Divorcing Her Mafia Family
Chapter 18

“He threatened us?” Darya asked quietly.

“He won’t make good on it,” she folded her arms furiously.

“Are you sure?” Magda asked swallowing deeply as if suddenly worried about tangling with the mob.

“Mags, if you don’t think I can protect you, and I understand your feelings, then I can send you somewhere safe.” She looked to Darya, “both of you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Darya twisted her lips angrily. “Even if I didn’t think you can protect us, and I know you can, then I would happily die for you. I can’t believe he would say that.”

“What made him so uptight?” Magda asked suddenly, “surely toys in the toilet weren’t the thing to push him so far over the edge.”

She hadn’t told them yet. Dimi closed her eyes and pushed her uneaten breakfast away from her and gave an impatient sigh, “I may or may not have had s*x with him.”

“Jesus Christ!” Darya almost shouted the words before Dimi had finished uttering her admission. “Are you insane?”

“Possibly?” she made a face. “We were arguing. I was in a towel. He kissed me and I got hot and bothered and we had s*x.”

“Holy shit.” Magda whispered

“It would have been fine except somehow he figured out it was my first time and now he thinks this means I should be his for all of eternity.”

“How bad were you he knew?”

Dimi gave Darya a dirty look, “I was fantastic, thank you very much. Kept up with the great Miklos Laskaris and lived to talk about, though my lady bits are raw as hell. He only noticed because there was b***d.”

“You bled? I thought we agreed it wouldn’t happen if you used toys,” Magda whispered, her cheeks-stained a bright red.

“Well, when it’s your first time, don’t do it with a man three times the size of your toys, in six hundred positions for an hour straight.” Dimi muttered as she lifted her teacup and drank the last drops avoiding the gazes of her friends.

“An hour straight?”

“At least,” she lifted the cup in the direction of the server and smiled tightly. “It might have been longer. I lost track of time. I damn near passed out. I might have passed out.”

“Did he make you –” Magda motioned with her hand, “you know, o****m?” she whispered quietly.

“Jesus Mags,” Dimi glared at her.

Darya leaned forward and hissed, “come on, did he?”

“Did you not hear me say I almost passed out?”

“From o*****s?”

“Multiple ones. Lots and lots of them. He was like a bloody machine,” she whimpered suddenly as the memories flooded her brain. “What the hell did I do?” She felt a sniffle come on.

“You should not have moved back into the house,” Magda said quietly. “You’ve loved him for so long.”

“I know,” she felt a tear slide down her cheek. “I thought I could handle him. I thought he would be as willing to be rid of me as I needed to be rid of him. It didn’t occur to me for one moment he would suddenly want to have a real marriage and I’m out of my league with his seduction thing. He does seduction the way I work on a computer.”

“That good?” Darya asked.

“Better,” she leaned back as the server took her cup away and put a new one in front of her. “He knows what to say, when to say it, how to touch and where to touch and I’m a mess when he puts his lips on me. He kissed my neck,” she moved her hair out of the way revealing the love bite she’d kept hidden from them, “and I swear to God if I had been wearing panties, they would have spontaneously combusted. My towel hit the floor so fast David Copperfield is asking to learn the trick.” She rubbed her temples in a circular motion, “he went from yelling at me about his toilet overflowing to f*****g me over the vanity.”

“It was good though? Like for your first time?”

“I wouldn’t change a thing,” she admitted sadly.

“Oh god, you’re still in love with him.”

“No,” she protested angrily. “He’s everything I don’t need. I got smart with him and told since he didn’t use a condom I’d go get tested at the free clinic and he told me to get my IUD out while I was there because he wants a son.”

“Mother fucker!” Darya pounded the table furiously, drawing the gazes of several patrons.

“What are you going to do?” Magda reached out and took Dimi’s fingers in hers, squeezing them tightly. “Tell us what you need.”

“I need to go to the clinic this morning. Morning after pill just in case the IUD fails. I can’t have it on my mind. Then it’s his clothing issues, fireworks to wreck his cars and tell him it’s for threatening my friends. If he still doesn’t concede, I have the banner going up on Thursday.”

“Banner?”

“Yeah, the banner. Did I not tell you about the banner?”

