Chapter 6 Sophia
Sophia
Massimo grasps my hand tightly as we walk down the stairs for breakfast. The smell of bacon and eggs fill the air, causing my stomach to rumble as we enter the light-filtered kitchen.
Layna smiles brightly as we make our way to the table on the far side of the kitchen.
Unlike the dining room table, it is cozy and would actually be a great place to sit, if it weren’t for the two dark sets of eyes belonging to his younger brothers who are watching me with interest.
Massimo does not seem bothered at all. “What are you two doing here? Do you not have food at your own house? Surely, you’re not here to steal the best cook in all the land?”
“I might be,” Angelo says. “The life of a bachelor with no one to cook for him is just not the same as all this.”
“Layna is not going anywhere with the likes of you. Besides, you choose to live in the city penthouse in the sky, with no one to intrude on your privacy. You have choices, Gino.”
Leandro and Angelo both grin, and the smiles even light their eyes. Massimo pulls out a seat for me, and I sit beside Angelo. “Nice to formally meet you, Angelo,” I tell him.
He laughs off the formality while snagging a piece of buttered toast from the platter in front of us. “No one calls me that but the people who collect the bills and people I need to pay. Call me Gino.”
I give him a smile. “Very well, Gino. Nice to meet you.”
Massimo plates food for the both of us, and Leandro pours coffee while Layna fusses with toast to bring us more of the homemade bread that’s scenting the air with its fresh-baked aroma.
Elsie comes into the kitchen wringing her hands.
“Sir, we have guests at the door.” But by the look on Massimo’s face as he reads his phone, I have no doubt he knows exactly what’s going on.
The first thing that crosses my mind is my father, or Papa’s men are here.
They were too late to stop the wedding but now they’ve come just the same.
Fear grips my insides causing my blood to race at the thought of a bloody mafia war between two men I love, Papa and Massimo.
I swallow the last of a bit of toast and down a large gulp of freshly squeezed orange juice, suddenly very warm and anxious, although we should have all been prepared for the day the Cassones fought back.
The Cassones never bow down, always defend what is theirs.
They just usually do it far sooner. No matter that it wasn’t right away though.
In the pit of my stomach, deep inside I always knew it was going to happen one way or another.
At least until now, I had hoped. All I want now is for them to go away and leave me in peace.
Clearly, I am no longer in control of my feelings for Massimo, the dark-eyed devil who has managed to steal my heart.
Massimo’s phone buzzes again and my chest tightens. “My father?” I ask.
His eyebrows knit with concern. “No kitten. The polizia are here. You’ll tell them what happened the night of the yacht explosion, no more or less than they ask for. You have nothing to hide,” he says, standing and tossing his white linen napkin on the table.
Massimo brushes a piece of hair from my face and leans down to whisper in my ear. “Only what we spoke of. Nothing else but silence, capisce?” he says, giving a nod to both of his brothers.
I inhale a deep breath. “Yes.” My father may not be involved in this after all.
The polizia, I can handle. Papa and his soldiers have trained me well.
I’m not going to give them ammunition to bury any of us with.
They were in the wrong. The Amorte boys barged onto the yacht, intending to kill us, yet it’s not in our code to squeal.
To turn the rival into the polizia instead of handling it ourselves.
In our own way, and in our own time. That’s how we do things, it’s always been that way.
I have no doubt that Massimo and his brothers and perhaps even Massimo’s father have devised a way to make the Amortes pay for their deeds in addition to losing the male family members they sent, but right now, I need to focus on turning the attention of the police away from us.
“Have them brought into the great room with coffee,” Massimo tells Elsie.
“Yes, sir,” she says, disappearing as Leandro gives Massimo a dark look. “It will be fine,” Massimo says. “Nothing I wasn’t expecting, just not quite this fucking early in the morning.”
“I’ll keep your breakfast warm,” Layna says, gathering the plates as we all stand.
A heads up would have been nice but maybe he was going to ease me into the first day as his wife before dropping this little bombshell on me right away. No doubt, life with Massimo will not be dull. He takes my arm and leads the way into the great room while his brothers quietly trail behind us.
Leandro and Gino take a seat on one of the couches, and Massimo steers me to the smaller love seat next to it, leaving only two reclining chairs open for the men who walk in to use.
