Red
Clitoris

C H A P T E R O N E

“Clitoris.”

I mouthed the word repeatedly back at myself in the mirror as the frustration palpitated through me. My tan lips shaped as they formed each syllable of the word. The clitoris; an apparent unicorn to the male species, in other words - a rare replace.

“I’m going to get off now Willa.” Jacob, one of my fathers lower ranking men shouted through the bathroom door. My eyes rolled to the back of my skull. Didn’t he just do that?

The bathroom tiles left cold tingles on my feet and I stood panty-less, feeling an uncomfortable heavy ache in my lower stomach. Jacob had left the area in-between my legs damp. He turned me on, got me heated, promised he would pound me into an oblivion but all I got was a small breeze.

Fuck him and his four inch dick.

I quickly opened one of the under sink drawers and pulled out my trusty vibrator, set to finish the job myself, like always.

Maybe it was me.

Wouldn’t surprise me if it was me.

I’m also a rare replace, more like an impossible replace. There are seven billion people walking this Earth and I’m not one of them.

Not legally anyway. Not anymore.

My father made sure of that a long time ago when I died. At the time I didn’t question the bizarrity of the situation or how the prosthetic body looked just like me. I accepted the fact that people who I didn’t even know approached my casket and cried over the silicone body inside. Even at five years old I knew that this was my normal, after all the mafia did anything to survive.

From that moment on my father dedicated his life to keeping me hidden and of course training me up. The only people who knew my secret were my five older brothers, my father and me.

We are the Valentino family and with that name came power, riches and a whole load of enemies. My father, Alessio Valentino is the head of Scillies Italian mafia but many moons ago he fell in love with an American women, a civilian to be exact - my mother.

He moved the family to New York, continuing to rule over a life of crime but in doing so he rattled a few cages. Particularly those of the Blackburn family, a notorious crime organisation - or essentially the American version of a mafia family. My father and their leader have gone head to head, fighting for top dog ever since.

You see, sixteen years ago I wasn’t the only one who died, so did my mother except her death was entirely real and it was at the hands of Titus Blackburn. My father has been seeking vengeance for years, marking the Blackburn family as our number one enemy.

After a climactic finish in the bathroom I pressed my ear against the dining room door and listened carefully to my fathers business meeting.

“What are you doing Willa?” My heart leapt from my chest, shooting my soul meters into the air.

“Idiot!” I blurted out aggressively at my jokester brother Carlo, he laughed quietly.

Carlo took nothing seriously. He was the type of man who acted before he thought. He would walk into a bar, start a gun fight and then leave without a graze while the bar was still burning to the ground behind him. There have been many times where Carlo got himself and us into a sticky situation because of his lack of thought.

“I dare you to go in there.” He whispered, throwing a plum up into the air and catching it casually. He smirked at me, that challenging smirk older brothers do whenever they underestimate your bravery, or in this case my stupidity.

“Fine.” I uttered foolishly

Seven pairs of the most deadliest looking eyes followed me as I kept my head held high and paced the length of the room.

I knew these men, highly trained, always on guard, protectors, killers, six of my fathers top emotionless, mafia men.

“Easy boys, I’m just here for a snack.” I teased, eyeing up Mario one beefy guy, dressed in a dark power suit who immediately directed his gun towards me with the safety latch switched off.

“Lower your weapon.” My father ordered in his usual power hungry voice. I carried on walking, opening the fridge freezer and pretending to look inside. “Willa, we are in a meeting. ” He informed me sternly.

“Continue.” I suggested, waving my hand at my fathers little business friends. His stare sharpened on me for a few seconds, it was an unspoken warning that told me he would be dealing with me later but then he turned his attention back to the mafia.

“Continuing where I left off, we need someone he isn’t expecting. An inside man, someone who will learn everything about him. His weaknesses, his strong points, the way he fights, at which times of the day he’s likely to be unarmed. No stone left unturned.”

I grabbed the double chocolate ice cream and popped the lid. All eyes fell to me once again, looking extremely annoyed. I shrugged apologetically for making too much noise.

