Free Meals, Full Audacity

After I moved into my new apartment, my neighbor, Bianca Ferraro, started showing up at my door every evening for a free meal. I lived alone and always cooked more than I needed. For the sake of keeping the peace, I did not mind sharing. That changed one workday at 3:00 am, when someone pounded on my door and yelled, "Open up! My boyfriend's waiting at the bar downstairs. Make me a cheese platter and open a bottle of red wine. I need to bring it down." I opened the door, still half-asleep, and stared at Bianca standing in the hallway. "You're serious?" She rolled her eyes. "Don't act like it's such a big deal. It won't even take you that long." My temples throbbed. "I'm not your personal chef. Why would I make you food at 3:00 am?" Instead of apologizing, she crossed her arms and scoffed. "No wonder you're still single. You can't even do someone a small favor. What guy would put up with someone like you? “My boyfriend's the most powerful mafia boss around here. One phone call from me and you won't be living on this street anymore." Well. She clearly had no idea that I was the Principessa of this city's most powerful mafia family. Never mind the apartment, the entire street belonged to me. Chapter 1 When I did not respond, Bianca Ferraro let out a smug little laugh. "Scared? Then get cooking. Don't keep my boyfriend waiting. ”Oh, and extra cheese on the platter. I want good wine too. Don't try passing off anything cheap." I laughed. I moved into this apartment a month ago. I was in the kitchen cooking one evening when the smell drifted into the hallway and Bianca appeared at my door, peering inside. For the sake of being neighborly, I plated an extra serving and offered it to her. She looked me up and down. When she noticed I wore no jewelry and nothing on me carried a designer label, she could barely hide her contempt. The following evening, I had just pulled a fresh lasagna out of the oven when Bianca knocked on my door. She followed the smell straight into the kitchen, handed me a set of new dinnerware, and said casually, "You work at that pizza place on the corner, right? I saw you talking to the manager yesterday. “I have a loyalty card for that place anyway. I'm too lazy to cook, so just make me a portion from now on." I just stood there, stunned. My brother, Dante Vitale, ran the most powerful mafia family in the city. Every business on this street belonged to me. This was the first time anyone had ever mistaken me for the help at a pizza shop. I was about to correct her when she pulled out a chair and sat down, waving me along as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "Don't just stand there. Serve me up a plate." She looked down and started scrolling through her phone, ignoring me completely. I had just moved in, and I could not be bothered to pick a fight with a neighbor over something this small. I always cooked more than I needed anyway, so one extra plate was not going to make a difference. When I handed it to her, she did not even say thank you. She just told me to add more sauce next time, took the plate, and walked out without looking back. I thought that would be the end of it. However, Bianca latched onto me from that day forward. Every single evening, she showed up at my door right on time. Before I could even refuse, she would let herself into my kitchen and start critiquing whatever I had made. "The steak was a little overdone today. Don't sear it that long next time." "I don't like cilantro. Keep that in mind when you cook." "Oh, and I don't get home until after 9:00 pm, so save me a plate. I don't want cold food." One time, she looked around my apartment and actually said, "Your kitchen's way too small. Clear out the main bedroom when you get a chance. I don't like eating in a cramped space." I had never been able to figure it out. How could someone freeload off another person every single day and still act like she was above them? Now, I understood. Her boyfriend was a Capo. "Did you hear me?" Her voice snapped me back to the present. "Go make the food already." Even now, the entitlement in her tone had not changed one bit. I yawned. "No." The smile vanished from her face. "I'm going back to bed. Order delivery yourself." Then I shut the door. Chapter 2 Before I could turn back to my room, the pounding started again. It was Bianca. "What the hell's your problem? You're refusing to make me food now? You know my boyfriend's downstairs right now, right?" I leaned against the doorframe. "So? What's that got to do with me?" Bianca let out a derisive laugh. "You really don't get it, do you? No wonder you're just some single loser working at a pizza shop. ”My boyfriend's guys are coming over tonight. If you've got half a brain, you'll get the food ready, bring it downstairs, and pour drinks for everyone while they eat. "If they have a good time, I might talk my boyfriend into doing you a favor. One word from him and he could set you up with a way better job." What a generous offer. It was not just about cooking for her anymore. She wanted me to wait on an entire room of people. I nearly laughed. "You sure your boyfriend's really that well-connected?" Bianca's boyfriend might have been a Capo, but the real authority over family resources, territory, and business belonged to someone else entirely. On top of that, family rules would never allow him to throw his weight