The Mafia Part II: April's Return

Chapter 4

For the first time since leaving Italy, April got up early enough to actually partake in the early morning meal. Her night had been less than ideal, spent tossing and turning even more so than usual. It was unsurprising when she woke up as soon as she felt the sun on her face so she could tidy up a small part of her messy surroundings.

She wanted to give housekeeping a chance to clean her room and looking at the chaos around her only upset her and made her hangover that much more painful. April explained the mess away by chocking it up to a childish prank played by Zander. She knew she did not have to explain herself, but it felt horrible enough saddling them with so much extra work… the least she could do was be kind.

As she descended the stairs, she made a mental note to give the young woman dealing with Zander’s mess a hefty tip when they left and also felt a wave of grudging appreciation for her brother-in-law. Demetrio had spared no expense on this lavish trip. April stopped short when she got to the dining room only to see that Zander and Henry were already up. Perhaps they had not gone to sleep at all. The former’s sleeping patterns were a mystery to her still, even though she had a sneaking suspicion that he got as little of it as she did.

She took a deep breath and forced herself forward. April gave Henry a friendly pat on the back in greeting and ignored the other occupant at the table. The dirty look Zander shot his friend in response went completely unnoticed. She passed them both and grabbed a chair, pulling it so it came to rest in front of the bookcase. She climbed up on it, ignoring how much the movement made her head pang in response, and dug in between two heavy tomes. A few seconds later, her small hand was pulled back out, triumphantly grasping two sets of keys. She jumped down and set the keys down on the glass table.

When she finally looked up, she noticed the two sets of eyes looking at her. While Henry had a look of muted pride on his face, Zander’s was full of nothing but contempt. The less aggressive of the two poured her a glass of water and slid it to her along with a strip of painkillers, undoubtedly reading her mood. She gratefully popped two pills out and guzzled them down along with the entire glass of water. Her hands came to rest on either side of her head in a gentle massaging motion until the pain slowly started to abate. She finally opened her eyes and shot a smile at the newest addition to their team.

“Thank you,” she said earnestly. “I really needed that.”

”I could tell,” Henry said dryly. “You should eat up.”

“I think a piece of toast and some juice will do for now. I’m not used to eating this early,” she said as she grabbed exactly that from the table.

“Are you sure?” Henry asked with a frown. “You know nothing beats a hangover like -”

“Jesus, what are you, her mother?” Zander sniped. “She said she’s good. Let it go.”

April and Henry exchanged wary glances that clearly said ‘what’s his problem?’ Neither of them chose to comment on the matter any further, however. Breakfast was a stilted affair. It was made even worse by the fact that she knew they had been chatting amicably before she had joined in. She saw it briefly when she was frozen at the bottom of the staircase. Clearly, her presence was causing an issue. She thought their mutual acts of antagonism had cancelled each other out yesterday, but the tension in the room said something different.

She polished off the last bit of her toast and grabbed her glass of juice before she stood abruptly. She was already making her way toward the other door before she even spoke.

“I’m going to go outside for a bit,” she announced blithely. “I need some air.”

“What?” Henry said, sounding confused. “No, you don’t have to -”

April was gone before he could finish his sentence. She heard him turn to his friend to scold him, but by then she was out of hearing range and could not muster up the energy to even care. She found herself gravitating towards the poolside loungers. If she was lucky enough, she had a feeling the shade of the large umbrella she was resting under would lull her to sleep. Before she could give into the temptation, however, her mind pushed something to the forefront.

She only hesitated for a moment before she pulled her phone out and dialled Raven’s number. It would be just past dawn back in Italy, but her sister had apparently become quite the early riser. One would think a Donna would embrace the night, but she had always been wired differently. As usual, the phone did not ring for long before it was answered.

“April?” came Raven’s panicked voice as her face fell into view seconds later. “Are you alright?”

“Of course I am,” chuckled April. “Where’s the fire? Why do you sound like that?”

“You never call me this early,” her older sister said as she sighed with relief. “I just assumed you were in danger.”

Upon closer inspection, she could see the robe the other woman wore. Her skin had a soft sheen to it that looked like she had just come from a steam room, so she was obviously just coming from taking a shower.

