Dominating the Donna

| 3 | The Table.

“What the fúck do you mean Palasios is dead?” The Donna hisses as she frowns at Stephania, taking a step towards her as she tries to keep her composure but she is clearly infuriated. Stephania takes a deep breath and glances at the floor as the Donna looks down at her, not being thrilled about infuriating her.

“He was found this morning. Someone rigged his car with explosives… he was burnt alive.” Stephania explains calmly and for a hitwoman, she still felt disgusted by the gruesomeness of his death.

“Jesus,” Belville mutters as he shakes his head slightly, his thoughts wandering to how excruciating it must be for your skin to be melted off your bones, for your eyes to pop in their sockets, to have all your insides finally liquefy and your heart stop after you’ve experienced the most physical pain imaginable.

“Do you know who is responsible?” Donna Aleia asks as she shakes her head, giving Stephania her full attention.

“Word on the street is that it may be either the Melairs or even the Falcones. But my money is on Freddy Melair, he was the last person to meet with Palasios before he was found dead.” Stephania explains and the Donna shuts her eyes and takes a deep breath, trying all she can to control her anger.

This is what she didn’t want.

Though she despised Palasios, business was always business. Palasios was the man in charge of all customs, exports, and imports in Chicago. He helped multiple Families transport important merchandise in an out of Chicago without any unnecessary attention from the authorities. He had appalling personal preferences which included a séxual interest in underage boys, but it wasn’t any of her business what he did behind closed doors. Palasios kept the peace between the Families. Before mafiosos would constantly be at each other’s throats just to get a seat at the Table or more importantly take his place. His pedestal was an important one and it wasn’t if anything to it, it would mean the slow and painful downfall of all Families in Chicago involved with the Cosa Nostra.

“This is a disaster…” The Donna shakes her head before she finally opens her eyes and turns to her right hand.

“What do you suggest we do?” Belville asks her as she turns her eyes down to the floor and stares at it for a moment.

Stay focused.

Another one of the Donna’s rules.

No matter what is thrown at you, at all times, you must always keep focus. She cannot let such a downfall disrupt her plans and so she has to quick on her feet to come up with a solution.

“Call Rick’s brother, Daniel Palasios. And call for an immediate meeting with the other parties at the Table. We need to get to the bottom of this.” Donna Aleia orders.

“You go it, boss.” Belville lets out before he takes out his phone and walks away to a different area of the living room. Behind Stephania, the Donna notices 2 individuals making their way towards her and she sighs as she realizes who they are.

“Flavio, Diomanté,” She says to her head of security and close friend/stylist.

“Hey boss, we heard what happened,” Flavio says as he comes closer and stands next to Stephania, giving her a certain look before he focuses back on the Donna. Flavio has incredibly thick and curly dark hair, extremely handsome with thick eyebrows and a bit of a stubble and a moustache while Diomanté embraced more of his feminine side, having platinum blonde hair with the side of his hair shaved to create a neat fade and like the Donna, he is of two ethnicities, Afro Cuban and Italian American.

“Yeah, is Rick Palasios really dead?” Diomanté questions as he frowns at the Donna.

“I’m afraid so.” Donna Aleia answers and takes another deep breath.

“Well, I ain’t gonna miss him but…” Diomanté begins. “…being burnt alive sounds horrifying.” He says as his grey eyes scan the floor.

“Tell me about it.” Stephania agrees as she keeps her arms crossed over her chest.

“This meeting is very important. I can’t stand to wait a second more. We need answers, as soon as possible.” Donna Aleia answers and glances at Belville, watching as he walks back to where they are standing.

“They’re good to go. We’re meeting at the Palasios’ warehouse on Main. Daniel will be expecting us.” Belville informs them and Donna Aleia nods in approval before she turns to the door.

“Good, now let’s go.”

. . . . .

“Donna Aleia you need to calm yourself. I can feel how tense you are from way over here.” Belville lets out but Donna Aleia doesn’t stray away from her thoughts as she keeps her gaze out the window. The 4 of them, inclusive of the Donna, Belville, Diomante and the driver; Callahan, drive in one vehicle while Flavio, Stephania, and 3 other men ride in another vehicle.

