Salvatore Dalla

I tried to open my eyes, but the pain felt like sharp knives being continuously driven into each one of them.
"Amapola?" I call out, trying to understand what’s happening.
"Are you okay, my son?" I hear Naná's voice and force my eyes open. I was used to pain; this discomfort was nothing compared to everything I had been through.
"What happened? Where is Amapola?" I don't answer her question.
"I'm going to call your brothers; I promised I would let them know when you woke up," she says as I force my body to sit up in bed.
"Stop, Angela, where is Amapola? What happened?" I ask sharply, not as the boy she raised, but as the head of the mafia, and she understands the message.
"I don’t know, sir." She extends a glass of water and two pills in my direction. "You know that some matters aren’t reported to me; your brothers can clarify your doubts. I’ll call them."
"Where is Amapola?" I insist.
"I don’t know, sir. The young lady didn’t sleep in the mansion last night," she says and then leaves the room.
Angela exits, leaving me alone. After taking the pills she handed me, I get out of bed and head to the bathroom. As the cold water falls over my head and body, I try to understand what happened, why my body feels like it’s been run over by a truck, but I remember nothing.
The last thing I recall is being in the office, going over some papers and Carlota’s arrival. After that, nothing. It’s as if yesterday didn’t exist.
Carlota had forgotten some papers at her house and asked Amadeu to get them. We were sorting out some pending issues at the casino, and I don’t remember seeing Amapola after that, nor do I remember receiving the papers.
I’ve never drunk enough to get drunk; control is one of my main weapons, and the whiskey I had with Carlota wouldn’t do this to me unless...
"She wouldn’t be crazy enough to do that, would she?" I question myself, stepping out of the bathroom still wet, wrapping only a towel around my waist.
I turn on the laptop that’s on the nightstand, and suddenly, I’m overwhelmed with anxiety. Somehow, I know that whatever happened to me between yesterday and today is what caused Amapola not to be here.
The feeling of being out of control right now bothers me; something has thrown me off balance, and I need to find out what it was.
I access the camera system from my office. Only I have access to these recordings to ensure my privacy, just as my brothers do in their offices. We keep each other’s passwords under lock and key and never use them; it’s a rule among us.
I search for the footage from yesterday and fast-forward to the moment Carlota arrives in the office. Before that, I remember the events; for now, nothing unusual happens. We’re just talking; I know it’s about the casino because I recall those occurrences.
Until I get up to grab a drink, Carlota rushes toward me and serves us...
"What the hell is this?" I see her open a compartment in a ring and drop something into one of the glasses. She adds ice and hands me the drink. "Holy shit, I’m going to kill that bitch."
She sits back in her place, and after a few moments, I see my body sway in the chair, and she comes to me, sitting on my lap. Carlota kisses me, and I... reciprocate.
I activate the sound and hear my voice calling for Amapola; it was as if I were with her there and not with Carlota. I pushed her onto the table and brought my hands to the center of her thighs, lifting her skirt and bunching it at her waist while I kissed the inner part of her thighs as she squirmed on the table. I wasn’t calling for her; I was calling for Amapola. I was delirious; Carlota had drugged me.
I fast-forward the camera system, not wanting to see the whole scene that unfolded in my office; I was disgusted with myself.
Until all the repulsion and self-loathing multiply and turn into despair when I see Amapola standing in the doorway while Carlota is on her knees between my legs.
She had been shattered by me once again, and somehow I knew that this time, I couldn’t do anything. What she had seen was already too much, and I didn’t even want to think about how she would feel if she saw everything that happened before the act that preceded her arrival.

I lost her, and in the process, I lost myself. The man I became after her arrival in my life just shattered into a thousand pieces.
"Well, well... Sleeping Beauty has awakened." Rico enters the room, cracking one of his inappropriate jokes.
"Where is Amapola?" I ask without lifting my eyes from the laptop screen.
"At her father's house," Fabrizio answers.
"Shit, it was worse than I thought," Rico comments as he stands behind me and analyzes the scene, moving the mouse back to the moment Amapola entered my office.
"How is she?"
"Fucked up. Destroyed," Rico and Fabrizio say simultaneously, and I swallow hard.
"What will you do?" Fabrizio asks, concerned, while Rico focuses on analyzing the footage, his surprised expression showing just how fucked I am.
"I don’t know," I reply honestly. "For the first time in my life, I don’t know what to do."
"You know she drugged you, right?" Rico raises an eyebrow, moving the cursor frantically across the screen in search of the moment.
"I know; I saw it," I affirm. "It’s all recorded." I point at the screen.
"Then, Salvatore, just show it to Amapola. She'll see you weren't at fault," Fabrizio adds.
"I found it; I’ll record the moment and you’ll show it to her. I’ll omit everything that happened after; don’t worry, brother," Rico says, making it clear to me how big of a mess this is.
"She won’t forgive me. I wouldn’t if I were in her place. What she saw will forever remain in her memory," I state the obvious.
"So that’s it? You’re going to give up?" Fabrizio questions.
"It’s the least I can do for Amapola," I say as I sit in one of the armchairs.
"That’s right; you’re right, Salvatore Dalla Costa," Rico growls at me. "Might as well marry Carlota; I’m sure you’ll be very happy together. At least you’ll have a fierce bitch in bed," he adds. I have to admit she would be a good lay; I’ve had her before, but she’ll never have that pleasure. Carlota destroyed Amapola, and I will destroy her.
"I’ll settle the score with her; don’t worry."
"It’s the least I expect," Fabrizio states.
"Tomorrow I’ll have her head on my desk," I inform coldly and with control. "No one drugs the boss without knowing the consequences; she signed her death sentence."
"And what about Amapola?" Rico questions.
"I’ll give her the time she needs to process everything that happened, and then I’ll seek her out," I warn. "I won’t force her into anything; whatever she decides, I’ll accept." I close the subject. "I want a meeting with Carbone in an hour."
"I’ll arrange it," Fabrizio replies, and I see my phone screen light up with a call from Amadeu.
"Who’s with Amapola?" I ask my brothers, knowing they wouldn’t leave her alone with her father.
"Amadeu was with her until this morning, but she insisted he sleep over. You know how the girl is. So, right now, Matteu is with her," Fabrizio responds as I press the green button to accept the call from my trusted man.
"Boss?" Amadeu’s frantic voice puts me on high alert.
"What happened?" I ask, immediately standing up, alert, my brothers following suit.
"They got her," he says. "They killed Matteu and took Amapola."
"Who took her?" I shout, heading to the closet to get dressed.
"Carbone, sir. He personally took Amapola with his men. One of the soldiers who was shot, the only one who survived, just called me to inform."
"Gather the best men and prepare for war, Amadeu. I’ll bring hell to earth until she is safe," I warn, throwing my phone onto a countertop and dressing quickly.
"I’ve tracked them," I inform Rico, who is following me, and he takes off running, followed by Fabrizio.