“Sorry I made you freak out,” she said with a smirk, not even bothering to sound apologetic. “You poor thing.”

Brown eyes, eerily similar to her own, narrowed in annoyance, but before she could give her little sister a piece of her mind, the phone was abruptly snatched. The Don himself came into view, looking as unamused as ever.

“April,” Demetrio said, somewhat cordially.

“Demetrio,” April returned grimly. Somehow, she found comfort in the familiarity they both provided her, even if she was not his biggest fan.

“Would it be too much of me to ask that you refrain from stressing my wife?” he asked dryly. “This is a delicate time for her.

“I had no idea giving my sister a call counted as stressing her out. I’ll make sure not to do so in the future,” April snorted derisively, noticing that he was already dressed in his signature three-piece suit. “It’s a little early in the day to be dressed up, isn’t it? Although, I suppose ruining pregnancy announcements for unsuspecting women is a full-time job.”

The embarrassed flush that came to his cheeks was very rewarding and April wondered if this was the day that she would get an apology from the ruthless man. Before he had the chance to say anything in return, Raven snatched the phone back. She looked indecisive of who was most deserving of her glare.

“That’s enough,” she said with a tone of finality. “Demetrio, go to breakfast, I’ll be down soon enough. If I’m not there in twenty minutes, you can start without me.”

April heard them peck off-screen and her face instinctively scrunched up in distaste. She sent a silent thank you to her sister for keeping that away from her sight. Her husband made sure to say goodbye before he left and she returned it politely enough.

“I hate it when you two behave like that around me,” Raven said as soon as she heard the door click shut.

“Well, then you should be more accepting of this trip,” April said breezily. “We’d be at each other’s throats all the time if I were there.”

“That’s not funny,” Raven said, before decidedly choosing to change the topic. “I’m glad you called. I take it you aren’t mad at me anymore.”

“I was never mad at you,” April denied, but back-pedalled at her sister’s look of incredulity. “Okay, maybe I was a little mad. Mostly, though, I was hurt. Zander knew before I did. Can you believe that? Zander! So unfair.”

“Are you two still not getting along?” Raven asked with concern.

“Of course not,” April scoffed. “We’re never going to ‘get along’. We just need each other to carry on. We aren’t friends. Especially not after the past couple of nights.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Raven asked in her scary big sister voice. “What happened in the past two nights?”

April hesitated. She had never been one to snitch, not even if she did not particularly like the person. Still, this was her sister. She told her everything… well, almost everything, anyway. So, she looked around to make sure she was alone before bringing the phone even closer to her to her mouth, knowing Raven would take the hint and press her speaker to her ear.

“There was a murder the night of the yacht party,” she said quietly. “Zander did it. Apparently, he did it in Singapore as well.”

“He did what?” Raven spat, her outrage plainly visible.

“He said he has to do these jobs every now and again, so that the family doesn’t think he’s deserted like dad did,” April said, pulling her phone back at an acceptable distance.

“That bastard!” Raven spat and April immediately knew she was talking about her husband. He had obviously chosen to omit this information. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Nah,” April said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “The kid’s going to need their dad. Just shout at him. Maybe give him a cold shoulder for a day or two. That should suffice.”

“Well, forgive me for being uncomfortable with my little sister tagging along on an international assassination spree,” she said, miffed.

“I’m not,” April said. “I’m going to set some ground rules if this is going to continue and we’re leaving soon. At least when I choose the destination, I know it’s not going to happen.”

Raven glared with a look of consternation on her face before she sighed and relented.

“Fine,” she said as she began to move around the room before she found a notepad and a pen. She sat back down and looked at her little sister once more. “What are the ground rules?”

“What are you doing with that?” April asked, quirking an amused brow.

“I’m going to take your list down, suggest some edits if there are any and then give them to Demetrio to make sure they’re actually followed,” Raven said in response, like it was the most obvious thing on earth. “I have a feeling Zander won’t take you seriously if you go to him directly.”

April had no comment on that because she realised how true that was.

“So, ground rules?” Raven reminded her.

With that, the two got to work. It took far longer than the twenty minutes her older sister had promised her husband, but by the end, April was willing to admit that it was the most fun she had had with her sister in a long time.

