Bombshell

**Althaia**

My mother came from an influential Greek family, and her father was in fact a Mob Boss back in the day. However, with the rise of Italians and Russians taking over territories faster than ever, the Cirillo Family struggled to maintain a name for themselves, and eventually, they got forgotten among the many Mafia that was destroyed or simply couldn’t keep up.

But my mother’s father refused to let that happen to him. It was his honor and pride, and he would rather die than watch to get crumpled like that.

That was when the Volante Family came into the picture.

My grandfather strongly believed in domestic patriarchy, and since my mother was an only child and female, there was no way he would allow her to take over and lead. My mother had silently watched everything and acquired the skills and knowledge to take over as a leader.

But still, even if it was her birthright, he refused.

When my mother was young, she was allowed to take an education, giving her the opportunity to travel and explore the world while she took her semesters abroad.

That was when she fell in love with a certain Russian man.

They wanted each other, get married, and live their lives together. But life was never that easy. Alexei Vasiliev was next in line to take over the Russian Mafia, and when he asked for my mother’s hand in marriage, my grandfather erupted in fury and refused.

“…because no one likes the Russians. But I did.” My mother let out an innocent smile, and a light blush crept on her cheeks. It almost had me giggling. It was the first time I had ever seen her like this.

“That didn’t exactly stop me from seeing him. I would sneak out to meet him and I guess I was living in my own forbidden love fantasy. But then…”

Grandfather had fallen sick and it was only a matter of time before he would be gone. When my mother’s semester ended and she had to go back home, her hand in marriage was promised to Gaetano Volante. By marrying my mother off to Gaetano Volante, gave him the power to take over the Cirillo Family as their rightful leader.

My mother was not allowed to have an opinion of it and the wedding was rushed just in time for Gaetano to take over before my grandfather’s passing. My grandmother was the perfect example of a submissive wife, taking care of the household and the children, and letting the men take the lead hence why she never even tried to interfere as her husband’s words were the law.

When my grandfather passed, she was in deep sorrow. A few years later, she followed him to the grave.

“I hated that life and their view of how men and women should be. I never agreed with it. And according to those men, I was too strong-headed, opinionated and I needed to know my place.” My mother rolled her eyes.

“I had no way of reaching out to Alexei to explain my situation. Once you become a Don’s wife, you have eyes following you everywhere and reporting back on every single thing you did. It took me time to figure out how I could get out without being seen.” I gave a slight nod, understanding what she meant.

Damiano made sure I had protection from the very beginning.

My mother then looked slightly awkward about telling the next part.

“When I did… Well, I’m not proud of it but that was when I took the chance to see him.”

“A Russian booty call. Who would have thought?” Nestor laughed, slapping Alexei on the back. I choked out a laugh when my mother looked mortified. Alexei gave Nestor a scowl, not liking the nickname.

“Shut your face. There is a child present.” Alexei said.

“I’m twenty-five, but okay.” I chuckled. Everyone had been quiet and listened to my mother’s story. It was a story I thought you would only read about, or watch in movies. In no way would I have expected my own mother to have such a story.

“I have a question.” I turned to look at Alexei.

“You asked for my mother’s hand in marriage, wouldn’t you have been able to track her down if you knew the family she came from?”

“I would. If she ever bothered to give me her real name. I told you she went by many different names, and not once had she revealed her true name to me. Your mother legally changed her name every single time. When I approached your grandfather, I said ‘I want your daughter’s hand in marriage’. I wasn’t being specific and I didn’t even consider if he had more than one daughter. You can call it being young and dumb.” He shook his head with a slight smile.

“I did look for her, but the names didn’t match her description.”

“It’s Jacinta.” I clarified and he raised a brow at my mother.

“Is that your real name or something you made up?”

“Jacinta is my real name.”

“Your parents really fucking hated you, didn’t they?” He laughed as if it was the funniest thing ever. If my mother had another knife in her hands, she would have thrown it at him.

“But in the end, I stopped caring. She was too much of a headache for me anyway.” Alexei gave a dismissive wave, acting like he didn’t care.

Of course, I didn’t buy it. They were both playing hard to get.

My mother scoffed loudly at him.

“What? Was I too opinionated for you? Did I challenge you too much? Did I hurt that stupid ego of yours? No surprise since I was this close to being able to kill you.”

“Close. You didn’t succeed.” Alexei fired back.

“Only because I changed my mind at the very last minute.” His eyes narrowed, turning into two cold slits as he stared at my mother.

“You should get checked for psychotic disorders.”

“Oh, go cry to your mama, you big baby. That old hag was the reason I went crazy!”

“Mom!” I gasped in shock she would say that about his mother.

“Careful, Solnishsko. That’s my late mother you’re talking about.” He sneered and my mother stood up on her feet in rage.

“The same mother that prevented me from ever telling you were going to have a child!” She shouted at him.

It went dead silent as they stared at each other.

“…What are you talking about?” Alexei frowned, and she let out a breath.

“I am not a heartless person. I was going to tell you the minute I found out. I knew she was yours because, at that time, Gaetano was away for more than four weeks. Two weeks after I saw you, I started to get symptoms. And Gaetano was still not back from his trip.” She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

“May she rest in peace, but your mother was doing the most to keep us apart. She never liked me, but in your eyes, she could never do wrong. I showed up to tell you and to figure out what you wanted to do. But I ran into your mother first and she prevented me from seeing you. I explained to her it was urgent, and then had to tell her the real reason why. She tried to kill me on the spot.” My mother shook her head in disbelief.

“But she knew. She knew I was pregnant with your child and she didn’t tell you. I went back to living my life with Gaetano. What else was I supposed to do? I couldn’t risk your mother going after me to terminate my pregnancy. I stayed for protection.”

“Luckily, I didn’t start to show after a while, letting Gaetano believe it was his child. Althaia’s file says she was born premature but it’s not true. I manipulated the dates for it to match the last time I was with Gaetano.” I could hear the sadness in her voice and she looked away from him.

Alexei tried his best to mask his emotions. But they overpowered and the pain showed in his eyes. He rubbed his jaw and without saying anything, he turned around and left.

___

So, that was quite a lot (O_O')>

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