Chapter 36 Contessa #2
Fed picks up on Benito’s waning restraint and goads him further. “Your Achilles heel, right? La Trattoria?”
Benito’s gaze flicks to mine then narrows on Federico.
“No—” I push myself away from Fed, breathless. “No-no-no-no. Please say you’re lying, Federico.”
Fed drops his gaze to mine. His mouth quirks lazily in one corner. “Why would I lie about it, Tess? I told you in my letter that was my plan.”
“Not La Trattoria,” I whisper.
“What else?” He frowns. “What else would be his Achilles Heel, Tess?”
My heart jumps into my throat, then a thought occurs to me. “Benito’s house… Was it you who burned it down?”
“No.” He wipes a hand across his mouth. “But kudos to whoever did.”
I’m about to plead with him to stop being so damned cocky when Benito lunges at him from across the room.
I’m knocked to the side, my head cracking against the wall.
I slide in my dusky pink dress to the floor in a daze.
In my blurred vision, I’m aware of Benito bending over Fed, pummeling the life out of him.
I bend my knees and anchor my tall heels against the floor but I can’t find purchase.
They simply slide away from me. “No, Benito, please,” I beg. “Stop.”
Fed’s gun clatters to the floor and I push my torso away from the wall to kick it completely out of reach. The fewer firearms available to them right now, the better.
The door bangs open and Nicolò appears with Augie right on his tail. “What the fuck?” Nicolò says, shaking his head as he walks into the room.
“Wondered where you’d got to,” Augie says, as though Benito isn’t holding a guy by his throat with a gun pointing between his eyes. “The rehearsal’s about to start. You wanna finish up?”
“There’s a call for you.” Nicolò puts his cell on speaker and holds it a few feet from where Benito has Federico pinned against the wall.
“Enzo?” Benito says, like he already knows the answer. Then I remember Benito doing something with his phone almost the second he saw Federico.
Fed struggles at the sound of his father’s name.
“Benito,” Enzo says at the other end. “It’s been a long time.”
“Yes it has, but I’m not interested in pleasantries. Know where your son is?”
Federico tries to speak but Benito head butts him in the face, putting a stop to any words coming out of his mouth. I wince at the crunch of forehead on teeth. Blood streams from Federico’s mouth but Benito seems unharmed. Unaffected.
“Not right now,” Enzo replies. “He’s a grown man—”
“Who deserves to know the truth, don’t you think?” Benito replies in an ice-cold tone.
There’s a beat of silence before Enzo replies. “Is he there?”
Federico mumbles through a split lip.
“Fed? Are you there with Benito?”
Benito flings him a warning glare. “Yes he is. Came at me with a gun. Burned down my restaurant, so he says. Revenge, apparently, for me shutting down your business and sending you all away.”
“Oh God.” A resigned moan surfaces through Nicolò’s cell into the room.
“It’s time to tell him the truth, Enzo.”
Federico’s gaze flits between me and Benito and the same feeling I had when we parted ways comes back to me in a breathless rush.
Right this second, it’s crystal clear. I never loved Federico.
I liked him, of course—he was my best friend.
But the feeling that has confused me ever since, that I haven’t been able to put into words until now, is pity. Not love—pity.
Federico has just done what Federico always did—barreled headlong into a situation before taking the time to really figure out why.
He’s still the same, rash, hasty and naive Federico I knew from school.
And it doesn’t matter how earnest his declarations are, or how convincing his words, my feelings about him haven’t changed.
“Benito didn’t ruin us, Federico,” Enzo says quietly. “It was all my fault.”
Fed tries to speak but his injured mouth prevents it.
“Go on,” Benito says, urging Enzo to continue.
“I was gambling and got into a lot of debt. I did my best to pay my debtors, but I simply couldn’t kick the habit. The more I paid off, the more I gambled. I’m sick, Federico. It’s a disease. I couldn’t stop gambling and in the end I had to sell off most of our assets. The Di Santo’s…”
Benito coughs loudly.
“Benito…” Enzo corrected, “told me to leave and take the family far away. The business couldn’t be saved. I let the Di Santo’s down and I owe Benito my life.”
Fed’s stare falters and his grip on Benito’s arms loosens. He’s just become aware he’s unknowingly walked right back into the hornet’s nest. Benito lets go of Fed’s throat but keeps the gun pointed at his head.
“Papa—” Blood spits from Fed’s lips when he says that one word, and his eyes fill with tears.
“Tell him about Mario,” Benito barks.
A sigh can be heard down the line and Federico glances to the side, his gaze resting on Augie. “Your uncle took liberties, Federico. I couldn’t control him. He hadn’t worked for the family business for six months and in the end he only cared about his cars and his mistresses…”
Fed’s eyes widen, letting a tear fall to the floor.
