Chapter 20
“They are busy,” Vittoria announces as she slips out of the study, then intentionally leaves the door slightly open.
“We should let them be,” I announce even louder, then press my ear to the small opening to do what we had set out to do when we returned to the study.
She hurtles to stand behind me and stretches on her heels to get her ear close to the door.
We both wait.
Nina is on board.
It was a little too easy to get her to agree to meet with us. And it was not in the something is fishy kind of easy way. It was more like I will do whatever it takes to get Salvatore off my back kind of easy.
Our plan is pretty simple. Even though Nina said we should come alone, Vittoria planned to have Marcus, one of my father’s men, drive behind us but out of sight. She didn’t tell him our plans, and she didn’t have to.
“You think that will work?” My father’s voice echoes, and I flip a stare at Vittoria.
“It should work,” Fabio answers.
Their voices are a little muffledbut we canstill hear what they are talking about. To determine how long we will need to carry out our plans, we want to know how long whatever they are up to will take.
It”s been a few hours since we called Nina. Vittoria changed into a red leather coat, and I”m dressed in same-colored boots, a black crop top,and loose denim pants.
“But what will we offer him?” My father chirps. “We have to make the deal robust, something he would consider enticing.”
“I think from here to here…” Fabio starts naming the places, but they don”t make any sense to me. I close one eye and peek through the opening to see my father smoking his cigar behind the desk and Fabiorubbing his hand over a map.
“They want to give Salvatore some of your father’s territories,” Vittoria whispers. “I know those places and they are good places for the business.”
“We can’t give him that,” my father chimes. “But…” he groans, frustrated as he is unable to come up with something quickly, and I see the stress line on his forehead. “She is his bloody sister, for fuck’s sake,” he smacks the desk. “I swear to the fucking saints, if he wasn’t my son I would have killed the…”
“But he is your son, and this is what we have to do for everyone to go home safe and happy,” Fabio interjects. “Trust me, if he wasn’t your son, this would have been a different ball game,” he drags his finger on the map. “He is fucking lucky,” he grits.
I peel myself away from the door and lean my back on the wall. “This is not good,” I highlight the fucked-up situation I have put everyone in.
“It’s good for us,” Vittoria clasps her hand around my wrist. “We need to get out of here,” she brings her voice down below a whisper. “Your father and Fabio will need more time to deliberate on the territories they intend to hand over to your lunatic brother, which means we have time to do what we have to do,” she hooks her clutch purse under her arm carelessly, as if it doesn’t have a weapon in it.
I twist my hand until we are hooking our fingers, and then we walk side by side down the stairs.
When it matters most, Vittoria is the kind of friend to walk into the fire with you. I smile at her.
“Thank you,” I mouth.
“Oh, please,” she tsks. “You would do the same for me,” she nudges with her shoulder. “And I like the action, things were getting boring around here,” she giggles softly.
“Vittoria, this is not something to like,” I chide her.
You can take the girl out of the fire, but can you take the fire out of the girl? She used to be at the forefront, leading people to start wars for her father or simply going about making trouble.
My father marrying her didn’t take that part of her out. She is still Vittoria Mancuso. She is still as crazy as she came. As trigger-happy as I had been told when she had newly arrived.
But in all of that… I stare at her, wanting to say she has the best heart, but I can’t lie. It’s safe to say she is evil.
“What?” She snits her brows at me.
“You are evil,” I push the door open.
“That’s not news,” she struts out. “People need to be met with the same energy they give. If this were a case of charity, you would be the girl, but this…” she puffs. “I miss this, I love this,” she sighs, smiling.
I nod and smile back.
“Let’s get you baptized.” She tilts her head toward the garage where allthe rarely used cars are. That way, if my father and Fabio come out and need to go somewhere, they won”t notice that a car is missing and will think Vittoria and I are in the studio or my room.
It was Vittoria’s idea. She is the evil genius.
She has a lot of ideas. The gun in my sling bag is her idea. The place we will be meeting, too. It’s an abandoned eatery that she said is in the territory of the Teso Clan.
“I’ll do the talking,” I stab my index finger at her as we get to a black sedan car. “And you try not to make this about the both of you.”
“I don’t want to talk to her,” she says, opening the driver’s seat. “I want to beat her. Or maybe kill her,” she mumbles as she settles into the car.
“I heard that,” I climb into the passenger seat and fasten my seatbelt.
She shrugs. “I know you did,” she turns on the car, “Nina knows I want to kill her, and maybe today is not the day I actually do it, but it’s only a matter of time,” she steers us out of the garage.
Good Lord.
“Where is the witch?” Vittoria parks by the abandoned mall. The property is large, with red and yellow serving as its primary colors. The signageis covered with cobwebs and includes a shrimp dressed like a chef.
“What happened to this property?” I unclasp my seatbelt and step out of the car after Vittoria.
“Focus, Eva,” she rolls her eyes at me. “We have your stepson to save,” she winks at me.
