The Don

"Never show anger at a slight, tell nothing. Earn respect from everyone by deeds, not words. Love and respect the members of your family. A Wife is a woman who loves you and bears your children. And once that happens, your life is forfeit to give them their daily bread."

[nadianichetti]

On The Run

[nadianichetti]

Work was something that Nadia didn’t like to be brought up in the house. First of all, she liked to keep her work life and family life separate. But since Lucia and Konstantino had become aware of the family business, it got harder to hide. Thankfully for Nadia, Lucia wasn’t as involved as Konstantino was, and she secretly hoped that in the end Lucia wouldn’t join the mafia. Konstantino on the other hand, looked as though he was staying for good much to her disappointment. Nadia didn’t want to get in the way of their father-son business, but she still felt as though she could sway her eldest’s opinion on the matter. She was about to speak her two cents on Konstantino working with him but she decided to remain quiet. “Its that bad. Trust me. I wouldn’t call you out of work for nothing, you know that. Its so bad that I think she’s going to have to switch schools. They’re asking my sister to expel her. I’ll have Donna tell you what she did, its going to be a part of her punishment.”

“You’re helping me with dinner to make up for this shitty day, you know that right?” She kissed him once more. “And I think that its pretty important that we chill out for a bit before you go back to work. For dinner we’re definitely having caprese salad with our meal. I’m still thinking of what we’re going to make actually. Oh! That reminds me! You wouldn’t believe who I saw at the grocery store.” Nadia told him. “George Constantini.” She laughed with a shake to her head. “Saw him near the produce- well he saw me near the produce. He was near the eggplants. He’s a total health nut. He’s a vegan and told me that you could make portobello mushrooms taste like steak. And I was like ‘really?’ you know cause’ I’m curious. So, he gives me a recipe for portobello mushroom steak, and get this- you ready?” She held her hands up for dramatic effect. “Cauliflower mash! Like mashed potatoes! So we’re walkin’ around the store, and he’s putting shit in my cart like  asparagus and stuff to make salad. And I’m just lookin’ at this guy all crazy because one, he’s over here messing with my cart! And two, its former beefhead George Contantini looking like a stringbean! Anyway, I told him that you know we’re Italian and Cuban so my kids and my husband they like meat. And he just told me to feed them this and don’t buy them meat or whatever.” Nadia snorted. “I had Lucia marinate some steaks while we were out today so I guess we’ll have that. But its a crazy story right? Can you believe it though? I almost didn’t recognize him. We took a selfie, I’ll show you when we start making dinner.”

[donovannichetti]

Donovan groaned as his listened to Nadia explain how serious whatever Donnatella did really was. He really didn’t know what he would do with her. She was so much like he was as a teenager and it was stressful as fuck. He now understood what his parents went through with him. He was a little shit and now he was dealing with the same behavior from his own child. Don had thought he wouldn’t have to deal with it. All of the other kids had their moments, but they had been nothing like Donna. He was at a lost for what to do with her. “I don’t know where else she could go. We might have to seriously think on the boarding school thing. What school would want her? They’re gonna see her transcripts and immediately deny her. It’s so bad you don’t wanna tell me and want to force her to tell me?” He sighed, knowing whatever he was he wasn’t going to be happy about it.

“Anything you want, cara.” He easily replied, grabbing her hand and bringing it up so he could kiss her palm. Don never had any problem doing things to make Nadia happy. He listened to her story about George Constantini, but all he could think about was how much of a tool Constantini was in school. Even as a high school student, he was getting in deep with bookies over horse bets. His parents had to ask Don's father for help several times and each time Don was dispatched to take care of the situation. He had no respect for Constantini. A man should know how to take care of himself and at the very least not get himself into the same problem over and over again. Constantini was a clown and a wimp. Now he apparently looked like a stringbean and Donovan thought it was a perfect fit. “Do we want to read Donna the riot act before or during dinner? I think it’s better to let her sit and stew it in. Because I don’t know what she did, I can’t say I won’t lose my temper over it. I will try, for you mia leonessa, to not completely lose my shit at the dinner table.”

[nadianichetti]

On The Run

[nadianichetti]

Nadia took a deep cleansing breath. “All negative thoughts stay outside this room.” She told herself before she stepped inside ‘her’ room. The rather large space was filled with three large windows with a view that overlooked a lake, incense, plants, and a yoga mat. Nadia had half a mind to close the door, but instead she let it hang open just incase her children needed her. She didn’t allow her mind to drift to anything that had do with the moments before. Nadia immediately started to burn sage and purify herself and the room, cleansing herself of any negative energy. After she was done with that, she lit some incense and rolled out her yoga mat. After taking in a deep breath, she slowly let it out and closed her eyes. This was what she needed. Peace and quiet. The last thing that needed to be on her mind was the future and how she was going to deal with it. She hears the loud stomping of her youngest, but she doesn’t bring it to the forefront of her mind. She will deal with it later, now is her time.

