210

Isabella

The large man beside me said nothing as the women started to cry. One of them, the one with blood on her face, crawled towards me and knelt in front of the iron bars.

 "I will give you everything I have. Spare my life. Spare my children's lives. You will do that, yes? After all, you know the pain. You know the pain of a mother who loses her child," she pleaded. I shook my head.

 "I know the pain, but believe me when I say I don't do this for revenge. If I let your families live and if I let your properties remain, your allies will rise again.

 Your allies, no matter where they are, will come here and seek war. I don't want this as much as you do, but your actions have led to this. The mercy that he has shown you has long since run out. You must be Martinez.

 I heard about how your husband disrespected the mafia king by calling him a nameless scum. I've heard about how you called him that name many times. I will have you know that he has a name. His name is Montenegro.

 He bears mine, and he has as much legitimate right to rule as I do. So, perhaps for that crime, I will kill you. But also for the crime of attempting to destroy everything your family owns, you must die. The same goes for both of you," I said as I looked at the mother and daughter clutching each other. They didn't look like they had anything to say, so I stood up.

Damon said nothing as he led me back upstairs. I sucked in as much breath as I could when I reached the light of day.

"When?" Damon finally asked as he laced his fingers through mine.

"Today. I want it done as soon as possible. If we persist, I fear that I might lose all of this strength. Now," I said. I watched Damon walk away as he left me in the parlor. Feeling restless, I began to walk around the house and visit my old room. It had been cleared out.

For some odd reason, it was painted pink, basically a nursery in the making. Suddenly, I saw the screen appear in front of me, playing Cassandra holding a baby girl in her arms.

 I burst out into bitter laughter. It was ironic that my cousin got to have a child, a daughter. I turned around and found Damon standing behind me. Apparently, I had been standing there for over an hour.

"It's time," he said as he held his hand out to me, his eyes flashing with understanding.

 I took his hand and accepted the comfort he offered. We took a van to the front of City Hall where a makeshift platform had been created with rocks. On it were the three women I saw along with seven other individuals.

"You are going to talk to them," Damon said to me. They had gathered a crowd of at least 150 people, and it was rapidly increasing.

 "I don't think I'm that good," I said, shaking my head.

"No," he said as he smiled at me. "You're going to do it. There's no better way to introduce yourself. They need to know exactly who you are. That's the only way you can stake Your claim and keep it.”

He pushed me towards the stairs of City Hall. I took my time walking upon them, wondering whether my feet were strong enough to hold my weight. Finally, I reached the top of the stairs and was handed the microphone. "Is this something?" I asked myself. My eyes found Ted in the crowd. He lifted his hand and gave me an okay sign. I took hold of the mic and was greeted with feedback.

"Many of you don't know who I am," I said after taking a deep breath.

 "Some of you do. Many of you don't know who these people are, but that's fine. I'll give you a bit of history. Before you are the families of Martinez and Recollecting. After a long battle for control, Roman Recollecting was killed in front of the Balaga Hotel.

After yet another failed attempt at seizing control of the city, his son was killed in front of the same hotel, barely 100 ft from where his father died.

And now, his wife and daughter tried to destroy the entire city by planting explosives in key areas. They tried to sink the city to the bottom of the ocean."

 The crowd began to murmur as it also began to swell. I closed my eyes, letting their sounds wash over me, and when I opened them, the crowd had nearly quadrupled in size. It was perfect.

"Martinez, on the other hand, made a grave mistake. He disrespected the mafia king by calling him a nameless scum. Many of you do that and go unpunished, but his immediate death was a testament to how grave a sin that was. But perhaps that was not her greatest sin.

She funneled her resources, money, and her time into this outlandish plan to sink this great city to the bottom of the sea. But the mafia king saved your lives and captured them in the process.

 That, however, would have warranted them to be killed in private. The reason why I ensured they are arrayed in front of you is not because of those crying. It's because of who they dared to commit the crime against.

The death of RJ Ricoletti was of his own doing. He shot me, risking my life in the process. His father, more than once, attempted to take my life many times.”

 “Who are you?” I heard someone ask.

I smiled brightly, actually feeling happy for the first time in a long time. "My name is Isabella Montenegro, and I am the last living child of my father and the heir to the mafia throne.”