Chapter 24
MATTEO
She has such an open face. I could just sit there, looking at it while spilling all my secrets. I almost did in that restaurant earlier. Almost told her all about my own curse and how it killed almost everyone I loved.
I can still see her face clearly in my mind’s eye now. The way the yellow candlelight made her skin and her eyes glow a soft gold. I’ll never be able to look at gold and not think of her again.
But I should stop thinking about both.
I’m with Nico in Angelo’s study. The hour is so late that the sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows is pitch black, no moon or stars anywhere.
Plus, we’re in the middle of nowhere. That alone is giving me the creeps.
After a week in a city that really never seems to be totally asleep—I should know because I haven’t been sleeping either—and the darkness turns scary.
Go figure. Especially since NYC is the bigger beast than Angelo and his country mansion in this scenario. Or is it?
It’s not just the three of us here tonight.
Sitting on a wooden chair by one of the windows with his leg stretched out and a crutch balanced on the wall beside him, is the guy who almost stabbed Goldie.
He’s looking at me from below his prominent brows, eyes totally in shadow, but still burning into me with laser hot hatred.
One of the guys with him is also still sporting the bruises I left him with that night, and the third is a younger guy with light blond hair and a look in his eyes that puts me in mind of those Russian czars we briefly studied in school.
I deserve all the hate the three of them are casting my way.
And I hope they won’t do anything about it right now.
I’ve been looking over my shoulder waiting for these guys I beat up to come for me, since I’ve been very easy to find…
stuck right next to the woman they wanted to kill in the first place.
But I’d since convinced myself that the attack on her must’ve been random and she wasn’t in immediate danger anymore.
Clearly, I was wrong. Whatever else happens, I gotta protect her from these assholes.
And just like that, Goldie is front and center in my mind again. This time I can even hear her sweet little laugh. Like wind chimes on the porch of a seaside cabin. Faint, but prettier than anything else.
Fuck me!
If I didn’t have enough reasons to stay far away from her before, she gave me a perfect one now. A curse. One that could kill me all on its own if I get too close to her. No wonder my own has been pushing me in her direction so diligently this whole time.
When Angelo mentioned this curse the first time, I figured it was maybe just a nasty rumor being spread around about her, being in her twenties and still unmarried.
But she believes she’s cursed too, there was no doubt in my mind about that.
And she’s afraid of it. Probably afraid she’s pushed me away by telling me.
The real reason I cut the dinner short was to stop myself from telling her all about my family and my own curse.
The wine was going to my head. Or she was.
Either way, I was losing control thanks to her pretty face, sweet voice and honest, innocent eyes that seemed to be seeing only me.
The study door opens and two more guys walk in.
One of them is Ferro’s manservant, or whatever the guy who opens the door is, and the other a stocky guy with a black five o’clock shadow and a three-piece suit that was the height of fashion back in Capone’s time.
He’s about my age though, and head and shoulders shorter than everyone else in the room.
Wouldn’t know it from the arrogant smirk on his face though.
“This is Alfredo Costa of the Chicago Outfit,” Ferro says glancing at all of us. “And now we can begin.”
I almost blurt out, Finally, but manage not to, instead taking a long sip of the club soda, which the man servant found for me with a lot of grumbling about it after I refused a stronger drink. But it’s more important than ever that I keep a clear head.
“Let’s begin,” Angelo says and motions for us all to gather around him, ash falling like snowflakes off the cigar he’s holding.
The Russians stay where they are, but I move a couple of steps to my left, a little removed from the circle around Angelo and keeping a good line of sight on everyone.
I still don’t quite know what I’m doing here.
Nico has been less than forthcoming, telling me I’ll get all my answers in due time, and I’ve stopped asking him questions.
If I had to guess, I’m probably the designated fall guy if it all goes to shit, so the less I know, the better. In case I’m caught and tortured and such. Not fine by me. But I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. I can take care of myself against these guys too.
For all those reasons, I’m not expecting to learn a lot at this meeting either.
“It is no surprise to anyone here that I am aiming high with my plans,” Angelo says, looking at each of us.
“So to stop your wondering, I will tell you what I’m aiming for now.
” He pauses dramatically, looking at each of us in turn.
The blond Russian rolls his eyes, suggesting he doesn’t appreciate these theatrics.
I’m happy to learn I’m not the only one in the dark about Ferro’s plans.
“I am aiming for the top of the New York mafia,” Angelo announces. “There will be no more Five Families and no more Commission when I’m done.”
A very deep collective silence follows Angelo’s words. My mind is just one long sigh of, Well, shit, and no other thoughts.
That’s a tall order. New York has been run by The Commission made up of the Five Families instead of a single man since the 1930s.
And here’s this guy, wanting to make himself king of kings again-the capo di tutti capi.
Talk about wanting the impossible. And having a death wish, since the whole reason the position was abolished back in the day was due to it being such a huge target on the back of whoever held it.
Someone was always lining up to steal it.
“How?” I ask, calling myself all sorts of stupid in my head the moment the word is out of my mouth.
But that’s just another example of how the curse on my family works. Everyone is glaring at me now, Nico especially. His advice for dealing with Angelo so far has been to keep my head down, speak only when spoken to, and to just do what I’m told.
Angelo turns to me, his dark eyes blazing despite the serene expression on his face.
“I will worry about the how,” he says calmly. “Your job is only the what. As in what you must do to aid me.”
This time I manage not to ask any more stupid questions.
“I suppose you want Chicago to handle just the what too?” Costa says, following it up with a booming laugh that echoes in the silent room. I suppose he’s here because by abolishing The Commission, the position of the capo of the Chicago Outfit will also be left open. Probably for him.
“Parts of my plan are already in motion, parts are pending, and then there is the parts you all will play,” Angelo says.
Great, he’s already acting like an almighty ruler.
I’ve never had a good experience with men who did that.
Dante Moretti was one of those, thinking himself above all others.
But I kind of like Angelo. He’s nothing like Dante and he’s got the type of charisma that can fill a room and despite his blazing eyes still trained on me, I think we could be friends.
“I’m fine with sticking to the what,” I say, ginning at him and maybe the tension between us drops by a few degrees.
“Good,” he says and nods. “Because you’re part of the plan already in motion.”
He turns back to the others. “I’ve called you here today for you to meet each other. So you know who is enemy and who is friend.”
The Russians are looking at me like I will never be their friend. But as long as they stay out of my way, I will stay out of theirs. I suppose I have Angelo to thank for them not coming after me.
“What’s the timeline for all this?” Costa asks.
“The next few weeks,” Angelo says. “We’re close now. Very close.”
“And what will we be doing?” the regal looking Russian asks.
I think he’s trying to sneer, but his accent is messing him up.
“You will help me cut down the Codelli family,” he says. “Each of you has a grievance with them, which is why you’re here. And I now have two men on the inside with them. And the second is the one who will deliver them to us on a silver platter.”
He walks in my direction and I step out of his way, thinking he means to pass me. Instead, he wraps his arm around my shoulders. “This is Matteo Rovina of LA. And the newest member of the Codelli family personal security team.”
Nico and the Russians already knew this, but Costa barks another of his booming laughs and claps his hands to boot. “You sly dog. I didn’t know you had someone so close to the family. That should make our job much easier.”
Angelo keeps his arm around my shoulders as he nods. “It will. So be ready to move, because all the pieces are almost in place.”
He releases me and I kind of miss the weight of his arm holding me down.
But it’s already been replaced by the weight of responsibility.
Half the guys in this room already want me dead from before.
If I fuck this up, the rest will too. Every move I make seems to be plunging me deeper into a hole I’m digging for myself here.
But there’s no backing out anymore.