Tesoro Mio Ch. 01

Story Info
Sofia makes a decision.
2.5k words
4.78
2.3k
00
Share this Story

Font Size

Default Font Size

Font Spacing

Default Font Spacing

Font Face

Default Font Face

Reading Theme

Default Theme (White)
You need to Log In or Sign Up to have your customization saved in your Literotica profile.
PUBLIC BETA

Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.

You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.

Click here

Author's Note: Hello! Welcome to Tesoro Mio! This chapter doesn't have any naughty bits (we'll get there I promise!) but does a lot of set up for things to get moving. This is the first time I've published anything so please be patient with me as I learn the ropes. I welcome any and all feedback on how to improve this story so please reach out if you have thoughts. Happy reading!

----

Calabria, Italy

Antonio had always suspected his life would end in violence. He was a violent man himself and had little doubt that he would one day be on the receiving end of someone else's aggression. As he sat on his porch staring down the barrel of a gun, he was not particularly alarmed or surprised by his current situation. He had known this would happen one day, why should he be surprised? He calmly lit the cigarette he held in his lips and offered one to the man standing in front of him.

"Smoke?" he asked.

"I don't want your cigarette, old man. Do you know why I am here?" the man replied.

"Well since you are currently standing with a gun pointed at my head I believe I can make a reasonable guess" Antonio surmised as he blew out a puff of smoke.

"Do you remember Stefano Russo?" the man said, his finger resting on the trigger of the gun in his hand.

"The name doesn't ring a bell."

"He was my brother, and you killed him five years ago in San Luca. He was only 17, barely more than a child" the man spat.

Antonio merely nodded, which seemed to incense the man even more. It wasn't that Antonio did not value the lives he had taken but the fact of the matter was he had done more than his fair share of killing in the half century he had been on this earth. He had learned a long time ago that holding on to the memories of every murder he had committed would drive him mad. Antonio had only ever known a life of violence so his conscience was not overly troubled by the things he had done. To him, they had been a means of survival and a way to provide for his family when he still had one to provide for. Now he was alone, sitting on his porch as he did most evenings, ready to face the consequences of his actions.

"You don't even remember him?" the man cried, raising his voice even louder. "You callous old fool. You thought you could just continue killing with no regard for the people you leave behind and never face any repercussions?"

"I do not remember him. I have killed many men in my life and cannot be expected to recall one incident from years ago. However, I did not expect there to be no consequences. I knew one day someone would find me and kill me the same way that I killed all those other men. I am many things but I am not a fool." Antonio responded evenly. "So, are you going to shoot me or should I light another cigarette?"

"Fuck you," the man growled as he squeezed his finger on the trigger and fired a single shot, hitting Antonio squarely in the forehead.

The loud bang echoed down the street, followed by silence and then the sound of rapid footsteps, running back the direction they had come.

Madison, Wisconsin

Sofia sat on the floor of her mother's closet staring up at the clothes she hadn't been able to bring herself to pack. She brought the sweater she was holding up to her face and breathed in, the faint smell of her mother's favorite perfume still lingered, which brought tears to her eyes. It had been four years since her mother's death but it wasn't any easier for her to deal with.

She had gotten the call about the terrible car accident soon after moving back to New York for her junior year of college and the next few weeks had been a blur. She took the semester off to come home and see to the funeral and grieve.

Sofia was an only child and didn't know much about her extended family other than her Great Aunt Helen, who had made the trek north from her retirement home in Palm Beach. Sofia had never been close with Helen but it was helpful to have someone else around while making arrangements. The funeral had been understated and quiet, much like Sofia's mother had been while she was alive. Her mother's closest friends had gathered for the occasion and a few of Sofia's friends from school had flown in to show their support. Sofia was distraught during the service and wasn't sure she would have made it through without them.

After the funeral was taken care of and everyone returned home Sofia was left to pick up the pieces and see to her mother's things and the house she had grown up in. She originally planned to donate most of the contents of the house and then sell the modest dwelling. Sofia was attending school on a scholarship and her mother had made a respectable income as a professor of art history that allowed her to help with Sofia's living expenses so any income Sofia made while in school could go toward enjoying all the perks of living in New York City as a young adult. Selling the house would allow her to finish school without taking a second job to support herself and she had never intended to come back to Wisconsin permanently so she had no need to keep it.

A few days after the funeral, Sofia got a call from her mother's lawyer asking her to come by his office to go over the contents of her mother's will. During the meeting the lawyer calmly informed her that her mother had in fact been a very wealthy woman as a result of her divorce settlement from Sofia's father. Her mother had refused to touch any of the money she got from the divorce but had set it aside for Sofia in a trust fund that she would have access to when she turned 21, which was only a month away. Sofia was floored by what the lawyer was telling her and after he told her the amount of money in her trust fund Sofia stopped listening at all. How had her mother never thought to mention that she had a trust fund the size of a small country's GDP?

Sofia staggered out of the lawyer's office unsure of what to do now that she had this information. She wanted to tell someone but it seemed like that would be an inappropriate topic of conversation with most people. Most of all, she wanted to talk to her mom. For most of her life it had just been Sofia and her mom and they had been incredibly close. Anytime Sofia had a problem or was feeling down, her mom knew exactly what to say or do to make everything right again. When Sofia had been feeling particularly homesick during her first year of school, her mom had surprised her by flying all the way to New York to spend her birthday with her. Her mom would have been the first person she would have called to talk about this with, but that wasn't an option anymore. She had so many questions about where this money came from and why her mother refused to use any of it, but she supposed those questions would have to remain unanswered for now.

