Secrets Untold

MIA

I work in a skyscraper in the middle of Manhattan. It's always been my dream to work here. New York's top-selling newspaper online post. I was thrilled. I've been here for 3 years now. Nothing fulfills me more than getting down to the truth. My mother always told me, I was going to get myself into trouble for always being so nosy, but I couldn't help it. When I want to find out the truth about something, it's like I have a one-track mind. I can't help but seek out trouble if that's what it takes.

My phone was sitting next to my keyboard when It rang. 

"Hey, Dad everything okay? I'm pretty swamped right now."

I hated giving my parents the cold shoulder, but I couldn't help it, today was a crazy day, this owner of the magazine was coming in and everyone was on edge due to the rumors about how he was ruthless when it came to his business.

"Mia I need you to come over immediately. It's time we sat down to talk about an urgent matter." He said.

Now I was growing weary. Is he okay, is mom okay? "Can it wait until after work Dad?" I asked.

"Not this time my love." Then he promptly hung up on me.

I gathered my purse, laptop, and a few files I was working on before heading to the elevator. It was time I got this over with. I already knew what my dad was going to talk to me about. It was either one of two things. Their health wasn't well, and I needed to prepare, which was not likely, considering my mother always made sure we ate organically. She wouldn't have us growing up any other way. Not with everything they're putting in the food these days. Or two, my dad was tired of hearing my mother tell him that she wanted grandchildren already and wished I would settle down. I was banking on the latter. I love my mother but she can be a bit much sometimes. That's why I was determined to live on campus after high school and live on my own after college graduation. New York's expensive, but if I could navigate this crazy lifestyle choice, I could do anything.

As the elevator opened on the first floor I was in my head about my dad's call, when I ran into a man and my laptop fell from my hands and broke. Great, just great. Add it to my other expenses. I can't ever catch a break.

"I'm so sorry," I said, looking up into the most beautiful green emeralds I've ever seen.  He knelt, picked up my laptop, and handed it to me.

"Looks like you might need to get this fixed. Maybe next time you'll watch where you're going." He said while stepping onto the elevator.

I could not believe him, the audacity of this man was enraging. How dare he. As I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, the elevator doors shut. Ugh, today was going to be one of those days. Ha, and my parents wonder why I'm still single.

I arrived at my parents' house by 11:30. When I walked in all I could smell was my mother's homemade tortellini soup. God, I wish I was still young sometimes. my mother always knew how to make me feel better with her cooking. Especially when I was sick. She'd bring me a bowl of soup to my room and a box of tissues because she knew my favorite thing to do when I was sick was to lay in bed all day and read a hopelessly romantic novel and cry my eyes out. I hope to be as comforting of a mother as she has been to me. Not anytime soon, of course, I do have my career to worry about.

I hurried myself through the foyer, passing underneath the stairwell into the living room. The kitchen was to the left where my mother stood cooking, I smiled brightly at her as she said, "Your father is waiting for you in his office, when you're done come and eat some lunch before you head back to work, you're so frail." Living in the city will do that to you, groceries are so expensive. I eat takeout most nights, but I'm lucky if I get to eat breakfast or lunch. "Okay Mom, see you in a minute."

I walked over to the right of the living room down a small hallway towards my father's office and knocked.

"Come in." He grumbled. Great this is going to be interesting. I turned the knob and walked in. "Close the door and sit." I did as he said.

My dad wasn't the most approachable of men, but he has always kept my best interests in mind. As I sat down and asked, "Is everything okay, you and Mom aren't sick, are y'all?"

"No, no my love. Nothing of that nature." He said.

"Well then out with it dad, I have a meeting at 3 that I need to be back at the office for."

As my dad sat there looking at me in silence, it felt like time had stood still. What was going on? Anxiety was starting to form deep in my chest. As I reached up to rub at it, my father looked down at his papers to busy himself when he delivered the news.

"Mia, you know how much I love you. You are my pride and joy." He paused. "But your mother is right. It's time you settle down and get married. I have a husband picked out for you and you shall be wed in two months.

"I didn't know what to say. All of this didn't make any sense. An arranged marriage. Why? Why would my father do this to me?

"You always told me I had a choice in choosing my husband, you always told me love is very important, and that I should choose wisely. Me! I should, not you! Why are you doing this Daddy? I won't do it, I won't, and you can't make me. I'm a grown adult, I've got my job, my own place and I'm making it. I'm surviving."

At this point, I was just babbling. I do that when I'm nervous, or overwhelmed. I can't seem to ever keep my mouth shut.

My father quickly shut me up by yelling, "Because I am your father and you shall do what I say. I don't have a say in the matter. I was in debt when you were a child and I promised your hand in marriage when the time was to come. You will do this or it will be your mother's and my head on a stick, do you understand me Mia, we have no choice."

I didn't know what to say, I was stunned into silence. Which was a first.

My mother came bounding in with all the yelling "What is going on in here? I can hear you from the kitchen." she said.

"Father would you like to make Mother aware of your transgressions, because with her always nagging me about finding a husband, I'm sure she has no idea." Of course, I would open my big mouth again. It's not my mother I was trying to hurt, it was my father. With those being my last spoken words I got up and left. I had a meeting to get to.

DAMON

I had a hard life. I was born into the high ranks of the Mafia. My father was the King of Brooklyn so to speak. He had his hands in just about everything. From sending his goons out to pick up his cut from restaurants to picking up his cut from senators. Yes, my father was ruthless. Yes. my father was a criminal, and yes my father was anything but a father. My younger brother was still kept in the dark about things, my mother didn't want him growing up in this life. She was raised in a catholic family, so I can understand how she would want to shield her children. She just didn't want to shield me, for reasons that are still unknown to me. I'll figure it out though.

I always had a knack for solving mysteries. It was my thing after all. When I was a child, I'd sneak in on my father's meetings to get a listen-in to what was happening. I would always hear horror stories that would keep me up at night. My mother told me to start reading mystery