Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Alejandro
To say I’m uneasy about this call puts it mildly.
I’d rather have a prostate exam while getting a root canal.
But we hang up with Tío Enrique, and Vita takes the burner I offer her.
My cousins and I cluster together as it rings on speakerphone.
Pablo’s going to interpret for us since he’s the only one who speaks fluent Italian.
The rest of us have a smattering, most of it consisting of profanity.
“Who is this?”
That much I understand. Piero certainly doesn’t trust calls from unknown numbers. I can’t blame him. When they come in, we always know there’s a possibility it’s legit, so we tend not to turn them down. However, most of us like surprises as much as a hole in the head.
“Don Piero, it’s Vittoria.”
In the background, I hear a man shout Vita’s name. It’s most certainly her father.
“Toria, where are you? What’s happening? Who are you with? Are you safe?”
Pablo rapidly interprets the barrage of questions. Vita remains calm as she explains she’s with me and we’re safe. She offers nothing more. Instead, she asks her own questions.
“Papà, what was going on with Zia Cosima? What did she have against me?”
“That psychopath was lucky she was burned alive in that fire. Otherwise, I would’ve flown there and tortured her to her last breath.”
“But Papà, why was she involved? And why take us to Yonkers? It seems so unusual.”
“We don’t know that yet. But I suspect I know some of why she got involved.”
There’s a pause, and I keep expecting Piero to pipe in.
However, he remains silent. Just like Tía Elle is a mother and wouldn’t protect Tío Enrique against my mamá’s fury, Piero’s also a father, so he’s not interrupting his consigliere.
The concern in Vita’s father’s voice reminds me of Papá.
I’m glad to hear how protective the man is of his daughter, despite her job.
“Papà, Enrique spoke to Don Salvatore. From what I can tell, it may not be Cosa Nostra. Can you promise me it isn’t?”
The silence stretches before Piero chimes in.
“Before you became a target, I thought it might be the Torettas. But I ruled them out the moment we knew you were a target. However, I can’t say with certainty that it’s not them.
I’ll speak to Don Alberto as soon as this call ends.
We’ve been allies since his nephew and I were both underbosses.
I want to believe he’d tell me the truth, given it means putting me in a position to choose them over my consigliere.
Vittoria, there’s no guarantee he will. I can’t be sure I’d believe what he’d say, but I’ll try.
I’ll put extra surveillance on the Camorra and the ’Ndrangheta. ”
I wait for either man to offer another solution. To even negotiate with my family or me for Vita’s sake. But the line goes quiet. My gaze meets Vita’s, and she shrugs. We have nothing more to offer. And if they do, they’re unwilling, so the call ends there.
“I’ll call Friedrich and see what he knows.”
“Who?”
Apparently, my dossier didn’t extend to my cousin’s soon-to-be in-laws.
It’s obvious Vita doesn’t recognize Jorge’s fiancée’s brother-in-law.
It came out during threats on Anneliese’s family that her sister’s then-boyfriend, now-husband, was a Camorra member.
The man did what he could to leave syndicate life behind.
However, there’s never really a way to get out completely.
When Jorge’s soon-to-be father-in-law was held hostage, it forced Friedrich to get involved all over again.
His family offered Anneliese’s protection in his hometown of Essen in Germany.
As far as I last heard, he hadn’t returned to an active status with them as a Made Man.
However, it’s not impossible that he has.
At the very least, he might be aware of what’s happening in this proxy war, or he can gain that information.
While Jorge speaks fluent German, the call’s in English, which is good since nobody could interpret for the rest of us.
“Jorge, is everyone all right?”
“No, Friedrich, and I believe you know that already. We’re getting sucked into your family’s business again.”
There’s a pause before Friedrich responds. I’m certain he’s weighing his options.
“Really?”
“Yes. Whatever’s still going on with your war against the Cosa Nostra and Mala del Brenta, the ’Ndrangheta targeted my cousin and his girlfriend. I need to know what’s going on.”
“Which cousin?”
“Alejandro.”
“And the man has a girlfriend?”
There’s mocking skepticism in his voice. Does he believe I’m incapable of having a relationship? Does he doubt it would be with a woman?
“Yes. They’re a lot like Liesel and me.”
Friends and family call Jorge’s wife Anne. Only he calls her Liesel. It’s definitely a family thing for us. We all find unique nicknames for the women we love. Papá calls Mamá Caty. No one else would ever dare. Sometimes she goes by Lina, but seldomly these days.
