Chapter 1

Veronica was awakened from an afternoon nap around 3pm to loud screaming and yells from outside her bedroom door. Through all the noise she can distinctly make out her mother’s scream.

In a panic she quietly runs out of her room and makes her way down the hallway. Not knowing what dangers lay ahead of her she makes sure to stay hidden and quiet as she makes her way through the house. Cursing herself for leaving her gun behind she is not at all prepared for what she is about to find.

The smell of gun powder and blood hung heavy in the air surrounding her as she walks quietly towards the screams. Unconsciously holding her breath the closer she gets to the screams. Her eyes widened in horror as she sees her mother on her knees next to her unmoving father’s body.

“No please don’t kill me. Please.” Her mother, Cynthia, pleads through her cries.

A man Veronica does not recognize is in front of her mother with a gun pressed to her forehead.

“Please you have the wrong house. We are not who you think we are.” Her mother continues to plead.

The man laughs but does not say a word. His eyes cold as ice but yet so full of hatred.

BANG!

As fast as the shot rings out the men disappear, leaving behind the bodies of her parents laying lifeless on the floor bathed in their own blood.

The moment she hears that gunshot Veronica feels her whole world shatter around her. It feels as if the air in her lungs is no longer there and everything begins to fall apart.

Veronica’s demeaner becomes hard and cold in that instant. Seeing her parents gunned down in front of her in their own home at just 20 years old is that catalyst right through her soul that she isn’t sure she will ever be able to come back from. She know in that moment that her whole life will never go back to the way it was before.

As soon as that man pulled the trigger, she became the Donna of the Sanchez Mafia.

Her father, Francesco, was the most feared Don in history in all of North America. Veronica isn’t completely sure she is ready but she knows that she will not let anyone take what belongs to her.

Her father has been grooming her since she was born and now this is her moment to take what is hers. Apart from the stresses and pressures of being the head of the family brings, she knows that her father would be proud of her.

After the police have cleared out of the house, Veronica calls for a bosses meeting to be held that same night.

All the bosses arrive at the headquarters within the next 3 hours. The headquarters building is a tall building mostly made of metal and glass. There are 20 floors full of offices and other meeting rooms. Some of the offices are legit while most are not. There are offices in the building for each of the bosses as well. Each room is locked with a biometric locking system. All of which allow the Don or Donna to unlock any room as necessary.

As she enters the conference room, she is met with 15 men sitting around it waiting for her to arrive. She walks to the head of the table where she begins speaking to them all. “As most of you know my parents were gunned down tonight in our home. I want this said before anyone else gets any ideas, I am your new Donna. This is my birthright and I will not give it up to anyone. If you don’t fucking like it, there is the fucking door.” She says pointing towards the door.

She waits for a few minutes while everyone shifts uncomfortably in their chairs.

“Good now that, that is settled. Here is how this is going to go. I want to personally review all contracts, alliances, and business endeavors that we have in place now.”

“But Veronica-” Her uncle Craig starts out saying.

Veronica quickly interrupts. “No buts. I will not tolerate any interruptions. This is not a democracy. I am the head of this family and you will respect me. I expect you to listen and only speak when I say so. Is that clear?”

“Yes Donna.” Craig states with a smile on his face.

“Good. Now I want all contracts and all business info to me by tomorrow at noon. I want meetings set up with every single person we do business with. Both in business and the soldiers. Everyone will meet with me. Also, the funeral will be held in 3 days at the cathedral and I expect everyone to be there.”

“Yes Donna.” They all say in unison.

“One last thing. Find out who killed my parents and bring them to me. They are to be delivered to me alive. Put in the contract that I will be giving a finder’s reward if found by midnight.”

“Yes Donna.” They all say again.

Lost in thought, Veronica stares at the table for several minutes before she realizes she was not alone. “Don’t you all have stuff to do?” She says in an annoyed tone.

At her words, there were just sounds of papers shuffling and chairs moving as everyone hurries out of the room.

“I’ll find all of you fuckers and make you pay.” She murmurs under her breath before getting up to leave the room. She rides the elevator down to the lobby and out to her awaiting car without speaking or acknowledging anyone.

She goes back home to try to sleep for the night. As she walks in she is met with cleaners who are extracting the blood from the carpet. Stopping in her tracks for a moment to watch, she can feel tears well up in her eyes making her shake her head and head off to bed. Of course, she isn’t able to sleep but she did lay down at least.

The next morning Veronica arrives at the funeral home to plan her parents’ funeral. She is met by a funeral planner who has brought her into an office to give them privacy. The office has a big desk full of papers, a table also full of papers, two very uncomfortable chairs and several file cabinets along the back wall. There was no outside window in the room, the only one was in the door to the office.

“We are very sorry for your loss and we will do everything in our power to make this whole process as easy as possible.” Mr. Downs says with a sad smile on his face.

“I want the funeral in 2 days at the cathedral on Main Street.”

“Not a problem. We can handle that.”

Veronica nods but does not say anything else.

“Let’s head into the casket room first and we can get those picked and set aside.”

Veronica follows him into the room and picks out two beautiful caskets for her parents. A gold one for her mother with a white silk inlay and a silver one for her father with a white satin inlay. Despite the situation Veronica is happy to know that her parents will be comfortable in their final resting places.

“What are you thinking as far as flowers go?” Mr. Downs asks, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“There should be flowers everywhere. My mother loved pink and red roses with sunflowers so everything should be covered in that.”

Mr. Downs nods and writes that down. He makes some suggestions in arrangement types and she nods her head. She doesn’t really care what the flowers look like as long as they are bright.

“We will get everything taken care of for you, Donna. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. We will see you at the cathedral in 2 days.” Mr. Downs says as a sad smile plays on his lips.

Veronica gives her thanks and shakes his hand before leaving the funeral home to head home for the night.

After spending all day at the funeral home, making all the arrangements she is overwhelmed by having to return home alone. There is still a trace of blood on the floor where her parents’ dead bodies were just hours before.

Veronica goes into the living room looking around where the blood was, remembering everything from that night. She wants every detail to get placed in her memory for good. She knows she will be able to use that as fuel to keep going and to punish the men that killed them.

The clean-up crew came back in about 2 hours later. Instead of watching them work, Veronica goes to her room to get at least a couple of hours of sleep. Since Gavin, her personal guard, is there, she doesn't feel like she needs to stay and watch.

The next morning, she was awakened around 5am by her cell phone ringing.

“Yes?”

“Donna.” One of her soldiers says on the other end.

“What is it?”