Carlota (Bonus)

"“Daddy? Mommy? You called for me?” I ask after entering the office.
“Have you seen the headline news in all the newspapers and magazines in the country?” Dad says exasperated, throwing several papers in my direction.
“What is this?” I’m shocked to see the image of Amapola and Salvatore plastered everywhere.
“Do I really need to tell you what this is, Carlota?” Dad growls.
“Calm down, dear, we will find a way,” Mom tries to ease the tension, but I’m still in shock.
“I raised you to be the boss’s wife, Carlota. You”—he points to Mom—“didn’t do your job as you should; you’re both incompetent.” Dad is more nervous than usual.
“I did everything I could, Dad,” I say with tears in my eyes.
“No, Carlota, you didn’t. In the last year, I put you in front of Salvatore every chance I got; I offered you to him on a silver platter, and you couldn’t seize the prize. Now, we will have a woman among us who isn’t even part of our family; this is a shame.”
“Dear, Carlota did what she could; I’m a witness. She surrounded him at every party; she was alone with him at every opportunity, but lately, he has been ignoring her. What could the girl do?”
I watch the two of them arguing as if I weren’t present. That’s how it is in the mafia; we, the children, were destined to fulfill what was assigned to us—marriage or death. It didn’t matter; it wasn’t our place to question it.
This whole situation was affecting me differently; it wasn’t just a decision that came from my father. I wanted Salvatore with all my might; I loved him since the first time I saw him at my fifteen-year-old ball.
He had been invited by Dad; of course, he would be. It was the way to present his beautiful daughter to the future boss.
Like his brothers, Salvatore was accompanied by his parents. At the time, he was just an apprentice; his father was the Don, but he already displayed all his strength and dominance.
Everyone bowed before his presence. When Dad suggested that he accompany me for the debutante waltz, and he accepted, it was at that moment that I fell in love. His penetrating gaze, his inscrutable face, not a smile escaped his lips, but I wanted to kiss him.
That day, I decided I would become the most beautiful, educated, strong, and perfect among the daughters of the capos. I would be the ideal wife, and he wouldn’t be able to choose anyone other than me to marry.
By the time I was twenty-four, Dad threw a party to celebrate my graduation. I had hated going to college, but I knew it would help me. After all, the boss wouldn’t want someone by his side who wasn’t intelligent enough.
And it was that day that I surrendered to him for the first time; I was no longer a virgin, and I made that clear to him as I seduced him. He said he wouldn’t corrupt me so that he wouldn’t be obligated to marry me. Salvatore made it clear that he would postpone that moment as long as he could.
For all these years, all my actions were calculated to keep him as close as possible to me. I started helping Dad with the business and the casino; it was the best way I found to be increasingly near Salvatore. Even though I preferred to stay at home and shop with my sisters, I pretended to be interested in the family business, and this closeness led us to have sex a few more times.
It wasn’t a relationship; Salvatore always made that very clear. But after he took over as the head of the Dalla Costa Mafia, we knew it was getting closer for him to announce who would be his wife. When he started scheduling dinners with the families, I was radiant, but when he canceled the dinner at our house, I was frustrated. I could bet anyone that he would announce our engagement that night, but he didn’t come.
An apology and an excuse given by his consigliere was the only thing we received.
That same week, Dad arranged for me to meet him, and that’s when this little creature appeared in our lives. I don’t know where she came from; I only know that she established herself as his secretary, arrogant and overbearing. Amapola was always wherever Salvatore was.
I asked my men to follow her, to find out something about her, but nothing useful came of it. The girl only had her father and lived in the complex, just like the closest employees to Salvatore."

"But I knew there was something more, and I realized it when I saw them together in the bathroom of one of the warehouses while Salvatore was torturing a traitor. That day, I left devastated, as if the ground had been pulled from beneath my feet. I told Mom everything, and she assured me that he was probably just having fun with her.
It was common for mafia men to have other women; she said they could date anyone but would only marry a legitimate daughter of the family, especially since he was the boss.
Even though I was sad, I accepted what she said. I didn’t want to share him with anyone, but I was willing to make him understand that after our wedding.
However, that’s not what happened. In the last year, she became closer to him; I heard from a soldier that she lived with him in his house and that he treated her like his wife. No one was allowed to be near her except the boss and his trusted men.
Even with Mom trying to reassure me, I knew there was more; Salvatore could rebel at any moment and go against our traditions, but there was nothing I could do.
The tears streaming down my face when I see the photo of them together are bitter, but I will make them sweet when I finally manage to separate them, and I will do it at any cost.
“Put me with him tomorrow, Dad. I’ll take care of this mess,” I say determined, interrupting the exasperated dialogue between the two. Dad was blaming Mom for me not winning him over, and Mom was trying to justify herself.
“What are you going to do, my daughter?”
“I don’t know yet, Mom, but I’ll figure it out,” I warn determinedly.
“If you touch her, he will kill her, Carlota. Don’t be stupid; don’t you think that was the first thing I considered when I saw this news?”
“Yes, Dad, I know, but if I touch him, she will leave him, and that’s exactly what I will do,” I say with a smile on my lips, starting to devise a plan.
“Do whatever it takes; I’ll cover for you,” he warns. “If necessary, get pregnant with him.” Mom looks at him in shock, knowing that even if this option is a way out, it would dishonor me in front of the family.
“It won’t be necessary, Dad. Don’t worry, Mom, tomorrow night they won’t be together anymore; Carlota Carbone’s word,” I say, standing up.
“It’s your last chance, Carlota. If you can’t resolve this situation, be ready to marry any other capo; I don’t care who it is. I won’t wait any longer to create alliances and depend on your incompetence to hold a man.”
“It won’t be necessary, Dad. I was raised to be the boss’s wife, and that’s how it will be,” I say confidently, even though my heart is racing. I need to find a way to be alone with Salvatore tomorrow; I already know exactly what I will do."