Meditation had become a tool that she used to get herself into a better place. She was sure if she hadn’t found this and other varying coping mechanisms that she wouldn’t be where she is today. That and the loving support of her husband. The first year that she had left the mafia, things became hard for her. Guilt would eat her up like no other, and she would spend nights crying over the things she had done and the lives she had taken. Donovan would sit right next to her, rubbing her back and cuddling her while whispering words of encouragement. He was the only one that understood her pain, and even though he was still doing those things, he was able to comfort her a little bit. It was hard to forgive herself for the things she had done. To accept what she did and move on was one of the most painful things she could have ever done. But when Nadia looked at her children, she realized her decision to leave wasn’t in vain. The last thing she wanted was for them to follow in their footsteps, so when Konstantino joined the ‘family business’ Nadia couldn’t help but be a little disappointed in not only him but herself as well. But she couldn’t see her life going any other way, she couldn’t see herself marrying anyone else but Don. She was always his ride or die. Yes there were conflicting thoughts that would come and go, wondering what life would have been if she left for something ‘normal’. But this was her normal, and leaving would mean being without the man she loved. 

She hears him before he even makes his presence known. Nadia’s just coming out of her meditation and slowly breathes out, placing her hands on the soft squishy yoga mat. “Give me a minute.” She stands up from her position on the floor and grabs her sage, and burns it again. Nadia walks over to her husband and gives him a small smile before waving the bunch of herbs around his body. “I know you’re going to be angry when we talk about this. I’m just burning sage for precaution. I don’t want you to get too heated, I know you just came from work and I don’t want-” She cuts herself off to put the sage somewhere on the floor. “-you to lose your temper is all.” Nadia steps out of the room, gently pushing him out the way, Lets face it, no amount of sage will cleanse all of Don’s negative energy and calm him down. “So.” She presses a kiss to his lips. “How was your day? Mine was lovely and then well…Anyway, want to do this now? Or later? And where is Konstantino? Or is he still at work?” Nadia forces herself not to cringe. She hates what they do, but its something that she can’t control. So instead of focusing on the negative, she decided to focus on the positive.

“I’m glad to see that you’re home early though. I guess that’s one good thing that came out of this. I usually only see you at dinner time. Are you going back to work after this? Because if not, we can start prepping dinner together. What do you want to eat? I just went grocery shopping so we can eat anything we want. But I also think we should discuss what we’re going to say first in private before we just go in there.”

[donovannichetti]

If Donovan was being honest, there was a part of him that hated the meditation room in his house. It wasn’t that he had anything against yoga or meditation or tranquility or whatever. He just didn’t like the reminder that his wife had dealt with something that he couldn’t help her with. He didn’t provide the solace and peace she needed. The point in their lives when Nadia left the business and had to deal with an onslaught of guilt for her actions was a hard time for them. He killed him that all he could do was hold her and try whispering sweet things to her as she broke down night after night. He loved his wife more than anything in this world. She was everything to him and he took her physical and mental health very seriously.

He knew better than to interrupt her, so he stayed silent and just watched her. She was so gorgeous. He honestly doesn’t know how he ended up with her, but he was forever thankful. He simply raises an eyebrow as she waves the sage around him. “It’s that bad huh?” If she wanted the extra help of sage to keep him calm, Donatella must have really done it now. He could already feel a headache starting to form and he doesn’t know what happened yet. He wrapped his arms around her waist when she kissed him and kissed her back. He rubbed the small of her back as he listened to her. “My day was fine. Konstantino is still working, but he will be home for dinner. We may as well get it over with now. No need to let her try to think up a way to defend herself.”

“No, I’ll be here until after dinner. I may be leaving with Nico after we eat though.” He knew Nadia didn’t like what they did, so he tried to speak about it as little as possible. He hated making her uncomfortable. “Anything is good for me with dinner. You know as long as there’s a meat then I’m a happy man.” He leaned in and left a kiss on her neck. “Now tell me what happened with Donna so we can discuss what we’re gonna say.”

[ask-mister-snow-deactivated2017]

Your hands are scarred from murder,          and yet I                           t r u s t                                           them completely.

