Move On?

Chapter Eight --Move On?

Vuk's Point of View

"His name is David Miller, well, that was his name." Roman tells her and she looks so confused "Well, what the hell did David Miller want with me?"

"He belongs to a Private Criminal Organization and they aimed to take down the Mafia." I explain and she asks "The Mafia? Which Mafia? There is La Cosa Nostra, Bratva, Triad, Yakuza, Mexican Cartel, Black Axe, there are a lot of Mafia, so I do not understand."

"A Mafia is a recognized criminal organization and across the world, there are certain Mafia in power in certain part of the world, it is subtle, but this is a known fact across the world. This private organization wants to take away the Mafia and be the new face of organized crime, so they target certain mob bosses, easy one and take them out. They probably thought they could come for the New York's Bratva and La Cosa Nostra division, through you." Dante explains and she nods her head and I can see that she is having problems understanding it, or well, believing.

"So, by impersonating a member of the Mexican Cartel, or just by pretending to be a member of the Mexican Cartel, he was hoping to start a war between three mafias, counting on the fact that you would all go headfirst into a war if I had died?" She says slowly and I get up and stand, because the thought of her dying makes me very uncomfortable.

"Yes." Donatello affirms and she is silent until she isn't "So, what happens now?"

"Nothing happens. You move on like nothing happened." He responds and I frown, because that was not the plan.

"Move on? I cannot move on like nothing happened. They came for me, and they tried to kill me, they tried to use me, to hurt you, and you expect me to just forget all about it?" She glares at him and he nods "Yes. Forget all about it." "Screw that." She snarls and I watch her.

"Florence." Dante starts and she shakes her head "No, do not try to be the voice of reason, I am not interested in that. If you wanted me to remain oblivious, then you should have left me in Boston or Italy, then you should have not married me to Maxim Romanova, but you did, and now, everyone knows who I am, someone had the audacity to come for me and you expect me to sit and do nothing?" She expresses, angrily and passionately.

"We are going to take some steps." Nikolai says and she scoffs "Yes, you are all going to take some steps and you are going to leave me in the dark. Why?" "Because you are a woman." Donatello states, nonchalantly, and anger swells in me, but before I can make sense of it, Florence removes her hell and hurls it at his head, missing him just by a hair breadth. 

"I dare you to say it again." She growls and he looks at her, then looks at me, like this is all my fault. Florence is twenty-seven years old, I am thirty-five, so is Donatello, Dante is thirty three, Nikolai is thirty-two and Marco is twenty-nine, so I understand why she feels so pissed.

"Is this fear in you?" She asks and I speak "No, not fear, it is patience and calmness, we are biding our time, we are playing the game, we are drawing them out."

"They want us to lose our minds, to freak out, to go insane, but we won't, we will act like nothing has happened and it is your job to make sure nothing is amiss. You are the Queen of La Cosa Nostra, act like a Queen, throw Balls, Galas, join the society, act like a boss and you listen." Dante speaks and she looks at me, then at him.

"We do not know much about this organization, and we need to know more, we need to make sure they do not find a way to get into our lives, we need to build an impenetrable wall and protect ourselves. You have a duty to your family and you have done it, but now, you have a duty as the Queen of La Cosa Nostra, and you must do it properly. Maxim is an only child, and if they take him out, nothing is stopping them, but since you are married, he is no longer an only child, he is family now, and if he falls, we fall, so we make sure he can't fall and he does the same for us." Donatello explains to her and she listens.

"We are all spread out across various field, Roman works with the law enforcement, Vuk and Dante will figure out the people who are currently involved in human and sex trafficking, then Marco and I will weed out every traitor in our midst, Nikolai will work with Roman and you help hold on to our farce of a blooming and perfect family, you and Maxim must look so in love whenever you are seen, fake it, I don't care. You are the only woman in our midst, my sister, you are La Cosa Nostra, but you are also Bratva and we must protect our family." He proclaims and she looks at me.

"Okay, I will play your game, I will play the role I have been given." She affirms and walks away and I sigh, because she is definitely up to something.

"Can you keep an eye on her?" Dante frowns at me and I say the truth "I can try, but she does not like to be caged."

"Find a way around it." He tells me and I nod. "Perhaps it is time we get married." Donatello announces and I look at him, surprised.

"Florence is married and protected, but we need allies, we need people on our side if we are gonna win this and we must spread out, which includes you, Roman, you are getting married too." He declares and I look at Roman, and realize Donatello is looking at me, because we are equals.