Page 10 of Runaway in the Mafia
The chatter stopped. Her eyes went twice their size on her face, like she couldn’t believe I’d said that. I couldn’t believe I’d said that. Yes. Women didn’t work in theCosa Nostra. But she wasn’t in it, so why would I care? Repeat after me.Ward. Ward. Ward.
“I don’t know…” she mused, “Probably the same reason women wanted to vote? So we actually used our brains instead of pretending we didn’t have one so men could feel superior?”
Well fuck me.
Next to her, Lia turned red, and Lara looked like she might choke to death. Sergio actually choked, trying to hide his laugh.
Talking back wasn’t something she was used to doing. I could tell by the way her fingertips clutched nervously at the locket around her neck. She had balls for even trying. I’d give her that. Unlike the girls in theCosa Nostra, who were too scared to even think with a made man in the room. Rightly so, too. A lesson she should learn. Sooner rather than later.
Words fell out of my mouth. A threat clear in their tone.“Disrespect me one more time and I’ll show you what your brains can be used for.” Lia’s face lost all shades of colour. I ignored it. “And it won’t be for fucking working.”Too much?But since I’d started anyway, “And girls in this family don’t work. I don’t know what you are running away from, but you are under our protection. That means you don’t work.” Her glare was murderous. I ignored it. Ignored Sergio’s knowing grin, and the girls’ shocked gazes, too. Didn’t care for any of that. “You’d better not let me find you’ve crossed my words.”
Annoyance brewed at my temples. Fuck this girl. She was giving me a headache.
Runaway girl.
Yes. That worked better.Runaway girl.
CHAPTER FIVE
AHANA
The last time I’d tried to please a man, I’d been whacked hard enough to end up with broken bones and a cracked soul. So, of course, I wasn’t going to listen to this man. No man was ever going to make me feel weak again. He may have been the don, but he wasn’t the don of me.
Lia had giggled when I’d told her I wasn’t giving head to her obnoxious, controlling brother and I was, in fact, still going to get a job like the self-respecting woman I wanted to be. Ada didn’t really know anything about her demon son’s demands, so she was all smiles as she waved me off as I had walked out for my first ever interview. Her only demand was that I be driven to the interview. Like mother, like son. I obeyed her, though. To some extent. The moment we rounded the corner, I made the boy driving the car, who was barely above eighteen, stop the car, and walked off to get the bus. If I wanted a controlling man and to be driven around, I’d go back home with my tail between my legs. My brothers were more than capable of filling in the roles. I didn’t need a soul sucking don for-that.
The man was an annoyance as much as a concrete block at the end of a narrow one-way street. I had hoped that staying with Ada was going to give me the much-needed break to sort myself out. But if he was going to be a permanent factor, I might have to move away. And that I would rather not do. I liked it here, and I was tired of being on the run. This was the first time I’d managed to stay put for more than a few days. It made my patience run thin as a voile cloth, and the clarity was showing the real me underneath it. The one carrying the disappointment and lugging the bitterness. With it came the sinking realisation. No one had my back. No one chose me. The only person who would, was too weak to protect me. I was just a girl facing the whole damn world out to get me. How did I, an Indian girl who had always been chaperoned my entire life, end up in this situation? Karma, Maa had said when I had told her what had happened so many months ago. I must have done a million bad things in my past life to earn this.
Well, I was taking charge and changing it. Fake it till you make it, right?
My life was full of firsts now, but thankfully, they were unlike the firsts I had experienced in my brief marriage. These brought a thrill to my bones and pulled me out of the dark shell I had sunk into one deep exhale at a time. The first time I’d ridden a bus was etched into my memory. It was much like this bus I was riding on. Only then my heart had been skittish, thumping like a captured bird in a cage. Disbelief that I had done it and fear that he’d find me had kept the adrenaline pumping. For the first time in my life, I had chosen myself. Put my needs first before anyone else’s. As I stepped off the bus and walked to my very first interview, I was determined I would continue to choose myself. No one else was going to, anyway.
The swing doormoved past me as I walked out of the trendy, clear glass building. The sun caught my eyes as I looked up and bathed me in its rays. It was midday, and the sun was in its element, showing off. The day was nothing but clear blue skies. The weather reflected my mood.
For the first time in my life, I was employed.
What you going to do? Run away?
The cold sneer of Rajesh’s words stabbed my chest like he’d just uttered them and the million others that followed, every day, for four long months.
How you going to survive?
As I’d listened toSignorGiordano negotiate my salary, I hadn’t heard his euro-filled promises. All I’d heard was another batch of my husband’s vile words.
You can’t even afford to buy a loaf of bread.
Well, things had changed. I had a roof over my head, even if it wasn’t exactly mine, and a job thanks to Ada, who had forged my papers. I only hoped she hadn’t involved her son to get them, but something told me she hadn’t. I had a feeling she liked her son’s involvement as much as I did.Not at all.
My feet took me across the street to the park beyond. I was a stranger here. No one knew me or the story behind the runaway girl. Except for Ada. But I knew she would keep my secrets close to her heart. I suspected she had some of her own that drove her to do it. Only a woman in misery could understand the pain of another.
The pumps I’d worn weren’t the most comfortable for the cobblestones, but once I hit the gravel, my steps picked up. For anyone passing by, I looked like the epitome of a creativeprofessional. A curry yellow pencil skirt and a matching loose raw silk blouse, ivory pumps, and a big gold cuff on my thin wrist. Huge yellow and goldJumkaearrings hung from my ears, almost touching my shoulders, and the thin gold chain with Papa’s picture in the heart-shaped locket wrapped around my neck.
I stopped at a lone bench set against a hedge and across from a bird bath. Best part was that there was hardly anyone around. A quick glance at the background told me this could be anywhere.
Settling down, I took out my phone and swapped the SIM cards. Being on the run meant calculated actions. Pulling my hair out of the tight ponytail I’d kept it in, I tousled it to a casual look. I’d specifically worn an outfit that could look casual from the top up. I’d done it so many times in the past few weeks that it had sadly become a ritual. Like brushing your teeth before hitting the bed. But it didn’t stop my pulse from spiking with nervous energy. It never did.
When I was sure that everything was set, I pressed for the video call.
It only took two rings before Papa’s smiling face lit up the screen. “Ahana, how are you?”
