The Disturbing Encounter!

“Where were you yesterday?”

Diego was just about to put some food in his mouth when his father asked him in a sharp tone.

“I went swimming at the beach,” he said timidly.

“You know what you did wrong, don’t you?”

Leon saw his seven year old brother nod as he looked down. “I forgot to tell Mama that Sophie took me to the beach.”

“Your mother freaked out when you didn’t get off the school bus and didn’t come home until late afternoon. She thought you were missing.”

Diego looked up to stare at their mother. “Sorry, Mama.” She had already scolded Diego when he finally came home. However, their father who had just gotten back from out of town this morning wasn’t going to let Diego off the hook.

“It’s okay, John,” their mother said. “They’re safe. Nando's Keeping them company.”

John Carusso’s face looked even more agitated.

Even when they were young, their father warned them to avoid dealing with Primo Lombardi and his right-hand man, Nando Alberti.

“I don’t trust them, like I don’t trust a snake,” he said once while they were having a family dinner. “All my life, I regret that my sister, Anna Maria, married that Lombardi bastard.”

“John...” Their mother chided gently, as she touched her husband’s hand. “The children don’t need to hear your swearing at the dinner table, do they?”

Max and Diego had never been interested in the tension between their family and their Zia Anna’s.

Leon was different. He was always willing to listen to his father’s endless grumbling about Primo.

“His mother is from Sicily, but from the beginning he always said he had nothing to do with the mafia families there. Did he think I’d believe him? Hah!” His father snorted sarcastically. “From the first time he recruited the many bodyguards that surround him and his daughter, I knew I was right.”

Her father, who was always called John by his family, was anItalian-American born on a ranch in Texas. That’s where his Americanized nickname came from. His real name was Giancarlo. He had a younger sister, Anna Maria.

Leon loved his gentle and motherly Zia Anna, who passed away a few years ago. Unfortunately, her nice character was not passed on to her only daughter, Sophia Maria. Sophie was spoiled, arrogant and annoying. Leon put Sophie on his list of people to avoid, apart from Primo and Nando.

The problem was, Sophie was not an easy person to avoid. She was always happy to follow the three Carusso brothers around.

She liked Max, because he didn’t really care about anything other than his computer, so he never kicked her out.

The younger Diego was never bothered as he was more preoccupied with his own game. Leon was the one who got plastered the most, mainly because they were the same age.

Things changed when they were in high school. Sophie transformed into a skinny, arrogant blonde, leading the school's cheerleading team.

Her annoying behavior got worse. Leon, on the other hand, disliked being the center of attention, even though he was the smartest student in school and a member of the football team.

He always tried to avoid the cheerleaders and fans of the school football team. He walked with his head down, his smiles were rare and his demeanor was awkward. Nevertheless, he did have a few best friends.

There was Kyle Murphy and Alexa Robinson. The three of them became good friends over time because of some similarities. The same genre of movies, the same titles of books, and the same hatred of boring life.

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Sophie smiled broadly at his arrival at the café. She rose from her chair to give him a hug and a peck on the cheek. “I’m glad we met again,” she said. “We should have kept in touch a long time ago, Leon.”

“I’m sorry. Busyness has drowned me in a sea of work,” Leon said, sitting across from Sophie.

“I’ve never forgiven my father for moving us all to Milan. You know I don’t even speak Italian. My private tutor was a grumpy old lady who made me memorize two hundred new words every meeting. How miserable I was.”

Sophie called a waiter and ordered a bottle of wine. Shelooked so confident and knew what she wanted. Her smile brightened as she turned back to Leon.

“So, have you moved here yet?” Leon asked.

“Of course. As of today, I’m officially a New Yorker. I live onMadison Avenue. Two blocks from the house that was once your family’s home. You should visit me, Leon. When we hadn't moved to Milan, you used to come over to eat my mother's tiramisu.”

Leon remembered his aunt, who always laughed to see him finish a pan of tiramisu in her kitchen. “Oh, I’m glad you liked it,” Zia Anna said with an amused smile. “I made it especially for you, bambino mio.”

“You live alone?”

“Don’t be silly. Of course I live alone. If you think I’d share a roof with a man, my father will go berserk. You know him. Besides...” Sophie smiled. “I don’t have a boyfriend right now. I don’t date much as long as my father keeps an eye on me. He’s so protective. I hope I’ll meet some nice, handsome guys here.”

Leon was just probing. He wanted to hear if Nando Alberti Was truly sent by Primo to guard his daughter, as his contacts had informed him. However, there was no need to ask. Someone approached their table.

“Oh, Nando! What a coincidence that you’re here. Look who's with me!” Sophie pointed at Leon.

In front of Leon stood a giant over 6 feet tall. His presence drew attention from everyone in the café.

Fernando Alberti, his uncle’s right-hand man, was still as he remembered. Nando was 25 years old when he started working for Primo. Sophie had told her that Nando was distantly related to her father. Nando’s face was scary to the three Carusso brothers when they were children. On his rough, sharply lined face were scars, as well as a crooked nose, a sign of the violence of his life over the years. Although he didn’t talk much, the whole of Nando Alberti had the undeniable appeal of his presence, a silent warning to those who dare to cross it.

He looked at Leon with cold, calculating eyes. Then he nodded politely when he recognized him. “Master Leon Carusso,” he said in a heavy voice that often caused others to feel intimidated. “It’s good to see you again after so long.”

Leon was no longer the little boy who used to be afraid of Nando Alberti. He nodded back and said hello. “I’m also glad to see you again, Nando. You haven’t changed at all.”

“I am old, Master Leon,” he said. He was indeed half a century old. A few gray hairs were visible on his temples though it didn’t affect the ruggedness of his appearance. “I'm Really glad to see that you’re having a successful career, as are Miss Sophie and Master Kyle.”

“Kyle?” Leon gasped.

“Kyle Murphy, of course.” Sophie said. “We met by chance when I went on vacation to Canada late last year. Now he’s a wealthy stockbroker.”

Leon’s face changed as he suppressed the rising anger. Kyle Murphy was the key to the tragic event of the past, which he regretted to this day.

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