“This was the idea you forgot to tell us?”

“Yeah, one of those airplane banners is going to fly all over LA,” she spread her hands out in front of her, “Miklos Laskaris is a cheating man w***e. I reserved it for six hours right over LA. Cost me nearly twenty grand.”

Her girlfriends giggled at her plan.

“He is not going to like this.”

“Nope.”

Darya bit her lips together, “what if it pushes him over the edge and he comes for us?”

“Then I take control of the Laskaris clubs.”

“What?” Magda’s eyes widened incredulously. “How on earth?”

She wiggled her fingers, “using these of course.”

“You’re going to hack him?”

“Yes. I’m going to hack him and I’m going to hold his business ransom until he backs off my friends and signs my papers.”

“What if it backfires?”

“I’m going to wait until Friday for this part of the plan,” she saw the questions in their eyes. “Our deal with Ares is being signed on Thursday. We should have our money in the works by Friday. Our deal with Ares is moving far faster than we anticipated and I believe I know his motivation,” she gave a pointed glance to Magda, “but once it’s done, I will take Miklos’ company hostage from a remote location on Friday and give him one week to sign the divorce papers.”

“What if he still refuses? He could call your bluff.”

“I’m not bluffing. I’ll divert all his company assets. Hacking at it’s finest. Then I’ll disappear. I won’t have my divorce, but he won’t be happy either.”

“You’ll disappear?”

“It’s the plan, Mags. We talked about this.”

“I hate this part of the plan,” Darya said sadly. “It’s not fair. You should be able to just be free and do what you want.”

“I’m a mafia princess,” she spoke over the edge of her teacup, “freedom isn’t something I just get. I have to fight for it. It’s a fight I could lose.”

“Speaking of losing things,” Darya said suddenly, “my mother reached out to me via email this morning. It seems my dad is in the hospital badly injured with his hands so badly damaged it’s reminiscent of Doctor Strange in the first movie.”

“Why was she telling you?”

“I guess someone broke his nose on my behalf,” she looked to Dimi.

“Perhaps someone did,” she nodded quietly.

“My mother is begging me to get her their money back.”

“What do you want to do?” She asked Darya seriously. “I don’t mind screwing over Kostas.”

“No,” Darya shook her head furiously, “hell to the no. He supposedly gave my sisters each a million dollars and told them if they so much as helped my mother or father, he’d take it back and leave them with even less than they started. My mother let my father throw me out of the house. She didn’t even argue with him. She didn’t take Jinx to the vet. The housekeeper did. She deserves it. He deserves it. They deserve each other. Let them know what it’s like to live with nothing like I did.”

Dimi smiled at her friend’s vehemence, “then let them rot.”

“I know you’re the one who negotiated for my sisters though,” Darya whispered suddenly looking up with tears in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“Nothing to thank me for,” she reached out and squeezed her hands. “I love you. I would do anything for you.”

Darya looked away, “Kostas told my mother if I wanted a million dollars like my sisters got, I should call him.”

Dimi laughed loudly as Magda gave a gasp of surprise. “Are you going to go get it?”

“No.” She sneered, “I have a billion coming to me. I don’t need his piddly million. I do kind of want to go to his offices though and tell him to shove his offer up his arse.”

“I would pay good money to watch it happen,” Dimi leaned back in the chair. “Seriously, if you ever decide to do it, can you wire up so I can listen in?”

Darya giggled, “wearing a wire into Kostas Masalis’ office is sure to get me shot. I’ll pass but if I ever decide to do it, I’ll give you the play-by-play after.”

“Deal,” she sighed, “well, we’ve talked about our next project. We’ve talked about me losing my cherry to Miklos. We’ve talked about fireworks and making deals with the devil. All we have left to talk about is Magda and Ares.”

Magda shook her head, “nothing to talk about. He called me three times last night and I ignored every call. He messaged me four times so far today and I’ve deleted every message and haven’t responded. I’m pissed, he brought the girl purely to make me jealous. What a douchebag-type move!”

“Agreed,” Dimi grinned, “but she did serve a purpose. She’s been blowing up Miklos’ phone so bad he had to change his number again. He texted me when I was driving in to say he had a new number.”

“Is she so nuts?”

