Boston, United States, evening time

Mariella was sitting in the kitchen and wiping the brand new plates that had just been washed with a cloth. She was only sixteen years old. She had school during the day and after arriving home and finishing her home work she was allowed to come to this mansion to help her mother around the mansion where she worked. Her mother, Nina was a maid who recently had started work for the Romano family. The Romano family were a wealthy crime family who owned businesses in Italy. But had over the past few years gained ground in America too. A territory in Boston was being run by a Romano and the neighbouring territories had also struck an alliance with the Romanos. Silvestro Romano who was the younger brother of Salvadore Romano, the head of the Romano family in Sicily ran the business here for the Romanos in America. He was the boss and not a patient and forgiving one either. He ruled his territory and businesses with an iron fist.

Mariella lived alone with her mother. Her father had walked out on the family when she was a baby. Her single mother had brought her up all by herself. Mariella's mother was lucky to have this job now. They used to live in the neighbouring territory and worked for another crime family as a nanny. But as the children had grown they had no use for Nina. They had enough maids too. So they had referred Nina to the Romanos who had been recruiting at the time for new employees. That had been over a year ago. Ever since Mariella had come to this mansion in the evenings after school and during weekends to help her mother. She had been a witness to the workings of the house and she had a good idea of the workings there. She was hoping that over her school holidays she could perhaps ask for a job to earn some money when she had no school to work alongside her mother here.

Mariella did not have to work. But she wanted to help her mother. The sooner she finished her duties the sooner she could come home. The mansion was huge and many servants, maids and guards maintained and served there. Everyone had certain duties they had to finish within a time limit. If they didn't they couldn't go home until they did. And if they went home late it meant less sleep but the next morning there was going to be work starting at normal time. So to reduce chances of her mother having to do over time she always volunteered to help her finish her work.

This evening was especially busy. There was someone special arriving at the mansion. The boss's nephew, Salvatorio was going to arrive from Sicily to stay and study for a couple of months in America. He was a sixteen year old teenager who spoke fluent English as his schooling was good in Sicily with the best tutors and his grades were quite good. He was going to attend a top private school nearby. Everyone around the mansion was nervous about his arrival. He was the next heir in line to take over from his father to rule the Romano business empire one day. His arrival had been anticipated for the past week. He was going to be their other boss. Everything had to be perfect and in place. He was going to arrive very shortly.

Mariella stood up and picked up the plates. She made her way to the dining room and to get started with setting up the dinner table in advance. The smell of fresh flowers had filled the dining room. The beautiful chandeliers had lit up the room and the room was warmed up with the two fire places in the room.

Mariella wondered what Salvatorio was like. He must have been a young version of his uncle. A born leader with no mercy and an inhuman desire for unnecessary cruelty. Everyone was used to the rules here. No one complained. The wages were good. If you made no mistakes on the job there was nothing to worry about. But mistakes were costly and were severely punished.

After she finished setting up the table, she made her way to the young master's bedroom. She had to make sure there were no flaws in the room. She walked inside and looked around. She had never been to this room before. It was huge. It was twice the size of the entire flat that her and her mother lived in. It was warm, spacious, well equipped and beautifully decorated. She made her way around the room to check if her mother had done everything that was needed. Right now her mother was busy in the upstairs kitchen that was reserved for cooking and serving food only. This house was so huge it had multiple kitchens. Her mother had the responsibility of taking care of this room before she had gone cooking.

Mariella noticed that her mother had forgotten to fill the jugs in the room with water. The empty jugs and glasses stood out. She grabbed the two jugs and almost sprinted out of the room, made her way to the kitchen where she had been cleaning dishes earlier. She filled the vases with water and brought them up to the room. She was breathing hard now looking around the room in more panic. What if there were any other duties she had forgotten about. She did not want to see her mother punished. But luckily everything else was in place. She made her way down the stairs to the lobby and waited in a line with some other maids. She wanted to be part of welcome party. She did not have to be there but she was curious to see the young master.

After about ten minutes of waiting, the guards informed that Salvatirio's car had arrived. His uncle had gone to pick him up from the airport with his bodyguards personally.

