Chapter one
THE MAFIA’S BOSS’S UNWILLING BRIDE
CHAPTER ONE: A FUNERAL AND A WEDDING.
The weather had chosen to be as mournful as the Ferrari was feeling, it had been raining all day and so the skies were grey and dreary.
The young man watched as the wet sand covered the shiny brown lid of the coffin inch by inch, he said no words, he did not bat an eyelid, his eyes showed no grief or pain only anger.
The priest recited the words when the coffin had been completely buried and everyone in the gathering responded with an “Amen” along with the priest.
But the young man said nothing, he simply stood under the black umbrella held by one of his many subordinates.
Slowly, the crowd of mourners began to disperse until only three men remained, all dressed in black designer suits, black fur jackets were draped over their shoulders, gold wristwatches glittered on their wrists, their polished cover shoes gleamed in the dull weather.
One of the three men walked closer to the young man with angry eyes and said “What do you plan to do Emil? We can’t let this go unanswered “
The young man remained quiet, his eyes fixed on the tombstone.
“Enzo Ferrari, loving son and brother” the words glared at him and fueled his anger.
The third man walked over and stood on the left hand side of the young man, he was the shortest of the three men and his face was red and blotchy from all the tears he had shed.
“Give me the order Emil and I will take the boys, I will make sure every single one of the Severinos dies before sundown” he said, there was no denying the anger in his voice when he spoke but reigning above the anger was pain and hurt.
“Be quiet Antonio, this is not the time for your rashness” the young man called Emil finally spoke.
His voice was deep and commanded power and respect, he had the voice of a leader who struck fear into the heart of his subjects with just a single word.
Antonio was not ready to quiet down so easily “Do not ask be to quiet Emil, our baby brother lies cold in his grave and you ask me to be quiet, where is your rage?” he asked angrily as another set of tears fell from his eyes.
“Do not forget who you are speaking to because of your grief Antonio” the second man said.
He was tall but not as tall as Emil, he was leanly built with a handsome face.
“Do not speak to me of grief Marco, this is anger not grief, I fail to understand how the both of you are not burning with anger and thirsty for Severino blood, those bastards killed Enzo for heaven’s sake” Antonio said, his voice rising to the point where he was now shouting.
Emil slowly turned to face him, Antonio was sobbing his eyes out now, and had fallen to his knees on the floor.
Emil bent down as well, he placed his hand on Antonio’s shoulder and said “Look at me Brother”
Antonio raised his eyes to look at his older brother but the moment he looked into his eyes, the anger he saw there made him flinch.
“You fail to understand why we are so calm because you have always been too hot headed for your good, you do not need to worry about my rage, I assure you, it is burning and it is burning bright indeed, before the end of today, before Enzo turns cold in his grave, the Severinos will shed tears of grief and agony, this is my promise to you as the head of the Ferrari family” Emil said.
Antonio nodded his head quickly.
Emil stood up and then without looking at Marco, he said “Inform the boys, we are paying the Severinos a visit”
“Yes Emil, I will inform them right away” Marco said and walked away.
Antonio stood up from the floor and went after Marco leaving Emil standing alone, he looked down at the tombstone once more.
Enzo was the youngest of the four Ferrari brothers, he was nothing like his brothers, Emil had made sure of that, he had sent him far away when he was much younger, he had wanted him to grow into an honorable man.
Enzo was bright and jovial, he loved art and could paint marvels with his paint brush, he had been at a school in France studying to become a great artist.
But it turned out no matter how far Emil sent him, he was never going to be able to protect him from the blood that flowed in his veins and the enemies that accompanied that blood.
Two days ago, while Enzo was returning from a party with his friends, he was attacked and pulled into a van and then yesterday, his body was found on the front porch, he had been shot in the head, a paper with the emblem of the Severino family had been clutched tightly in his right hand.
The Severinos were also a powerful family, the Ferrari family and the Severino family had been enemies since the time of our ancestors, we avoided each other and tried not to get into each others shoes.
But now that they had killed Enzo, that will signify the end our semi cordial relationship.
“Rest in peace baby brother, I hope you will be happy where ever you are” Emil said and walked away.
The Severino mansion was located on the opposite side of the city, opposite to where the Ferrari mansion was located so it will take a while before the Ferraris arrived.
Dante Severino sat in his study, his fingers were linked together under his jaw, he was a man in his late fifties, he was tall and built rather well for a man his age, he was in great shape for someone nearing sixty.
He had a worried expression on his face, he was hoping he will be able to appease Emil Ferrari when he arrived, the young man was ruthless, Dante Severino had thought he would breach the semi cordial relationship between the families when he assumed the position Don Ferrari but then, it turned out the young man was even more level headed than his father, the late Leornado Ferrari.
But now that the peace had been breached and a Ferrari man had been killed, I did not expect him to as level headed as he had been in the past.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the study door and the second son of Don Dante Severino, Angelo, walked in, he looked pale and there was a slight stutter in his voice when he said to his father “They are here Papa”
A sigh escaped the older man’s lips as he stood up from behind his oak wood table and said “Then we should go and greet our guests”
Emil stepped out of the black Cadillac and a black umbrella was immediately placed over his head, the cursed rain had continued to pour.
