Owning the Mafia Don

Proserpina

I stepped out of the kitchen, face glowing as I hurried to meet my friend.

Rachel had arrived, flying in from one of the Scandinavian nations, where she had gone to attend a lecture on environmental hazards. And she had also presented a paper before the august assembly of academicians, and I was proud of her although she had played down her achievement in her usual flippant way.

I threw my arms around her and she hugged me enthusiastically. Rachel was a big-boned woman with short-cropped blonde hair and a wide smile, her huge glasses balanced on her small pert nose. She still had a smattering of freckles on her nose, and I squealed as she hugged me again, a bone-breaking hug.

‘Girl, you look as young as ever’ she shouted, her booming voice as authoritative and strong as ever.

‘Rachel!’ I cried, even as she continued,

“Where is your brood?’ and then she chuckled as Ria and Piers, with Claude in tow, burst out of the morning room where they had been doing their studies, under the watchful eye of my assistant, Tadhana.

‘Auntie Ray!’ shrieked Ria, and was immediately swept up in her arms. Piers stood, grinning as she turned to him, enclosing him in her arms. She looked at Claude who had wobbled over to me, wrapping his arms around my legs uncertainly.

He had seen her on video calls but this was different.

She was a bit overwhelming and he was a little hesitant around strangers for all the gusto with which he threw tantrums around us, his family. He was also unusually subdued around Lucien, probably because his father was rarely in his ambit.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

Paddy peered out from behind a door and I beckoned him over. He shuffled up to me, head bent, and I pulled him to me.

“This is my son too: meet Paddy.’ I said smiling down at him and ruffling his hair.

“We have adopted him. He is Patrick Delano now.’ said Ria importantly, coming up to hold his hand.

Her amused, keen eyes slid over him and then, turning to Claude, she noted with a chuckle,

‘This one is a tad too plump, don’t you think?’

I laughed, as I lifted my slightly overweight son in my arms.

‘And where is the rest of your platoon?” she asked , amusement dancing in her wide eyes.

I led the way to the nursery, as Ria darted around Rachel, gabbing away. Piers followed sedately, his tablet clutched in his hands.

Claude was clutching me, his arms wound around my neck.

‘Don’t you want to change before you meet the kids, maybe take a breath or something?’ I asked as we entered the well-lit room, the morning sunshine dancing on the carpeted floor.

She shook her head and answered absently, ‘I slept on the flight, hon.’ And then, her eyes rolling in wonderment, she cried,

“Damn, but these babies are even cuter than I had thought!’ The nurses and Camille were bustling around and they looked up and smiled even as Tara let out a wail.

“She hungry,’ beamed one of the nurses and I sighed. I was still weaning them away but it was taking time. Besides, it was now time for a feed. Not too familiar with babies, Rachel watched as the little ones were changed and I settled down in the armchair to feed them, one by one.

She gave me a wink and said,

“Need to catch up with these kids, now,” indicating Ria and their brothers as she was led away by them.

The excited chatter that followed in their wake alerted me to the fact that she had brought them a year’s worth of toys and games.

Sighing, I thought of Lucien.

He had not been happy to know that she was arriving to meet me but he knew better than to try to dissuade me.

I sighed and nodded.

Rachel and I went back a long, long way. She had been the one who had helped me to escape from Lucien that very first time when I was still a young teen, barely nineteen. I had been heartbroken to discover that I was only one mistress in a long line, not the life I wanted for myself. She had arranged for me to cross over to Europe and had also aided me to get to Bhutan. Rachel still did not like Lucien. the feeling was mutual. they were two of the closest people in my life but she still harboured a grudge against Lucien.

“That Mafia man, ‘she would say disparagingly.

Lucien said nothing but his cold silence when I spoke of her was enough to make me aware of how he disliked her. He held it against her, the fact that she had helped me to run away, I mused.

My little son, Louis nipped at my teat with his toothless gums and I winced. We had finally zeroed down on names for the boys. It had been decided that both the twins would get to choose a name each. Since Ria had already chosen her sister’s name, she was technically out of the race. but she had invented a method to get to decide .

The twins had presented a list of three names.

Piers had opted for Louis for his older baby brother. Ria said that Claude would place his pudgy finger on the name he wanted to choose. In order to ensure that it was a democratic process, this business of choosing a name, she had taken the trouble to write down some options which were placed before the twins and Claude.

But clever as ever, Ria outsmarted her twin again.

And before our astonished eyes, she grabbed little Claude’s forefinger and plonked it firmly onto the name she had written in her childish scrawl with Tadana’s help, of course;

Domnique.

So Dominique it was for the smallest fellow.

As Camille remarked, the littlest one had the longest name!

I smiled.

The twins were as devious as they come.

They had assured me that their Pappa would have no problem whatsoever; in fact, they had already received his permission to name their siblings as they wished.

knowing Ria, I did not hesitate to believe her. With her lovely golden ringlets and dimples, her blue-grey eyes that could shine innocently when she felt the need to persuade someone, she had Lucien wound around her little finger.

I gratefully handed over Louis and picked up Tara.

Sighing, I wondered where Lucien was. I had seen Beston talking on the phone but somehow, I had not had the courage to find out. Apart from that, my husband had very strictly forbidden me from asking for information. So I watched Beston as he walked about, his face grim. I knew he would come and inform me about Lucien’s whereabouts when he had to.

Rachel sat down for dinner that evening and looked up to meet my eyes as Beatrice served her the vegan dish.

Knowing that she only chose to eat vegan dishes, I had prepared a curry tofu wrap organic & local tofu, sprouts, spinach, tomato, cucumber, & cumin raita.

She beamed and smacked her lips.

“Your mother still cooks amazingly!’ she said, smiling at the kids who were hanging on her every word.

They thought she was like Father Christmas with all the gifts she had downloaded on them, I thought drily.

They kept chatting, filling her in on inane matters, giggling, generally being their rumbustious selves as I watched, cradling Dominique who had decided to get up and make a racket.

As the children were led away to change into their pyjamas, Rachel turned her bright blue eyes on me and asked,

“So, where is your mafia man?’

And before I could answer, she added caustically,

‘Out killing more folk?’

Her disapproval shone like a beacon and I flushed at her words. She could never understand my love for him and his fascination for me in those days had angered her.

‘Old man,’ she had mumbled when she first heard of him and realised how besotted I was with him.

She still disliked him and had never forgiven him for having hurt me.

I sighed and placed my hand over hers.

“He has gone to find Dmitri Rudenko. And …’ I sighed, biting my lip. Unable to go on, I lowered my head to hide my tears. Rachel came and sat beside me, her hand on mine, giving it a squeeze.

We sat silently there, my best friend and I . She knew how agitated I was.

I was grateful for her support, eloquent in its silence.