Mariella was nervously looking on as he heard voices of Silvestro Romano laughing and talking. Then the uncle and nephew came into view. Mariella froze in her spot as he noticed the young man. He was just ... so handsome. She could not stop looking at him. He was so handsome and elegant. He had never considered calling any boy beautiful but Salvatorio was. He was so beautiful and his gorgeous blue eyes stood out the most. But of course there was a dark look in his eyes. Some dangerous glint in his eyes told you to stay out of his way. He had an air of authority around him as he was walking elegantly past the long line of servants and maids who were bowing their heads respectfully.

Then as the uncle and nephew approached her position, she just noticed she had forgotten to bow down and show respect like others as he had been so mesmerised by his presence. She quickly looked down and bowed respectfully. Her heart was beating so fast. Her heart was in her throat as the two powerful Romanos walked past her. They had not glanced at anyone around them. They had been busy talking. It was lucky they had not noticed her bowing later than others by the looks of it. They would have ordered her punishment on the spot. She let out the breath she was holding as they had walked away.

She looked up and noticed everyone else around her also seemed affected by their presence and had been letting out deep breaths. First impressions counted.

As Mariella was feeling more relaxed, she put her hands into her pocket and she froze. She found a key in her pocket that wasn't supposed to be there. Then she remembered. When she had gone to check on the room, she had picked up key on the desk that was meant for Salvatorio now to open the desk drawers and check that all stationary was locked in the desk for the young master's use. She had locked the desk's drawers again and had also taken the key with her by mistake rather than leaving it on the desk for the young master to find. She was so going to pay for her mistake if she was late to correct this blunder.

Mariella quickly made her way to the young master's room. She opened the door and took a breath of relief as she saw no one. She walked to the desk quickly. She placed the key on the desk and then as she was walking to the door quickly to leave, she heard a hard voice "Wait right there."

Mariella froze. She then slowly turned around and saw Salvatorio with his handsome face with his piercing blue eyes zeroed on her. He had come out of the bathroom and was wiping his hands on a towel as he was looking at her with an unreadable expression. He demanded "What are you doing here? I asked not to be disturbed while I get changed and unpacked here. Who sent you here and for what purpose?"

Mariella quickly put her hands on top of each other in front of her and bowed slightly "Please forgive me..." She was scared.

Salvatorio started walking towards her and said in a demanding tone as he threw the towel away on a chair "I did not ask for an apology. Answer the questions I specifically asked. Look up and answer me now."

Mariella slowly raised her head up and swallowed hard as she noticed how close Salvatorio was standing to her. He was looking at her with hardened eyes and she knew not to keep him waiting for answers. But she was terrified as he was looking at her with such cold expression. She stuttered "Sir... I ... I was just ... I ... came back to put back the key to your desk sir. I ... had taken it by mistake after I checked that you had enough stationary in the desk drawers. I am very sorry sir. Please forgive me for my mistake."

Salvatorio asked "So... Is that why I could not locate the key to the desk drawers when I came in? I see... You may take your leave now."

Mariella's heart was beating hard now... What was he going to do to her for this mistake? She asked shakily "Sir... Are you going to punish me for this mistake?"

Salvatorio responded in a hard tone "No. I am not. I told you to take your leave. So follow my instructions. Now."

Mariella could not believe it. Was he really not going to do anything about her mistake? She asked "Sir... You mean that? You won't punish me for my mistake."

Salvatorio said "No. Not for taking the key. When you took the key this room was not assigned to me yet. It was a vacant room. But this is my room now. Heavens help you if you take my belongings from now on from this room though. Now... Let me inform you that I would punish you if you don't leave right now. I gave you an order. You are not to ignore it... I need to take a shower, get changed and unpack by dinner time. I do not have time to waste by talking to you. You are dismissed."

Mariella did not need to be told twice. She bowed her head with her hands in front of her "Yes sir." She then turned around and walked away. She opened the door and closed it. She let out a breath she was holding. That was so close.

