The Thorned Rose

14

BACK TO SAVANNAH'S POV

As is my usual routine, I woke up early, about 6am, went on a 5k run around the grounds and through the forest, and then ate a granola bar and an apple for breakfast. At home I would always eat food at Nadia's house; she had a personal chef, and then get the chef to prepare me loads of meals that I froze. I just could not cook, no matter how hard I tried, the universe wouldn't allow it. I always think it's because I excel in some many other ways, I mean, no one can be perfect, there has to be a balance, but I want to have words with whoever runs the universe, as if I practice enough, I should be good at it, fuck the balance of nature and all that. After my run, I went to the home gym in the basement of the Russo's house and began working out.

"You're up early," said Fabricio, walking in.

"Morning Fabricio," I said.

"I really wish you would stop calling me that, especially around other people. You don't want people to know your name in the same way I don't want people to know my name."

"Completely different," I sighed.

"How so?"

"I don't want people to know my name so they cannot track me down, or track my parent's down, who are in witness protection. I can't have people know my name because it means murders cannot be traced back to me so I will not go to jail. You, however, are just embarrassed by your name, I mean you should be, but it is still completely different."

He stood there speechless for a minute or two, before saying, "your parents are in witness protection?"

"Well, they aren't technically 'witnesses', but some pretty bad guys were after my dad, so we just had to."

"Wow," he gave me a slight smile, that sort of felt like he pitied me or something, I don't know I can't tell, "before you start your first day, you need to know the situation. Come to my office."

"My uncle, who is Rico's father, killed my dad when I was twelve. I was set to inherit my dad's title of the boss of bosses, but because I was only 12, it went to my uncle, to go back to me when I turned 18. Of course, a man who kills for power will not just hand it over when the time comes. He spent his days building up his army, and when I turned 18 threatened to kill me, my sister, my brothers and my mother if I tried to take the power off him. He gave me some turf, as a 'kind gesture', but that was all. Since then we have had a turf war, he kills my men, steals my drugs and keeps a limit of my turf, taking from me if he thinks I am growing too much. Giovanni Furfaro is one of his closest friends, who stole all that cocaine from me, and Vivaldo is another close friend. My uncle is called Domenico Pagnotta, ditching the family name as a final stab in the back. From the day he killed my father, Rico has been on my side, which angered Domenico even more, but right now, he is furious about the deaths of Vivaldo and Giovanni, and our raid on his warehouse, the one where we found you... do you understand so far?" I nodded and he continued. "I am now twenty-six, and it is my birthright to be the boss of bosses, not my blood-thirsty, backstabbing uncle who threatens me at every move. One of Domenico's huge imports is that of child smuggling and trafficking, as well as trafficking women. It was Erasmo who stole the children from the head of the Polish mafia under orders by Domenico, and when I found out Erasmo, who was a close friend of my father, was on Domenico's side, I was glad that you had killed him. My men are loyal, and we have made it so there are no moles, but we do have moles in Domenico's organisation, which is one strength. We all have a tattoo on our ring finger," he showed me his tattoo, it was the tiniest three dots, one black, one white, and one red, on the side of the ring finger, so that it was hidden by all the other fingers. "Anyone with this tattoo is safe to talk to, and if you show it, they will know you are safe too, just don't go showing it around and break our cover."