The Desire

3

Alessandro Morino

Chaos. My life is shrouded in it constantly. Club Sicily, owned by my family, is under investigation. Sicily is one of our establishments, it differed from the others because of its high end exclusivity. Reason being why I never visited Club Sicily. New York's elitists frequented often, they always paid good money for their time there, that just isn't my type of crowd. Sicily is lucrative and one of the best business decisions Emiliano has ever made, but it is a front. Which is why this investigation is not good for business, the legitimate and illegitimate ones.

This investigation means not only having the fucking feds sniffing around us but forcing us to shut down operations. Losing money affected more than just my family but others who worked that part of the business. Shipment orders are out of whack which has Fabian Bianchi very unhappy with us.

The man has always been reasonable but the current situation has brought his unpleasant side out. As Niccolo has told him multiple times, there was not much he or Fabian could do about the situation just yet. Their involvement or lack of could ruin more than just Sicily but everything else as well. Until the investigation blows over all drug operations surrounding Sicily is on pause. The pressure on the family has become suffocating. Everywhere we step a new fire breaks out. Niccolo's stress becomes Emiliano's stress which becomes mine. I honestly don't know how Niccolo handles all of this. I am good under pressure and in my role, but Niccolo just has a massive amount of work on his hands. He almost makes it look easy but I know it's not.

I step into the kitchen, something pricking through my sock has me looking down. Glass is smashed covering the kitchen floor. Mamma lays on the floor with a bottle nuzzled to her.

"Mamma?"

"Your fath-father. God I hate that man. He's done it again, he's disrespected me for his mistress again." Stuttering over her words in her drunken haze I can barely make out what she says.

"Why is it worse this time Mamma, you know how he is." No it's not an excuse, I just don't understand why she keeps giving her heart to someone who will break it. My father has not been a faithful man for some time now.

"H-he want's a di-divorce. He wants to ma-marry someone else." Mamma sobs through her sentence and I can see the pain that this has caused her. My mother, though she hates my father, values the fact that she has been the only woman to tame him into marriage. It was an accomplishment no other woman would ever have, at least that's what she thought. If he divorces mom he must be planning the transition of power. There's no way he could divorce her while he's still the don. I wonder if Niccolo knows what he's up to.

My parents have an agreement that they will stay loyal in marriage only to each other. Love has absolutely nothing to do with it but politics did. My father knows the significance marriage has in this life. It represents stability, loyalty, and the ability to lead. Without a marriage there would be a new set of issues unless Niccolo took his position. Even still Niccolo would have to get married himself which he has made very clear that it isn't something he wants. Without this marriage it puts mom in a vulnerable position as well. Her authority and respect would be lost, unless the divorce is kept quiet. I swear my father must hate every single one of us. Why cause more issues as if we don't have enough on our own without his drama. Beating my father senseless is a dream I wish I could make come true.

She mumbles about one thing or another. My focus is on the glass surrounding her feet.What was she thinking? Mamma has always had a temper, anger could consume her at times. What I see is more than that. It's pure destruction. Darkness sets in her eyes, defeat is all I can see. I sweep the glass from the floor, if she were to try and stand up she would be too drunk to pay attention to it. I love my mother, but at this moment just for one second I almost resent her. Not because this is her fault but because I don't understand. I can't see why she would ever love a man like him the way she has. How could she continue to let his antics hurt her. She would deny it but she's upset about the divorce because he's choosing someone else over her. He's done it many times before and would continue to so why hope that he would change? My entire life has included the bitter back and forth between my parents. When they separated I thought we would have some sort of peace but that didn't last for long.