Saving the Mafia Princess

Family Meeting

Luca's POV

I stood outside of Tiffany's diner, waiting for my beautiful bride to arrive. I strolled through the news on my phone, trying to stay up to date on everything going in the city. I noticed an article about one of our city officials dying. The cause has not been disclosed, it only says that it was sudden. This said, the official was pretty young, so I am not sure what he could have naturally died from. Interesting.

I am drawn from my own thoughts by Mara pulling up in front of me. I opened the door for her, as I slid my phone in my pocket. "Hello, gorgeous. It is so good to see you", I greeted her, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Hey, love", she smiled shyly. I grinned to myself, I still got it. She still gets flustered when I flirt and play with her. I absolutely love it.

"Let's go make a deal, shall we?", I said, holding my elbow out for her to take. "We shall", she nodded happily. We walked into the restaurant side by side. I immediately spotted Zachariah and his wife, Lola. They met and got married just a few years ago, but I have to say that they are perfect for each other. Lola keeps Zach level-headed when business is booming, and he keeps her sane. It is a beautiful match, truly. They remind me of Mara and I.

"Luca, my main man", Zachariah announced, as we approached. "Marabella, so great to see you", he added, greeting Mara as well. "We saw each other last week, not last year", Mara laughed, as she hugged Lola. "Oh, but we missed you two", Lola cooed softly. "We missed you both as well", I said, half-hugging Zach and Lola.

"Should we order first, then we can get down to business?", Zachariah said. "Yes, please. I am starving", Mara replied, sitting in the seat I had pulled out for her. "I feed her. I swear I do", I joked, smiling at Mara. "That's not what I meant", she tsked, playfully slapping me. I grabbed her hand, stopping her movements and pulled her over towards me.

"I know, silly", I whispered, kissing her temple. Mara leaned into my kiss, enjoying every moment that I picked at her. We had idle chit-chat to catch up, as we went over what we wanted to eat. We ordered our food and drinks, then immediately jumped right into business. "Okay, so here is the deal. I want to expand my growing fields", Zach began. "More?", I teased. He laughed, "Yes, farming in America is down drastically. I believe that is something we have the power to change, on a larger scale. We have all seen firsthand how Marabella has changed this city", Zachariah praised.

I nodded in agreement, glancing over at her. Marabella was blushing at the high-compliment, making me smirk. "Well, I have applied to have my land marked as registered USDA farm land. I want to grow potatoes, corn, green beans, wheat. I also want to grow more fruits as well. I already have apples, plenty to be exact", he said, exhaustedly, waving his hand in the air. "However, I would like to grow real bananas and oranges too", his tone changed back into excitement.

He has always been quite dramatic. It is what makes him who he is, that and being a stand-up gentleman at the same time. "I've already expanded my property. I bought up all the rest of the surrounding acreage. We have an additional 200 acres to work with", he explained. "Wow, that's amazing!", Mara exclaimed. "Yes it is", I agreed, with a smile.

"I can send you the new property details, with a layover of how I want it to be divided for use", Zachariah suggested. "That sounds like a plan. Send it to me, and I will send a copy to Mara. We will work together to set it into motion for you. This is going to be fantastic", I told him. I am truly stoked to be a part of this change.

The server returned with our food. We talked excitedly about upcoming plans for this new project, as we ate our brunch. Zachariah updated us on how his young girl is doing in preschool, and we updated him on how our three are doing in school. Catching up with Zach is always nice. Positive energy always flows at the table when we are together.

We finished up our visit and went our separate ways. As we waved goodbye to Zachariah and Lola, gunshots rang out in the air. My instincts automatically kicked in, and I covered Mara's body with mine, as I pushed her to safety. I could see Zachariah's car making its get-a-way in the distance, putting my mind at ease that they were not the target.

Blood-curdling screams pierced the air of the streets. I peeked my head out of the safety zone to monitor the situation. Across the street, I could see a male's body lying on the sidewalk with blood surrounding it. "Is it clear?", Mara whispered. I studied the streets. People began to surround the body and yelling for the police to be called. "It seems to be that way", I responded to her question.

She had her arms wrapped around my waist, with her back against the wall. She sighed as she leaned her head on my chest. "That's Senator Burns", I heard some in the crowd yell, with disbelief. Another city official? What the hell is going on? Mara's phone dinged, drawing my attention down to her. She pulled out her phone to see who it was from.

'Trey' was the name on her screen. The message was titled, 'Miriam's Daily Activities'. "What is that?", I asked, squinting my eyes down at her phone. "Leo and Colin mentioned that Miriam had been acting weird. So I asked Trey to pull her phone records", she answered, with a matter-of-fact tone. Great. More s**t to deal with.

"We need to get home", I said, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards my car. I sent Cal out earlier on an errand for me, so I drove myself to brunch. Mara followed along with me, as we hustled to the car. I opened her door and helped her in before closing it and heading to my side.

I sped home. "Luca, tell me what's going on", Mara whispered, trying to stay calm. "Something is going on in the city, Mara. That is the second city official I have seen dead in two days. That's not a coincidence", I explained. "You think someone is targeting the city officials?", she asked skeptically. "Yes", I answered.

"But, Franky is still locked under the compound. So who could it be?", she murmured. "That's what we need to find out", I uttered, looking over at her. She knows why I hold this fear. The extinction of our city officials is also the extinction of our allies. We can not sit back and allow this to happen.

I slid into our driveway and booked it down the dirt road like a bat out of hell. Sergio came out of the house in a frantic tiff. "What is going on, brother?", he asked, throwing his hands out to the side. "Family meeting. All the men, let's go", I demanded, jumping out of the vehicle and heading straight inside towards my office.

Marabella met my stride, step for step. She knew that even though I said 'all the men', that excluded her, because she is my Queen and makes an equal number of decisions as I do. I could hear Sergio behind us, calling out to the men of the family. My mind is racing with the possibilities ahead of us. We could be dealing with something so much worse than an attack on the mafia.