Emil thought it was perfect, the rain will help in washing away all the blood that will flow today.
A total of five cars were lined up in front of the Severino mansion, men dressed in black were standing beside every car.
There was a total of 20 men without counting the Ferrari brothers. Antonio and Marco were standing on each side of Emil who was watching the mansion with cool eyes.
Just then Dante Severino stepped out of the house followed by his son and five guards.
When he got to where the Ferrari brothers stood he said “Welcome Don Ferrari, you should come into the house so that we may speak, the rain will not allow us to speak freely outside”
A small dark chuckle escaped Emil’s lips “Why on earth do you think we are here to speak to you Don Severino, we are here to hand out justice for an unnecessary death, I have no words to say to you” he said.
“The Ferrari family is justifiably angry so that I can understand why you are standing outside my house seeking justice and I assure you, you will have the blood so you are desperately seeking” Dante Severino said.
“Very good because I had promised my brother, Antonio that justice will be served” Emil said.
Dante turned to his son Angelo and nodded, the young man nodded as well and then walked into the house along with two guards.
In less than a minute, he returned along with the guards who were dragging a bloodied man along with them.
The man was roughly thrown to the floor, he groaned and held on to his side as he rolled on the ground in pain.
Emil recognized him immediately as the first son of the Severino family, he was Lucca Severino.
“What is the meaning of this?” Emil asked as he turned his attention back to Dante Severino who was looking down at Lucca like an insect only deserving of being squashed underneath his shoes.
“This is the man responsible for killing your brother and killing him will grant you your justice and the peace will be restored” Dante Severino said when he finally peeled his eyes of his disgraceful son.
Emil regarded the older man with cool eyes as he waited for him to explain what he meant.
“Luca here had acted on his volition, he had always been hot headed and he has never really hidden his dislike for the Ferrari family so he decided to go ahead and breach the peace by killing young Enzo, he had come home to me smiling proudly, he had boasted of how he shot the boy in the head and dumped his body on the front porch of your house, I had immediately ordered my men to give him a beating that barely kept him alive so that you can finish him yourself” Dante said.
“You are weak father, why do you fear them? They are standing on our land right now, give the order to our men to kill them at once” Luca said, he spoke with great difficulty and pain.
Dante eyed him with disgust and said “You were always a foolish boy, it is a shame that you are my first son, you should have tried to me more like Angelo, then perhaps you might have lived a little longer”
Luca looked up at his father with a pained expression on his face, then closed his eyes, probably making peace with fact he will die soon.
Emil turned to Antonio and said “He is yours to kill”
Antonio wasted no time, he approached Luca with hate in his as he watched as the bloodied man was roughly hauled to his knees, a groan escaped Luca’s lips, he looked up at Antonio with hate and pride in his eyes.
“Ti odio Ferrari Bastardos” Luca said as he spat at Antonio’s feet.
Antonio smiled and pulled out a gun from inside his jacket and immediately pulled the trigger.
Luca fell to the floor dead, bleeding from the head exactly how Enzo had been bleeding from his head.
Angelo flinched when the trigger was pulled but Dante Severino had not even batted an eyelid, he had only looked down at the body with disgust.
“The debt has been paid, a life for a life” Emil said to Dante Severino.
“I will like to suggest a solution that will make sure nothing like this ever happens again, a solution that will bring lasting peace between the two families” Dante Severino said.
“May I ask what solution that is?” Emil said, studying the older man with cool assessing eyes.
“What better way to unite two families than through a permanent bond, the bond of marriage. I, Dante Severino offer you, Emiliano Ferrari the hand of my daughter, Andrea Severino in marriage” Dante Severino said, a smile on his hard face.
Just then, a beautiful young woman stepped out of the house, she was wearing a white dress, her black hair was flowing past her shoulders, Emil could not see where it ended but he was sure it went past her waist, she was tiny as far he was concerned, he could be sure that she did come up to his chest but she was beautiful without a doubt, her lips were so red that they might have a fully ripened strawberry to shame, her skin was white and smooth.
Emil stepped forward and looked at her closely, her eyes were silver and she seemed to be staring at nothing in particular, she stared ahead, never looking at him.
“She is blind” Emil breathed.
“Andrea was born blind but she is without a doubt the smartest of all my children, her heart is as pure as that of an angel, she is my greatest treasure” Dante Severino said as he looked fondly at the young woman.
Everyone was silent as they anticipated Emil’s reply.
Emil stared into those pools of silver for a long time then without taking his eyes of them, he said “I accept your proposal, the Ferraris and the Severinos will be joined in holy matrimony, let this signify the beginning of peace between the two families”
Dante Severino smiled as Emil turned to him and they both shook hands.
The men all had smiles on their faces and were busy shaking hands that no one noticed the single tear drop that slipped from Andrea’s eye.