Capo Dei Capi (Secrets of the Famiglia Part 1)

Chapter 2 (Aliyana)

His crimes, faults, and every lousy habit hidden behind that need entrap her.

Marco Catelli, I am sure, is a man with a lot of faults, and my sister is one of the many women who’ve

fallen for his charms without understanding how deep his crimes go.

Is that our curse? Eve was made from Adam's rib. She ate the forbidden fruit, luring him to do just as

she’d done. He forgot it was forbidden. The first trickster.

“Marco and Deno take residence this side,” Ren explains as I catch a glimpse of Leonardo jumping in

his silver two-door SLK through the window. Do my faults way up to his? Do my secrets match his? His

glasses are slipped on his face as he reverses out of the parking lot, giving me a perfect view of his

sculpted sinful face.

I am doomed, not only by the faults of my family but by the extent of my love for one boy.

“Capo Marcello lives in New York,” Guilia points out as I turn my head back to Ren, who is watching me

with keen grey eyes. I give him a slight shake of my head. I don't want to talk about it. I already know.

His expression changes when he turns his head to my sister, “My father wants to see how the other

cities are doing since my brothers took this side up with Vince. Seattle is thriving, and if all goes well,

my brothers will control more places and make the family stronger. We already own Washington State

as a unit. Why not use it?”

Guilia's eyes sparkle with the glistening thrill of knowing something so secretive.

Ren’s honesty has always baffled me. In our world, we are raised to hold our secrets until the grave. At

first meeting Ren, you can read him like an open book. If you are looking for an answer, all you need do

is mention it to him. He will tell you exactly what he knows. You will believe everything he says. But

open books show you what is in the book. It doesn’t explain much, just tells you the story.

My Papa told me that sharing too much is as good as asking for an early grave.

If what he says is true, has Ren always had a death wish? Or is my friend whom I have grown up with a

master of lies. Has he told me what he thought I wanted to know instead of what really was the truth? It

isn't the first time that question sticks in my head.

I am afraid of the correct answer to that question. It might just be the tool I need to dig into Ren's head,

and I know I won't like what I find.

He touches Guilia’s nose when she scrunches it.

My sister, like most of the women, knows nothing of the dealings of our men. I have never been one of

them. The dealings of our men were something I knew way too much about. Knowing was never a

choice, but something I stumbled upon at an early age. And like an addiction, I made it my business to

know as much as I could.

Sometimes our enemies were also our allies. Knowledge could be a powerful tool in the game of war

and power.

We talk about College, Diamond, and all our other friends.

Ren’s charm is infectious, and his I don’t care attitude makes him Guilia’s focal point for the next 40

odd minutes. She loves hearing about our College stories.

Guilia didn’t see the need to apply for college when she finished school. And now, with her impending

engagement to whomever Papa chose tonight, it’s far too late to change her mind. That choice will

soon become the man who will own her.

When she was younger, Filippo refused Papa’s suggestion that she gets married when she turned 18.

Those few months Filippo and Papa fought a lot.

The disagreement between Filippo and Papa subsided when Guilia helped our Capo's wife, Nicole, Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

while she was ill.

Capo Marcello asked Guilia what she wanted in return. Guilia asked for time. Her one wish was that

Papa not marry her off before I finished school.

It was a year back when my Papa fulfilled the promise he agreed to.

Guilia knows her time has come. And I think secretly she wants to get it done. At 23, she's considered

a ripe age to marry.