Capo Dei Capi (Secrets of the Famiglia Part 1)

Chapter 29 (Aliyana)

“You both look ready, maybe I should pack my Glock in case some line-backer decides you ladies need

some tackling.” His face is all kinds of serious, but I know he's talking smack.

“Yellow. Lady of the house, if your ass isn't down here in 20 secs, I’m going to finish ole daddios scotch,

and Mr. Catelli is going to have to carry my ass to this dig,” Sienna screams from the bottom of the

staircase.

My eyes widen as I move past Ren, to rush down the carpeted stairs.

“I’m ready, I'm ready. Sorry I kept you guys waiting.”

“How many years did you say this whiskey is again? I forget.” Sienna takes a sip of an almost full glass

of Papa’s scotch. He hardly ever drank it. I knew there was a reason behind why he kept it at the back

of his shelf. But he said I should make the Bray girls feel welcome and drinking his scotch is making

them very welcome indeed.

I don't know much about them, but Sienna and Kylie are so alike in personality. I wonder who calls the

shots between the two. Though they look entirely different. Sienna is a light brunette, long-haired

Texan. She has a wide, full mouth that resembles Angelina Jolie. Her cheeks are thin and jawline

sharp.

Sienna’s brown eye twitches as her red lips thin in what I would say is more of a pout.

Her eyes have been bugging me the whole day, it just seems off, unfitting. Almost as though they're

contacts, color ones. But who would want brown eye contacts? Sienna obviously! I shake my head at

the random thought and shake my head again, cringing when she takes another big sip.

“30 odd years, I think.”

“It's 45, my dad has the same one. It's meant for special occasions,” Ren corrects me as he comes

down the stairs with a quiet Elisa behind him.

“Well, I'm here, that is one huge fucking occasion right there." Sienna winks at me when I start

laughing.

“Kylie!” Sienna screams as she shoves the almost full glass to Ren's extended hand.

“Give me a minute!" Kylie yells back from the lounge area. I can hear her on a call.

“Kylie Bray, get your ass here now, tell that uncle of mine we'll be home before the roosters croak.”

“It's Momma, she wants our asses in Church tomorrow, you still wanna bitch and moan?” Kylie fires

back in a deep Southern twang that is amusing as well as refreshing as her tall, lithe form walks

through the archway leading to us.

Sienna’s golden skin takes a whole new shade as her big eyes widen when Kylie hands her the phone

with her brows arched as if to say ‘you started it.'

“Hello, Aunt Hue.” I watch her thin cheeks get tighter as her small eyes get smaller, and full lips pout as

she glares at a smiling Kylie who seems unfazed.

Ren hands the glass of Papa's whiskey to Kylie, who takes the offering and downs the remainder of the

whiskey. As in, she swallows at least two fingers of potent whiskey as if it's water.

Her eyes lock on Elisa, who is silent behind us.

It's surprising when someone initially meets Elisa, and she chirps their ear off for a full hour then

practically draws in on herself until she's just a piece in the room. It took me a while to figure out why,

well, it took Gabriel a while. He was the one who made sense of Elisa's weirdness.

Turns out, Elisa has a mild case of schizophrenia. I can't really explain this to the two overly confident

Bray girls.

“She's shy,” Ren explains.

I am relieved when neither of the Bray girls say anything about Elisa's silence after Sienna gets an

earful from her aunt.

“Let's get the hell out of here,” Kylie announces as I see for the first time she has a helmet with her.

“You not riding a bike, we'll go in my car, I'll pick you up in the morning to get your bike.” Ren stops

Kylie in her tracks. Her shoulder-length hair flips as she spins around. Her black vest and ripped loose

denim makes her look like a biker as she leans on her left side, jutting out her hips. Kylie is the girl who

exudes confidence. She is the girl in school who keeps a tight circle, but is loved by everybody. Kylie is

the one who is too good to bully someone for the sake of it. She is a lot like us, except we kill our

enemies.

“You say the sweetest things, sugar.” Kylie winks at him as she makes her way to the passenger seat

of his jeep. No questions asked.

