14. Chapter 14
14
As the vehicle slowed to a full stop, Elyse barely prevented herself from shoving her blonde stepsister-in-law out the car door. In a clipped voice, she relayed her final instructions to Valentina, "Find Father Boselli for me, and I'll talk to Alessandro about Carmen."
Valentina wobbled slightly on the skinny heels of her stilettos, still affected by the alcohol, and cooed, "I will be in touch. Alla prossima!" Until the next time we meet!
"See you around," Elyse muttered in distracted tones.
As Valentina stumbled away toward her villa, Elyse instructed Monte to drive home as fast as traffic would allow. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Elyse glanced at the caller ID. It was an unknown number, though, she recognized the area code to be from New York. She ignored it. Alessandro was more important right now. Her entire focus was locked on him, still.
Once she arrived back at the palazzo, Elyse searched their home for her husband. Alessandro wasn't in his study. He wasn't in their bedroom, either. Her phone vibrated in her pocket once more. She let the call go to voicemail. In time, Elyse found Alessandro in one of the hallways that led to their living room.
Her voice echoed through the corridor like thunder. "Alessio!"
The power in her tone caused Alessandro to halt in mid-stride. He turned around to face her with a wary smile.
" Cuore mio ," he remarked, "you have returned. Were you able to help Valentina find a dress?"
Without responding to his question, Elyse walked over to usher him into one of the spare rooms. She shut the door behind them and glared at him. "It seems your stepsister gets very chatty after a few glasses of champagne. ”
“If you hand her a drink, she will never shut up.”
“I know,” drawled Elyse. “We had a very interesting discussion today."
Brown and blue-gray eyes fell upon Elyse intently, studying her like an unarmed man trying to outmaneuver an angry she-bear. "Valentina has been known to say some, ah , interesting things when under the influence of alcohol. If I were you, I would not take anything she said to heart."
Against her will, Elyse's lower lip began to tremble. Her eyes stung. She felt worried out of her mind. She felt betrayed. Again, Valentina and Alessandro were plotting while leaving her in the dark. In a small voice, she whispered, "I thought you were done keeping secrets from me?"
At the sight of her anguish, her husband immediately strode over to gather her into his arms. He looked deeply troubled and concerned. "What are you talking about, Elyse?"
She shied away from him, pulling away from his touch to leave an arm's length space between them.
"I know you're planning something with Valentina," Elyse accused unhappily. "She says you intend to remove more opposition. I don't understand, though. Aberto, Domenico, and Carlo are dead. Who else is standing in your way?"
Alessandro's eyes grew wide with alarm. "Elyse, I can explain..."
"You keep treating me like an outsider. Why does your stepsister always know more than I do?"
"It is not like that at all."
She snorted in disbelief.
Guilt darkened her husband's handsome features. Alessandro didn't deny his deception. Maddeningly enough, he owned up to it right away, "I didn't want to keep it from you."
His admission stabbed at Elyse's heart. Why did she have to find out through Valentina instead of him? Elyse bit back, "Yet, you did it, anyway."
Why did she always have to wring this shit out from him? It felt like pulling teeth. Elyse wanted to claw her hair out in frustration. The secrets Alessandro was hiding from her didn't seem frivolous in nature. They were likely matters of life and death, and the fact that he’d given her no say in how events would play out was downright heartbreaking. Elyse loved Alessandro, but he clearly didn't trust her enough to let her in, and she was starting to hate him for it. Outwardly, she saw Alessandro's face soften with emotion as, inwardly, her heart railed against him .
"I wanted to tell you yesterday in the study, but..."
He had been too busy fucking her to talk to her. Again. Bitterness took hold of her tongue. "Why didn't you?"
"In a way," he mumbled, "you already know."
"Do I?" she countered testily. "Forgive me for not being a mind reader."
Alessandro released a heavy sigh. Reluctance clung to him like a second skin as he spoke, "Now that the De Leóns, the Berlusconis, the Morettis, and the Trevisanos are in weakened states, I am in a good position, as capo , to carry on with the status quo. However, that is not what I want. That is not good enough for me."
Elyse's rage dissolved slightly as she tried to understand where her husband was headed with this train of thought.
"Then," she prompted, "what do you want?"