“In her defence, knowing what I know now, it is understandable,” Dimi made a face as she hugged her tea in her grip. “He’s a beast. She probably thought she’d landed the big fish. He’s built, he’s good at what he does and he’s a billionaire.”

“Why was he so rough with you?” Magda asked suddenly.

“I didn’t tell him it was my first time. He thought since I ran the parlor, I had experience.”

“You did say at breakfast with your parents you had flings,” Darya threw out.

She had forgotten she’d said it. She made a face, “Anyway, he treated me the way he treats all his lovers. Took what he wanted. Gave what he could.”

“Then the b***d gave you away?”

“Seriously, if you want to not discuss it being your first time,” she motioned to them both, “do it in the shower or the bath.”

“Good to know.”

She stretched, “well I have a project to do at the house. I’m going to go back.”

“Isn’t he there?”

“No,” she held up her phone and showed the text she’d gotten just before she’d arrived. “Did I forget to mention how pissed off he is about the dancing blow-up things and all the balloons? Cars were honking like mad while he’s sitting in the offices. He can’t leave either because the feds showed up this morning to chat about a guy who got beat up in one of the clubs. Turns out he was an undercover informant. He’s in a coma.”

“What?” Magda’s eyes bugged. “How did you find out?”

“My dad called me. Said I should be there to provide Miklos’ alibi.”

“Your family is freaking weird,” Darya shook her head. “Do you need help with your project? I’m between gigs right now.”

“I’ll help,” Magda said with a grin, “I’m just waiting on my big paycheque and avoiding Ares.”

“I could use all the help I can get.”

An hour later the girls were staring at her like she was insane. “This is a great idea.”

“This is stupid.” Magda didn’t sugar coat her opinion. “How is this going to make him divorce you?”

“It probably isn’t but it’s going to piss him off and make him mentally deranged and it’s going to give me infinite amounts of pleasure.”

Mrs. K poked her head into the walk-in closet, “I brought up iced tea and some cookies.”

“Thanks.”

“He was pretty furious when you left this morning. This may put him over the edge,” the woman smiled suddenly.

“You’re back to being team Dimi?” Dimi eyed her carefully.

“I heard his stupid comment about giving him a son and then threatening the girls. He needs to be taken down a peg. I love him like he’s my own, but his ego needs to be deflated.” She looked to the girls, “also, Dimitra is right. He loves his suits almost as much as he loves his cars.” She pointed to a section of the closet, “those are the ones he wears the most. You should start with those.”

“We’re just going to take the buttons off them?”

“No,” Dimi slapped at Magda, “do not take the buttons off. You loosen the buttons until they’re barely hanging by the string. Then take most of the hems out of the pants.”

Darya smirked, “we should shorten all his pants. If I had a sewing machine, I would do it.”

“I’m not saying I have a sewing machine because I am not part of this,” Mrs. K said leaving the room, “but if I did have a sewing machine, it would be in my cottage in my sewing room.”

Darya started pulling multiple pairs of pants off the hangers and looked at Dimi. “I’d say you owe me, but the a*****e threatened me. I’m taking these all up by an inch.” She grabbed all the pants which went with his suits as well. “This could take me an hour or two. Do I have time?”

“Yes, he’s at the offices still being interrogated.” She motioned to her computer, “I have eyes on him. I hacked his surveillance.”

Dimi and Magda began the meticulous process of removing just enough threads from every button on every shirt and jacket they could get find, chatting quietly as they worked.

“Dimi,” Magda asked after a lull in the conversation, “if you could believe him. If you could believe he wouldn’t do to you what your dad does to your mom, would you still be doing all this?”

Dimi was silent and then shrugged, “it’s moot, isn’t it? He is exactly like my dad. He could never be satisfied with one woman. He doesn’t love me. He admitted he had intended for us to just never do anything about our marriage and then when I turn thirty, have it dissolved and move on with our lives. He has never considered me more than a little sister.”

“But last night –”

“Last night was him trying to manipulate me.”

“He wouldn’t have had s*x with you if he thought of you as sisterly, Dimi.” Magda argued. “He has to be at least minutely attracted to you.”

“But he doesn’t love me,” she whispered sadly. “He doesn’t love me. He sees me as a means to an end and I deserve to be loved.”

