Chapter Nine
Alceu
Giulia is so much more than I thought she was. She is a very complex creature but so straightforward. I thought that leaving her to her own devices would be best, but she wants to be a part of something. Suddenly, the conversation from the night before the wedding makes so much more sense. She doesn’t want to just be the good little mob wife. No, she wants to be the mob queen.
Although we may not know each other well, I feel like I can trust her. Call it a sixth sense, one honed over many years. So this morning, we are having a family breakfast.
“Giulia,” I call out as I enter the room.
She emerges from the walk-in closet I have had filled with clothes for her. My mouth goes dry at the sight of her. She is dressed in nothing but a black lace bra and boy shorts, all her skin on display for my perusal.
“Yes?”
“Please join us for breakfast,” I say quickly before stepping out of the room.
Taking a seat at the head of the table, I wait for my brothers and wife to join me. Rosa serves breakfast before she leaves the room. Severu takes a seat to my right, with Stefano beside him. Mancuso takes a seat to my left but leaves a space between us for Giulia. When she enters the room, her gaze scans over each of us before she takes the seat beside Mancuso.
“Glad you could all be here this morning. I wanted to talk about the shitshow that went down last night,” I say while buttering my toast.
Severu clears his throat, drawing my attention to him.
“Do you think we should discuss this in front of her?” he asks with disdain, looking right at Giulia.
“Fuck you,” Giulia spits at him. “I’m here because Alceu needed me just as much as I needed him. I’m not here to topple your fucking empire, and I won’t be treated like a second-rate citizen just because you have your head up your ass.”
My gaze skips from Severu to Giulia and back again. My brother smirks at her before holding his hands up in the air.
“Now that we have settled that, we need to get a new plan of action. Last night, we went into that warehouse to cut off their heroin supply. Finding the women in the back only complicated matters. What are we going to do with them?” I ask no one in particular.
“Well,” Mancuso starts to speak. “They are all strung out. Heroin has been used to keep them docile. Most of them have been turned to the streets. I don’t know what to do with them.”
“Send them packing,” Severu says. “We don’t need more liabilities, and we don’t force women into selling themselves.”
Giulia watches each of my brothers as they speak, slowly chewing on a piece of crispy bacon.
“And what do you think, Giulia?” I ask, drawing her attention back to me.
“I think it’s great that you don’t force women into the sex trade,” she replies.
“But?” Stefano asks.
“Not all women are forced. Salvador probably has them all drugged out because then he doesn’t have to pay them for their work,” she replies before taking a drink of her coffee.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Severu asks.
“It means to get them clean and off the drugs. Give them the option. Work for us or go back to where they came from. Sex sells, it’s a fact of life. Another fact is that men are stupid when they are thinking with their cocks,” she says with a smile. “These women don’t have to be a liability. They could be an asset. How many men give up secrets during pillow talk?”
“Fuck,” Mancuso says beside her. “Are you suggesting we use these women?”
“No.” I cut him off. “What she is suggesting is that we offer them employment. A high-class escort service or maybe a brothel.”
“Exactly.” She smiles at me.
After standing, she moves behind me, touching my shoulder then moving to leave the room.
“And where are you going?” Severu asks.
“I don’t know yet. But I think you have enough to think about without me adding to it. Maybe I will go for a swim or read a book. Let me know if you need any more ideas. I’m happy to help.” She winks at him before leaving.
“That woman is a fucking menace,” Severu complains.
“No, she’s a fucking genius.