"I have told you before," Alessandro continued quietly, "I intend to legitimize as many of my family's businesses as possible."
"Yes, I know," she offered in gentler tones, "and I want to help you achieve this goal."
Around this time, Elyse felt her phone buzz again in her pocket, but she was too engrossed in their conversation to check it.
"My allies will only support me if I continue with business as usual. They prefer the way my father conducted business," Alessandro explained, “and they will make a fuss if I go against tradition."
Elyse grimaced. "I'm sure you're right."
"I will not be able to let go of the cocaine distribution or restructure my other businesses without sacrifices and risks."
"I don’t like the sound of this, Alessio…”
Dread gnawed at her. Red flags surged in her mind. Elyse felt as though these sacrifices and risks might cause her to lose her husband.
If needed, I will take the fall.
Elyse wanted to ask Alessandro if he’d been talking to Valentina on the phone, but she couldn't bring it up without giving herself away.
"I intend to cut ties by giving up portions of my more unsavory businesses to the authorities. Allies are less likely to come after me—or blame me for distancing myself from the Beltrán cartel—if they believe that it is the law that snatches away my earnings."
More games .
More lies.
More charades.
Elyse's anxiety levels skyrocketed to an all-time high as her mind began to grasp what her husband was attempting to do. "What about our allies' profits? Won't they put up a fight if authorities come for their businesses as well?"
"I do not intend to touch their dealings. I only wish to rearrange mine."
He’d said —mine . Not ours . "I see."
Again, stupidly, Elyse felt as though her husband was pushing her away, even though his reasoning was more acceptable now. Worthy of respect even. This distance suggested that he was probably trying to protect her from these sacrifices and risks in his own misguided way.
"Valentina and I are working together to set up Gaspare. He will become our snitch. We will make the other clans believe that he turned in the evidence against my ties to the Beltrán's to avenge his father and brothers' deaths."
Horror clenched at Elyse. This was why Valentina believed that she was so important to Alessandro. Unquestionably, the blonde's role was going to be crucial in ensuring the success of this insane scheme.
"How can you trust your stepsister not to fuck you over?"
"I do not trust Valentina," Alessandro admitted. "I am counting on her ambition, her desire for power, and her commitment to her vision. I believe, as long as Valentina and I share the same objectives, she will not turn on me. Do not worry, wife. The moment I sense that our objectives are no longer aligned, I will end my partnership with Valentina."
In a way, her husband's attitude toward Valentina reminded Elyse a little of her feelings about Mariposa. They were both choosing to believe in the circumstances that had driven these women to become their allies rather than the integrity of the actual woman.
She couldn't help but worry about Alessandro's safety and sanity. "Once Gaspare turns in evidence about your cocaine dealings, you'll get implicated as well!"
"It is not as likely," Alessandro insisted, "for me to get implicated."
Elyse didn't know whether or not to believe him.
Her husband pressed on, "Up until last year, I was not really involved in my father's businesses. I spent most of my youth studying abroad. Traveling the world. Wasting my family's money. Fucking around. My prodigal past has become a blessing in disguise. The evidence I prepared for Gaspare will not entrap me. I used the data from my mother's memory card as the foundation for all the dates and names and details. It will be my father's old guard and some members of the Beltrán cartel who take the hardest falls."
Elyse whispered worriedly, "If the police decide to dig deeper into this evidence, surely, they'll find you guilty as well. Your hands aren't clean."
"This is why I must act soon," he replied, "to minimize the risk. I have only recently stepped into the role of capo . I am not in too deep. Yet ."
With despair written all over her face, she rushed to Alessandro's side. Elyse buried her face into her husband's chest as she captured him in her arms, stammering and stuttering, "I-I don't approve of your plan! It's too dangerous."
"This was why I was hesitant to tell you. I knew you would try to stop me."
Elyse gazed up at him tearfully. "Can you blame me? I refuse to stand by and let you risk so much!"
Alessandro kissed her and asked, "Would you rather spend the rest of your life watching me turn into my father? Or Aberto? Or Domenico? I do not think I could bear to watch you fall out of love with me."
She protested heatedly, "But you aren't your father, or Aberto, or Domenico! You're my Alessio . I’ll stand by you even if you choose to burn the world to the ground."