“Yes, you do,” Magda agreed reaching forward and squeezing her knee. “I wish there was a way to get out of this without you being hurt more than you are already.”

“I’m not hurt.” Dimi said with a scowl.

“Sure, tell it to your pillow when you cry into it tonight.”

“Why would I cry into my pillow?”

“Because you know he’ll be at the clubs tonight. He’ll be dancing and partying, making sure everyone is having a good time and you’ll be in your bed, replaying last night over and over in your mind.” Magda held up her hands defensively, “am I wrong?”

She gave a sad shake to her head, “we could go to the club.”

“You want to go to Miklos’ club?”

“Why not? A little covert operation to see what he does when I’m not around.”

“He’ll know you’re there.”

“Will he?” she grinned. “Not if we go shopping first for disguises.”

“What are we getting disguises for?” Darya stepped into the wardrobe out of breath, “I ran across the yard. Got them all done.” She dropped the pants on the floor, “disguises? Why?”

“We’re going to go spy on Miklos’ in the clubs and see what he does when Dimi isn’t around.”

“I know a girl who is a make-up artist for movies,” Darya said surprising the two girls. “Seriously, we went to boarding school together. She’ll do it for us. Her boyfriend just left her for his sister’s nanny.”

“Call her,” Dimi said urgently. “Mags, help me get all the suits and pants back together. Then we’ll get out of here. I don’t need to sleep here tonight anyway. I’ll stay at the house after we leave the club.”

They were laughing uproariously as they got everything put back together and Dimi called Mrs. K back to the closet.

“I need you to check the closet and make sure it’s in the right order. I don’t want him suspecting I was in here.”

Mrs. K looked around and then frowned, “the blue slacks on the hanger are on the wrong side.”

Dimi fixed them.

“The pale blue shirt needs to switch with the dark green one.”

“How anal is this guy?” Darya grunted.

Mrs. K made a face, “he’s particular. Has been since he was a small boy.”

“You’ve known him a long time?”

“I have. I was his nanny when he was little and then the housekeeper when his mother started hiring younger nannies.”

“Why would his mother hire younger nannies,” Magda asked.

“Anything to keep the marriage spicy,” Dimi made a face. “Mrs. Laskaris liked to fan the flames.”

“Are you saying they did threesomes with the nannies?”

“Yes.” Dimi laughed at Magda’s wide-eyed expression. “My mother and Mrs. Laskaris never got along. Mom always thought Miklos’ mother wanted my dad. It wasn’t true. She hates him. Hates him for betraying his wife.”

“How is it any different?”

“Consent,” Mrs. K said as she adjusted a couple of shirts. “If Mrs. Laskaris told her husband, it wasn’t what she wanted, he loved her enough to stop and it worked both ways. He never would do anything without her express permission and vice versa. They may not have a conventional love, but they have deep love for one another.”

“Did you ever,” Darya motioned to Mrs. K.

“No!” Mrs. K protested furiously. “I’m old enough to be their mother and I loved my husband with all my heart. He was my one and only. I knew him from the time I was a small child and I married him when I was a young woman. He died when I was in my late twenties, and I never wanted anyone else. He was my everything.”

“What happened to him?” Magda asked as she hung on the older woman’s every word.

“This life did,” she waved around the house. “I wasn’t supposed to know the goings on of the family, but I did. He got targeted. The police wanted him to turn on his family, on the Lykiaos family. He refused and went straight to Vasili and told him what happened. Vasili put us both in protection, but the cop was dirty, and in retaliation he gave my husband’s name to another family and outed him for being Vasili’s enforcer. My husband loved me desperately, but he wasn’t what you would call a good man. He had hurt a lot of people for Vasili, including many of this other family. The head of their family killed my husband.”

“What happened to the man who killed your husband?”

She looked to Dimi with a sad smile.

Dimi looked at the girls and sighed, “I killed him when I was thirteen. I put a bullet in his head and my father roughly assumed control of the family.”

As her two friends absorbed the statement, Mrs. K. wrapped her arm around her shoulders and led her out of the closet, pressing a k**s to her temple. Sometimes, Dimi thought, shared pain was a binding comfort.