They are driving in a tense silence to a warehouse owned by the Palasios Family to meet with Rick Palasios’ younger brother, Daniel Palasios, as well as the other major parties involved in a congregation known as the Table. The Table is an assembly of 5 head Families, the Monteverdies, the Genoveses, the Palasios', the Melairs and finally the Falcones. These are the 4 powerhouses when it comes to the 'illegal' trading and exchange of goods and services in Chicago.

“Yeah, boss. Things are gonna go well. We’re gonna find out who killed Palasios and why and then we can deal with them.” Diomanté says cheerfully as he cracks a smile in an attempt to make the Donna feel better. Diomanté always had such a lighthearted personality, which the Donna appreciated from time to time. He is also very stylish and extravagant and happened to do the Donna’s hair and makeup when she didn’t have time to do it herself and so they have grown over the years as close friends.

“I already know why he was killed, Dio. My question is who had the balls to actually go through with it knowing the consequences that will follow?” The Donna hisses and her nails tap her knee slowly in a sequence, once after the other.

“Stephania thinks it may be the Melairs... do you think she’s right?” Belville questions.

“I’m not sure, it can be anyone at this point. These motherfuckers are sneaky and they’re gonna try their best to cover their tracks. We’ll have to keep a close eye on all of them.” Donna Aleia answers as she sighs slightly, watching through the window as they slowly pull up to a black gate, security guards walking to the driver’s side to speak with the driver.

“State your name and business.” The security guard questions.

“Callahan Thompson. I am with Darius Belville, Diomanté Machiavelli, and Donna Aleia Monteverdi. Our presence is expected.” The chauffeur answers the guard. He looks at his notepad thoroughly before stepping back from the car and signaling with his hand for them to open the gates, allowing the Monteverdi Family passage. The 2 SUVs pull into the compound and park in front of the large warehouse where they notice that they are the last people to arrive. They each get out of their cars as the chauffeur goes to the Donna’s side and opens the door for her, placing his hand out for her to hold as he assists her in climbing out of the car. A look of determination settles on the Donna’s face as she walks forward towards the entrance of the warehouse, a team inclusive of Belville, Diomante, her head of security Flavio, Stephania and 3 other men who may come in handy if there was to be any conflict at this meeting.

The 8 of them walk into the warehouse where they found 3 other groups of people stationed around the warehouse, speaking amongst themselves. But the Donna is very observant and notices the thick atmosphere of tension between the different parties in the room. She knew all 3 of the Families present. There are the Falcones, headed by Don Ivo Falcone, the Melairs, headed by Don Freddy Melair and finally the Genoveses, headed by Don Enrique Calvino. As the Donna walks into the warehouse, the 3 groups turn to her, their eyes traveling to her body as they eye her but quickly look away knowing that they are there for business. All except for Don Ivo Falcone.

Her Family and the Falcones have never really had much verbal interaction with each other, she preferred to keep her relationship with these men strictly professionally and sought to speak with them when it was absolutely necessary.

“Daniel.” The Donna lets out as her eyes land on Daniel Palasios in the middle of the room. He has a solemn expression on his face, evidently from the loss of his brother and so the Donna moves towards him first.

“Donna Aleia. Thank you for calling for this meeting..” He lets out deeply. The Donna stares at him with empathy before she moves to exchange kisses on the cheek with him.

“Of course. My condolences…” Donna Aleia says carefully as her eyes quickly scan the room for any strange mannerisms that any of the parties may show. She knows that one of these Families is guilty and she won’t leave this place until she finds out who. She first glances at Don Ivo Falcone, whose expression has not changed from the one he had on before. He simply continues to stare at the Donna with intrigue and of course lust, obviously charmed by her beauty.

“Men.” She thinks.

Her eyes then travel to Don Enrique Calvino, seeing that he has a serious expression on his face, his face slightly bruised as he has a small bandage stuck to the temple of his head which made the Donna curious as to exactly how he got those bruises. Possibly it may have to do with a conflict with the Genovese brothers, the original heirs to the Genovese Family. They may be trying to take back their place as heads of the Family which may have lead to an altercation with the current Don. But anyway, it was none of her business.

Her eyes finally land on Don Freddy Melair. The main suspect. His eyes are facing down and from where she is standing she can see that his jaw is clenched tightly as if he is trying to keep himself composed. He finally looks up to face the Donna and once he realizes that she is staring at him, he quickly looks away and pretends if he wasn’t looking at her.

Bingo.