"Maybe I can be your Alessio for a few more years. But I do not see how I can be capo for the rest of my life without turning into the very worst version of myself. You deserve to be with a man, a good man, Elyse, not a fucking devil."
The truth in his words sent her reeling even while she clung to him tighter. "You're not a devil. You're my husband. I'm your wife. We're in this together!"
He stated firmly, "I have made my decision, you cannot change my mind, and I refuse to drag you down with me. All the pieces are in play. It is too late to back out now."
"If you go to prison over this..."
"You keep talking as though I am going to get caught. I outlived my brothers. I outplayed Aberto, Domenic, and Carlo. There is a devil in me that cannot be beaten. Have faith, wife. Hell is already my playground.”
"I want to believe in you, Alessio— truly, I do —but what if you fail?"
"Then I fail," he said, "and prison will welcome me with open arms. Even behind bars, though, I will make sure that you are well taken care of."
Elyse felt at a loss. Listening to him talk and talk and talk was making it hard to breathe. She was beginning to feel borderline hysterical. “Just shut up. Please .”
“What?”
Her emotions erupted like hellfire, "I don't care about what happens to me! What about us? What about our marriage? You promised that we would grow old together!"
Alessandro looked at her brokenly. "I am trying to do what is best for us!"
She loved him for his selflessness. But she hated him for it even more. He should've consulted her. The idiot was ready to go to prison over his noble, idiotic plan. In this instance, one could argue that her husband had, when push finally came to shove, chosen woman over cosca , but never did she think such a triumph would taste like defeat.
Elyse was on the verge of a breakdown. Hot, uncontrollable tears spilled down her cheeks. "H-Has it ever occurred to you that I want what's best for you? Why didn't you talk to me first?"
Her husband's thumb swept across her cheek to wipe away the wetness. "Do not cry, cuore mio , I promise—"
A knock at the door interrupted Alessandro in mid-sentence.
" Signora Vitale? There is an important call for you."
It was Malina.
The timing couldn't have been worse. Elyse tried to calm the storm within her. "Who is it, Malina?"
"I have a woman on hold right now," came Malina's reply. "Her name is Abby Sommers. She claims to be a representative from the John Sheldon Walsh Home."
Elyse's eyes rounded out with dismay. The John Sheldon Walsh Home was the hospice in New York where Robbie Romero was being kept on life support.
Through the door, Malina informed Elyse, "She has news to share about your father."
Words held the power to change everything within seconds.
Hello, Dr. Romero.
In the past, she’d always been on the giving end of this sort of life-changing news.
My name is Abby Sommers.
As a trauma surgeon, she was the one who shared these words with the families of patients.
I'm the hospice chaplain from the John Sheldon Walsh Home.
This was the first time Elyse had been on the other end. The receiving end . The chaplain's words spun round and round like a broken record.
While she was on the call, Alessandro had been standing beside her. Worry was etched into every line on his face, but Elyse barely noticed him. The world faded away.
I regret to inform you that—
Her body grew numb as a torrent of grief set in. It felt dull, jaded, and heavy. After the lengths she had gone through, to graduate medical school, to become a surgeon, to use her salary to pay off her father's debts, to suffer under Stefano's beck and call for one whole year—
Your father, Robert Romero, passed away today at 4:44 am. He died of a heart attack.
None of those efforts mattered anymore.
She’d waded through trauma and hardship with the stupid, foolish hope that her father might one day wake up. Elyse had tried so hard to free them from the mafia's grasp. The contrast between reality and hope made the grief even sharper and more unbearable. Her loss extended beyond Robbie Romero's death. It encompassed every single sacrifice she’d made over the years as well.
Elyse had felt so cold when she hung up the phone.
Empty .
Such sacrifices meant nothing now, and this realization hurt like a motherfucker. She began to reflect on her father. Despite his flaws and shortcomings, Robbie Romero had tried to be the best parent he could be. Sorrow and relief battled within Elyse. She hoped Papá had finally found peace. She loved him. Deeply. She missed him, too, but a burden had also been lifted from her soul. It felt wrong to resent a dead man for everything he had put her through, but resent him she did. Elyse was glad to be able to close this chapter in her life. For good.
