Black Tulip

Chapter 1

Leonardo POV

It's been ten years, yet I still have vivid pictures of her.

They're haunting me like ghosts in an abandoned old house. This is who I am now: a man's shadow, ash scattered in the wind, an everlasting emptiness that will never be sealed.

A deadly weapon that granted hell to the Earth.

It is a stormy night in never-sleepy NYC. Heavy rain is falling, sucking a very soul from the sky, attempting to erase all the memories and pain that are deeply engraved in my black heart.

A melodious, appealing voice whispers to me, tempting me, like a siren, to join her in eternity.

Black, vibrant, affecting eyes mock and follow my every move, irritating and torturing me while punishing me for my first sin.

Even after all of these years, she continues to have an affect on me. I close my eyes and inhale deeply of her fragrance, which lingers in my nostrils. She discretely injected poison into my mind, pushing me to the brink of insanity.

My hand is bleeding, and I didn't notice the pieces of a broken whisky glass badly embedded in my palm. Dropping the remaining glass, I head to my bathroom, to remove my clothing before entering the shower. Warm water will help me to clear my foggy mind.

Every year is very much the same. On this fatal day, I would leave black tulips at her grave without saying a word. It was her favourite flower. Only on this day would I allow a little piece of my feelings to surface.

She shattered my universe, taking away my youth and innocence. And she won't be satisfied until she has destroyed every last ounce of humanity in me.

From that day on, I became distant from everyone.

My mother and sister sought to connect with me, complaining that I am an insensitive bastard.
My mother despises and blames me for the way her husband behaved. Even though she was aware that her husband had mistresses everywhere. Either she is blindly in love with my father, or she is pretending to be blind, one thing is certain, she loves him.

"Love?"

I scoff on that thought. "What a joke! "

Love does not exist in vocabulary of our world full of assassins and bloodshed. My father taught me this.

The old man was convinced that I am a better fit to take over after him than my older brother Lorenzo.

Lorenzo is handling our legal matters. He's the devil in disguise. There was a better saying: "The devil's lawyer." And he really is.

He utilises his charms to achieve what he desires. Smooth bastard, he's every mother and daughter's ideal man, until you cross his path.

"So, good luck to you!"

Dirty work is left in my hands. My father still runs the underground but I am his right hand.

A gentle flower in our family is our sister Laura. She is the youngest among us, and she is attempting to live as normal life as possible in the world we live in.

Laura is currently in Italy, our home country, pursuing a modeling career. Maybe, she will become a famous designer, one day. This is exactly what she wants.

I am not sorry for crushing her hopes, but she must accept that she will never have a completely normal life. Lorenzo and I made it clear to her that she should always keep her eyes open. We trained her, even though she is a woman.

Women in the mafia are typically kept away from our dark world in order to carry our children, care for our families, and be pretty. However, in our sister's example, we altered the rules.

As I said, "a gentle flower."
Only if, you actually believe my words. Innocence coupled with beauty and a sharp mind is a lethal weapon. And my sister hates me for it. One day, she will be appreciative and perhaps understand my choices. It is up to her whether she understands or not.
Whatever it is, I don't really care.

After a long shower and time travel, I return to my room and settle into a chair near the glass wall. Exhaling greyish smoke from my cigarette, I enjoy my view of the city, whose fate is in the hands of my family.

So exquisite, so oblivious of the looming darkness.