You're My Peace of Mind

Part 25

First and Foremost, I cannot thank you all for reading this far. When I decided to write this book, I was hoping for just two readers, never would imagine this many. I enjoy reading all the comments, so keep them up.

Walking into the "spot" the air was different. The room was silent, no yelling, laughing or distinctive chatter. There wasn't even a smell of a lit cigerate. The men were on edge, they were used to walking all over her. Some of them didn't respect her, they believe she had no backbone and was just a puppet. But today for the first time she called for a commission, as Duffy explained to them, all governing heads were to be in attendance. Except one, which meant...

Duffy explained to me in the car, that Cataldo and Mazzone will be in attendance and two "elders" because in order to remove a head leader we needed everyone's agreement. So here I am currently sitting at a round table in a quiet and cold room, with the men staring at me. One of the elders with scary dark eyes caught my attention, he was staring, and it wasn't a friendly stare. Chills ran down my spine, goose bumps covered my arms. I quickly turned my attention to Emilio who was sitting on my left, he gave me a nod encouraging me to speak. I gathered all courage to address these men, I knew this was the one moment I had to prove to them that I wasn't just some "little girl", I knew I couldn't afford to fuck this over.

"I'm going to make this short and simple, I called for this commission because Angelo Fucci needs to be removed. As Don I'm asking for your agreement and blessing for this removal." I said releasing a breath I didn't know I was holding. Cataldo was the first to speak "I second that removal, all that he has ever done since appointed his position is disobey and cause trouble. I fear that if we don't remove him now, what he will do next." He finished giving me a nod.

Eyes fell to Mazzone, "I question this removal for the sole purpose, that he and your late husband didn't see eye to eye. It's hard to not believe that you aren't just trying to retaliate for Val. I may consider if enlighten me what warrants him to be removed. No offense but this is your only move as Don you have done; I just want to be assured there is no extra influences." Mazzone said leaning back into his chair.

One of the elders, a very large and wide man spoke "I actually have to agree, is there a reason for his removal, or is it just because you don't like him. I'm not sure how familiar you are with how this works; we sometimes have to break bread with our enemies all for the best interest for the Familia." He finished. Duffy spoke up "That son of a bitch has been a problem for years. He's been a pain in the ass even before Val died." In a low voice Duffy finished "Something deep inside tells me Fucci had something to do with Val's murder." He finished, shocking everyone in the room. The wide elder threw up his hands "Whoa, that's a big accusation. Do you have fucking prove?" He said to Duffy. "No. But I don't fucking trust him, something just aint right about him." Duffy said. The wide elder shook his head in disapproval.

Seeing this was going nowhere I decided to tell them about the heist. "He did a heist at a jewelry store, the police are all over it. I fear it will lead to us." I said. "Did you call for the heist?" the wide elder asked. "No, I didn't know anything about it." I said "Well then, you have nothing to worry. If they find out it was Fucci, then he will take it like a man, if he rats then we will deal with it then." "But why wait, until it gets that far?" I said challenging the wide man. "Enough." The elder with the dark eye finally spoke "Leave men, I want to talk to Mrs. DeLaruso, alone." The men began to rise to get up, Duffy put his hands on my shoulder and whispered, "be good kid." in my ear and walked away leaving me in the room with the scary eyed man.

"I don't think we've had the pleasure to meet. My name is Francesco Brambilla, but please call me Frank." He said reaching over the table to shake my hand. I hesitantly reached out my hand to meet his "Hello Frank, my name is..." I started, he raised his hand to cut me off. "I know who you are. Valentino was like the son I never had. He was my favorite, I taught him everything he needed to know, but he was stubborn to a fault." He softly smiled like he was reminiscing. "I tell you a little secret, I had high hopes for Valentino. I was so protective of him, that's why I had her killed." "Who?" I asked but already knew who she was. "Lydia, his ex-wife. He loved her so much, he was blinded by love that he couldn't face the truth." "Which was?" I asked. I remembered reading Val's notebook that mentioned the killing of Lydia. My train of thought was broken when Frank spoke "You won't make the same mistake, right?" he asked. I shook my head. "Before Valentino died, he told me about you, I promised him I would watch over you, consider you as family. I was surprised that he gave you the position, but that's classic Valentino always throwing curve balls."