Massimo shakes hands with each of them. “I’m Detective Brice,” the one with dark hair says, “and this is Detective Loch,” he says, before Massimo introduces all of us and takes the seat beside me as the two men settle into the chairs.
The one with dark hair and glasses pushes the frames farther up his nose as he appraises me.
“Unusual to see a Cassone with a Roselli, no?” I’m not sure if the question was intended as a poke to get Massimo riled up but he should know to walk softly instead of pushing a Roselli.
Massimo gives him a look. “Detective, the family feuds of the past have long been dissolved. Maybe your files aren’t as up to date as you’d like us to believe? ”
His partner tries to hide the smirk, but the slight tilt of his lips gives him away.
A little friendly competition between the two, or a little something to give his friend shit about later on when alone, it’s hard to tell.
Leandro stands and takes a coffee cup from Elsie who has come to help, and hands one to me, then to Massimo, then one to Gino, and then turns to the officer with glasses. “Coffee?”
Brice half shrugs. “Sure, sugar, no cream, please.” Leandro looks toward the other officer who shakes his head at the offer. “None for me.”
Leandro turns to Elsie. “That will be all for now.” She gives him a nod and disappears as quickly as she can, clearly relieved she’s not needed for the conversation.
I have no doubt they’ll be talking with her later though, because unfortunately for her, she’s part of my defense. She just doesn’t know it yet.
The dark-haired man’s eyes dart about the room, taking in as much from the Roselli estate as he can while on the premises and without any permit to speak of even though we all know he’s not here to socialize.
Gino clears his throat, pulling detective Brice back from his internal musings over the room.
“I take it you’re here for more than to take in the décor? ”
The detective pushes his glasses further up his nose as he leans down to read out of the little black notebook in front of him. “Just a couple routine questions about the loss of your yacht.”
Massimo’s face stays stoic. He may not have the patience for this dance, but he knows how to play, not reacting, letting the detective circle around to what he’s really here to learn in his own way.
Papa used to say you learn the man by letting them show you their methods while they think they’re the one watching you.
I have learned my father’s lessons well and watch them both.
Massimo should have told me the polizia would be stopping by this morning.
I would have been prepared. Perhaps he made the right call though.
Maybe I would have just worried needlessly the entire night.
We knew the questions would come eventually about his yacht and the events of that day, especially since the Amortes have just disappeared.
I’d secretly hoped the men on Massimo’s payroll would bury the inquisition farther into the sea than the bodies buried under its waves.
They have to have the same power as the Cassones, yet something is standing in the way.
Gino clears his throat again. Massimo’s brother, younger than Leandro by only a year, does not exude Leandro’s disposition and cool politeness that complements the rough Roselli exterior that Massimo wears.
I’d put Gino in a back alley with his rugged looks any day.
Gino glances at his watch, then at the detective.
“Tell us why you’re here. We have plans today, and they don’t include you. ”
Massimo is calm and patient, taking a drink of his coffee before placing it back onto the table in front of us.
It’s interesting to watch Massimo’s mannerisms and his calm demeanor as he battles the storm that is no doubt inside all of us as we sit under the blatant observation of the detectives, no doubt here to uncover every dirty little deed that happened on that yacht before Massimo had it blown to smithereens.
The rustle of the paper is all that can be heard as the detective turns a page in the little spiral book.
“Here, this is what I was looking for,” he says, pausing for dramatic effect but not fooling anyone at all.
Brice pins me with a stare. Of course, he’ll try to rattle the female first and then see who comes to her defense.
Fucking prick. Now I’m grateful to my father for making me spend hour after hour of interrogation training with his soldiers. Time to put it to good use.
The detective smiles at me, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
It’s a parlor trick they all learn to put us at ease before they go in for the kill.
It takes patience on my part to let him watch me without saying a word.
He’s not trying to rile me up though, it’s Massimo that he’s trying to goad.
The man, polizia or not, should be careful with who he tries to prod, because Massimo didn’t earn his name as the deadliest king of the Jersey streets by being someone’s doormat.
Something the Cassones and every other crime family for miles knows very well.
The detective clears his throat and gives me a pointed stare. “Why don’t you tell me, Mrs. Roselli, was it you or your husband who killed the Amortes?”