Back in the good 'ole days, Santino Malachi Contreras spent his downtime at his upscale suburban home with his lovely wife Maribel and their three sons Brian, Jaesen, and Greycin. Family vacations, movie nights, and barbeques in the backyard were a common occurance in the Contreras household, even as the boys were now quickly leaving their teenage years.
The boys' constant chatter around the dinner table typically drowned out his thoughts of the day's gruesome events, and the warm smile from Maribel always kept him grounded. The people around that table was who was most important to him... family. And in about nine months, there would be a new addition at their dinner table... As for the family business, Santino --notoriously known as 'The Mack had recently appointed Brian as the new Underboss in the Contreras Familia. A few Associates made their disapproval of this change in leadership known and were quickly dealt with, but now there was a steady rise in suspicion of a mole somewhere in the Familia's middle management. The Mack knew it wasn't Jaesen or Greycin. Two of the four Caporegime positions in the family were held by his sons, so if the rumors were true, it had to be either Mikey "The Crusher"Santagata or Orlando "Dicer" D'Armi. The Mack had a feeling it was Orlando. Several months later, baby Isabella was brought into the world. While the wifes of the Contreras Familia Associates doted on Maribel and her new, tiny baby, the men were on edge. Jaesen and Greycin had been promoted to Underboss positions, and this was the catalyst to fishing out the mole. The Familia had never had three Underbosses, much less such young ones, and the two remaining Caporegime were nearing the peak of their instability. The day Marbiel and Isabella came home from the hospital, Santino was stressed. The Familia had a "meeting" planned for the next day where Orlando was going to be dealt with, but tonight was downtime with his family. Santino sat next to Maribel at the dinner table as platters of antipasto and chicken marsala were passed. Halfway through the meal, the doorbell rang and Isabella began to cry. Maribel picked her up and cradled her to her chest to calm her as Greycin got up to answer the door. Muffled voices were heard from the foyer, but Santino was too distracted by his thoughts of Orlando to focus on the conversation. Suddenly there was a rush of movement and commotion, but all Santino heard was someone shouting "Lo sono il tuo cavallo di Troia!", Maribel scream, and then.......nothing. |