3

Arriving at the beautiful residence where Linda Villani lives, I soon notice the presence of security everywhere, as in the mansion in Province of Rome, the place is immense. Fabian opens the car door for me as Linda walks out the other door talking to someone on the phone. Fabian Schiavo is my personal escort, and the way he’s been behaving since we left Italy, Michael must have threatened him with death for throwing me in the car seat while we were leaving the convent. The man is treating me as if I were made of crystal, opening doors, taking care even if I climb or go down some stairs, and although I found it fun the first few times, it’s starting to annoy me.

Linda treats me very kindly, although I do not trust even my shadow after all, I feel good in her presence. She smiles warmly as we enter the house, passing through a small hall and going on next to a comfortable room from where I can see other environments. In one of them a little girl dressed in her unicorn pajamas notices our presence and then runs to my hostess.

“Mom!” she says genuinely happy to see Linda, who takes the girl in her lap almost crying “you came back!”

“I didn’t tell you it would be quick?” she looked at the girl as if she hadn’t seen her for weeks “I missed you so much, my princess!”

“Me too, mom” she hugged her mother tightly, kissing her face then “brought me gifts?”

I appreciate their conversation, as Linda told me, Morgan is smart and speaks all the time, a ray of sunshine! Then the girl turns to me, and looks at me as if she is deciding whether or not to like my presence.

“Who is she, Mama?”

“This beautiful girl is Giulia, a friend” said Linda encouraging the girl to come closer to me “she will stay with us for a few days.”

“Hello, Morgan” I get down on my knees to be the same height as her, and she smiles “your mother showed me pictures of you, but you’re even more beautiful in person!”

“Thank you!” she says, and look at Linda “Can we keep her?”

“Morgan!” Linda scolds her, but I laugh at the question “sorry, Giulia!”

“She’s beautiful, Mom, and you and Grandma always say that Uncle Michael needs a girlfriend” Morgan talks, and I feel like my face turns red.

“Your Uncle Michael, um...” Linda tries to change the subject “honey, what do you want for dinner?”

“Anything?” the girl asked smiling “Pizza!”

“Great!” she agrees “You go choosing the flavors with Tina” she indicated the nanny of the girl who was nearby “while I accommodate Giulia in the guest room!”

After promising the girl that it would not take long, we went upstairs, while Linda tells me about that house having been occupied by her brother before becoming capo, and that his room would be mine in the next few days.

!Um, won’t he bother with that?”

“Do not worry, he is a very busy brother, almost does not come here” she laughs “and this is no longer his home. You know, I moved here at his insistence, after Freddy died” she had told me about her husband’s death during the trip “Michael still lived here.”

“You seem to be very close” I mean, as we enter the room, darker tones predominate.

“Yes, we are” she talks, as she opens the closet door and points to the bathroom, both she and I hear Morgan’s voice down the hall, looking for her mother.

“Linda, I do not want to disturb, I will take a shower and come down next” I say, because the girl needs her mother.

After she leaves, I close the door, take a deep breath and for the first time in the day I feel my body relaxing, my shoulders ache, my feet are killing me in these heels, and silence and at least a few minutes without noticing that someone is watching me is all I desire! I take off my heels, and a sense of relief runs through my feet, ankles and calves, not as high heels as the ones Linda had suggested I should wear, but to me they were high enough to consider them torture.

I go to the closet and notice that there are some clothes there, few, but that should be enough until, as Linda said, we were allowed to leave the house. The hostess is excited to take me shopping, and I have no doubt that will make it an event. In addition to my clothes, I notice that some suits, shoes, men’s accessories occupy a small part of the closet while I’m undressing and I stop immediately. That whole room seemed to have the presence of Michael Villani, as if he were right here, staring at me with those merciless eyes. I finish undressing in the large and clear bathroom, anxious for a good shower, while the events since I was taken by Villani go and return to my thoughts. It was all so fast that I get to ask myself if it is real, or if it is just a bad dream from which I can not wake up, but I am brought to reality when I feel that my hand still hurts after slapping Michael. I take a deep breath, feeling my eyes watering as I remember the rude way he spoke of my mother. To think that his words were exactly what people talk about Donatella squeezes my heart, and even more so because now he and my uncle must be deciding my future and negotiating me.

Isn’t that why my mother ran away, after all? To be able to live her own life, without the mafia deciding for her, and here I am, about to live everything she had run away from all her life. I would like to talk to my uncle, he is a powerful and feared man, as much or more than Michael Villani, and my mother has always trusted him, I do not want to believe that he will deliver me to an arranged marriage with a man like that.

When I go back to the room, I don’t feel hungry, but life with Donatella has taught me that when we are at a disadvantage, creating problems is not a good strategy, and I’m sure I have time to think of a way to escape the agreement between our families. I wear a simple dress and a white sneaker, and then I go down to dinner.

Morgan is a lovely little girl, and makes a point of sitting next to me, telling me about the school, her dolls with whom she intends to organize a tea the next day, to which Linda and I will be invited. The girl’s laugh is contagious and her company makes me forget for a moment the real reason for being in her house. After dinner, Linda lets her daughter watch the series she loves for a few more minutes while she offers me a glass of sparkling wine.

“I won’t tell anyone” she says, winking at me and pouring me a cup.

The drink is soft and we talk about Joe Cavalieri, my uncle. Linda apparently has no complaints about him, and reveals to me that the next day he will come, in the company of Michael to see me. I’m happy with the news, but the fact that Michael will also come frustrates my plans to talk to my uncle alone, and try to convince him not to accept that arrangement. I need time, to think of a way to escape from that house, and the constant vigilance that was imposed on me.

Soon, Morgan sleeps in his mother’s lap, who takes the girl to the room, while I remain still for a while, drinking what Linda said to be called by her brother "drink for women". I can not avoid a rolling of the eyes, just as I had already realized that the clothes chosen for me, were to please him, and that it seemed that no matter the opinion of others, his always remained.

I go back to the sleepy room, which is good, because at least I can ignore the feeling I have about the room seems to me an extension of Michael Villani’s control. I take a pill because the constant headache I’m feeling during the day seems to have gotten stronger, and soon I go to bed.