Her Hatred

25

|Thea's POV|

I had a nightmare again but this time it was much worse than any I've had before.

Just thinking of it made me want to puke. I saw Luigi taking advange of me while I was crying and begging him to stop. He didn't stop instead, he called in some other men who had their turns on me.

But that wasn't all.

I saw him. He was there, chained and beaten up. He had blood gushing out from his wounds. I don't know why I even dreamt of him.

I wore a black shirt and my jeans before going downstairs. I didn't how how that initiation ceremony was going to be and I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. My heart was beating faster and faster with every step I was taking.

I stopped when I saw around three hundred men and women standing in the huge living room while Alessio was sitting on the couch, doing something on his phone. Nobody was speaking except Macy and Igor who were talking to each other but that's it. The others were completely quiet, it was like they were scared to speak in his presence.

He had only three hundred people in his mafia? That's...very very few. My uncle had around two thousands. I thought The Russian mafia was the second most powerful—was that a lie?

"Thea! You're here!" Macy exclaimed grabbing the attention of everyone in the room including Alessio's. He looked up from his phone, his eyes meeting mine. He then stood up and put his phone in his back pocket.

"Come here" he said which I did. Ignoring all the eyes on me, I walked to where he was standing. "Sit." He pointed to the place where he was sitting earlier.

Once I sat down, he looked at a man who was tall and bald. He had tattoos on every revealed parts of his body, even on his head. Didn't that hurt? The bald tattooed man approached me, holding something which I couldn't make out what It was.

"Hand over your left wrist." He said in a cold and serious voice. I stared at him, confused until Alessio spoke, "he needs to tattoo your wrist." He then showed his own wrist where he had the dragon tattoo, "you need to have this."

My mouth formed an 'O' before I showed him my left wrist. He then pulled a chair and sat down in front of me before placing my wrist on the table in front of us.

I was gonna get tattooed? I've never been tattooed before.

He then began doing whatever he was doing on my wrist. It was hurting like a bitch but I didn't flinch nor show any emotions. I was used to pain. I would clench my jaw every now and then when It would hurt too much but didn't make a sound.

After what felt like hours, he was done and he wrapped a bandage around it. He also gave me something and said to apply it on the tattoo, twice in these two upcoming days.

Alessio cleared his throat before speaking, "Her name is Thea Gonzalez and she's our newest member. I expect you all to treat her like an equal." He then looked down at me before continuing, "If I see anyone misbehaving with her, you'll be punished." He then waved his hand, "now leave." It was already around eight thirty and the mansion had to be empty like usual.

"But doesn't she have to swear Omertà?" A woman from the crowd asked making Alessio let out a frustrated sigh.

That woman was right though. Didn't I have to swear Omertà? The code of silence? Every member has to do so.

"She already did." Alessio replied, lying. Why was he lying?

"Do you have any more questions, Greta?" He asked, not bothering to hide that he was annoyed at the woman. She shook her head, "It's Giana...and no, boss. Thank you."

They all started walking away after bowing their heads slightly. They really did fear him.

"You're finally one of us!" Macy chirped, "I can't wait to hang out with you everyday."

She didn't mean that, did she?

"Come with me. I need to talk to you." Alessio said, grabbing my hand. He then led me to his office. He closed the door behind him and walked towards his desk.

"Why did you lie?" I was confused as well as curious, "I didn't swear omerta."

Without answering my question, Alessio opened a drawer and took out a file. He then gestured for me to sit on the chair across his, which I did.

He placed the file in front of me. The word, 'Omertà' was written in bold. I looked up at him and found no emotion on his face.

"Before you swear Omerta, I need to know if you swore it to the Mexican mafia? If you did...you broke it countless times, I hope you know that." He said watching me carefully and intently.

I shook my head, "I didn't. Luigi would always say that I wasn't fit to join his mafia yet he would make me do almost all the works." I scoffed, "he said if I swore omerta to his mafia, it would be a disgrace to him and the Mexican Mafia."

He nodded at what I said before throwing a pen on the file. "Read and sign," he demanded as I opened the file and started reading.

"I, Thea Gonzalez, pledge my allegiance to the Russian Mafia. I have read and accepted every terms and conditions that comes along with it. I swear to abide by every rules that has been given and I swear to never disclose any informations about the Russian Mafia to anyone unless given permission by the boss. I swear to keep silent in case the authorities get involved. If I break any rule, I accept any punishment that comes with it even if it means death."

"I thought swearing Omerta was a verbal thing?" My uncle wouldn't make people sign papers.

"I don't trust people's words." He shrugged, "most of the time, what comes out of their mouth is utter shit."

He was not wrong. I took a deep breath and signed the papers.

"Are the people present downstairs the only members you have in your mafia?"

"Of course, not." He replied, "I've got around five thousand, seven hundred and eighty eight members..." he paused looking at me, "now, eighty nine. Some are in different countries, doing different stuffs."

"If you've got five thousand then how much does the Italian mafia have?" I asked, curiosity.

"Five thousand, eight hundred and sixty eight. Give or take." He replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

There wasn't a big difference.

"What about the American Mafia?"

"Five thousands, five hundred and ninety two, give or take." He replied straight away. So, my uncle's mafia wasn't even third. He wasn't even close. I felt like laughing at his ugly face.

"What does it mean?"

"What does what mean?" He asked back, confused.

"The dragon tattoo. What does it symbolize?" I asked, staring at his own tattoo.

He looked at his own tattoo before replying, "a dragon symbolizes power, strength, protection and wisdom." He paused, his eyes on my bandaged wrist, "It's fearsome and warlike qualities makes it a wonderful ally or a fierce enemy." He then smirked at me, "Welcome to the Russian Mafia, princess."