“Sometimes I worry that you won’t be here when my baby is born,” Raven admitted when it became clear she would have to hang up soon.

April was startled at that, an uncomfortable laugh escaped, unbidden from her lips.

“What? You want me there? Like on the actual day?” she asked in disbelief.

“Obviously,” her sister said evenly. “And I know you probably won’t want to stay for long, but I’m going to need you. I kind of need you right now.”

That familiar knot of guilt began to unfurl in the pit of April’s stomach.

“I’m only bringing it up because it’s months away,” Raven said, probably able to read just how her sister was feeling at that moment. “Now you have time to make a decision that isn’t rushed. And I won’t hold it against you if you choose to come on your own time.

Raven’s eyes shone with sincerity and April felt the backs of hers begin to sting with emotion. Thankfully, before either of the sisters could shed a tear, the sound of approaching steps waved her attention away from the screen. She saw Henry heading right for her. When he was close enough, he leaned over before she could discourage the movement.

“Who’s that?” Raven and Henry asked at the same time upon coming face to phone with a complete stranger. While her friend's tone held curiosity, however, her sister’s was on high alert. April groaned silently and let out a prayer.

“Raven, this is my friend Henry,” April introduced. “Henry, this is my sister April.”

Henry’s eyes widened when he realised who he was talking to and Raven’s perceptive eyes caught sight of it. Anyone who knew who she was was more than likely a part of their dangerous world.

“Last time we spoke you said you didn’t have friends,” Raven said carefully, choosing not to mince words.

Henry blanched and put a hand to his chest dramatically. “Hurtful,” he murmured.

“That was before I met Henry,” April said, finding the need to explain herself to both of them.

“So, it’s taken two days for you to become chummy enough to invite him to your place?” Raven asked suspiciously. “How did you meet?”

“He’s a friend of Zander’s,” April said.”

“Ah,” was Raven’s response as her brown eyes cooled considerably.

“Not a fan?” Henry asked her sister.

“Undecided,” Raven said honestly.

“He’s the only one of Zander’s friends that I actually like,” April admitted. “He’s been my emotional support Henry for the past two days. We’re thinking of asking him to tag along because he makes being around Zander more bearable.”

Raven’s eyes softened visibly as she let out a sigh and turned to face the newcomer once more. “Henry, who?” she asked bluntly.

“Henry Fiore,” he supplied helpfully.

“Sounds familiar,” said her older sister. “You do realise I’ll be having an extensive background check done on you, don’t you?”

“I would expect nothing less, Donna,” Henry said graciously.

Raven nodded approvingly and warned her sister off of inviting him along with them until either she or Demetrio gave them the go ahead. They said their goodbyes and April was surprised that she actually felt ten pounds lighter after the call. Henry wordlessly sat beside her and lit up a joint as they both stared unseeingly into the blue waters of the infinity pool.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” he said as he passed it over. “You know, with Zander.”

“You shouldn’t apologise for other people,” she chastised. “I don’t think he’d want you to.”

“Probably not,” Henry admitted. “Still, I can tell when he feels remorse. He’s just really uncomfortable with any emotion deeper than being light-hearted.”

April laughed. “You could’ve fooled me. He’s an asshole and he doesn’t care who knows it. How could you possibly be so sure anyway?”

“I’ve known the guy a long time,” Henry shrugged. “If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have had me come all the way to the f*****g Maldives to keep you company because he could tell you were lonely. He just instinctively knew we’d get along.”

“Wait, he actually asked you to come all this way?” April asked disbelievingly.

“Paid for my ticket,” he corrected, taking the blunt back from her. “First class. He may be an asshole, but he isn’t all bad, you know? You two should give each other a chance. You might actually learn to like each other.”

Gobsmacked. That was the right word. April was gobsmacked. She had no idea that Zander was even capable of caring for another person, let alone to that level. Maybe Henry was right. Maybe she just needed to -

“Heads up, guys!” Zander announced, running to the pool and doing a backflip as he landed. The result was the two of them and the remnants of their joint getting totally drenched in a spray of water. His head bobbed out of the water as he grinned at them proudly. “Lance is coming over!”

Whatever positive thoughts she had begun to have about him died at that very moment.