will send you the localization, You will fly there with Matteo.”,

Today was so early, I needed a plan and an impeccable strategy to deal with Dante, I am in no position to show weakness in front of him especially after all the rumors I heard about him,

I excuse myself and retire to my room, I take a quick shower to erase the tiredness from last night and I wear my Chanel tweed, Chanel is always a good choice for serious meetings, I especially don’t forget to put on my bold red lipstick, The color of blood, The sign of power, danger and fatality, Looking at my reflection on the mirror of my dresser I like what I see,

Always man in the mob when they see me start mocking me and think that I am a mafia princess and the spoiled daughter of the Capo, But, till today, I have proved them wrong, I showed each one of them that what hides under this skin and behind this beautiful face is much more,