“So, you mean he’s basically engaged?”
Jorge smirks at me. I shoot him a defiant glower, warning him of retribution if he embarrasses me in front of Vita.
“You could say that.” Jorge’s attention returns to the call.
“I can understand then why your cousin would be particularly sensitive to any threat toward this woman.”
“And you can imagine why I’m so protective of my cousin-to-be. So, I’d like to know why your side targeted my cousin and are now after Vittoria.”
“Vittoria who?”
“Vittoria Trevisan. What did Alejandro do to get on your side’s radar that they’d put a hit on him?”
“What makes you think anyone in the Camorra or ’Ndrangheta are after Alejandro?”
“We have it on good authority that it’s not the Cosa Nostra or Mala del Brenta.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s anyone in Italy. Your cousin’s pissed off people all around the world. They could be a homegrown enemy for all you know.”
Breathe.
Let Jorge handle this hijueputa.
“And you know how politics work in New York. No lesser branch will act against their New York leader.”
“Someone might have taken it upon themselves. Perhaps you should search your own backyard.”
“Perhaps you could be a little less evasive if you aren’t hiding something.”
I wish I could punch the guy. I just want a solid explanation to prove if his side’s involved.
Holding Vita’s hand grounds me, keeping me from getting up and pacing.
It’s not something I usually do, but I’m also unaccustomed to being this ball of nervous energy.
It’s unsettling to feel out of control like this.
Vita senses it because she wraps her free hand around my forearm and gives it a squeeze.
“Friedrich, you’re making me think you’re up to your eyeballs. If you or your people are striking out against my family, we won’t accept that silently. Would you want Liesel or Heidi to know?”
“You wouldn’t dare bring this up to either of them.”
“Liesel knows something’s going on with Alejandro and Vittoria.
She knows someone injured Alejandro. She already has questions.
It would be a shame if I let it slip, wouldn’t it?
How quickly do you think she can call Heidi once she finds out?
And how fast do you think Heidi will find you when she does? ”
“This is bullshit, Jorge, and you know it. You do everything you can to keep Anneliese out of Cartel business.”
“And I will continue to. But I also won’t lie to her if her family on one side is targeting her family on the other.”
“You’d really destroy her relationship with her sister since Anneliese will pick your family, and Heidi will pick mine?”
“Are you so sure about that? Heidi’s met Alejandro before. It’s not like he’s some faceless stranger to her. She knows Alejandro helped save your father-in-law’s life and Liesel’s. At the very least, this will make things very chilly between you and your wife. That’s the last thing you need.”
There’s a moment of silence on Friedrich’s end. Then the sound of a door shutting before a car starts, and the call switches to Bluetooth.
“Look, you know I can’t tell you everything. You know where my loyalty must lie. But the last thing I want to do is hurt my wife. If something happened to Alejandro, it would upset her.”
“It would upset Liesel even more.”
“And that would also upset my wife. Heidi and I just found out something she planned to tell Anne today. They might even be on the phone together now. We swore not to tell anybody outside our immediate family. If this gets out, I’ll know it was you or your cousins.
All of you, right now, need to swear to this secret to protect Heidi. ”
My cousins and I exchange glances before we speak together.
“I will.”
If it’s a promise we can keep, we will. But if it’s one we can’t, then all of us will mitigate as much damage as we can. But we’ll always put our family first. It’s why we rarely swear promises unless we know what it is first.
“Heidi’s pregnant, and it’s extremely high-risk. She’s on bed rest for the foreseeable future, which could mean the entire pregnancy. She’s only eight weeks.”
“Is there anything we can do to help? My wife’s a midwife.”
“And my mother’s a midwife too.”
Javier offers Madeline’s help just as Pablo offers his mom’s.
Friedrich might not be my favorite person right now, but we all have a shred of decency for the women.
We know wrong from right, even when we choose to ignore it.
But the decent thing to do is offer help even if we’re a continent apart.
None of us believes Heidi will accept the offer if for no other reason than logistics. It’s still the right thing to do.
“I won’t say anything to Liesel, so she’ll have nothing to tell Heidi. But that’s on the condition you help us.”
Jorge’s tone is almost—almost—conciliatory. He’ll give an inch while taking the mile, and Friedrich won’t know what’s happening until it’s all done.