At the time, Sofia was relieved to not have to deal with selling her childhood home and packing her mother's things. The grief she felt from losing her mom and best friend was still raw and she didn't know if she had the strength to handle a real estate transaction on top of everything else. She found a caretaker to look after the house while she was at school and returned to New York for the second half of the school year. Her intention had always been to come back to Wisconsin to take care of her mother's things and the house eventually but time had gotten away from her and she always managed to find a reason to stay in the city or go home with friends for holidays. She never meant to let four years go by without returning, but every time she was going to come back she found another excuse.

So, here she was. Four years later sitting on the floor of her mother's closet unable to gather enough strength to pack her clothes. Sofia stood up with a sigh and decided that perhaps she should start with an easier task and work her way up to packing her mother's bedroom. She headed downstairs to the kitchen and put the kettle on to make herself a cup of tea hoping that would calm her down and allow her to focus on the task at hand. As she stood over the stove she glanced at the kitchen table and the piles of mail covering the surface. Most of it was junk mail or adds from local stores but Sofia thought it was as good as place as any to start sorting. Besides, tackling such an easy task first might give her some momentum to continue on in other rooms.

Sofia settled at the table with her mug of tea and got to work. She quickly filled several bags with recycling and was beginning to think that there wasn't going to be anything worth keeping from the last four years of mail accumulated on the table. At the bottom of one of the stacks she found a large manila envelope that looked a little worse for wear and had several postage stamps on it. There wasn't a return address listed, which piqued Sofia's interest even more.

She carefully tore the envelope open and withdrew the contents on to the table in front of her. There were several photos, a small cloth bag, and papers. Sofia picked up the photos first, they were well worn as if they had been handled frequently. The first one showed a little girl standing on the beach smiling up at the camera with a woman holding her arms as if to help her walk. Sofia stared at the woman and realized it was her mother grinning back at her. She flipped the picture over to see if there was an inscription on the back.

"Laura and Chessie, Scilla, 1994"

Sofia wrinkled her nose at the childhood nickname. She hadn't been called by her first name, or any variation thereof, in over a decade. When she and her mom moved back to the United States she had started going by her middle name since no one seemed to be able to pronounces Francesca correctly.

Sofia turned the picture back over and stared at it again. Her mother looked so happy. She supposed her dad had taken the picture during some family trip to the beach but she had no memory of the trip since she was so small. Sofia didn't have many memories of her time living in Italy since she and her mother had moved away when she was 8. Most of the memories she did have of living in Italy were not nearly as pleasant as this picture seemed to show.

Her parents' marriage had all but fallen apart by the time Sofia started school and most of the memories she had of them together involved her mother screaming in a hybrid of Italian and English and her father storming out of the house. It wasn't a huge surprise to Sofia when her mother had told her they were going to move to America and explained to her what a divorce was. Sofia remembered her parents sitting her down on their couch and calmly explaining what was going to happen and asking her if she had any questions. Her father hadn't been able to look her in the eyes and didn't look very happy about the arrangement but he dutifully sat by her mother in one last show of solidarity. A few weeks later, Sofia stood outside the airport in Rome and hugged her father goodbye for the last time.

Although she was technically Italian by birth and had both an Italian and American passport, Sofia had very little connection to her Italian roots. Her mother was American and she had spent most of her life in the United States. Her Italian was still passable, if a little rusty, thanks to the lessons her mother had insisted she take after they moved back. Sofia was silently thanking her mother for that as she realized that all of the papers in the envelope were written in Italian.

The first paper had a letterhead from what looked like a law office. Sofia began to translate the contents of the letter as best she could as a sense of dread filled her. The letter was from her father's lawyer and informed her that her father had died and as his last remaining heir she was the sole recipient of his assets. Apparently the contents of this envelope and the family estate in Scilla were all that he left behind. Sofia set down the letter and leaned back in her seat as she let this news sink in. She wasn't as sad as she thought she should be. She hadn't spoken to the man in over 15 years and he was little more than a stranger who happened to share half of her DNA.

Sofia flipped through the other papers in the envelope, which contained details of the family estate and her father's funeral that had taken place a few months ago. She opened the pouch and found that it contained a gold necklace with a delicate key charm on the end. She admired it before brushing her hair out of the way to put the necklace on. She looked back at the papers in front of her and was struck by how little she knew about her father. She hadn't even remembered his first name before looking at the papers in front of her. She had always just called him "Papa" as a child and hadn't really bothered listening to other adults addressing him.

"Antonio Andreotti"

She stared at the name on the page and tried to gather the few memories she had of him from her childhood. There were fleeting recollections of sitting in his office in the evenings and him telling her elaborate fairy tales as she fell asleep. She wished that she remembered more but she had been so young when she left. As Sofia stared at the papers and pictures in front of her she made a decision. She wanted to know more about her dad and what family (if any) she had left in Italy so she would go back to Scilla and find out for herself.

Please rate this story
The author would appreciate your feedback.
  • COMMENTS
Anonymous
Our Comments Policy is available in the Lit FAQ
Post as:
Anonymous
Share this Story

Similar Stories

Beyond Nocturne Ch. 01 Lydia Renee isn't what she seems.in Erotic Horror
The Craigslist Killer Never, ever dress up as a woman to meet a guy on Craigslist!in Transgender & Crossdressers
Deep in the Night Ch. 01 A sheriff asks a female FBI agent for help.in Romance
Any Opportunity Will Do Ch. 01 Katrina runs into her rescuer, literally.in Novels and Novellas
Safe Room Ch. 01 The Iron Crowbar and Team find a prepper in his safe room.in Non-Erotic
More Stories