The Mafia Don’s little Con Artist

17 - To Cause The Most Pain

Sophia POV :

With our bags packed for a week in Ireland, we drove to a small airport where we would be boarding a private jet plane (one of many that Aleks owned apparently.)

The aircraft was larger than I imagined it would be and much more glittering and glamorous in the dark of the night. Leaving in the evening was decided since the flight is about 7 hours long.

Andre opened my side door and helped me out of the car. Then Aleks appeared beside me and lead me by hand up the steps to his jet.

Containing my awe and excitement was, again, a difficult task. Fortunately, there was no one around aside from a small staff, and every one was employed by Aleks. So I didn’t need to uphold my false persona here.

I traced my fingers over the fine leather of the seats, that matched the shiny black tables and wall panels.

Of all the people I’ve swindled and all the characters I have pretended to be, I never thought I’d land myself on a private jet headed to a mafia family wedding in another country. Also, I never imagined that I’d be traveling with a 6 foot 4 inch tall drink of vodka, who even now wasn’t able to keep his eyes off of me.

“Do you like it?” Aleks looks around the interior of the plane.

“Are you kidding?” I scoffed. “It’s more beautiful than anything I could have imagined traveling in!”

He smiled. “Then we will have to go somewhere else.. once all of this fake fiancé business is finished.” Then he walked away, loading his computer and phones into a compartment near a large seat.

“Finished” he said. It made me wonder what exactly will happen in a few more weeks when I’ve completed my job. I know what he’s said to me, and how he looks at me. But I also know that rich people get bored of their toys rather quickly and..

“Sophia?” Ivan pulled me from my spiraling thoughts. “Are you alright, little one?”

“Hm? Oh yah! I just.. I’ve only flown once before and I’m- I guess I’m just a little nervous.”

Ivan’s brow shifted, like he didn’t buy my lie, but thankfully he didn’t call me on it.

I’m just here to make the money we need. No matter what Aleks says, at the end of the day, he’s just another rich guy looking for a good time, and con for hire. I’m not sure what it is about me that has him so intrigued, but I know it won’t last, so I’d be a fool to start getting use to all of this.

“Champagne, miss?” A tall thin young woman appears behind me and offers me a flute of sparkling bubbly.

“Yes, thank you.” I accept the glass, down it, and say, “another, please.”

“Right away, miss.”

I may not allow myself to get use to this, but I’m sure as hell going to take advantage of it while I can.

-

Later on, after we’d been up in the air for a couple hours, Aleks sat across from me typing away at his laptop.

“Ask.” He said, without even looking up. When I didn’t respond, he repeated his word, this time while shutting the laptop closed. “Ask whatever it is that is on your mom.”

I scrunched my brows.

He chuckled. “I can see smoke coming from your perfect little ears. The gears are grinding, so just ask me, before your head explodes.”

“Alright. Who’s the bottle red bimbo?” I finally inquire. It had been eating at me for days. How she approached me, how she spoke to me, and how she couldn’t take her eyes off of Aleks the entire night of the auction.

“I’ve told you this. She’s the daughter of-“

“No.” I interrupt him. His jaw clenches at my action. I’ve noticed it’s something of a pet peeve of his, being interrupted. “I mean, who is she to you?”

“Why the sudden curiosity?” He wonders.

“Her behavior that night has just struck something with me, that, along with the fact that there was no page of information on her in the binder of profiles you gave me to memorize. If her father is the head of an Italian mafia family, then why?”

Aleks sighed. “Because she was supposed to be out of the country.”

“Is she going to be at the wedding festivities?”

“Is it important?” He snaps.

I relax my body, and adjust my tone. The last thing I wanted was to upset him.

“Look, It’s not a matter of jealousy, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Not entirely anyway. “As long as she’s going to be around, and sniffing after you, I would like to know as much as I can about her. Nothing rips apart a good con like a lack of intel.”

With my explanation, Aleks’ shoulders relax just a bit and he loosens a deep breath and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“We were in engaged once. I broke it off.”

“You dated?”

