Chapter 42
Forty-Two
REGINA
I love Sophia. She is a kind and considerate hostess and reminds me a little of Nico. He must get his warmth from her personality, and he must have taken it all because the rest of the family are seriously emotionally retarded.
Katrina is bored and keeps on scanning her phone, and Desiree spends most of the time scanning my face as she sharpens her monstrous talons on her words.
“Tell me what you do for a living, Regina?” She says loudly as we sit in the music room while Sophia plays the piano. It’s unbelievably rude, and I smile, nodding toward Sophia and mouthing, “I’ll tell you when she has finished playing.”
Desiree sneers as Katrina yawns loudly, crossing and uncrossing her legs and huffing, “I may head back to the others. Vito likes me to be with him.”
Sophia stops playing and says firmly, “The men are talking, Katrina. They will not appreciate the interruption.”
“Boo hoo.” Katrina rolls her eyes. “As if that includes me. Vito is like a puppy dog around me and will only be too pleased if I interrupt their boring conversation.”
Sophia has the patience and manners of a saint as she smiles at Katrina. “Allow me to show you around. You may enjoy a tour, and we can finish off in the kitchen where the chef has some amazing canapés ready for drinks in the library before dinner.”
“Great.” Katrina’s eyes light up, and she jumps up as the door opens and the don himself strides into the room.
Sophia looks at him in surprise, and he turns to me and says in a firm voice, “Meet me in my den in ten minutes, Regina.”
He says nothing else, and as the door slams behind him, I note the shadow crossing Sophia’s usually serene face. Desiree is grinning like the joker and I attempt to quell the sense of impending doom that is threatening my rainbow right now.
I wonder what he wants?
Sophia turns to me, an anxious gleam in her eye, causing me to smile confidently.
“I expect its something to do with Nico and the engagement. It will be fine.”
I stand and she sighs, masking her unease with a soft smile.
As I leave the room, I attempt to stem the nerves that are seriously freaking me out right now. Something is telling me this isn’t to wish me a Merry Christmas, and as I catch sight of the clock nearby, I swallow hard.
I’m not even sure why I’m nervous but I take a detour to Nico’s room, insanity firmly in charge of my reasoning right now and as I slip inside, I waste no time and sliding open the nightstand drawer, I tuck the revolver in the suspenders around my thigh.
As I head toward the den, I wonder if this was such a good idea. I’m not a killer. I’m not even competent with a gun, but I do have a sense of self-preservation to survive this mini break and if I’m about to be murdered by a mafia don, I won’t go down without a fight.
The trouble is, I don’t know the way to his den, and where I thought it was turns out to be a boot room. Another clock on the wall mocks me as I pass, my heart frantically beating as I sense my ten minutes were up about five minutes ago.
This is not good, and why isn’t there a handy-dandy guard lurking on the corner when you need one? Have they gone home for the holidays? Why is nobody around?
I listen for any sound of life, other than the steady drum of the death bell inside my heart as I rush down the corridor, knocking on every door I find.
Finally, I hear voices, and I attempt to still my frantic heart, which is promising to deliver me to an early grave before the don can do it.
I stop outside the door and recognize his low rumble and then the sneering tones of a woman who makes my flesh creep.
“Put the gun down.”
I stop in my tracks.
The deep voice making the command sends shivers down my spine.
“You’re an old fool, Giovanni.”
Desiree’s voice cuts like a blade through the air, and I edge along the wall, wondering what the hell is going on.
“You won’t get away with this.”
“I already have.” She sneers and hisses, “There is only one woman instructed to meet you here, and she will take the blame. So, prepare to die, Giovanni, in a most humiliating way.”
I sense nothing but the rush of blood in my head as I grasp the gun in my hand and peer around the edge of the door to see Desiree pointing a gun at Giovanni’s head from opposite the desk.
As she takes aim, I don’t hesitate and with shaking fingers aim the gun, my finger pressing on the trigger, the sound like a firework going off in my head.
Screams electrify the air, followed by shouting, and as I stumble to my feet, I am thrown against the wall, the gun falling from my imprisoned hand.
