The Gangster

My plan to run was taking shape... such as it was. It mainly centred on converting what little I had, to cash without attracting too much attention. I had some thoughts on destinations, avoiding cities or anywhere linked with family. We wouldn't be able to use our real names and would have to cut all ties. Also how to earn money without paperwork and giving away our location? Silvio's mention of threats to extended family was also a concern.

Would it just be me or me and Sophia, that was the critical question and I wasn't sure of the answer. I replayed our conversations in my mind. It was clear she had a good time on the dates and enjoyed sex with him. But then swore she loved me and had no choice; in all other aspects she was the perfect and loving wife. I tried to dig more answers out of her.

"Why do you go to his apartment to get ready?"

"I didn't want you to see me like that, dressed and making an effort for him."

"Do you have sex before your go out?"

"Sometimes; he... well he is easier to handle afterwards. You've seen his temper, it's better for everyone if he's relaxed. Mum told me my role as mistress was to look classy on his arm but make sure his balls were emptied. It's the same on the nights out: I play up to him and keep the peace depending on his moods. I tell him all sorts to try and keep him balanced: that I care for him, that he has a huge cock, all of it; it keeps him happy and you safe!"

"And the sex, you clearly liked it."

"I explained that already, what do you think would have happened in the kitchen if he didn't think he'd won. Yes I came, but it was embarrassing being made to do that in front of you, Jimmy and Angelo. He can be a total bastard, I hated him for doing that."

"I talked to your dad, things aren't as straight forward as your mum likes to claim, he is not happy. Did you realise the reason you are an only child is that your dad refused to bring up a child that wasn't his own."

The link dawned on her and she looked devastated, "Are you saying we can't have children whilst I am with Gianni?"

"I am not taking the risk of bringing up another man's bastard... a man I hate! If you get pregnant I will assume it's his and a choice you've made."

That seemed to trigger a decision for Sophia, "Can we really run, do we have any chance?"

I informed Sophia of the plan, we talked it through for hours. She was upset, worried that they would find us and about not seeing her family again, but in the end she agreed we should go. I found myself relieved, I hadn't been totally certain she would choose us.

We worked through potential destinations, certainly no big cities with crime organisations and we didn't have the money to emigrate. So a small town someplace quiet, we'd stand out more but could chose somewhere where people kept themselves to themselves.

***

I went for a few drinks at Danny's place while trying to develop my plan further. Fake paperwork would be helpful but I daren't try for those locally. Once again Sophia was out on a date, I tried to blot that out of my mind and Danny had become adept at keeping me company in between serving other customers. It was my regular place and I felt comfortable there. My main reflection that night was that Sophia seemed more distant than ever, our sex life had tanked since the incident in the kitchen.

I was walking back from Danny's bar when two huge figures stepped in front of me: Angelo and Jimmy.

"We've heard you're thinking of running Luca and I'm afraid we can't have that."

Shit, how did they find out, I thought I had been careful selling a few things to build up my stash of cash, clearly not careful enough. I didn't think... I just swung, they clearly weren't expecting a fight, but I connected with something which made a cracking sound. I looked up to see Angelo clutching his nose but still standing in front of me.

"You're going to regret that you little fucker!"

I swung again and he caught my fist... he stopped it like it was nothing. The next sensation was seeing colours and stars; something had clubbed the side of my head, hard. I didn't remember much more, other than trying to stay on my feet and not go down. Then going down and trying to get back up, then blackness with some thudding noises somewhere in the background; and then the pain... never ending pain.

I woke up in a hospital bed, looking down to see plaster casts everywhere, it was like one of those old comedy films, I laughed until the pain hit. Then there were Dr's and nurses and machines bleeping and tubes everywhere, I was happy to drift back off to sleep.

I'm not sure how long it was before I came around again but suddenly Sophia was next to me looking distraught and crying, "Jesus Luca, we thought they might have killed you."

She cried some more, kissed my cheek and wiped my brow.

"Are you ok, how are you feeling, try not to talk."

