DeLuca (Mafia Romance)

Carlo It had been a month since Mia came to live with me. I was able to obtain all the forged documents needed to give her a new identity as Mia Sophia DeLuca.

Since my father was extremely private during his life, and up until my mother’s death ten years ago she spent most of her time in Italy, all it took was a few doctored boarding school transcripts to explain her sudden appearance. Since she was no longer Mia Sophia Caruso I wouldn’t let her keep anything from her previous life, which she didn’t seem to mind. I offered to let her keep a picture of her parents but she declined.

I sent her out to Neiman Marcus armed with her very own Black Card and Elena by her side. The only instructions were to buy a complete wardrobe fit for a mob princess. Mia was uncomfortable with the idea of spending so much money, but she would just have to get used to it.

Since the shopping trip the first day she had been holed up in her room reading and watching movies. On the occasion of an unusually warm May afternoon, she would go out back for a swim but other than that she was a recluse. I was worried she was having issues dealing with her parent’s deaths but she assured me she was fine. Now we were eating Sunday dinner and while she was holding polite conversation, something was off.

“I’ll need to know which college you’ve chosen soon so I can get things arranged,” I said.

She looked up and gave me a thin smile, “Yes, of course,” she said, looking back down at her plate of lasagna. She had barely touched it. It was her favorite, I had learned that on the first night when Elena made it.

“Is everything okay Mia?” I asked using the last strand of patience I had.

“Everything is fine Carlo, thank you,” she gave me another polite smile. I was beginning to hate that smile.

“I want you to be happy here Mia. This is not a prison, you can come and go as you please.”

“Really Carlo, I’m fi-”

“Enough! You are not fine Mia!” I roared. “Tell me what the hell is the matter so I can fix it!” Instead of scaring her like my outburst would most grown men, I saw a flicker of annoyance in her eyes. She put her fork down and looked at me head on.

“Nothing is wrong Carlo. I like to read, so I do. I like to watch movies, so I do. I like to go swimming, so I do. You have given me everything I could possibly need and more, I’m content.”

“I want you to be happy Mia, not just content. You haven’t left the house in over three weeks, that’s not normal. You know you have full access to any car in the garage and a limitless credit card. You should be out doing normal things teenagers do. I was already working for my father when I was your age so I don’t exactly know what normal is, but I do know that it is not sitting in your room for weeks on end.”

“What do you want from me? You want me to go out and party with friends and go to the mall and spend money on things I don’t need just because I can? That’s not me.”

“Yes, no. Jesus Mia, I don’t know. I just want you to be young and enjoy it. Be happy.” I was never at a loss for words but I just didn’t know how to articulate what I was feeling and what I wanted, and on top of it all I was pissed because I didn’t know the first thing about teenage girls.

“Carlo,” she groaned, “look, I don’t know anyone in this new life but you. I’m sure when I start school things will change, but until then…” she trailed off.

“What about Gina?” I asked, suddenly feeling triumphant. Why hadn’t I thought of this before? The only other thing she did was talk on the phone with Gina.

“What do you mean? Gina lives three and a half hours away, and I am supposed to have moved away I can’t exactly go for a visit.”

“She can come here then, stay for a few weeks.”

“She doesn’t have a car of her own, she can’t just take the family car on a road trip,” Mia sighed.

I could tell she was getting frustrated with this topic of conversation, but my mind had been made up. If Gina coming here would make her happy then I would make it happen.

“Then I’ll just send a car for her, I’ll call her father and work it out.”

There, fixed.

Mia looked up from her plate, the excitement mixed with trepidation shone in her eyes. “You’d do that? She could stay here, at the house? Carlo, you don’t let anyone come here.”

Ah, so that was what was holding her back. She was right of course, I had never let anyone but the house staff and a select few of my men come to my home. I kept an apartment in the city for when I needed to handle business but this was my home. Mia still seemed to have trouble realizing this is her home now.

“It’s true, I normally don’t invite people here, but that’s because I like to keep my business and personal life separate and I do not consider many people personal friends. Mia, this is your home too. Gina is your friend and therefore welcome in our home. Understood?”NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

Mia popped up from her chair so suddenly the legs scratched on the wood floor. She ran full boar around the table and practically toppled me over with a hug. She had never shown such affection towards me and for a moment I was too shocked to reciprocate. She seemed to notice my stiff posture and began to pull away, I didn’t want her to think that she had done something wrong so I quickly pulled her into my arms and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll take that as a thank you?” I said.

She pulled away and beamed at me, “Thank you so much!”

I chuckled, “You’re very welcome, now sit down so we can finish our dinner.” I couldn’t help but smile. In the weeks she had been here that was the most emotion I had seen from her. I was beginning to think that her parents had caused irreversible damage, but I was starting to see that she was just slow to trust, a trait that would do her well in the future.