With slow, somber steps, Elyse dragged her feet to the bed. She sank down onto the edge of the mattress. Alessandro followed her, taking a seat right beside her. Elyse said nothing, he said nothing, but she could feel his eyes boring into her. It felt all-consuming.
Eventually, Elyse broke the tension and said, "I'll have to go back to New York for a while."
Alessandro's eyes flickered with confusion. "What? Why?"
Elyse swallowed hard before revealing the tragedy, "My father just passed away."
By saying these words aloud, her father's death became all the more real. Speech carried this kind of power. Her heart grew heavier still.
His face crumpled with sympathy. " Cuore mio , I am so sorry."
Elyse put on a brave face. "His body is waiting for me at the morgue. I need to collect him and arrange the funeral."
"I will go with you."
Something wayward and petty rose in Elyse. She wanted to reject her husband's company and withhold herself from him, much in the way Alessandro had withheld his decision to join forces with Valentina from her.
"No," she said, shaking her head, "you have too much at stake here. You are capo . Stay in Palermo."
"Your father is my father, too," he argued, "I should be there to pay my respects."
"There’s no need. I’ll be back within a week or two."
"Elyse, please let me—"
She interjected firmly, "A short separation might do us some good. I’m still upset with you. I could use some time alone. To think . I need to wrap my head around this suicide mission that you're about to go on."
And maybe try to formulate a plan that could change his mind?
It looked as though Alessandro was about to protest but bit his tongue at the last second. A desperate gleam entered his eyes as he gathered Elyse into his arms.
"I will not go to New York if you do not want me there, but do not push me away out of spite," he begged softly, "not at a time like this. I simply wish to make your loss a little more bearable."
Alessandro dropped the gentlest of kisses upon her forehead. His lips melted away some of her lingering anger, and Elyse heeded his request. She didn't push him away. She rested her head on Alessandro's shoulder.
She felt so tired and lost.
"My father is gone. None of this shit feels bearable. Everything that I ever worked for— my education, my career, my independence —feels like it died with him," Elyse muttered with a lost expression, "and, now, it seems like I'm about to lose you, too."
"You will always have me. All of me."
"Even if you end up behind bars?" she challenged sadly.
" Even if I end up behind bars ," he confirmed. "My heart is yours, forever yours, along with all of the wealth and protection my name can provide for you."
"I don’t need your wealth or protection. I’ve survived thirty-some years on my own, and I’ll continue to survive whatever the future has in store for me. What I want, though, is to be with you."
"I want to be with you as well."
"Then don’t gamble away your life on Gaspare and Valentina!"
"I assure you, the odds are in my favor."
"Your confidence has always been your weakness, Alessio."
His eyes locked onto her as he carried on in halting tones, "This is where you are wrong, cuore mio , I am not confident at all."
"If you aren't confident, why do you insist on handing over evidence to the authorities?"
Hesitation clung to Alessandro. "Because I realized something after my father's funeral."
"What did you realize?"
He smiled tritely. "Nothing new or profound. Just that absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Elyse's eyes widened with uncertainty. "Alessio..."
"I realized that becoming capo has already corrupted me, and it will only continue to change me until I become unrecognizable."
"But there can be honor in the gray," Elyse countered, "you said it yourself!"
Alessandro grimaced. "I find that I will do anything to keep you safe. Brutality will be necessary to hold onto power. The thought of spilling blood does not faze me. But I know how much you abhor violence. You have a gift for saving people, but, in time, the lives I take will far outnumber the lives you can heal. The more I step into my role as capo , the more, I think, I will lose you."
Elyse felt sucker-punched. She felt as though their roles were suddenly reversed. Alessandro had become the realist while she was the romantic. His confession moved Elyse as much as it unnerved her. There was a heartbreaking sincerity in his voice. Elyse wanted to believe that their love would be strong enough to carry them through the darkness. However, she wasn’t an idealistic child who viewed the world through rose-colored lenses. She’d been hardened by too much tragedy to ignore the truth in her husband's words.
Still, stubbornly, she chose to shove her head in the sand, arguing, "That's not true! I know what I signed up for when I married you.”