I wasn't sure how I could answer her questions without talking, so settled for a smile as best as I could manage it, everything hurt. That was followed by more Drs and nurses, they informed me I had several broken ribs, a broken leg, a broken arm, concussion and wide spread bruising. But they were mainly worried about my kidney function and the that fact I was passing a lot of blood.

Once things settled down, Sophia next question was interesting, "Do you know who it was?"

"I think you can guess, it's hard to miss his goons the size of them."

She looked horrified, "No, he wouldn't have done this to you!"

That pissed me off, "Fine believe your lover over me then!"

"I do believe you, it's just Gianni promised me he wouldn't hurt you."

"An untrustworthy criminal, who would have thought it possible! If you're going to take his side, maybe you just go Sophia!"

She seemed to grasp her mistake and quietly agreed to go, apologising and saying she would be back the following day.

***

She wasn't my next visitor though, that was more of a shock: Gianni! He shouldn't have been able to get into my hospital room; but the fact that he managed and looked so confident being there was no surprise.

"You are causing me a lot of trouble and your wife is not talking to me."

"I am gutted for you!"

"No need, champagne, flowers and a heartfelt apology and I'll be right back in her panties, she loves that stuff."

"Getting your heavies to beat me up... seems a bit cowardly to me."

He laughed, genuinely amused, "I can look after myself, but that's not how this works, there's a reason it is called organised crime. I like you; the guys said you kept going after you knew you were beaten."

"Yeah, that worked out well for me."

"If it's any consolation I had to discipline Angelo, can't have people ignoring orders after all, and this was intended as a short sharp lesson, not a hospital visit. You upset Angelo by breaking his nose; you should thank Jimmy, he stopped Angelo from killing you.

"Discipline?"

"Angelo won't be around anymore, let's leave it at that. Frank is less than impressed; Gabrielle's is pissed and cut off his access to her pussy as well. Because I like you, I'm not going to have the guys take care of you, but I will continue to see Sophia and it looks like you won't be trying to run for some time."

"This is purgatory just let me go, she wants you anyway, why not just take her."

"You idiot, she saved you, you should be thankful. She assures me she will kill herself if anything else happens and she can't be with you. So it seems you need to stay healthy... at least to a point. Don't think about running again, you're clueless and would be easy to track down."

"Fuck you!"

"Ok tough guy, I'll let you have that one seeing as you've already been punished. I think we need a change of tact; as you seem quite resilient we'll try something else. Any more objections or trouble and I will hurt your friends and family, including Sophia, your parents and Danny for starters. Consider that well before you make any further errors in judgement. You should remember Luca, I enjoy all of this, all of the chaos, it makes me feel alive."

***

I was released from hospital but still struggling to recover my mobility. Sophia was a godsend attending my every need and being overly protective. There was no mention of Gianni and life became almost normal.

Things gradually improved, I was getting about with a single stick, all be it with some difficulty. I heard a rumour that Gianni was now engaged to be married to Isabella Rossi, the same family as Frank's wife; it appeared Silvio's information was good. I wondered if that's why Sophia hadn't been on any dates for a while. I could only hope and pray his new fiancé might end my torture.

My good fortune didn't last, no sooner had I begun to hope it was all over when Sophia announced she had a date for the following Saturday, my nightmare had returned.

"He apologised about what happened to you, it was Angelo's fault."

"Really, you're taking his side after what I went through... Jesus Sophia! Anyway what about his fiancé?"

"I am not taking his side but it wasn't all his fault. He has broken the engagement off with her, he said she was too controlling and pushy and insisted that our arrangement had to stop. Frank is furious with him; he says he is risking everything they have worked for."

"So he chose you, you seem pleased Sophia."

She at least had the decency to looked embarrassed, "I'm not pleased, you know I have no choice and it wasn't about me, it's about control. You know him, he won't put up with a fiancé or wife pushing him around."

She was sounding less and less convincing, "Breaking it off with a Rossi, I hope he knows what he is doing."

Once the dates returned, it was with a vengeance; Sophia started to return later on a Sunday. Our sex life deteriorated further: Sophia wanted more cuddles and hugs, it pissed me off, as I knew how many times she was putting out for him.

