The Viper Donna：Stepmother’s Mafia Justice Chapter 05
Nonna’s Ancient Rules
Elena couldn’t beat me alone, so she went to Nonna.
Two days later, Nonna summoned me to the family chapel.
It was a small room off the east wing, with dark wood, stained glass, and candles for dead Moretti men.
A crucifix the size of a child hung over the altar.
Nonna sat in the front pew, hands folded over her cane. Elena stood behind her.
“Sit,” Nonna said.
I stayed standing.
Her eyes narrowed. “In this family, a wife has duties. Dominic is away protecting us all. The least you can do is pray for his safe return.”
“Pray,” I repeated.
“Every morning. Five a.m. One hour on your knees in this chapel. It is tradition.”
I looked at Elena. She had a tiny smirk pulling at the corner of her mouth.
This was not tradition. This was punishment.
“And if I don’t?” I asked.
Nonna’s voice went sharp. “Then you are not fit to carry the Moretti name. I will write to Dominic myself. I will tell him his new wife refuses to honor God and family. He will act accordingly.”
I waited.
I walked in wearing a silk robe and holding a bottle of whiskey from Dominic’s study. I sat in the nearest pew and opened it.
I took a long drink.
Nonna’s face went purple.
“If God really worked,” I said, wiping my mouth, “Dominic wouldn’t need to kill people for a living. And you wouldn’t need me to kneel here begging for miracles.”
“You DARE—”
“I dare plenty.” I took another sip. “Let me tell you what’s going to happen, Nonna. I’m not kneeling. Not at five a.m., not ever. And if you write to Dominic, make sure you also mention how his children have been treated under your roof. The thin clothes. The empty rooms. The bruises.”
Nonna went still.
Elena stepped forward. “She’s lying—”
“Am I?” I looked at Elena. “Should I bring Leo down here right now? Let him take off his shirt in front of Nonna? Show her the cigarette burns your son left?”
Elena’s mouth snapped shut.
Nonna’s grip tightened on her cane.
I stood and set the whiskey on the altar.
“Here’s the deal. I run this house. You stay in your wing, say your prayers, drink your espresso. Nobody bothers you. Nobody disrespects you. But you do NOT give me orders. You do NOT side with Elena against those children. And you do NOT threaten me with Dominic.”
“And if I refuse?” Nonna asked.
“Then when Dominic comes home, I’ll hand him the receipts. Every dollar Elena stole, every bruise on his children, and every night you looked away. And we’ll see who he’s angry at.”
No one spoke.
Nonna looked at me. I looked back.
Ten seconds. Twenty.
Then she exhaled through her nose. Long and slow.
“You are a vile woman,” she said.
“I know.” I smiled. “That’s why they married me to your grandson.”
I walked out of that chapel and didn’t look back.
Behind me, I heard Elena hiss at Nonna: “We can’t just let her—”
“Enough,” Nonna cut her off. “I need to think.”
Good. Let her think.
I had already moved on.
That night, I tucked Mia into bed. She grabbed my hand as I was leaving.
“Are you going to stay?” she whispered. “They won’t make you go away?”
I squeezed her fingers. “Kid, the only way I’m leaving this house is in a box. And I’m very hard to kill.”
She smiled. Sleepy.
Down the hall, Leo’s door was open. He was sitting up in bed, reading. When I passed, he looked up.
He didn’t smile. But he nodded.
From Leo, that meant everything.
I nodded back and kept walking.
Before I touched Elena’s money, I was going to break the house first.
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