From Grieving Mother to Mafia Queen Chapter 02

From Grieving Mother to Mafia Queen Chapter 02 : “I’ll skin him alive”

“Who the f*ck put poison in my daughter’s food? I’m gonna skin that bastard alive!” My father’s voice roared through the line.

“Dad, I know how this works. I’ll deal with it myself. Just get me the cure.” I sucked in a breath and pushed the rage down.

“Fine. The antidote takes some time to make. I’ll send Mark, my best hitter, with a crew when it’s ready.”

Perfect. The big mafia leadership handover was coming up. That night, I’d burn his whole world down.

The next morning, the noise downstairs jolted me awake.

I stood behind the second-floor window and watched Vincent help a blonde out of a car. She carried a boy, maybe five or six.

Sophia De Luca and that little bastard, Tommy. I spotted them right off.

Vincent walked them inside. He shot me a glance and said flatly, “This is Tommy. He’s the second young master now. And this is Sophia. She’s staying to take care of him.”

I came down the stairs and stopped in the middle of the room.

Vincent brought the kid over to me.

“I adopted him from an orphanage recently. I thought… maybe he could be our son.”

I looked at the boy. He was the spitting image of a young Vincent.

If I hadn’t known the truth, I might have fallen for it.

“And this is Sophia,” Vincent added. “She looked after Tommy at the orphanage. I hired her to help him settle in.”

Sophia nodded, flashing a polite, rehearsed smile. “Mrs. Corleone, nice to meet you. I’m very sorry for your loss. I’ll make sure Tommy doesn’t get in your way.”

What an actress. Without those photos and nasty texts, I would’ve bought the whole act.

Then Tommy looked up at Vincent, eyes bright. “Daddy, can we live here? It’s so much bigger than our old house!”

Daddy.

The room went dead quiet for two beats.

Tommy realized he’d slipped and quickly corrected, “I mean… Mr. Corleone.”

Vincent crouched down and gently tousled Tommy’s hair. It was the first time I had ever witnessed such genuine tenderness on his features.

“Silly kid. You call me Dad.” He smiled. “This is your home now. Anything you want, just ask me.”

Then he looked up at me, eyes searching. “Serafina, I know this is sudden. I just wanted to cheer you up. Tommy’s a sweet boy. You’ll learn to love him. We can love him the way we loved Sonny.”

I watched his pathetic performance and scoffed.

“You expect some random bastard to take the place of my dead son?”

His face tightened for a second. “No, that’s not what I meant. No one can replace Sonny. I just… wanted to make you happy.”

“How thoughtful of you.” I sneered. “You even brought the nanny. Really covered every angle.”

Sophia’s smile went stiff. “Mrs. Corleone, I understand your pain. If I’m causing trouble, Tommy and I can move to the basement.”

“No need.” I stared at her fake face. “Since Vincent arranged it, stay.”

Dead people don’t get to choose their rooms.

Tommy clapped. “Yay! Can I go see my room?”

“Of course,” Vincent said.

I watched them depart. The fury in my gaze possessed the intensity to engulf the entire residence in flames.

A minute later, Tommy’s screech came from upstairs. “What’s this junk? It’s so ugly!”

My heart sank.

That was coming from Sonny’s room.

I ran up and flung the door open.

Tommy stood by Sonny’s bed, holding a drawing Sonny had made of me and him. He’d spent an entire day on it for my birthday.

“Put that down!” I screamed, lunging at him.

Tommy gave me a sly grin, ripped the drawing to pieces, threw them on the floor, and stomped on them.

“Why keep stuff from a dead kid? Bad luck!” Tommy gloated. “This is my room now!”

Rage flooded me. I shoved Tommy aside and dropped to my knees, shaking as I tried to gather the torn bits, tears pouring down.

“Sonny… I’m so sorry…”

Tommy threw himself on the floor, rolling and screaming. “Ah! Help! She’s trying to kill me!”

Sophia shrieked and charged in, throwing her body over her son. “Help! The mistress is trying to murder Tommy!”

Vincent burst in. He saw Tommy on the floor, Sophia sobbing, and me holding the shredded scraps.

His face went black.

“Serafina! What the f*ck is wrong with you?”

I looked up, eyes blazing with hatred. “He tore up the drawing Sonny gave me!”

“I did not!” Tommy instantly started crying, playing the victim. “I just wanted to look, but Mrs. Corleone wouldn’t let me. She grabbed it and ripped it herself…”

Vincent’s eyes turned cold and hard.

He stood in the doorway, glaring at me.

“Serafina.” His voice was low but absolute. “Apologize to Tommy.”

“I’ve done nothing wrong,” I said.

He raised his chin. The bodyguards stepped forward and pinned my arms.

“I’m telling you one last time.” His eyes were ice. “Say sorry. Or I’ll have someone take everything Sonny left behind and dump it all in the incinerator.”

I clenched my teeth and stayed quiet.

He nodded at the guards. “Do it.”

“No!” I screamed.

He looked at me with a mocking smirk. “Now, you remember who runs this house? Lay a finger on Tommy again, and I’ll make your life a living hell.”

Sophia hugged Tommy tight, faking concern, but I saw the smug satisfaction in her eyes.

“Never mind, Vincent,” she pretended to plead. “Maybe we shouldn’t stay. I can take Tommy away…”

“No!” Vincent turned to her. “Anybody who tries to kick you out? I’ll destroy them.”

He reached down to help me up. I shoved him away with all my strength.

As they left, I heard Sophia sniffling in the hallway.

“Vincent, I’m so scared. If Serafina hates Tommy this much… I’m afraid she’ll really hurt him. I’ve watched him grow up. If anything happens to him…”

“Nothing will,” Vincent swore. “I won’t let anyone hurt Tommy.”

I nearly laughed. Vincent, you arrogant, brainless idiot. You can’t even protect yourself, and you think you can protect them?

Tomorrow night at the family power meeting, I’ll show you what real payback means.