The Games Of The Heart

I feel the sunlight on my face, I don't understand why but I am sure the curtains were closed last night before I went to bed. I hear footsteps around me, I finally understand why my beautiful sleep was interrupted. I turn away from the sunlight and try to go back to sleep. That all goes out the window once I hear her voice.

'Honey, I know you are awake, do yourself a favor and open your eyes," My mom, Rosalia, says.

'Good morning, Mom," I say, peeling my eyes open and look into the same eyes as mine. They are as blue as the ocean, the prettiest eyes I have ever seen in my life. Her wavy pitch-black hair flows down to her waist against her beautiful tan skin. Her oval face holds a smile on those rosy lips of hers, which says she is happy to be disturbing me from my sleep. Like every little girl out there, I believe my mom is the most beautiful woman in the world, even though I am far from little. The only things I inherited from her are her beautiful eyes. I am the female version of my father.

'I can't say the same, Dear; you need to get up and get ready. Our flight time has changed, we leave in an hour."

'An hour! Weren't we supposed to leave tonight? Why are we leaving so early all of a sudden?"

'Something came up, so we have to leave early. Your father will explain at breakfast, which you have twenty minutes to get ready for."

'Wow, Mom, I have not even finished packing."

'Why aren't you done packing? We have been talking about this trip for a week now."

'I planned to finish during the day since we we are going to leave at night."

'Sorry Dear, get ready for breakfast. I will have someone help you finish packing."

'Alright," I say, getting up from the bed to walk to the bathroom.

I walk downstairs for breakfast after I finish freshening up. I walk outside to the pool area, where my whole family is seated. I join my father, my mother, and my brother at the table.

'Good morning, everyone," I say, taking my seat.

'Good morning, Dear," My dad, Leonardo, says while reading the newspapers. He is six feet tall, well-built for a man of his age, he has dark brown hair like mine and grey eyes. I am not as tall as him; I am five foot six inches.

'How was your night, little Sis," My brother, Santiago says taking a bite of his French toast. He is six foot tall like my father, has a well-built body and dark brown hair. Neither of us have our mother's hair. He has the same ocean blue eyes as mine.

'It was disturbed by our beautiful mother here."

'Sorry about that, Dear, but we had to move the time of our flight to Italy," Dad says.

'Why is that? I still had something I wanted to do today before we leave." My whole family is travelling to Sicily. Dad has a business meeting over there and asked us if we would like to come along.

'My business partner asked me to come earlier than planned, he might not be available for the rest of the week."

'Oh, alright then."

We left for Sicily a few hours ago, the plane is about to land. During the flight, I wrote new chapters for my new book. I am an author, I studied business management in school with a minor in English literature. I haven't published any works of mine, but I plan to someday. I am afraid people might criticize my work, more than they will like it.

The last two days have been spent sleeping, the power of jet lag is no joke. I hear a knock on my door, I drag my lazy ass up to open it. I open it to reveal mom at the door; I step aside for her to enter.

'Good morning, Mom," I say, walking back to my bed.

'It is far from morning, young lady," Mom says pulling the blinds. I shield my eyes with my hands from the sunlight, removing them once I realize it's dark outside.

'Oh my God, I slept through the day again."

'Yes, you did, I need you to get a grip on your sleeping pattern."

'I will, Mom."

'Good, I wanted to ask you if you would like to come along with me tomorrow. I am visiting an old friend; her daughter is also one of your friends."

'You are visiting Mrs. Costanzo?"

'Yes, I thought you might want to see Aurora. I know it's been ages since you guys last saw each other."

'Yes, it has been ages since we have seen each other. What time are you leaving tomorrow?"

'11 a.m. Katherine and I plan to have brunch together, so make sure to skip breakfast like always."

'Don't worry, Mom, I will."

The next day I wake up in the morning for the first time since we arrived. Mom and I are on our way to the Costanzo estate, We will be arriving in a few minutes. I still remember the first time I met Aurora and her family. It was one of the most terrifying days of my life. If I remember correctly, I was a junior in high school at that time.

Mom had picked me up from school, and we went to the mall together. We had a lovely time shopping, when we were about to enter the car and go home, everything went south. I was about to step into the car but stopped, I felt someone was following us. I looked around,

I couldn't see anyone, so I brushed it off. Little did I know those few seconds I spent looking around were what saved mom's and my life. The second the driver opened the door; the car went up in flames. I was never more afraid for my life or my mom's like I was that day. You would think being born into the mafia world would prepare me for such moments, but it doesn't.