The Heiress

Zain escorted her inside the restaurant, and she looked around the rustic eatery. On the wall, there were photos of some of their favourite customers, including a picture of her mom and dad when they were young.

"Oh..." Grace lightly touched the picture on the wall near the entrance.

"Spotted it right away, did you?" Ray sighed as he stood beside her, drawn to the picture as well. He had gone there every year on the anniversary of their death to look at the picture and eat his son's favourite meal as a tribute to him.

The attendant at the entrance greeted them, gripping their menus tightly as they bowed. "I'll show you to your table." He led them to a table in the back, and Grace couldn't help but notice some familiar men she'd passed by at the estate sitting at some of the tables.

I wonder if they're here to eat or as bodyguards.

Grace sat down, Ray across from her, and he blocked Zain. "Normally, you'd eat with us, but for this one day, you will eat at the next table over," Ray said.

"What?" Zain's eyes widened. "Why?"

"Because I want us to have some privacy." Ray pulled Zain in close, his hand on the back of Zain's head. "It might make it easier for us to talk, okay?"

"Yes, Boss..."

Ray tapped him lightly on the cheek. "Grab a nearby table and order some food for yourself."

Zain nodded and backed away. His eyes lingered on Grace for a moment before he chose somewhere nearby to sit at. "Yell if you need me," he said, despite not being far from them.

"Does that mean we're going to talk about things Zain shouldn't hear? I thought he knew everything," Grace said.

"Maybe, maybe not. I don't always feel comfortable talking about my sons with him around. Zain, too, is like a son to me. He never took my name, but he's been with me for a long time."

Grace nodded and looked at the menu. It must've been hard for both of them. The one who lost both his sons, and the kid who was given away by his parents. "Um... I've never asked, but..."

"Feel free to ask anything, Gracey."

"What happened to grandma?"

"Ah..." His expression dropped, and he swallowed hard.

He looks worse than when talking about his sons. "Uh, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to, okay?" She reached over and lightly touched his hand on the table.

"No." He patted her hand. "You deserve to know about your grandmother, Helena. She was also a part of this life when I met her. I wasn't the boss yet, and we were both quite young. We had a Romeo and Juliet style romance, if you will."

"Oh, I see."

The waitress set down a glass of water for each of them and backed away, not wanting to interrupt.

"She um..." He cleared his throat. "Got pregnant before we were married. When her family found out, they disowned her, but we took her in right away. My father wasn't happy about having one of a rival family as ours, but he refused to leave a pregnant woman to fend for herself. And I had gotten on my knees and begged him to let her stay with us. He agreed surprisingly fast. I will forever be thankful to him for that."

"Our family is full of softies?"

"Sometimes we are." He smirked. "When it comes to those we care about. We got married after your father was born, and a few years later, Lucian, our second son, was born, and I became the leader back then because my father had grown ill. The four of us were happy together for many years, despite all the dangers. Helena... she always worried about the boys. After I tried to talk about your father being the next in line, she told me Lucian was acting up. He wanted to take over, but I didn't listen. I think she grew tired of me then."

"People often don't listen until it's too late."

"You're telling me..." He sighed, his shoulders slouched. "After the drama with your father, and Lucian going out to prove himself, she got depressed. She stopped going out. She tried to talk to Lucian, but he didn't listen. I guess he was too much like me. After Lucian was killed, she was left broken. It was too much for her, and she gave up. Don't get me wrong, she tried with Zain, but every time she saw him, she thought about her own sons. When your father was killed, it was the last straw. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she died of heartbreak."

"I'm familiar with that situation." She thought about her other grandparents.

"I... ugh... I feel like I lost everyone in such a short amount of time, other than Zain. I know we're not blood related, but he quickly turned into family to me. I still miss them every day, though. I thought the pain would fade with time, but it never has. I suppose it goes a bit into the background, but the wounds stay deep."

"Is it good for me to even be around, or does it remind you more of them?"

"Oh no, Gracey." He held her hand in his. "I'm grateful to even have this chance to be with you. While you might remind me of them, it's also nice to have a piece of them here with me. I've been alone for so long now that you're being here feels like a dream."

"Then why did you go about it that way? Why kidnap me instead of approaching as family? Which you are..."

"You..." He sighed, shaking his head. "Because that would take time, and..."

Grace cringed. "Are you dying?" I'm not sure I can handle another dead family member yet.

"I am getting up there in age, but I still feel as strong as a gorilla, so I don't think so."

"Really? Both you and Zain gave me this feeling like you were sick or something. It would be mean to bring me here, get close, and then pass away soon after."

"I suppose bringing you here was selfish of me either way, but I had stayed away long enough, and others already found out about your existence. Through the years, I've tried to keep you safe, but someone bad has been after you for a while now."

