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Post by Serafina DiLeonardo on Jun 16, 2009 22:35:45 GMT -6
Serafina had taken the long trip into the city to the cathedral she’d loved since childhood. Its ornate details of apostles and intricate stained glass designs.
Dresses in a pale blue simple dress with a white jacket, she looked a little bit like a woman trying not to be recognized under black sunglasses and a scarf tied over her head and under her chin.
Tapping in stilettos up the steps of the cathedral her purse on the crook of her elbow, she actually turned heads. Most of those heads were men paying attention to her ass as it rocked back and forth while she climbed the steps.
Once inside, she made a b line for the front of the pews and knelt down crossing herself before bowing her head in prayer…
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Post by Luciano Santapaola on Jun 16, 2009 22:49:08 GMT -6
Luciano stopped at the cathedral at least three times a week in the morning as he headed out from his penthouse at the pierre hotel. Although he was raised to have a strong belief in god, it never really stuck. With the line of work he was in, he had nobody but himself to watch his back. He still went to the cathedral to collect his thoughts. He sat at the back in one of the last pews. He kept his head down with his eyes closed until his ears filled with the light tapping of high heels. He looked up slowly to get a look at the women before realizing who it was under the scarf she had tied over her head. Luciano smiled to himself as he picked up his suit jacket that sat next to him. He wore one of his tailored gray-blue suits and a dark pair of aviators. He stood slowly and made his way to the pew right behind where Serafina had chosen to pray from. He pulled the bench down from the pew infront of him and rested his knee on it. He bowed his head down with a smirk on his face as he spoke quietly, "Fancy meeting you here." He said.
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Post by Serafina DiLeonardo on Jun 16, 2009 22:59:08 GMT -6
Serafina’s head perked up at the voice and she turned around only to see that same face of the man she’d meet at her own house not too long ago. The last time she’d talked to him, he’d warned her that someone close to her husband was out to get him, and it hadn’t gone over well with Serafina. In fact, her night had been pretty sleepless since.
As soon as she saw him she looked forward again, afraid that someone had seen her looking at him, and then she corrected herself once more and turned back to look at him.
“What are you doing here?!” She hissed a little, worried that he had followed her…
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Post by Luciano Santapaola on Jun 16, 2009 23:03:42 GMT -6
"The same as you I expect, I live close and come here often to clear my head." He said with a smirk at her reaction to his presence. He didn't mean to startle her and adjusted his glasses to fully cover his eyes instead of the slumped position they had been in. He changed knees on the bench, " I hope all is well with you." He said politely. As wrong as it was and as bad as it could be for him, he found himself attracted to the Don's wife.
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Post by Serafina DiLeonardo on Jun 16, 2009 23:28:26 GMT -6
"Yes." Serafina lied. Actually she had had an argument with her husband that night after Luciano left. She turned forward again for a moment, and it seemed like she wasnt interested in talking again. Then, changing her mind once more she turned back around.
"And you? Has everything been alright for you and your family?"
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Post by Luciano Santapaola on Jun 16, 2009 23:37:52 GMT -6
When she had turned back to the front he leaned back onto the seat and brushed off his knees. He was caught a bit off guard by her question, "What? Oh, well best as could be expected I guess." He told her with a small smile. The truth was that his family was at their other home in the Hamptons for a while until everything settled back down in the city."Are you traveling alone?" He asked her as he moved to the edge of his seat so he could speak quietly but still at a level in which a conversation could be held.
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Post by Serafina DiLeonardo on Jun 16, 2009 23:43:03 GMT -6
Slowly, Serafina sat up as well and crossed her ankles. She only turned her head slightly over her shoulder, not looking directly at him but still engaged in the whispered conversation.
"Yes." She said simply, "I dont get to come out here as often as i'd like, but today I found it... possible." Meaning today she would come out and no one would know about it...
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Post by Luciano Santapaola on Jun 17, 2009 6:36:15 GMT -6
He was silent for a moment and looked up at the stain class windows of the cathedral and the craftsmanship of the ceiling. He wondered if Giovanni knew that she came out alone without security to watch her sometimes. "What do you pray for, when you come here I mean?" He asked her. He wasn't trying to overstep his bounds, she just made him curious about things and he felt the need to get to know her better.
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Post by Serafina DiLeonardo on Jun 17, 2009 20:31:20 GMT -6
Serafina wasn’t insulted at all. In fact it helped her question what she truly did pray about.
“For safety.” She said after a moment of thought. “For my husband and my sons.” She didn’t add that she partly prayed for their protection against her. She didn’t want to be like her father or her mother, and she feared that either were very possible for her. Her father being a cruel and selfish man, and her mother leaving her behind and running away from the lifestyle she lived in as the wife of a gangster…
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Post by Luciano Santapaola on Jun 18, 2009 14:40:41 GMT -6
"Its funny since I was brought up in Sicily, my mother took me to church with her almost everyday until I was able to make a decision for myself. I've never prayed, never felt the need to. To me a church doesn't bring you any closer to god then your own thoughts do. If he's listening to people's prayers what matter does it make if you do it in some church...I come here because its quiet, its the only place that I know where even the dirtiest of gangsters wouldn't take a guy down, not when they think the big guys watching." He told her as leaned back against the pew.
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Post by Serafina DiLeonardo on Jun 18, 2009 19:05:15 GMT -6
"You're hiding here like a coward?" Serafina whispered, her face turned again over her shoulder. She didnt like cowards, but she didnt like idiots who went and got themselves killed either. Luciano was nothing like her husband, who kept many opinions and explanations to himself...
Even so. He was handsome...
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Post by Luciano Santapaola on Jun 18, 2009 19:21:07 GMT -6
"No not a coward,let me rephrase, what i'm saying is I can come here and not have to worry about who's after me this week. Its one of the only places where there is a certain code of ethic for people to follow unlike outside on the streets where its kill or be killed..."He told her as he scooted down more into the pew and sat on the edge of the bench, resting his arms on the back of the one in front of him. He looked over to her with a smile. Luciano spent most of the day protecting others and making sure that nothing happened in particular to the don, he would take a bullet for the man if need be. He wasn't a coward, far from it.
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Post by Serafina DiLeonardo on Jun 18, 2009 19:27:04 GMT -6
“That I understand…” Serafina studied his face now that she could see it properly, she turned her body so that she was now speaking to him instead of over her shoulder. Like before in her home, she studied his features and for a moment thought of his wife. She was both lucky and unlucky to have such a handsome husband…
Her lips curled into a soft smile and she whispered, leaning forward a little, “I don’t really believe in god either, but I think that my family can use all the extra help that is possible. Every day I have to wonder If my husband will come home alive. If he comes home at all…” It was very possible he might end up at the bottom of the harbor…
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Post by Luciano Santapaola on Jun 18, 2009 19:49:16 GMT -6
"Well its my job to make sure he comes home all in one piece...so as long as im around, im gonna be making sure he is too...We can't have you worrying right?" He said with his signature smile. She was beautiful and he definitely felt the attraction for her every time he looked in her direction. He couldn't help but think what might be if they had met under other circumstances.
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Post by Serafina DiLeonardo on Jun 18, 2009 19:56:05 GMT -6
Serafina watched him and even though it was only slight, she felt part of the tension that was always inside lessen. “Thank you…” She said again, really feeling appreciative.
Feeling a little awkward, she flushed slightly and looked down, taking her eyes from his face. “I really should do something as a thank you for all the men who protect my family. I don’t know how Giovanni would feel about that though…”
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