I’m pinned against it as Giovanni bellows, “Get Vito.”
I stare into the eyes of one of the guards holding me and then Giovanni heads out of his den, and his face is like thunder as he yells, “Release her.”
Nico moves down the corridor like an approaching storm, closely followed by his brothers and Vito. There is so much noise, but I am in shock and can only stare at the madness unfolding around me.
Desiree is screaming from the den, a crumpled heap on the ground, and Nico stares at the scene in disbelief as chaos erupts around us.
“What happened?”
He addresses his question to his father as he holds out his arms, and I fall into them sobbing in shock.
“She saved my life.”
I’m surprised when Giovanni’s hand rests on my back and before I know it he pulls me from his son into the biggest hug I have ever experienced.
“I don’t understand.”
Nico is shocked, and as Vito rushes to the scene, Giovanni snarls, “Your daughter attempted to murder me, Vito. You know what the penalty is.”
I sense the tension in the room as Vito roars, “Desiree. What the fuck have you done?”
She screams, “Can somebody get me a fucking doctor? That bitch tried to kill me and your father. She’s the one and is not the heroine here. She set me up.”
Thankfully, her attempt to pass the buck buys her little reprieve, and as I stare past Giovanni, my legs shake when I notice the blood dripping onto the polished floor.
She is screaming in agony as one of the guards presses a cloth to the wound, and her eyes flash furiously as she hisses, “She won’t get away with this. ”
“Enough!”
Vito heads across to his daughter and strikes her hard across the face, causing her to cry out, her nose shattering as he punches it hard. I’m frozen to the spot as he grasps her hair, yanking her head back and snarling, “Give me the gun, Giovanni.”
Silence falls as her terrified eyes implore him for forgiveness, and as Giovanni hands Vito the gun she attempted to kill him with, he presses the barrel directly between her eyes and roars, “You traitorous bitch. You’ve been sleeping with the enemy and don’t bother to deny it.”
“The enemy?” I’m astounded when she laughs, her eyes flashing as she faces her father.
“Flavio isn’t the enemy, he’s the future, and you’re the dinosaur who is so prehistoric in his ways it’s embarrassing.”
He pulls back the catch and I yell, “Stop, oh my God, please don’t do this.”
There’s an eerie silence as everyone watches father and daughter, and I really believe I’m about to see Desiree Bendetti murdered by him before my disbelieving eyes.
Then Giovanni’s voice cuts through the tension.
“Call the cops.”
Nico stares at his father in shock as Vito lowers his gun, Desiree more shocked by Giovanni’s words than the fact her father nearly murdered her.
“Cops!”
Nobody moves, and Vito turns to Giovanni in astonishment as he says in a low growl, “I will not be responsible for a man executing his daughter on Christmas Day. Desiree will face prison and all the humiliation that will bring with it.”
“You fucking pussies, all of you.” Desiree’s words are faltering as the pain edges out the adrenaline, and she huffs, “Since when do we involve the cops in family business?”
“We don’t.”
I don’t know who is more surprised when Sophia’s soft voice steals the attention and as she moves beside her husband, she places a comforting hand on his shoulder and stares at Desiree with derision.
“No cops.”
A triumphant smile passes across Desiree’s face which is wiped cleanly away as Sophia says with steel edging her words, “Take her to the warehouse.”
Nobody says a word as she hisses, “She is holding a lot of information that could be useful to us. Torture it out of her if you must. If she dies, it’s no loss, and Vito can cover it up.”
Her voice is like steel as she sweeps the space with a hard gaze and says angrily, “Now clean this mess up. Take Desiree to her new home for the holidays, and no more will be said about this. Drinks and canapés are waiting in the library, the guards can clean up, so please follow me.”
I’m staggered when Nico’s hand finds mine and as we follow Giovanni and Sophia down the corridor, the guards close in on Desiree, who screams after us in rage.
As her cries fade into the background, Nico whispers, “Welcome to the family, Regina.”
He winks, and for some reason it drags a smile from me that really isn’t appropriate now because despite the outcome, I could have murdered Desiree Bendetti back there and on the holiest day of the year.