"Someone from the Marini family, right?"

"Yes," he sighed. "I was able to get rid of people in the past, but they don't seem to care about their men too much. It doesn't matter how many of them we kill or maim, there seems to be more coming out of the woodworks, most of which are targeting you."

"I don't get it, though. I know you've named me your heir and all, but that wasn't until now. Why would they bother with someone you never had contact with?"

"Because of who I am. Because family means the world to me. And they ramped it up because I had plans to name you my heir. They don't want the Bertolottis family growing stronger than it already is."

"Doesn't this also mean you have a rat in your midst?"

"Yes, but I don't know who it is, yet. I will find out eventually. How about we actually order?" Ray picked up the menu.

I guess he doesn't want to talk to me about the Marini family. Grace looked at the menu. "What did my dad like to order here? If you remember..."

"Of course I do." Ray waved the waitress over. "Let's start with two orders of Sicilian chicken spaghetti and two double-double coffees."

"Yes, sir." She bowed to him and headed off.

"There's quite the long menu here. What did my mom like to eat?"

He chuckled. "Ice cream sundaes."

"So I have my mom's sweet tooth."

"You like ice cream?"

"Love it! So versatile with all the different varieties."

"We'll get you a sundae for dessert, then. You might need it, anyway."

"What do you mean?" She tilted her head, her eyes narrowed.

"You'll find out soon enough."

Grace fiddled with the menu. "Can I ask? What do you intend to do about the Marini family? I'm guessing you're not going to sit back and let them keep coming at us."

"They're not going to be easy to deal with, but I'm not so hot-headed that I'd go running at them, guns blazing, through their front door. I need to find the rat, and then we have to work from there. Don't worry, Gracey. We'll keep you safe, and we'll get rid of them." A dark expression cloudy his face for a moment. "We'll get rid of that entire family if they don't back down."

A chill ran down Grace's spine. It was easy for her to forget who he was most of the time, but it in moments like that, she was reminded that he was a true mafia boss.

Ray felt her hand tremble. "I'm sorry. Did I scare you?"

"Ah, no; I was just a bit startled. And I don't like the idea of killing an entire family."

"That would be the only way to make sure they don't start coming out the woodworks like rats. I suppose if we take just the top brass out, they might crumble, and that would work for us as well."

He talks about killing people so easily. I suppose that is normal for a mafia boss.

The waitress came back with their food and drinks.

"Thank you," Grace said.

"She'd like to have an ice cream sundae after the pasta," Ray said.

"Yes, sir." The waitress headed back.

Grace swirled the spaghetti on her fork and took a big bite. "Mmm... This is good! Oh! Ha..." She waved at her mouth as her eyes started to water. "It's hot!"

Ray chuckled. "Yes; he loved to eat hot food. He liked to test his heat tolerance and kept eating the hottest things around. Not too good with hot food?"

"When I was a teen I liked hot food, but I don't think my tolerance was ever that good, and I haven't eaten spicy food like this in a long time." She ate another mouthful despite her mouth being on fire, and the tear poured out as her face turned red. "Oh..."

Ray laughed as he ate his own, enjoying the heat.

Grace felt someone behind her, but by the time she turned to the blurry figure, they stole her plate of food and replaced it with their own chicken parm. "What are you doing? Silly woman," Zain grumbled as he took her plate back to his table.

"What... just happened?" Grace wiped away her tears.

"You've been saved from finishing the burning meal." Ray called the waitress back over and whispered to her. "Might not want to drink the coffee with it; it could make burn more."

"Then water?"

"Uh... Just hold on a moment."

The waitress came back with a vanilla milkshake. "I hope it helps." She set it in front of Grace and left.

After the first sip, she felt her mouth cooling down. "Oh, this really works. Thank you. And grandpa, next time warn me the food is spicy before I eat it."

"Ha ha, sure thing, Gracey." He dug into his own food, enjoying the kick of heat it provided. He looked at her and couldn't help but see an image of his son overlaying her. "I should've brought you here years ago..."

"Hmm?" She looked up from her plate at him, a piece of pasta hanging out of her mouth. She slurped it up. "Did you say something?"

"No." He saw pasta sauce on her face and smirked. "You've got a little bit." He pointed at his own face.

"Sorry; I know I'm a messy eater."

"Here." Zain popped up again with a tissue and held it up to her face.

"T-thanks." She went to take it, but instead, he wiped her face for her.

Doesn't that mean he's sitting too close and listening to everything, anyway?

Ray shook his head as he smiled and took another forkful of food. He'd never seen Zain be so attentive to someone other than him. A refreshing change he'd get to enjoy.