The Badass Mafia Boss Queen

“We’re here.” Hollis told me, squeezing my hand gently. I hadn’t even noticed we had arrived. A gorgeous looking woman with a fair distribution of golden hair came rushing towards our car almost immediately, all smiles.

Sliding the hem of my dress up, I adjusted my heels. “Try not to give a fuck,” he encouraged and I nodded my understanding.

A gentle tap came on the window, signaling Hollis to open the door. The moment he did, the golden haired woman rushed to me.

“Ugo, oh my God! My gorgeous girl.” The woman pulled me into a hug. “I’m Isabella Genovese, you can call me Nana, everybody does.” She hugged me again and I returned the hug. She turned to Hollis who quickly pulled me closer to himself. A frown crossed her face. “Put some room between you and the poor girl, we are Catholics for goodness sake.” She pulled me away from a smiling Hollis.

“Mrs. Genovese, it is such a pleasure to meet you. Hollis could not stop ranting and raving about you,” I said as politely as possible.

“Please call me Isabella, my sweetheart.” She smiled brighter than the sun. “You have no idea how long I have waited to meet you, and no wonder this son of mine hid you away, you are so beautiful, Ugo.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I dropped my head for effect before smiling. “Thank you Mrs… Isabella.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw the impressed look on Hollis’s face. Maxine and Rocco also beamed with smile as they headed into the house.

“Your father is inside.” Isabella said. “With your permission and that of your fiancee, I’d love to introduce her to your cousins, uncles and aunts. They are all waiting.” She pointed over to the house.

“Will you be fine all by yourself?” Hollis whispered to my hearing alone.

I nodded. Slowly, he released his hold on my hands and started towards the house. “Don’t take up most of her time” He said before disappearing.

“Ugo, these are Hollis’s cousins, Britney, I took notice of her long gold hair as her bright blue eyes glared at me but she shook my hand, giving it a tight squeeze.

“Wow, you’re so beautiful,” I said, smiling. Her eyes lit up like she had found the true meaning of Christmas.

“Thanks,” she said.

Next was Cordelia, the rather tall, chocolate-skinned woman with a wide smile on her face.

“Hi, I’m Cordelia. I’m glad to finally met you.” She couldn’t contain herself from pulling me into yet another hug. “Oh sweet lord! English silk, very nice.” She grinned and pulled back saying, “Oh, my God! and the shoes. You sure know how to flawlessly pull it off when it comes to fashion. You’re quite daring with your style.”

“Hi, Cordelia.” I smiled at her. “Thank you for the homely welcome. You have no idea how nervous I’ve been about today.”

Cordelia grabbed on to my free arm, while Isabella just smiled, clearly finding no threat in me whatsoever.

“We’re all here for you Ugo. Now, come and meet our parents before your fiance comes right back and take you away.”

We started heading into the house where we saw a group of people seated idly in an open room, discussing. The Genovese family home was an exact opposite of my home, sadly. It was a modern day fortress.

The nude marble floors that stretched for as far as the eye could see, the double grand stair cases framed with black iron, and the engraved wooden French doors. There were no statues, barely any plants, and only modern paintings.

Everything was simple, crisp, and clean. Turning around, I saw Hollis emerging from one of the closed doors. He was grinning when he saw me and something softened inside of me because I smiled at him.

I was introduced to a couple of older men and women. Some children too were told that I was their uncle, Hollis’s wife to be. The introductions turned extensive that I started feeling uncomfortable, knowing that we were neither getting married nor are we in a real relationship.

Just when it felt like I was going to faint from the unending hugs, smiles, touching and too many kind words, Hollis came to my rescue and dragged me away.

“Thank you so much.” I said breathing fast, almost choking.

He pulled me down to a boring hall, out through a set of large French doors, which opened to a large grass lawn. He took me through a simple tour of the house while we waited for lunch.

“How’s your father?” I asked when we approached a patio.

“Pissed. We’ll meet him during lunch. I hope my mother didn’t swamp you with the whole introduction and family?”

“No, but damn!”

“It was too much, wasn’t it?”

“It was. I thought we were only going to have a simple lunch with your family.”

“Nothing is ever simple with my family Ugo. It’s either over the roof or over the roof.” He chuckled. “I’m glad they like you enough to go through the stress of family introductions.”

“Wouldn’t they have done the same for the girl your father wanted you to marry?”

Hollis scratched his head lazily. “Alessia have been telling you tales.”

“You told her to broaden my knowledge on any topic I wish discuss, didn’t you?”

“I did.” He nodded.

“So….”

“I don’t know, I don’t even want to be with the girl in question.” He replied.

We came to a stop and he gently removed a flyaway hair from my forehead. A romantic gesture that shouldn’t have any effect on me but sadly, it did. “Why?”

“Don’t I want to be with the girl in question?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t love her.” He replied simply. “Forever is such a long time to live with someone I have no feelings whatsoever for.”

I wanted to ask him more questions but we were interrupted by a maid that came to announce lunch..