“I thought you need to be 21 to drink or buy alcohol,” Elisa says as Kylie and Ren jump out of the car

and head to the bottle store.

“We're from the South, if you don't have a drink by 13, then there's something fishy going on. It's the

unspoken law of the South,” Sienna tells Elisa, who is sitting between us.

“I've never heard that before,” Elisa mumbles as I hold my tongue.

There's one thing about Elisa that a lot of people caught on too quickly - She's easy to fuck with.

“Now you have. If you ever in the South or near Liston Hills, you let me know. I still got another 18

months of school left.” Sienna shifts her body to face Elisa as I see Ren and Kylie walking toward us

with lots of booze.

“Liston Hills? Okay, now you talking shit, that town is a myth,” Elisa accuses as her brow furrows.

“Na ah, it's pretty darn real. Our whole family lives there, we heading on over tomorrow. If your folks

say it's good, you ladies are welcome to join. It's church and lunch. Uncle Marcus is coming back this

side. He'll drop you home after.”

Before we can answer, Ren and Kylie, jump in. Ren hands three bottles of Jack to Elisa as Kylie places

the two bottles she brought on the floor by her feet.

“I'm telling you that it was unnecessary, a hundred dollars for a tip is too much,” Ren argues as he

slams the door and starts the car.

“And I'm saying it's fucking paper, worthless,” Kylie fires back.

“I don't see how it's worthless if you just used it to bribe a 60-year-old man,” Ren informs her in a

sarcastic tone, he usually used with Mero when he spoke shit - Which was a lot of the time.

Kylie puts her seatbelt on as the car makes a noise indicating she needs to straps in.

“It's money, rule number 1. They don’t teach this stuff in school. Money is paper. It has no value, it's just

a false way of brainwashing people. If you want to know value, show me your assets. Silver, gold,

diamonds, and land is just the start. Now, to taste the bliss of real money, I say you get into software

development or better yet find minerals.” Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“There she starts,” Sienna mutters, making a frustrated sound at the back of her throat.

“Well, somebody needs to enlighten you guys about finance. You wanna be better, you oughta think

better. If you not smart, then how the hell do you expect to beat the taxman?” Kylie rambles as we drive

to the fraternity house filled with footballers.

I’ve never been privy to any kind of sports, but Landon Walker is our latest football sensation. College

football is my dad’s thing. And Landon is a big deal.

After another 40 minutes, we finally arrive at our destination. My cheeks hurt from the laughing, my

ears ringing from the aftermath of Sienna's screaming when she and Kylie got into it on the way.

Sienna didn't have any qualms about telling Kylie to shut her big mouth, her words not mine.

I jump out first and wait for Elisa and Sienna, who are both straightening their dresses. Sienna has on a

flirty knee-length blue cotton dress that does wonders for her breast while still screaming classy.

Elisa is wearing a check black and white skirt with a Chinese collar black vest.

The outfit looks great paired with black stockings and a flat red leather pump. Elisa's newly red hair is

the highlight of her outfit.

I catch Ren’s eyes on her before he walks up to me, flicking my nose, “Don’t get into any shit, have fun,

but not too much. Oh, and Leonardo is around, you should talk to him.” My face heats up as my vision

goes red, followed by a burst of life and nerves.

“You failed to mention that this morning,” I hiss, whisper as my fingers pinch his arm.

“Ow, what the fuck Yana?!”

“And she got claws; you seem to amaze me Liya," Kylie muses as she saunters over to us.

“This is not over, you lied to me.” I glare at him as he leaves to get the booze from the car.

“Evading and lying are two different things, Yana.” He says as he walks toward me with four bottles of

whiskey.

“Yes, and you were lying,” I point out.

“Whatever you say, Yana,” Ren mutters. His smirk is screaming, ‘he doesn't care how pissed I am.’

My eyes roll, feigning disinterest as my stomach twists in knots. I have the biggest crush on Leonardo

Catelli.

I wish there was a way I can talk to him without sounding like a complete idiot.

Tonight might just be the night to change that. Maybe, he will finally notice me, and when he does, I

won't make a bigger fool out of myself as I have done in the past. Yes, today will be the beginning of a

new chapter in my life.