“He knew the Di Santo’s were paying me a visit and he panicked. All he could think about was losing the life he’d built up on the money we skimmed from the Di Santo’s.”
Federico deflates against the wall and Benito removes the gun and takes a step backward.
“I should have told you the truth, but honestly, I feel so ashamed. I didn’t want you to think badly of your papa, Federico. I didn’t want you to hate me for taking you away from your life, your friends…”
I lower my gaze to the floor. Seeing Federico crumble under the truth is too painful to watch. I only look up when Augie slips a hand under my arm and helps me to my feet.
“Come home, Federico, please,” his father begs.
“He will,” Benito says, sternly. “My men will escort him until the flight is off the ground.”
“Thank you Benito. I truly am sorry.”
Nicolò snaps the phone closed, terminating the conversation. “And we truly have to go,” he says to Benito. I’m pretty certain Cristiano’s closest cousin is the only person Benito allows to speak to him in that way.
“Um—” Federico tries to speak. Augie steps forward and offers him a handkerchief. Fed takes it and mops up his mouth as best he can. Several of us avert our eyes. “I, um… I’m sorry about the restaurant.”
Benito glances at Nicolò who shakes his head.
“We haven’t had reports of it being burned down,” Benito says with an arched brow.
Federico swallows. “But, Andreas said—”
“Who’s Andreas?” Augie snaps.
“The guy who said he works with the Marchesi’s. He said he would organize it.” Federico blinks at Benito as though he’s expecting another head butt.
“It won’t happen,” Nicolò says, inspecting his nails. “The place is locked down.”
“I… I didn’t burn down your house,” Fed rushes out.
Benito stares at him with the scariest of poker faces. In this moment I understand why he has such a lethal reputation. It’s impossible to know what he’s thinking or planning, until it’s done.
“I-I promise, Benito. I didn’t go anywhere near your house. I promise.”
Still Benito stares, not saying a word. The atmosphere in the room recedes to nothing but cold heartbeats and frigid truths.
“Please believe me,” Fed begs. I can see the panic in his eyes, the acceptance of certain death. “I didn’t burn down your house.”
Benito doesn’t blink. “I know you didn’t.” The room falls eerily quiet. “I did.”
I dart my gaze to Benito. Augie swings round. Fed lets out an audible breath of relief and Nicolò looks up from his fingernails.
“What?” Augie says with a frown.
“I burned down my house.”
Nicolò rolls his eyes. “Now, why would you do that? It’s not like you need an insurance payout when we run the damn insurance companies anyway.”
“You’re right,” Benito says, calmly. “That’s not why I did it.”
His gaze pans softly to mine and I suddenly know. My heart stops beating and the room sways.
With eyes locked on mine, he enlightens us all. “I did it for her.”
There’s complete silence while Augie, Nicolò and Fed look from Benito to me and back to Benito again, rightly wondering if this is a joke.
“I did it so I’d have a viable reason to move into the apartment above your studio,” he says, thinning my breath.
“You didn’t need to burn down your ho—” Nicolò starts, but Benito lifts a hand that stops him instantly.
“Come on,” Augie says, putting a hand on Nicolò’s elbow. “Let’s give them a minute.”
“Only a minute,” Nicolò replies. “Cristiano will slice my dick in two if I don’t get them into the function room, stat.”
“They won’t be long,” Augie assures him.
“What about this one?” Nicolò jerks his head toward Federico.
“He’s coming with us,” Augie says before whipping out a pair of handcuffs and attaching them to Federico’s wrists. “Just in case,” he winks.
Nicolò looks horrified. “What? You just carry those around? What sort of sick shit do you get up to in your spare time?”
Augie slides past him and through the door, pulling Fed behind him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
A flush crawls up my throat and I don’t know if it’s caused by the sight of a pair of handcuffs, Benito’s declaration, or the fact I’m suddenly alone in a room with him. I back up into a wall and grip my purse nervously. My gaze flits around, unable to focus on him.
I expect him to walk towards me and tower over me like he usually does, turning me on through sheer intimidation, but he doesn’t move. I flick a timid glance his way and notice the lines etched into his brow.
“I’m sorry,” he says, quietly.
The intensity of his gaze burns my skin so I escape it by looking down at the floor. “For what?” My mind has gone blank so I’m honestly at a loss as to what he’s apologizing for.
“For not believing you.”
Oh, that.
“Why didn’t you?” I look up before I can stop myself and am immediately caught by his bronze eyes reaching into me like tendrils.
He leans back against the table and releases a controlled breath.
“You remember when I told you I raised myself?”