Secrets Untold

MIA

Manhattan was a bustling city. The nights never slowed, and the drinks were always being poured.

If you wanted the fast life, Manhattan was the place to be.

But not me.

I worked in one of the tallest buildings here.

You could see if from miles away.

It's always been my dream to work here. New York's top-selling newspaper online post.

I was nothing short of thrilled.

Three years in, and I still loved my job. 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.

Seeking out trouble is what I do. How else are you supposed to get answers?

I was vigorously typing away when my phone lit up next to my keyboard.

"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, the 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."

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

"Not this time." 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 it 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 move out after finishing my bachelors in two years.

Let's just say I was determined to get out from under their thumb.

New York's expensive, but if I could navigate this crazy lifestyle choice, I could do anything.

I was lost in thought over my father's call when the elevator door opened and I exited.

Glancing up a moment too late, 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.

What the hell?

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.

"Is everything okay, you and Mom aren't sick, are y'all?" I asked while taking a seat in front of his desk.

"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 the wedding date is set in two months' time."

I didn't know what to say. All of this didn't make any sense. An arranged marriage.

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? 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'll 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 mine and your mothers 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.

"What do you mean you have no choice?" I asked before my mother suddenly 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 her 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 parting words, I got up and left.

I had a meeting to get to.

DAMON

I always had a knack for solving mysteries. It was my thing after all.

Growing up as the heir to my families Mafia made me good at it.

Dominic Elwood. The King of Brooklyn so to speak. He had his hands in just about everything.

He never allowed himself to be seen with the low life's that owed him money, so he would send his goons out to collect his cut - or rather his washed money - from local business'.

But he did like to involve himself in his cuts from senators who owed him favors for backing their campaigns.

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, where we still celebrated Dia De Los Muertos, and the cucuy monster under the bed was our nighttime story.

So I can understand h