[nadianichetti]

On The Run

She drives a minivan now. A minivan. A fucking toyota sienna of all things. Its days like these, when she realizes how she’s got here that makes her laugh. Reason one, she couldn’t keep her legs closed when it came to her boyfriend, now husband. That resulted in babies, lots of them. Babies that needed safety, security, and nurture. Something she couldn’t give while being in the profession she was in. Reason two, she was sick of it. Sick of running, sick of lying, sick of cheating, sick of hurting, sick of being a bad person. Nadia didn’t realize how sick of everything she was until she stopped. She was so used to the lifestyle that all these things just seemed normal. Running from the police, hiding from enemies,and  getting shot at was not a life. It was so easy to breathe, so easy to finally stop looking over her shoulder or worrying that someone was after her blood. Leaving the mafia was the best and worse thing that ever happened to her. Best because it finally gave her a semblance of normalcy, worst because she had to actually live with guilt of what she did. When she was in the mafia, she didn’t care about the lives she destroyed or the things she took. It was survival of the fittest. She the hunter and everyone else the prey. Nadia was convinced that if she didn’t leave when she did, she would be so far gone Donovan wouldn’t even want her. 

Normalcy still confuses her. Sometimes her mafia behavior will creep up on her. Nadia has to keep her anger in check like a normal person does. For example, when someone steals her parking spot, she has to fight the urge to slam into the side of their vehicle, or when someone gives her a smart remark at the PTA meetings she has to take deep breaths and count to ten before their stupid eight by ten pan brownies go flying on the floor. Or now when the cashier on aisle nine decides to give her the stink eye. She has to remind herself that she doesn’t have a knife hidden in her hair that she can throw to take her eye out. “That would give the bitch something to squint about.” She takes her hand off of the back of her head and focuses on the task at hand: groceries. Yep. she buys groceries now. No more Chinese takeout or kraft mac n cheese. She and Don ate loads of junk food back then. Moving from place to place warranted getting food from fast food places. Their getaway car was almost always littered with snacks from the quick mart. Ho-Hos, twinkies, and soda was all she had the chance to eat back then, which was funny because their money was amounting by the millions at that time. One would think they be dining at the best of restaurants. Now they do; but back then their version of a good meal was a packet of ramen noodles. Her diet was extremely different from how it was. Now everything is organic, grass fed, and local. After her first child was born she made sure that they put their hard earned money to good use. Better food, better everything. Normalcy was something her kids needed, deserved even. Nadia didn’t have that growing up, and she wished that she did.

Nadia pays for the food and heads towards her dumb minivan. She doesn’t even need it anymore, her kids are practically grown now with their own (way cooler) cars. But her trusty gold monstrosity hasn’t conked out yet, so she’s stuck with it until it does. By that time she’ll probably be a grandma. She laughs at the thought, an old woman whipping around in a sports car. At least she’d be happy. Sadly, she still has to pick her younger children up from school. Their keys were taken away from them. Same punishment, different deeds. Donatella and Maurizio were the ‘problem children’. Difficult is what she  liked to call them ‘trouble making fuckers’ Don liked to call them, jokingly, but to each their own. Donatella was two seconds away from going to a boarding school, and Maurizio should have been sent to reform school years ago. Nadia’s surprised that she hadn’t received a call from the school. She relishes in the moment for a bit since her day had gone pretty well without error. But then it happens, the call. Right around the time she thought it would be. Two-fifteen. A long sigh draws from her lips and she turns her bluetooth on. “Hello Mary. Which one?” “Hm, I’m going to say guess.” “Maurizio?” “Good choice, but you’re wrong. Its Donatella, again. She’s been suspended.” “This is the second time this week are you kidding me?! What did she do?!” There is silence for a good five seconds and then the voice on the other line sighs. “Its really bad this time. The principal wants to talk to you. You’re lucky she didn’t get expelled.” Nadia bites back a swear word. “I’ll be down there in ten minutes.” And with that, she clicks the bluetooth off and starts counting to ten. Hopefully she’ll calm down before she gets to the school.

A five minute drive later, and she’s at the school. She probably earned herself a dozen tickets but she doesn’t care. Don could probably get the fee waived for her, or they can pay. It doesn’t matter, nothing matters except for the behind that she’s going to tan when she gets home. Donatella is going on the first plane ride to Italy Nadia can get her hands on. No ifs ands or buts about it. The minute she steps into the school all eyes are on her. She doesn’t know if its because she’s Donatella’s mom, or if its because she looks like she’s about to murder someone. Again, she doesn’t care. She’s pissed. Nadia reaches the principal’s office, whips the door open, and there sitting behind the chair is her sister. Natalia Artigas-Dean, the principal of Notre Dame Preparatory School. Both of them look pissed as hell, and they had good reason too. “I was actually having a good day today, Donatella. A good day!” Nadia says as she sits down. Donatella opens her mouth to say something but Nadia shakes her head. “Don’t you dare say anything, I don’t want to hear it.” She turns to her sister. “Tell me quickly so we can get this over with.” Her sister sighs and shakes her head. “She was caught behind the bleachers and…yeah. They want me to expel her.” And that’s all Nadia needs to hear before she drags Donatella out of school, her son Maurizio running closely behind.