Then one Saturday he arrived at the apartment to pick her up personally. He told her to wait in the limo for him and watched her go reluctantly before turning to me with an evil grin.

"It's nearly Christmas so I will be spending more time with her. I was thinking about Christmas presents and that song... the 12 days of Christmas; you know the one 'on the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me'. Except we'd need to change the wording, maybe something like: 'On the first day of Christmas my mistress gave to me... a blow job in the limo'.

He laughed at himself in a manic way, I wondered if he was high on something or just psychotic.

"Instead of 5 gold rings, I could take her brown ring. What do you think, she is a mature woman now and an experienced mistress, it's about time she took it up the arse as well. Tell you what I will break her in for us, my present to you. Of course she might need a few extra days to recover. I will bring her back... in 12 days time when we have ticked off all the presents."

He laughed again, looked more crazed than ever and left without another word.

Sophia came back at 11am on the following day, she said it was just a normal date night and nothing unusual had happened. Was Gianni just torturing me or was he losing it completely?

***

I heard Sophia on the phone to her mother arranging a dinner reservation for Valentine's Day in a couple of weeks' time. It was clear that the date was with Frank and Gianni.

"Valentine's Day really... how romantic for you."

"It was mum's idea; she is trying to help patch things up between Frank and Gianni."

"Yeah and you didn't even think about spending it with your husband."

"It's important, Gianni is becoming more erratic, Frank is the only one who can keep him in check. They need to get back together for everyone's sake."

That tied in with his bizarre threats at Christmas. I was worried about how extreme his behaviour might become. Sooner or later it sounded like he was going to snap and any one close might get hurt in the process; but there was nothing I could do.

***

"Four dead in gangland shooting!"

The voice on the TV report in Danny's bar caught my attention, I listened with interest but it was clear the reporter knew little more and was filling time on air.

The police call came shortly afterwards, explaining my wife was in custody and could I go to the station. When I got there, they led me to an interview room rather than to Sophia.

Two detectives questioned me starting with my whereabouts earlier that evening.

"I didn't fancy spending Valentines alone, so I went to my local bar. Danny the owner is a friend, he can vouch for me along with about 30 other people in the bar. This might be easier if you told me what it's all about."

"Frank and Gianni Esposito and a couple of their enforcers were shot outside a restaurant, your wife and mother in law were with them and had just gotten into a limo when the attack happened. They weren't injured but were sprayed with blood and... tissue."

"Tissue?"

"Brain matter mostly... do you know the deceased?"

"Come on, everyone around here knows them."

"Do you know anyone who would want to harm them?"

"It could be anyone, they aren't short of enemies."

"Did you know about your wife's relationship with Gianni Esposito?"

"Yes!"

I didn't offer any more information than I had to, I was 'cooperating' but keeping my answers short, which seemed to irritate them.

"And you knew where they were going tonight?"

"Yes, but anyone could have known that, it wasn't the first time they'd been there. As you can see, I am still incapacitated and hardly in position to attack four armed criminals."

"That's right, you were hospitalised several months ago, would that have anything to do with your wife's lover."

"I have no idea; the police were unable to resolve that crime, I am not even sure they looked into it at all now that you mention it. Anyway it sounds like a standard gangland takeover move."

"Oh is that right, so if you know so much, who was it then?"

"I wasn't born yesterday and couldn't possibly comment."

They didn't push hard; I suspected they already had a good idea who had committed the shooting, proving it would be an entirely different matter. Organised and multiple shooters with automatic weapons, it was hardly the actions of a lone jealous husband.

We went around and around the same questions without getting anywhere. Finally I was shown into a room with Sophia sitting at the desk; she looked dreadful, covered in blood, scared with her eyes darting around.

"Luca... thank God, they're all dead, Gianni and Frank and the others, it was horrible." Her voice trailed off.

"They asked me so many questions; I had to admit being in a relationship with him and that you knew. It was so embarrassing, they looked at me like I was... I tried to explain I didn't have a choice. And then they asked what happened, there were louds bangs and blood everywhere, Frank fell into the car across me and mum, his dead eyes staring up at us."

