Page 105 of Mafia Queen
“Of course. As a doctor, I can assure you, a single dose of this drug does not cause adverse effects. We can discuss further if you like. Perhaps as part of an internship if you make it through nursing school? I don’t want to bore you with complicated medical terms you’re unfamiliar with.”
“What about the misoprostol?”
He swallows so hard I’m sure his entire spine just went backward down his throat.
She waits, watching him squirm, keeping everyone in the room in suspense. She’s giving them a minute to suspect he did something unacceptable, so the shock of his punishment will be absorbed in that suspicion.
“It seemed…” He spreads his arms, looking at the faces of his peers before turning back to the queen with his hands folded in front of him. “Just a precaution. Surely no woman would want to enter into marriage with the possibility that another man’s baby—”
“The king… Re Santino’s baby.”
“Of course.” He’s now too afraid to defend himself further. Good. I don’t want to hear another word out of him.
“That second drug you gave me worked, doctor. I lost a baby I wanted very badly.”
It sounds as if the entire room—even the flatware and furniture—lets out a gasp.
“Vito,” Violetta says, “take Mrs. Farina outside.”
The tension in the room rises to a fever pitch, but no words are spoken. The leaders are afraid. Their little betrayals, no matter how slight, and their acceptance of a new rule may come to sit heavily in their laps.
They’ve already been forgiven for all that, but they need to understand that though things will go back to normal, they’ll also change.
As his wife is led out, Farina stands in shock, yet he’s not afraid—as if he thinks he’ll be able to walk away because Violetta is the one standing. Maybe he expects humiliation or a dressing down—and that will be shameful from a woman. It would make him an angry man…maybe a dangerous one.
With a wave, Violetta has two men bring Farina to the front of the room. I am both surprised and proud of how natural she is at this. This is who she is. Who she’s always been. The moments I fuck her and she submits to my will are more precious with every ounce of power she takes for herself.
Dr. Farina’s pushed to his knees in front of her. He sighs, resigned to the degradation.
“Regina,” he says, looking down, “I am sorry.”
“I’d have Father Alfonso come over and forgive you,” she says, taking her gun from its holster. “But he died of a heart attack when his church burned.” When he looks up in shock at the murder of a priest, the barrel of a gun is waiting for him. “So make your apologies directly to God.”
This morning, I offered to do this part of the job for her. I said I’d do it at her command, with obedience, in front of everyone. That would send a message.
She refused. I knew she would. It’s the right decision.
We joked about making sure she had enough bullets, in case she missed at close range.
But she doesn’t.
32
VIOLETTA
The evening after Mille Luce, I’m up in the cupola, smoking a cigarette. My family is coming to live up here for a while and enjoy the retreat from the stresses of war.
The town below, the lawn behind, everything side to side belongs to Santino and me. It’s my birthright through the Iron Diadem and the nail that connects it into a crown.
So much of this is clear to me. Greed. Lust for power. Loyalty.
But so much more is muddled.
“Here you are,” Santino says, coming up the steps. From behind, he puts his arms around my waist. “Queen of the world.”
“Please don’t kneel.” I turn to face him.
“I’ll kneel when I want, and you’ll kneel when I tell you.”