“Sir, we could put someone else on the inside. Let them get close to Ace Blackburn, Toni is already a double agent he can get them in without raising suspicions.” Antonio, my kiss-ass oldest brother pointed out from the middle chair of our dining table.

“Antonio whoever we send undercover must be trained enough to fight, someone who isn’t afraid to fire a weapon if needed and someone willing to die for the family. They must be intelligent, strong and brave but not show it on the outside. I want Ace Blackburn to underestimate us and never see this coming. I don’t think any of our men would fit that role and we don’t have the time to train some of the newer recruits.”

“But Sir, I think we have just the person for the job.” Antonio locked his hazel eyes upon mine and a small smile twitched at the corner of his lips. It wasn’t long before every head around the table followed his gaze, including my fathers.

“Why are you all looking at me?” I asked between shoveling scoops of ice cream into my mouth.

“She’s small, feminine and young. She’s trained her whole life, probably fights better than most of these guys. She has handled guns and even shot before. She was literally born into this.” My fathers eyes scanned my person with pride, I could see the twinkle of excitement shining out in the same way a diamond captures the light.

“Willa.” He spoke my name with such high regard and promise. Like I was the answer to his prayers and in that second I knew there was no argument to this. My father had decided on my fate whether I liked it or not. He clasped his hands together only once, filling the room with a single clapping sound and rose from his seat. “It is decided.” He confirmed just as I predicted.

My father pulled out his gun, pointed it at Mario and pulled on the trigger, placing a neat bullet hole right between his eyes. Silence enclosed us, except for the sound of movement coming from my father as he placed his gun back on his belt.

“That was for pointing a gun at my ward.” He informed the blank, frightened faces around the room. “Leave us now.” He waved his hand and without a second delay the men cleared out from around the table. My father set his beady-eyes on me, offering a solid stare as he weighed up his odds. “Come join me.” He patted the black glass table and slowly I walked over, bringing my ice cream along with me.

“You’re familiar with the name Blackburn, yes?” His dark eyes peered into my soul in an attempt to render me powerless but we both knew I would never crumble under my fathers intimidation.

“Sure.” I edged away from the guy bleeding out because I didn’t want him to ruin my new cashmere.

“Gabriella!” My father scolded. “You need to listen to what I am about to tell you.” He gave my chocolate ice cream a disapproving glance but then set his onyx-like gaze upon mine and leaned in closer.

My father was a mans-man, heavily built with stoic eyes that intimidated even the strongest of people. He cared about ‘the family business’ and avenging my mother’s death more than he did about his actual blood-family but that didn’t mean he didn’t love us. He never said it, not once but we felt it through his protection.

“Titus Blackburn recently and unexpectedly died, his son Ace inherited the family mafia. Do you know what this means for us? The family is now at their weakest, under new ruling, mourning, their new leader is young and inexperienced. Now is the time to strike. Ace is the last member of the Blackburn family and when he dies their mafia will too. We’re going to take Ace down and recruit his members for our own, growing our family to twice the size, twice the power.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with me.” The lifeless body tipped over and landed on the floor with a thud.

My father narrowed his expression at me and the crinkles on each of the corners showed his age. “Do you not want to avenge your mother’s death?”

“Ace didn’t kill mom, Titus did.” I replied coldly.

“You know how these things work amore mio.” My father kept stern but spoke softer. “You want closure, yes?” He clasped his fingers and thumb together and pursed his lips.

(My love)

He was talking to me from a business point of view, not from a caring fathers perspective. That’s the thing about the mafia, they despise love. I was never consolidated through my tough times, I was taught to fight through them alone. Emotions make you weak. Love makes you weak. I was born and raised a fighter, that’s all I am, all I know.

“I guess” I muttered into the chocolate covered spoon. But mostly I just wanted to forget.

“Then it is decided. I will have Toni get you in.”

“Okay.” I mumbled without enthusiasm.

“You will do me proud, you are Gabriella Sofia Alessia Valentino.”

I gave him half a smile.

“Oh and figlia?” I looked up from the Ben and Jerry’s. “I don’t need to remind you not to sleep with the enemy, do I?”

(Daughter)

I shook my head silently. “I guess not.”