“No. Not exactly.” Aleks huffs. “We.. were..intimate-”

“Okay yah. Yup. Got it.” I didn’t need details of his s****l relationship with the woman. “And?”

Aleks turned to look out the window.

“It was arranged. I was doing what I had to do as next in line to be head of the family. So was she.”

“What changed?”

After a moment, he looked back to me before saying, “You.”

I was stunned. Confused. “Me?”

“I saw you in that club. I saw how you spoke, how you looked, how you commanded what should have been a terrifying situation for you, and I knew..I couldn’t marry Amanda Dorelli.” Aleks stared at me with such heated intensity, I knew he was telling the truth.

“Something tells me she isn’t as accepting of your disengagement. She burned holes into us at the auction. Will she be there?”

“There’s a good chance, yes.” He admits. “She’s not stupid, and I’m sure she is going to blame you for our broken engagement, but everything is going to be fine.”

“Are arranged marriages..common in your world?” I ask him.

“Very.” He says plainly. “I’ve been engaged to Mandi for as long as I can remember. My grandfather has had a very delicate relationship with the Dorelli family head, so a deal was struck for their grand children to be married. The arrangement would end generations of fighting between the two, as well as serving the financial interests for the businesses owned by either family.” Aleks stood from his chair, sauntering to where I sat, and took a seat beside me while grabbing my hand.

“She’s wild.” He claimed. I rose a suspicious brow at his comment.

“Not the good kind of wild.” He chuckled. “She likes to party, over drink, and make a spectacle of herself. It was torture having to be in public with her.”

“If I weren’t here, would she be the one attending all of these events with you?”

He nodded. “She was eagerly anticipating them. She likes the attention she gets when she’s with me. From the press, the other family’s- everyone. I tried for so long just to make the best of my situation, but I was suffocated. She’s a spoiled little rich girl who never suffered any consequences, no discipline or structure.”

“Is that just the way her family is? Or is that common too?”

“No, it’s rather unusual. In our life, image is very important. Our children are provided the best of everything: child care, health care, and education. That includes manners and discipline. But something horrible happened to the family that changed everything.”

The way his face changed, I could see the pain etched in his features.

“When Mandi was eleven, her parents welcomed another child, a sister for Mandi. A beautiful little girl. I only met the child a couple of times, while being brought to play with Mandi when we were young, but I remember how absolutely innocent and sweet she was. In fact, I didn’t care to play with Mandi at all, I just wanted to hold the little baby girl. I was brought to the Dorelli compound, or Mandi was brought to ours, twice a year so we could meet regularly before we were to be married. One year, when it was my turn to visit the family in Italy, something was very different. Very wrong. The whole house was cast in a dark cloud of gloom and dispare. I learned that Mandi’s little sister was taken and killed a few months before.”

“How old were you?” I wondered.

“I was about fourteen when it happened. Mandi was sixteen. I couldn’t understand how jealous Mandi was of a baby, her own kid sister, but she was. She hated that I wanted to see the baby instead of her. She’s like that as an adult still. Her jealousy is toxic and childish, she starts fights and screams over the slightest instances. An important part of our job as family leaders, is to provide the family with a future heir, but how could I possibly bring a child into the world with someone like that?”

“That’s horrible. Was it a rival family that did it?” My skin crawled and my chest tightened at the thought of that sweet little girl being hurt by anyone.

“They never found out for sure, but Mandi’s parents treasured their surviving daughter, and showered her with every want and need. She was not expected to do anything more than enjoy herself however she deemed fit, a habit she also holds onto today.” Aleks tsked.

“All of the ‘families’..does everyone have to be cautious with their children like this?” I fear I knew the answer. I wanted to know the truth, but also, maybe I didn’t.

“Yes. A child is the most valuable asset a family can have. With no one to leave it to, a business can fall apart, or into someone else’s hands. Taking or killing a mafia family heir isn’t something other bosses are above doing.” Aleks shrugged, as if it were nonchalant.

“But you said it was Mandi’s little sister?” I asked. Aleks nodded. “But, wouldn’t Mandi be the next heir to the business? Why would they take the younger child?”

Aleks sighed, and had to look away again as he said, “To cause the most pain.”