around just because his girlfriend told him to. She did not hesitate for a second. "Obviously. A while back, there was a bar on this street. The drinks didn't suit my boyfriend's taste, and the next day, it was forced to shut down. "Then there was this gym owner who wouldn't give my boyfriend a discount. A few days later, the guy ended up in the hospital." She stepped closer, her voice dripping with contempt. "So, don't bite the hand that feeds you. My boyfriend's reach around here is way beyond anything a low-level worker like you could ever imagine." I remembered that incident. The bar had been doing great business, and then overnight, the owner walked away from everything. My people told me the owner had crossed someone and pulled out of the neighborhood on his own. I had assumed he had gotten on the wrong side of another family and left it at that. I never would have guessed that Bianca's boyfriend was the one behind it. I raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like your boyfriend's got a lot of power." Bianca missed the undertone completely and puffed up even more. "You bet he does! “He told me he's going to move all our friends and relatives into this neighborhood. The bars, the casinos, the clubs, the warehouses… Every last one of them will be staffed with our people. "Give it some time, and this whole neighborhood's gonna answer to us." For a Capo, her boyfriend had quite the ambition. I asked in no particular hurry, "Your boyfriend does all this out in the open, and he's not worried about the people above him coming down on it?" Bianca scoffed. "The Don's way too busy to care about some little neighborhood like this. My boyfriend said it himself. As long as nobody at the top steps in, he's the king around here." I smiled. She had gotten one thing wrong. Over the past few years, every family operation had been running smoothly. Unless core interests were at stake, my brother rarely bothered with matters this small. That much was true. This neighborhood, however, caught my attention months ago. A bar had shut down overnight, store managers were being replaced one after another, and several previously stable family businesses had quietly fallen into outside hands. Over the past few weeks, I had been walking the streets myself, quietly following the trail, trying to track down whoever was behind it all. Now, I knew. Someone had been treating my territory like their own personal playground. Chapter 3 "Are you making the food or not? My boyfriend's people will be moving into this neighborhood any day now. You'd better start kissing up to me while you still can, or you're gonna regret it." I smiled at her threats. "What a coincidence. Kissing up has never been my strong suit. Since your boyfriend's so powerful, I'm sure you can find someone else to cook for you." I turned and went back inside. A second later, my phone started buzzing nonstop. [You're just some pizza shop worker, and you think you can talk back to me?] [Just wait. I'm not just going to get you fired. I'm going to have my boyfriend throw you out of this whole neighborhood!] I stared at the threats lighting up my screen and did not even know what to say. I was the little sister of one of the most powerful Dons in the country. I oversaw every operation on this street. Yet my neighbor was threatening to run me out of my own territory. If word of this got out, my friends would not let me hear the end of it for a year. One thing in her messages did catch my attention, though. Her boyfriend was only a Capo. By all rights, he should not have had the nerve to make threats like these, not unless someone higher up was backing him. That meant the rot I had been tracking inside the family might run deeper than I had thought. I sent Dante a text message: [I've figured out what's been going on with that street. Tomorrow night at 9:00 pm, I want a meeting with every person in charge of this neighborhood.] His reply came almost instantly: [If you're the one calling the meeting, of course. Send word. No one skips.] … The following evening, I came home at my usual time. The moment I stepped out of my car, I saw Bianca standing at the entrance of the apartment building with her arms crossed. Next to her stood a heavyset man wearing a gold watch, his expression smug and superior. I glanced at the tattoos on his arms and recognized him immediately. He was Enzo Moretti, the Capo in charge of this neighborhood. Bianca spotted me and jabbed a finger in my direction. "That's her!" Enzo looked me up and down and said coldly, "So, you're the neighbor who's been giving my girlfriend attitude? "How long have you been living on this street? I've never seen you before." I had been deliberately keeping a low profile to investigate the irregularities in this neighborhood. I never brought bodyguards, never used the family's cars, and rarely even wore jewelry. Someone at his level would never have had reason to cross paths with me. The moment Bianca heard Enzo's question, her eyes lit up as though she had just found the proof she needed. "She's only been here a month! You don't even know her, so she's obviously some nobody with no one backing her up! Get rid of her! Kick her out of this neighborhood!" Enzo smiled, his eyes full of disdain. "So, you're new around here. Guess it's time someone taught you how things work." He lifted his chin, his tone dripping with