Christmas Downfall: Don, You Shouldn't Harass A Mafia Princess

nt whiff of gunpowder, pricked my nostrils as I

rd basement floor of the old mansion-built by

micro submachine guns were

en-year-old Daniel fl

the first row o

was frayed at the edges, yet he alwa

hree days of school

town, following the address of his part-time job, he was staggering

th every step. I stuffed 50 dollars into his canvas backpack-the one with a

med the money back into my palm at the alleyway

e me feel like a

ring an extra sandwich, wrap it in tin

, marked up with pencil notes highlighting the key points-he was

s falling as I stepped out of the

is cotton jacket leaking white fluff, yet he clutch

hair, and frost clu

it up like the muzzle of a

hot sweet potatoes into my hands, "can you wait for me?

nown as the "Silver Fox"

ed me down on an It

crest tattooed on my collarbone,

the old Don by night. I was terrified your father's men would blow my brains out with a single bullet. I

nstantly when he laid eyes on my father-the "Tiger of the East Coast," the ruler of New York's largest mafia clan,

d nail to reach was nothing but th

rst to charge into enemy territory during turf wars, dared to press a gun to the head of a rival family's elder

abdomen, yet he grinned as he slapped the p

all cargo passing

ninety dewy white roses-roses he'd personally picked from a flower fie

jet-black, and the diamond ring inside was encrusted w

back of my hand, his voice deep and resolute, "is to become t

wear off, and a dull thr

he kept tucked in his suit jacket-scorchi

arpest gun can

is

ice pulled me b

in his hand, its barrel po

el's

down at

ced-the original flesh had been branded

pink and smooth, not a trace

shed the

n smudged on the collar, and carried several s

re that fam

nightstand and reache

y," he said casually, as if t

necklace. Don't both

ady left, leaving only a few bodygu

red the butler to dig up Lola's past, and he had no

and the diamond inside bl

e won't bothe

his tone held a hint o

ilippe on his wrist, and my mind drifted back

a cheap plastic watch

t had been replaced with a silk one

as the exact same scent th

nn

I didn't reply,

against the vase on the bedside t

ola burst i

wrapped tightly around her chest

heveled, tears s

down and cut the skin off my ches

reath hitc

dage on Lola's chest

apple bobbe

you become? You

randed those filthy words on my skin? Taki

is mouth, but n

o Lola was, yet he

to his arms, screaming

baby! You can't let her kil

el f

t Lola's belly,