Undressed By The Mafia God novel Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Where Does It Look Like?

Veronica stared at her reflection.

The black eye bloomed beneath her sunglasses. Her head throbbed.

She leaned closer, lifting the glasses just long enough to assess the damage.

She was wearing her Scalese Pizza Parlour T-shirt, the cotton thin from too many washes, the logo cracked and peeling. She jammed her hair under a baseball cap, tugged the sunglasses back into place, and squared her shoulders.

She grabbed her keys and shoved past her father without slowing.

"Where the hell do you think you are going?" Vito shouted.

"Where does it look like?" she muttered. "Work. Like a normal human being. You know what work is, right?"

"I know you are mad at me," he said, the volume dialed down but the guilt turned up.

She stopped so abruptly her keys jingled in protest. Slowly, she turned to face him, sunglasses tilting just enough to reveal the bruised edge beneath. "You know?" she shouted. "You know? You cannot even begin to comprehend the heftiness of the emotions I am feeling right now, Dad. How can you?"

Vito spread his hands helplessly. "I made a mistake," he said. "I admit it."

"A mistake is forgetting milk," she snapped. "A mistake is burning dinner. You traded your daughter like she was spare change."

His face twisted. "It’s the only way."

"Giving your daughter out to monsters," Veronica said.

"Vee," he said, "all we can do now is pray that she finds the best path out of all of these."

"Prayer?" she echoed. "You sold her with one hand and offered prayers with the other. Do you hear yourself?"

She stepped closer. "I was wrong," she continued, quieter but more dangerous now. "Luca isn’t the monster."

Vito’s head snapped up.

"You are," she said plainly. "Tell me, Dad. What in the world would make you desperate enough, foolish enough, monstrous enough to go to Luca for a favour? What?"

Vito’s gaze drifted to the floor.

That silence answered her.

"I will find out," Veronica said, backing toward the door. "You know that, right? I will find out."

She grabbed her bag, slung it over her shoulder. "I’ll see you later," she added flatly. "I’m going to work before I go mad."

The door shut behind her, leaving Vito alone with his secrets.

*****

The Scalese Pizza Parlour was already alive when Veronica arrived.

The bell above the door jingled cheerfully. The ovens roared, radiating heat. Tony was arguing with the delivery guy. Rosa was wiping the counter.

Normal chaos. Safe chaos.

Rosa squinted at her sunglasses. "You sick?"

He scanned the room until his eyes found her, and his shoulders visibly relaxed. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify