Sofia Isabelle Puglisi;
née Isabelle Vittoria Lombardo
I never again shall tell you what I think. I shall be sweet and crafty, soft and sly.
Sofia grew up surrounded by family. She was loved, doted on and spoiled by her father, brother, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. Her mother was distant, but life couldn't be perfect. There was also the small fact that her family was the Puglisi crime family. It wasn't a bad childhood all things considered. She never wanted for anything. There was always someone to play with her and teach her something new. But she learned early to be cautious and never reveal too much. The very family that surrounded and loved her was also the same people best placed to stab her in the back. Especially as a woman, she learned to play her role.
Mostly the family business was kept from her and the other girls. It was seen as not the kind of thing for ladies. But it was also impossible to be completely ignorant. Not infrequently, Sofia felt like a princess in a tower, always kept safe, but never getting to live properly. Everything was done for her from cooking to cleaning to decorating. It was a Puglisi's life, not Sofia's life.
In her late teens, she dated one of the bodyguards who were so often stationed in the house. By then she was wise enough to date in secret, but not quite clever enough to keep it a secret. It did not go over well when it was discovered. The young man was sent off to Chicago and Sofia's mother explained that one day she would marry who her father told her to marry for the good of the family. It was that day that Sofia started to plan her escape
She had to be careful, had to plan it perfectly to ensure that she would be free of her family when the time came. Some days, even some months Sofia thought that perhaps she shouldn't go at all. Maybe her father had changed her mind, maybe she could be happy in an arranged marriage if it helped the family. A few months ago, she ran out of time. Her father brought around Orlando Messina from the motherland. The plan was for Sofia to marry him in order to solidify the ties between the old country and the new or rather to solidify the business dealings between Europe and the United States. Sofia left two weeks after she learned Orlando's intentions and moved to a hopefully quiet life in Ennora.