The ride back home is eerily silent, save for the short phone call she and Don have. When they arrive at home, Nadia tells the kids to all get the groceries and she disappears further into the house. She knows that when Don comes into the picture, its going to be full blown hell. Nadia decides that she needs the peace and quiet before things start going to shit. “Watch your sister.” She tells her third oldest, Valentina. “I’m going to do a five minute meditation.” 

[donovannichetti]

In the dark warehouse, for the past few days the silence was periodically broken by the sounds of grunts and cries of pain. In the middle of room, was a man laying on his side on the floor. He’s got one leg chained to the floor. His button up shirt was open and he still had a tie hanging from his neck. A sliver of light poured into the room as the door opened and Donovan Nichetti stepped into the room followed by his second in command, his son Konstantino, and some of his men. The scene in front of Don was one he was accostumed to. He was born into this life style and knew nothing but it. Well, he knew the business and he knew boxing. He knew his son would soon be taking over and he’d retire. Retirement was a bittersweet thought to him. He didn’t want to leave behind all he’d built, but it would be wonderful to watch what his son did. It was also more time for him to spend with his Nadia. The love of his life. His other half. He honestly doesn’t know if he’d be alive right now if he didn’t have her in his life.

Konstantino walked over to the man on the floor and kicked him to get him awaken. “Hey, get up! Are we gonna keep playing this game or are you gonna tell me what I want to hear?” Don just stood in the back and watched his son work. He would let me take the lead until he felt the need to step in. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The man tried to say but Nico slammed his fist across the man’s face, making blood spill out. Don couldn’t help grinning at his son’s brutalness. It reminded him of the old days when he and Nadia would go along town checking out the cash houses and knocking heads together when necessary. Nadia herself was a natural. All the adrenaline after taking care of someone had led to a couple of hot lovemaking sessions in the alley against a wall or in their blacked out SUV. He’s pretty sure one of those sessions led to the birth of his eldest child. He was snapped out of his reverie by his son’s aggressive voice, “You still haven’t told me what I wanted to hear. Where’s the money? You think you can steal from us and we wouldn’t find out?” Nico’s voice had a no nonsense tone to it and the man was shaking but still wasn’t talking. 

Don felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and took a step back into the shadows as he answered it. Nadia was on the other end. She informed him that he needed to get home because they had to talk. When he asked what about, he felt a headache coming on when she replied that it was about Donatella. Oh, his youngest and namesake always had a way of turning his mood sour. He thinks this was probably what his parents felt like when he was growing up. He could see his younger qualities in Donatella and it’s why he stayed with a headache most of the time. Now knowing that he had to go, he wanted to speed up this whole process. “Nico,” He called out making his son stop kicking the man as he walked up to him. “Let me.” Nico looked a little put out but stepped back to let his father take over. Don grabbed the guy’s tie and wrapped it around his wrist, pulling the guy up and tightening the tie around his neck. He brought the man up to his face and looked him straight in the eyes. “Time’s up. You have 5 seconds to tell me what I want to know.” He used his other hand to pull a gun out of his waistband and placed it against the man’s temple. “1...2...3...4...” The gun clicked before the man screamed out, “Okay, okay! We took it.” Don dropped him on the floor and stepped back, looking at Nico. “Get the location, handle him, and then set up a raid for late tonight. Your mom needs me at home.” A concerned look came over Nico’s face. “What’s wrong?” Don rubbed his temple and then said, “Donna.” Nico just snorted, trying not to laugh. “Don’t start. Clean this shit up and be sure to be home for dinner.” Don turned around and headed out, ignoring the shot that rang out throughout the room.

When he reached the house, he had to tell take a breath and tell himself not to freak out when he saw Donatella. Once he got inside, he pulled his sweater over his head revealing the white short sleeved shirt he was wearing underneath. He saw Maurizio sitting in the living room and dropped his sweater on him. “Put that up for me, kid.” Maurizio replied in confirmation and got up to do it. He headed into the kitchen where he spotted Valentina and Donatella. “No Gio?” He asked in general, walking over to the sink and washing his hands. “Nope. He’s ghost as usual.” Valentina supplied, texting on her phone. “Well text him and make sure he makes it home for dinner please.” Tina nods and he brings his attention to Donatella. She’s chewing on chips and avoiding eye contact with him. “I don’t suppose you want to tell me what happened that made your mother call me from work, do you?” He was met with silence and nodded his head, accepting it. “Alright, then.” He walked over to the counter and snatched the chips out of her hands, ignoring the cry of protest she let out. “Go to room and wait for us. If you sneak out, I will hunt you down. Do you understand me?” She rolled her eyes, but nodded before stomping her way to her room. He ate some of the chips from the bag before grabbing a clip and closing it. “Where’s your mother?” He asked Valentina before heading to the mediation room where she said she was. When he got there he leaned against the door, knowing it was better not to interrupt her.

[garhedlund]

[heartfulloffandoms-deactivated2]