Julia decides to fight for her version of a happy family.
I stared at my bloodstained hands and then at my wife's lifeless body. I slowly closed the door in case Daniel passed by. He didn't need to see any more of this. The red roses the maid had bought for Gaia as a gift for our eighth anniversary lay crumpled beside the inert body. Red roses that matched the blood that stained the sheets and her white dress.
I picked up the phone and called Father. "Cassius, didn't you make dinner reservations with Gaia?"
"Gaia is dead."
Silence. "Can you repeat that?"
"Gaia is dead."
"Cassius-" "Someone has to clean up before the children see it.
Send a cleaning crew and inform Luca."
When your wife died, sadness and despair were the expected emotions, but I felt only anger and resentment as I watched the coffin lower into her grave.
Gaia and I had been married for eight years. On our anniversary, death ended our marriage. A fitting end to a bond that had been doomed from the beginning. Perhaps it was fate that today was the hottest day of the summer.
Sweat dripped down my forehead and temple, but tears did not join me.
My father tightened his grip on my shoulder. Was it to lift himself or me? His skin was pale from his third heart attack, and Gaia's death was not helping things. He met my gaze, worried. Cataracts clouded his eyes. Each passing day made him disappear more and more. The weaker he got, the stronger I had to be. If you showed vulnerability, the mob would eat you whole.
I gave him a little nod of assent, then turned back to the grave, my expression steely.
All the Family's Sub-Chiefs were present. Even Luca Vitiello, our Chief, had arrived from New York with his wife. They all wore their solemn faces, perfect masks, just like mine. Soon they would offer their condolences, whispering false words of reassurance, when rumors of my wife's untimely death were already circulating.
I was glad that neither Daniel nor Simona were old enough to understand what was being said. They had not realized that their mother had died. Not even Daniel, at two years old , could grasp the ultimate meaning of the word "dead." And Simona She left without a mother at only four months old.
A new wave of anger coursed through my body, but I suppressed it. Few of the men around me were friends; most of them were looking for a sign of weakness. I was a young Under Chief, too young in the eyes of many, but Luke trusted me to rule Philadelphia with an iron fist. I would not let him or my father down.
After the funeral, we gathered in my mansion for lunch.
Sybil, my maid, delivered Simona to me. My little girl had cried all night, but now she slept soundly in my arms. Daniel clung to my leg, looking confused. It was the first time he had sought my closeness since Gaia's death. I could feel all those compassionate looks. Alone with two small children, a young Underboss--they were looking for every little crack in my facade.
Mom approached with a sad smile and took Simona from me. She had offered to take care of my children, but she was sixty-four years old and had to take care of my father. My sisters gathered around us, cooing at Daniel. Mia took him in her arms and held him to her chest. My sisters had also offered to help, but they each had their own small children to take care of and did not live nearby except for Mia.
"You look tired, son," father said softly.
"I haven't slept much these last few nights." Since their mother died, neither Daniel nor Simona had slept more than two hours straight. The image of Gaia's bloody dress crossed my mind, but I chased it away.
"You must look for a mother for your children," said Dad, leaning heavily on his walking stick.
"Mansueto!" exclaimed Mom under her breath. "We buried Gaia today."
Dad patted her arm but looked at me. He knew I didn't need time to mourn Gaia, but we had to keep decorum in mind. Not to mention that I wasn't sure I wanted another woman in my life. What I wanted was irrelevant, though.
Every aspect of my life was dictated by strict rules and traditions.
"Children need a mother and you need someone to take care of you," Dad said.
"Gaia never took care of him," Mia muttered. She, too, had not forgiven my late wife.
"Not here, not today," I cut it short. She shut her mouth tightly .
"I guess you already have someone in mind for Cassius," said my older sister Ilaria to Father with a glance at the sky .
"Every Captain and Sub-Captain with a daughter of marriageable age will have already contacted Father," Mia said flatly.
Father had not told me about it yet, because he knew I would not listen to him. However, Mia was probably right. I was a hot commodity, the only unmarried Sub-Chief in the Family.
Luca and his wife Aria approached. I signaled to my family to be quiet. Luca shook my hand again and Aria smiled at my children. "If you have to distance yourself from your duties for a while, let me know," Luca said.
"No," I said immediately. If I gave up my position now, I would never get it back. Philadelphia was my city and I would rule it.