arrogance. "Since you've been cooking for Bianca these past few weeks, I'll let you stay in this neighborhood. But you'll have to agree to a few conditions. "First, pay a protection fee of 50,000 dollars. "Second, you cook dinner for Bianca every night. If she has guests, you serve them too. "Third, you refused to cook for her last night and she had to spend her own money on delivery. That's 1,000 dollars. "She went hungry because of you and was in a bad mood all night, so that's 30,000 for emotional distress. Then there's the phone she broke because she was so angry. That's another 5,000. "Your total comes to 86,000 dollars. You wanna transfer it now, or should we walk you to the bank?" Chapter 4 I had never imagined that someone would demand protection money from me on my own turf. Enzo pulled out his phone and opened his banking app. "Eighty-six thousand dollars." He held the screen up to my face. "Pay up and we'll pretend this never happened." Bianca stood beside him, making no effort to hide the satisfaction on her face. The commotion had already drawn a crowd from the surrounding buildings, but judging by their expressions, this kind of thing was nothing new to them. A middle-aged woman from the building across the street caught my eye and said quietly, "Just pay him. His people really will throw you out." Another neighbor looked on with the kind of amusement reserved for someone else's misfortune. "You picked the wrong guy to mess with. Everyone knows Enzo Moretti runs this neighborhood." I looked around at all the uneasy faces, then turned back to Enzo. "Does everyone who lives here have to pay you 50,000 in protection fees?" Enzo scoffed. "Not everyone gets the privilege. "I'm the Capo around here. Street patrols, neighbor disputes, business taxes... All of that falls under me. "I handle your problems, so a little protection fee is the least you can do." Bianca nodded right away. "Exactly. My boyfriend's even willing to take your money, and that's him doing you a favor. Just like how he lets you cook for me. You should be grateful." I studied the two of them, then asked calmly, "What if I say no?" The smile dropped from Enzo's face. "No? "Let me spell it out for you. Tonight, the Don and the Principessa are coming to this neighborhood for a meeting. "If I tell him there's an unregistered tenant causing trouble on our turf, you'll be out before sundown. "Think it over. Eighty-six thousand dollars for peace of mind. That's a bargain." Bianca's eyes suddenly lit up. "Wait, Enzo, the Don is really coming?" Enzo nodded. "Of course. I got word this morning. The Don wants every person in charge of this neighborhood at the family's club by 9:00 pm. He and the Principessa are coming to inspect." Bianca perked up immediately. "Enzo, do you know if the Don has a girlfriend?" Enzo gave her a sideways look. "Why are you asking?" She glanced away and tried to sound casual. "Just curious." He narrowed his eyes and grabbed her chin, his voice turning sharp. "I'm warning you. Don't get any ideas. "Don Vitale is known for being completely untouchable when it comes to women. He's cold and ruthless. "If you offend him, you won't get anything out of it except trouble for me. And when that happens, don't expect me to save you." Bianca quickly latched onto his arm and softened her voice. "Relax, I was just asking." She said it was nothing, but her eyes were already darting around. She clearly had not given up. Watching her, I could not help but laugh. "Even if the Don were single, he wouldn't look twice at someone like you." Her face twisted with rage. "What would some hick who cooks for a living know about anything? Pay the 86,000 right now, or once the Don gets here, it'll be too late to come crawling to me!" I ignored her. Enzo had run out of patience entirely. "I'll ask you one last time. Eighty-six thousand dollars. Are you paying or not?" I met his gaze. "No." Something dangerous flickered across Enzo's face. "Your choice." He snapped his fingers. "Get this trespasser out of here." Two of his Soldati moved toward me on command. Before they could reach me, a voice cut through the crowd from behind. "The Don is here!" Every head turned. A black SUV had pulled up at the curb. My brother's right-hand man, Marco Benedetti, stepped out of the vehicle. The entire street fell silent. The Soldati who had been closing in on me a second ago snapped to attention. "Signor Benedetti." "Good evening, sir." Marco offered a brief nod in acknowledgment. His gaze swept over the crowd. "What's going on here?" Enzo hurried over, his face rearranging itself into an eager smile. "Signor Benedetti, here's the situation. "I just discovered an unregistered tenant in this neighborhood. She's been disrespecting my people and won't follow the rules around here. " I was about to remove her so that she wouldn't cause any trouble for the Don and the Principessa tonight." Bianca chimed in immediately, "That's right! She won't pay the protection fee, and she insulted the Don. "She has zero respect for the family. Trash like her needs to be thrown out now!" Marco's expression hardened. "What? Someone publicly insulted the Don? Take me to her." Enzo turned back to the crowd with a triumphant look and pointed at me. "She's right there." Marco followed the direction of his finger. His eyes landed on my face. His eyes went wide, and his entire body went rigid. "Principessa?"