***

Mariella was now waiting for her mother to finish work after she had served dinner. Her mother was eating in the kitchens and Mariella was waiting in the lobby and ready to take on any last minute responsibilities her mother was going to get. That meant she could eat dinner in peace and could eat more if her dinner break was not cut short by duties. A servant came to her and said "The extra maid on serving duty must attend to the dining room. Your mother is on duty now. Do you wish to take her place?"

Mariella nodded and she made her way to the dining room. She entered and saw Silvestro Romano was sitting opposite his nephew, Salvatorio. They were busy talking. The table was cleared now except for small serving plates, forks and a cake in the middle. The uncle and nephew each had a cup of tea in front of them and of course there was a tea pot there too. She knew what this duty entailed. She had done it before. After dinner at times coffee or tea and some desert was served. She just had to stand there and wait to be instructed to serve tea and cake on this occasion by the looks of it upon request.

Mariella stood near by silently and kept her head bowed at first but then kept her head tilted enough to see the two masters of the house and notice if they wanted her to serve them anything.

After a few minutes, Silvestro waved her over and pointed to the cake "Serve us a slice each Mariella."

Mariella walked slowly to the table. She started cutting the cake.

Just then, a servant came in and announced "Sir. You have a phone call from the Romano mansion in Sicily..."

Silvestro stood up "I think it is your father again. He said he will call ne after dinner. You have some cake and tea while I make this phone call. You can ask for anything else from anyone of the servers at this house and they can get it for you. I won't be long Salvatorio." He then walked away.

As Silvestro Romano left the room, the other servant left too. Mariella felt self conscious suddenly. She was alone now in this room with this handsome master of the house, who she had wronged that day and he had let it go by whatever justice principles he lived by. She hoped she was going to make no more mistakes.

She cut two slices of cake and served them on plates. She placed one plate in front of Salvatorio and one plate in front of the empty seat where Silvestro Romano's seat was.

She then took a step away from the table and bowed her head slightly. As she was about to walk away, she heard his voice "Are there any forks?"

Mariella gulped. She quickly reached to the case that had forks in them. She shakily took a fork out and put it on Salvatorio's plate and put another fork on Silvestre's plate.

She bowed her head with her hands in front of her "I am so sorry sir. Please forgive me."

Salvatorio did not respond and cut a piece of cake and put it in his mouth. He then took a sip from the tea.

Mariella was nervously looking at him waiting for him to berate her for her second mistake of the day.

Salvatorio glanced at her and then cut another piece of cake. He said "You know. In Sicily, the maids just do the serving and go and wait in the corner until they are called upon again. I don't know how it works here but I prefer not to have someone standing over me while I am eating..."

Mariella said "Oh... I am sorry sir... I was just..."

Salvatorio put down the fork on his plate and sighed "I am not interested to hear explanations. Just go wait in the corner... I don't need you serving me right now."

Mariella asked worriedly "Sir... But will you forgive me for forgetting to put forks on the plates? It's my first time forgetting... Please don't punish me..."

Salvatorio said "You have a hard time following simple instructions by the looks of it. Forget the fork incident. I just told you to go stand in the corner and you can't even follow this simple command. Do I believe you when you say you forgot and it was not a deliberate mistake. I do not have a hard time imagining it to be true at all. So no. You won't get punished. Just go and wait in the corner. Can you do that? Or I need to say it in a different language. I know five languages by the way. Do you have difficulty understanding English? Maybe if you do, I can try using the other four languages I know to get through to you that I do not wish to have a maid standing within inches of me while I am eating. If you understand, do as you are told. Now. If you don't understand, do ask me to put my command in other languages..."

Mariella bowed her head "I am sorry sir. I understand your instructions." She then bowed again and walked to her initial spot and stood there. This was another lucky escape. Silvestro Romano punished people for much less. Obviously this young master's list of unforgivable sins were slightly different to his uncle's. As a Romano he lived by his family's principles for sure. He had a reputation at such young age actually. He was only a teenager but everyone knew that he could be as brutal and strict as his father and uncle. She was wary of him even though he had allowed her errors to pass. He was handsome but dangerous and deadly. But regardless she was grateful to her luck for escaping punishment for her mistakes that day. Was she going to be this lucky next time?