“I don’t know about that anymore,” I drop my eyes and inhale. I will understand if Fabio doesn’t want me. Prior to this, his reasons were flimsy and annoying, but now, I am not sure I would want myself either.
“The drama never ends with the both of you, does it?” She huffs dramatically. “I am bored,” she tuts. “Have sex with him already, and let’s see if you still have this back and forth,” she spins to leave, observing Marcus’ car in the far distance but then she halts, her eyes flying open.
“Why are we parked at the side instead of the front?” I ask, silently hoping she won’t ask what I’m sensing she’s about to.
Her lips curve into a sly smile. “You fucked! And you didn’t tell me?” She circles the car to me. “You suffocate me with the drama and keep these juicy details from me?” She puts her hands on her hips and snits her eyes at me.
“It was nothing…” I stutter, “Sex is…” I shrug, “Not a big deal, right?”
“It was your first time, Eva. It sounds like a big deal to me,” she pouts. How could you not tell me?”
“With the pregnancy and all, I thought… “I gulp. I should have told her instead of Gloria. She is a better listener anyway, and she keeps my secrets safe.
“Pregnancy?” She closes the inch of space between us and places her hands on my shoulders.
“You have a lot to do, and I wanted to figure this out myself,” I swallow.
“You are my friend, and I might not be stepmom material, but I am your friend, and I would never not have time for you,” she wraps her arms around me, shoving me into a hug. “We will talk extensively about this when we get home,” she drags her hand up and down my back to comfort me.
I nod.
“Cute.” A familiar accented voice spurts beside us, and we let go of each other. Vittoria clutches her purse and takes a wide-leg posture. Nina, in a simple white flay dress, has dark hair flowing over her shoulders and a baby bump.
“The Russian bitch,” Vittoria dishes back, and then her face falls when she sees someone stepping out of the corner in black jeans, a black T-shirt, black boots, and sunshades.
His features are flawless, his height overpowering, and there”ssomething ominous about him.
“You were supposed to come alone,” Vittoria glowers at Nina.
“That is not fair, two to one,” she shrugs. “This is Lev, by the way.” She smiles at him, a strange smile that I have never seen on Nina. He tips his head but says nothing to us.
We chew on it, although I know having him as her tag-along would have tilted the scales if we hadn’t come out with Marcus. But we have backup, and I doubt Nina wants any trouble.
“Shall we begin?” Nina points to a corner.
“You don’t call the shots,” Vittoria folds her arms across her chest.
“I know you hate me…”
“You think?” Vittoria cuts her, “What for? That time you were fucking my fiancé,” she grinds her teeth. “Or that time you watched him beat me?” She says, taking a step closer to Nina. “How about I return some of the punches he gave me?” She balls her fists, and I quickly get in the middle.
“I did you a favor. If anything, you owe me one,” Nina slurs behind me. “You really wanted to marry him?”
“That’s not the point,” Vittoria claps back.
“No other point is important right now,” Nina retorts annoyingly.
“Enough with it already,” I clip and step out my voice sounding strangely tight to my ears. “A boy’s life is at stake, and I don’t have time to waste over a man that you both know isn’t worth the heat.”
“She doesn’t know that,” Vittoria drops her eyes to Nina’s bump. “She has his child, and they will live happily ever after,” she mocks. “You must love it, Nina, after all, you fought for it.”
“I want Salvatore out of my life for good as much as the both of you,” Nina snaps, her eyes drifting to Lev behind her and then back to us. “Can we get it going so that happens fast enough?”
So eager.
“I want to know what life without Salvatore will feel like, and I would do anything to make it happen,” Nina continues, and I don’t miss how aware she is of Lev’s presence behind her.
“Sounds like we are on the same page,” Vittoria opens her clutch and brings out the burner phone. “Let’s get this party started, then.”
Nina takes the phone, drags in a deep breath, and steps away from us, but not without sending a soft smile in Lev’s direction.
Our plan is for her to call the cops with the burner phone and give them all the information they will need to put Salvatore in prison for the rest of his life.
I keep staring at her and see how, occasionally, she looks over her shoulder at Lev, like she is doing this for him.
She takes her time, and then she is done.
“Thank you,” she turns in our direction and struts to us in her flats with a happy smile. “Salvatore won’t know what hit him,” she smiles some more. “It’s over,” she puffs, her shoulders relaxing. “It’s over,” she turns to Lev and reaches out to take his hand, squeezing gently. He nods, smiling at her.
“We wait,” Vittoria stalks to our car and leans against it. “For now, we wait.”
“He can’t escape this time, and I hope they get my cousin, too,” she lets go of Lev’s hand. “The one he wanted you to marry,” she gives me a sorry face. “You know him as Paul, but his name is really Kir.”
“What?” I cough out, the information sucking the air out of my lungs. I knew something was off about him, he looked familiar… and then his accent.
“I gave enough information to implicate him, too,” Nina breathes. “I want this all to be over,” another darting of her eyes to Lev.
“Good riddance, then,” I shrug.
“That’s the spirit,” Vittoria hails.