Frank stood up, adjusted his pants I noticed he wasn't as wide as the other elder, but he was a fairly large man. He starts walking towards me on the other side of the table, as he got closer, he opened his arms up, "Come" he gestured for me to go to him. I stood up and he engulfed me into a hug and patted my back "Welcome to the familia figlia." Frank said pulling away from me, "Now your Fucci problem, he's always been a little annoying bitch and should have been dealt with years ago. I'll tell you what, have a chat with Sammy and give you an early Christmas gift." He said patting my cheeks. "how does that sound figlia?" he said waiting for an answer. "Good, thank you." I said smiling. I liked Frank, one thing I learned with this familia you can't trust anyone too easily.

A few days after the commission was Christmas. Claudia was making a big dinner and I was hosting most of the men except Fucci. Actually, after the commission the men promise Frank not to disclose what was discussed in the meeting until his and Sammy's final decision was made. I was feeling cheerful and in the Christmas spirit, so I invited Fucci. The problem was Fucci was nowhere to be found or heard from. Emilio expressed some concern that he believed Fucci ratted because when he stopped by his house, his houseworker said he hasn't been home for a few days. This information put Duffy and I on edge because we worried that Fucci got wind of me trying to remove him and he flipped. But now it's Christmas, my favorite time of year, I'll deal with Fucci later.

Claudia was frantically running around in the kitchen, swearing in Italian under her breathe. "Wanna help princess?" Claudia said sarcastically to me. "Okay what can I help you with?" I asked laughing. The doorbell rang, "Oh god, company isn't supposed to arrive until after 4, I'm not done yet, oh my god, oh my god." Claudia said frantically, she handed me plates to set the table with and went to answer the door. As I was setting the table Claudia came in with a gift-wrapped box. "Wow, you are one lucky girl. Its heavy and addressed to DeLaruso family." Claudia said winking and walking back into the kitchen. I was so excited for the gift, I couldn't figure out who would actually sent me a present. I decided to wait till later to open the gift. By the time I was done setting up the table, Emilio, Sonny and Duffy entered the house carrying some gifts. Claudia directed the men where to place them under the tree. "Which one of you set Ana that big gift?" Claudia said smiling, she picked up the gift and set it on the dining room table, "Open it, it's killing me." She said excitedly wiping her hands on her apron. Her white apron had dark red smudges on it. "Are you bleeding?" I asked Claudia. "yeah what the fuck is on you?" Duffy asked. Claudia shook her head and looked confused as she looked at her hands. Her eyes widen "It's from the gift." She said shakily. "Who sent the box?" Emilio questioned. "I don't know, I answered the door and the box was just there. I didn't see who dropped it off. I swear." Claudia said almost crying. "It's probably nothing, Sonny open it." Emilio said

"Damn, why me. I don't wanna see no dead shit." Sonny said. Emilio slapped the back of his head "Go." Sonny huffed and walked towards the gift; he unwrapped the paper to revile a cardboard box. The bottom of the box had turned a darker shade than the rest of the box, indicating something wet was in the box. "Claudia, go get ready for the dinner." Duffy demanded. Claudia quickly ran up the stairs. Duffy turned to me, "You too, go get ready." He said to me. "No, that box was addressed to the DeLaruso family, so it was intended for me. I wanna see what inside." I said Duffy huffed, rubbing the back of his neck and nodded for Sonny to open the box.

He opened the box and immediately shook his head and looked away. Duffy stepped forward and looked into the box "Damn, not fucking good." Duffy said swiping a plate off the table shattering it in pieces. Emilio step forwards "Fuck!" he shouted, I went to step forward, but Emilio stopped me. "Don't fucking look." He said to me, his eyes turned dark. "What is it?" I asked "Fucci fucking head." Emilio said to me darkly. My breathe hitched in my throat, and my eyes locked with Duffy whose face was red. Just as I about to say something the doorbell rang.

"Ana go answer the door and Sonny go get rid of that shit." Emilio said, "What the fuck am I supposed to do with his head?" Sonny asked, "I don't fucking know." Emilio said. I took the opportunity to look inside the box, the moment I did I regretted it. I began to gag, and tears filled up eyes. The doorbell rang again "Answer the fucking door Ana" Duffy said before looking at me. When he noticed the tears, he walked up to me "We warned you not to look, kid." Duffy said putting his hands on my shoulder. We will deal with it later, just answer the door, put a happy face on, celebrate Christmas and we will deal with this shit later." He said patting me on the back pushing me towards the door.

This Christmas was definitely one I will never forget, but after answering the door, I knew it would go down in the books. Standing on my doorsteps on this chilly Christmas afternoon were Det.Alex Depasquale and his partner Det. David Evans.