The Mafias Daughter

Ch. 35 : Ceremony

I was in my office, working on a few business deals i had when all of a sudden my doors burst open. I looked up from the contract I was reading and came eye to eye with my father and sister. "Your brothers in the hospital". I stood up and took hold of my bag and keys and made my way over to them. "What do you mean?" I asked as we made our way to the elevator.

The doors opened and we stepped in. Dominika pressed the lobby button and I looked at my father. "Your mother called me today and told me victor was in the hospital". "When Did this happen?" I asked. "A few days ago". "And she's barley calling you?" I asked and the doors opened. "Where is he?" I asked as we made our way out of the company. "He was brought into the U.S. this morning". 

"Naomi, take Dominika. I have to do something" my father said and made his way to his car. I looked at Dominika and she smiled slowly. "Come on" I said and made my way to my car. We both got in and I turned the car on. "Did he tell you what hospital?" I asked. "Cornell" Dominika answered and I thanked her and took off.

"Just stay near me when we get there" I told her and turned the music on. I felt awkward telling her that considering we were the same age. I glanced her way and noticed she was nervous. "Its going to be okay Domi" I told her and held her hand. She nodded at that and i took my hand back. These past few days we had gotten to know each other a bit since she was working in the company.

I finally arrived at the hospital and I parked. We both got out of the car and made our way inside the hospital. "Were here to see Victor Ridalfo" I told the receptionist and showed her my ID. "He's in room 350" the receptionist said after checking her clipboard. We walked to the elevator and made our way in and waited for the elevator to go to the third floor. It stopped, the doors opened and we stepped out.

We looked for the room and finally stood in front of the hospital room our brother was in. I knocked and heard a voice. I opened the door and we stepped in. My mother was seated next to my brother. She was holding his hand in hers. He was asleep. My mother didn't look like she usually did. She looked sleep deprived. "How is he?" I asked. "How is he?" My mother Said.

"Your the reason he left. He's like this because of you" my mother hissed. Tears streamed down her face. I looked at the floor and tried to calm myself. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked at Dominika and saw her smile sadly. "Its not your fault" she whispered. That got my mothers attention and she looked up. She looked at Dominika and me.

"So your the bastard". "Don't talk to her like that" I warned and my mother snickered. She stood up and I stared at her. "I-". The heart machine started beeping faster and I looked at Victor. His body had jerked up, his breathing fast paced. He looked shocked. "Where's Naomi?" he asked and looked around the room as he took his air mask off.

"He's coming" Victor whispered and went into shock state. Dominika was shouting for the doctor and I watched as my mother cried and took hold of victors hand. Doctors rushed in and I felt myself getting dragged out of the room. "Naomi". "Naomi". I blinked a few times before I noticed I was being shaken by Dominika. Sobs filled the air and looked around me to see my mother hugging my father. When did he get here?

After what seemed like hours, a doctor finally came out. "He's stable and awake. He's asking for Naomi" the doctor said. I walked up to him and he told me to go in. I walked to victors room and made my way in. "Victor?" I asked as I sat on the bed next to him. "Naomi". He opened his eyes and took my hand. "I can't do this. I never wanted this. I want you to take over for me" he said quietly.

I looked at him in shock. "What happened?" I asked. "I'd suggest for you to not ask. It might trigger him" the doctor suggested and I nodded at that. "I can't do that" I whispered. "I never wanted this life. I thought that if I went into this life, our father would place more attention on me. But I understand it wasn't my fault or anybody's else. Talk to our uncle" he whispered.

"Please" he pleaded and closed his eyes. I stood up and made my way out of the room. "What happened?" My father asked. My mother had made her way into victors room. "He told me to talk to alessandro about taking over" I told him. "What?". I just stood there in silence. "Should I?" I asked my father. "If that's What you want" my father whispered.

I looked at Dominika who was seated in one of the hospital chairs. "I'll go talk to him". I hugged my father and turned around and made my way to the elevator. I clicked the lobby button and waited for the doors to open and then once they did, I stepped in.

Soon I was out of the elevator and out of the hospital and in my car on my way to my uncles house. After almost a hour I finally arrived and parked in front of his house. He was waiting near the door. I opened My cars door and stepped out. "Your brother called me" my uncle said. I nodded at that. "And I agree with him. Your better suited for this type of life then he is".

That shocked me a bit. "What now?" I asked. "Lets go to the back". He walked down the steps and I followed him to the back of the house. "What am I going to do?" I asked. "Your getting sworn in. Usually there's a test, just like in the Bratva" he said and opened the warehouse and we stepped in. His men were there.

"But we can't have other mafias knowing your brother was shot or that la cosa Nostra is without a leader". I nodded at that. "What do you want me to do?" I asked. The lights in the warehouse turned off and candles were lit. My uncle handed me a knife and told me to cut my hand. I did what i was told and cupped both of my hands as I watched blood trickle from the wound and create a pool of the warm liquid in front of me.

Alessandro placed a picture of a saint in the pool of blood and lit it on fire. He said a few things and told me to repeat, I repeated every single word. By the end of it all, the floor held some of my blood and the card had turned into ash. Someone handed me a rag and I let them clean my hands. I didn't know how to feel, at the moment i was taking it all in.

"What do you want us to do boss?" The men asked. I looked at them a bit overwhelmed, now I had to take care of two Mafias. "I want you to find out who hurt my brother" I said and watched as the men nodded and made their way out of the warehouse and got into cars. "What do you want to do first?" My uncle asked. "I want to see the books, I've heard la cosa nostra isn't doing so good".

"I'm afraid the rumors are true. Are You going to combine both mafias?" He asked as we made our way back to the house. "No. Im keeping them separate. I'm not sure how the men would take the combination, all I know is that production and sells have to go up now with me taking care of both of them. I'll create a mutual agreement for both of them to get along". He nodded at that and we entered the house and made our way to his office where he pulled out books and set them on the office desk.

"I'll go tell Sofia to make us lunch, I'll let you get to work" Alessandro said and left the office. I walked to the chair and sat down and grabbed one of the books. Sales had dropped recently. What was I going to do? I started adding numbers separately on a paper and re arranged prices and noted down a few numbers. By next week la cosa Nostra would be back to shape.