"Is your mum here as well?"

"No, they took her to hospital, she was hysterical, they had to sedate her."

"Well, we're free to go Sophia; they are going to help you get cleaned up first."

***

Sophia gradually recovered over the next few days and got close to being her normal self.

She awkwardly started a conversation over breakfast. "What is going to happen to us Luca; can we start again and have a normal life... think about a family maybe?"

"It's not that simple Sophia."

"Why not! I did everything for us, Gianni is gone now and I never wanted it."

"Come off it, you loved it, made you feel special and important. You had a great time on the dates and I saw how you responded when he fucked you."

"You can't spend that much time with someone and not form some sort of relationship. And yes, he was a good lover; he seemed to be able to gauge my reactions and respond in sync with everything I wanted; the sensations overwhelmed me. But I never loved him like I love you. I always awoke in the middle of the night missing you."

"Yeah, didn't stop you fucking next morning though did it!"

"No it didn't, the guilt was hard to deal at first but over time it became normalised. I convinced myself I was saving you. I came to enjoy it, how everyone respected him, the power he had, it was enticing but I always wanted to come back to you. To love and be loved by you. It was never that with him; he was angry and always on edge, I did what I had to do."

There was a long silence as the enormity of her statements sank in but the bigger question was still to come.

"You told him about my plan to run, didn't you?"

"What, I don't understand."

"You understand perfectly well, you told Gianni about my plan to run."

I could see her trying to deny it even to herself, in the end she gave it up, "I... I just said it was something you had considered, it seemed safer than actually running, I thought they would catch us and kill you."

"Maybe but I couldn't live like that anymore, you obviously could! Did you know they were going to beat me up?"

"God No, I was horrified when I saw you. Gianni said they would just talk to you, not put you in hospital."

Sophia got visibly upset, "They might have killed you, why did you fight them... what on earth were you thinking?"

"It wasn't much of a fight at least from my side."

"You broke Angelo's nose and they said you kept getting up and wouldn't stay down."

"Yeah, born stupid or stubborn I suppose and pissed off at giving in to them all the time. It wasn't my smartest move, but by then I didn't care. But it was your actions that got me beaten up Sophia, you betrayed me to him!"

"No it wasn't like that; I didn't know what would happen, I felt horrible afterwards. I tried to look after you and refused to see Gianni. I made him promise to never hurt you again,"

"I know, that's why..."

"Why, what?"

"That's why the attack happened after you and Gabrielle got in the limo. I suggested they waited until you were in the car, fewer witnesses and less collateral. They needed a way to take out both Frank and Gianni at the same time to avoid a protracted war."

Her eyes widened, "You set them up; you can't have done... how?"

"You always did talk loudly on the phone to your mum, including your date arrangements for Valentine's Day; that was an extra insult by the way. It never even crossed your mind to go out with me."

"You couldn't of... you killed him?"

"He deserved everything he got; anyway it was you who blew his security. I just passed the information on to some interested parties. A family who saw a jilted fiancé as both an act of disrespect and an opportunity."

"The Rossi's... how could you possibly know them?"

"Danny is a distant cousin, he put me in touch with Isabella, Gianni's ex fiancé. Once she heard my story, she knew I was genuine. She said they were on borrowed time, Gianni was unbalanced and a risk to all of them and Frank would always protect him; the insult of breaking off the engagement sealed their fate."

"Oh my god, how could you?"

"I wouldn't have done, if I felt my wife was still mine, still on my side. I am sure you didn't mean for me to be so badly beaten, but at the same time you enjoyed your status as mistress, you enjoyed the sex and your betrayal was the final straw, so no we won't be staying together."

"But I love you, I never wanted..."

"Change the record Sophia, you never wanted it but you never made any attempt to stop it. You and Gabrielle should probably move away, the Rossi's are a vengeful family; Frank isn't around to protect his mistress from his widow and I know Isabella isn't happy with you."

"I can't, they have admitted mum to an asylum, she doesn't stop crying and then screams about seeing blood everywhere. I can't abandon her, dad won't have anything to do with her, and he's taken up with that neighbour of his... the widow."