He clicked his tongue. "I know your heart and your mind, Elyse. You have already given up too much to be with me. You said it best, no ? I am your burden to carry. I cannot expect more from you. As my character deteriorates, you will be forced to accept me against your will."
Elyse fought back again, "You're not my burden at all, and I'll learn to adapt."
"What I love most about you," Alessandro murmured, "is your heart and your mind. Exactly as they stand . I do not want you to change because, in time, you will despise me for it, and I will resent myself for it as well. This is why I must risk it all to uproot the whole fucking cosca , to give myself a chance, to give us a chance, at happiness. Real happiness . I cannot bring your father back to life, but, if there is a possibility for me to give you back everything else you have lost, your education, your career, your independence, a normal life , then I must do everything in my power to make it happen."
He left her speechless. His recklessness terrified her. Grief still consumed her. Yet, their love uplifted her. How was it possible for one man to be so utterly devoted and yet infuriatingly stubborn at the same time?
Elyse had never desired or admired him more. In a soul-blinding burst of affection, Elyse threw herself into Alessandro's embrace and crushed her lips to his mouth, pouring all of her beautiful, complex feelings for this beautiful, complex man into their kiss.
"I love you, Alessio," she declared without a shadow of doubt.
With reverence in his eyes, he lowered her onto the bed. They were in a spare guest room, safe from the music box. Their clothing fell away. They made love in whispers and gasps and breathy sighs. She kept her touch upon his skin light, delicate, teasing. He caressed Elyse with even more care and tenderness. Alessandro entered her as though she was made of glass. Their eyes burned only for each other. When her husband's cock began to thrust, he pumped slowly, sensually, as though purposely trying to prolong the inevitable. They fucked until Elyse's climax washed over her like a gentle wave. Soothing, sweet, and dreamily euphoric.
Alessandro came a moment later, grunting mindlessly into her ear with every throb of his shaft, "Ti amo, ti amo, ti amo, giuro su Dio, ti darò tutto ciò che meriti..."
Elyse had been too far gone to pay any attention to his Italian. In the afterglow, her heart shone with love, though, her mind wracked with worry. Elyse didn't know whether she had married the world's bravest man. Or the stupidest one. Either way, she wanted to keep her husband close, to not let him out of her sight, as though this alone could allow her to shield him from harm. She hated the idea of leaving him behind in Palermo, especially at such an uncertain intersection in their lives.
Afterward, as they lay entangled together in bed, she murmured to Alessandro, "I changed my mind, Alessio. Come with me to New York."
" No ," her husband declined, surprising her with his change of heart.
Elyse's head snapped up in shock. "What?"
Something seemed to catch in his throat, an unfathomable emotion too thick for any language to express, and he averted his gaze as he spoke, "I am sorry, cuore mio , but my mind has changed as well. You were right. I should stay here. Valentina will be marrying Gaspare soon. I cannot leave them unsupervised."
"That's probably wise," Elyse replied with a frown of disappointment. "You should stay. Valentina and Gaspare can't be trusted. I'll come back to you soon as soon as possible."
Alessandro caught her hand and placed a long, lingering kiss in her palm, offering gruffly, "I will have Mr. Schmid arrange the flight for you. You can leave first thing tomorrow morning. Do not keep your father waiting."
"Thank you," Elyse murmured with an aching heart, "I'll miss you when I'm away."
His gaze finally returned to her. His expression looked visibly strained. Instead of saying I will miss you, too , however, Alessandro mumbled, "I will love you forever, Elyse. No matter what you choose to do."
Choose to do— what? Her brow furrowed as she shot him a confused smile. "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing, cuore mio ," he assured her, planting a doting kiss upon her bare shoulder, "get some rest while you can. You will need to start packing tonight."
Her husband was right. There was so much stress and sorrow awaiting her in the days to come. It made Elyse want to curl up and hide from reality. She simply didn't possess the capacity to deal with any of it at the moment.
She yawned wearily. "A nap sounds wonderful right about now."
Elyse chose to push aside her troubles for a short while. She fell asleep in Alessandro's arms. Little did she know, this was the calm before the storm. The sweet before the bitter. Had Elyse known what was waiting for her in New York, she wouldn't have slept so soundly.