Eight
PACE
CATANIA, SICILY
“Are you sure about this?” Domino asks me for the third time since we arrived.
“It’s a lifetime commitment.” Natale grins.
Stopping to stare at the two, who are both years younger than me, I glare at my brother. “He’s happy for me, what’s your deal?” I never thought Dom would be against the idea of me settling down.
“Girls are fucking crazy, man,” he retorts. Nat and I share a look before laughing.
“No, Nicola is crazy. Posy is perfection,” Natale comments and continues to walk ahead of us while laughing.
“What’s going on?” I ask, stopping Domino from following Natale, with a hand on his arm.
Sighing, he stares up at the sky with his hands on his hips. “Nicola is a fucking handful. The girl is determined to drive me insane.” I remain silent; he knew this when he met her. “She wants more kids. She wants to travel. She wants…”
“What?” I ask when he pauses for too long.
“She wants to help Papa.” Ah, the family business.
“You’re afraid she’ll get hurt.” Since meeting Nicola, our Papa has dedicated a lot of time to finding lost children.
“I’m afraid she’ll terrorize the country and get herself locked up again.
” Dom finally looks at me, and I see the stark fear in his eyes as he confesses, “She won’t last in prison again.
” Despite her previous incarceration taking place in a juvenile center, she went through hell. I understand his concern.
“Compromise with her.” He gives me a look that says that’s not possible with his woman. “Tell her, for every child she saves, she has to give you one. No searching while pregnant.”
“She’s the one who wants the kids. She’d only be getting what she wants.”
I laugh at him. “No, Dom. You want her knocked up just as much. Besides, you know Papa would never allow anything to happen to her. And who says you can’t be there with her? Mama would kill to have those babies around more often.”
“So she can spoil them even more?” Shaking his head, Dom looks at me. “If marrying Isabel is what you really want, you know I’ll support you.”
“I know.” Seeing Natale waiting at the building where Father Cassio is being held, I nod towards him. “I think he’s impatient.”
“Posy and Gia have tamed him in ways I never thought I’d see.”
Chuckling, we head over. “He’s a hard one to crack,” I tell Natale. I wasn’t pleased I had to cause so much damage to the asshole simply to discover where his men were hiding Isabel.
“Those are the best ones.” Natale’s sadistic grin promises worse than I have yet to deliver to the religious man. “Father Cassio!” his voice booms as we enter and close the door.
“Santi’s going to be pissed he missed this,” Dom mutters next to me.
“Bria and Bella Marino, where are they?”
Maso and Donato have spent the last day searching and finding half a dozen children from the files so far, but these twins that Isabel mentioned haven’t been identified yet. And what’s worse is there is no information on who bought them. Which makes me wonder if they weren’t killed instead of sold.
“I don’t–” Natale cuts him off with a whip across his chest. His scream echoes around the room, but with the soundproof walls, nobody else will hear him.
“Don’t act stupid, Father. We know you orchestrated every kidnapping, every sale, and everything in between.
We have people looking for each child that ever came into your care.
You won’t know relief until we have the answers we’re looking for. ”
“I don’t know,” he hisses, drool dripping from his mouth to mix with his piss on the ground.
“Father.” I kneel in front of him, a pair of clippers in my hand again. “Do you remember last time?” He whimpers as his gaze lands on the tool I hold. “Think about it; tell us where the girls are.”
“I need a minute.” His breathing grows heavy as he leans his head back to recall.
“It was so long ago.” The answer further ignites the “kid” killer’s rage as he draws the whip across Cassio’s thighs three times in quick succession.
“Okay, okay. There was a set of brothers from Malta. They wanted to keep everything off the books. They each took a girl. I don’t know where exactly, other than they were last located in Malta. ”
Domino leaves to call our brothers. They’ve been in Rome searching for the girls, but clearly, they’re on the wrong path. “Who else is involved in this, Cassio? What other churches are stealing and selling young girls?” I know there must be more. There always is.
“There are six more churches. Hundreds of children.” Staring into his eyes, I search for the truth, and for once, I believe the man. He gives a list of parishes involved and the names of every person helping from each.
“I’ll call Santi. Everyone should be here.” Walking out, I contact my brother, leaving Natale with the priest. I have no doubt the kid will finish the man off. A death he’s earned.
“Yeah?” Santi answers on the first ring.
“Time to come to Catania. We’ve got work to do.”
“We’ll be there tonight.”
Isabel
“What about this one?” Pace’s mama, Evalina, holds up another dress for me to see. She, Posy, Nicola, and I have been at this wedding boutique for a few hours now. They’ve shown me multiple dresses, but nothing feels right. “Nope, I can see from your face this isn’t for you.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be difficult.”
“Don’t be sorry.” Nicola sits next to me as Posy sifts through the rows of dresses. She’s incredibly quiet—reminds me of Daia in some ways—but she’s been so kind to me. “We’ve all been through this. Besides, you’re allowed to be picky on your special day.”
“I’ve got it,” Posy declares, pulling out a cream-colored dress with white lace flowers sewn into the skirt. The sleeves go from shoulder to wrist, and the bodice dips to the waist.
“Oh my,” Evalina gasps.
“Yup, that’s the one!” Nicola stands and brushes her fingers across the flowers.
“Well?” Posy looks to me in question. I remain speechless as I stand.
Tears fill my eyes, and I know she’s right because I can imagine the look on Pace’s face as he sees me in this.
“And look at these.” She turns the dress to reveal the pearl buttons that begin at the tailbone and travel halfway up the back.
“It’s perfect.” I’m in awe. It’s more than I ever dreamed of.
Trying it on, I feel everything I’ve hoped for. Love, acceptance, anticipation. This day isn’t just the start of our relationship but the beginning of my new life. And as much as I’d have loved to share that with my biological family, I’m happy to celebrate with the new one I’ve gained as well.
“These shoes.” Nicola holds up a pair of white Grecian-style sandals with a tie that will twine all the way up my leg. “What if there was a slit in the dress, at the side, that travelled to her hip,” she muses, and I don’t hate the idea.
“We can do that.” The tailor nods.
“Today?” Posy inquires.
“Oh well, I don’t know about that.” She twists her lips from side to side.
“Money is no object. They’re marrying tonight. You can do it, or I will.” Evalina crosses her arms. “I’d just prefer helping my new daughter get ready for her special night.”
The boutique owner approaches. “Yes, of course. Since it fits perfectly already, we’ll work on that and have it ready in about two hours?”
Evalina grins. “That would be wonderful.”
After checking the measurements, they make a promise to have the dress ready for when Evalina and Nicola come back to pick it up. I feel fantastic but a little lost, and when I’m asked by Posy, “What’s on your mind?” I know it’s reflected on my face.
“I’ve observed a lot of weddings at the church.
Helped set up for so many. The people are always so happy, so filled with love…
and family.” I hate myself for being sad that I won’t have mine there.
I haven’t asked Pace to look for my mother.
I suppose I assumed that he would because he’s doing so much to find the other children and their families.
It’s foolish and far more selfish than I should be.
“You know we’re your family now, right?” I nod. They’ve made that quite clear since our arrival yesterday morning. “But you want your own blood as well.” I nod again, guilt swamping me.
“I know I should be ecstatic to be free. To have everything Pace is giving me. But there’s a part of me, a small part, that wants something of my own too.” Slipping her hand into mine as we leave the store, Posy smiles up at me.
“There is nothing wrong with that. It’s not selfish, and it’s not guilt you should feel.
” The surprised look must give me away again.
“Your heart is on your sleeve, Isabel. Everything you feel is in your eyes. That’s not a bad thing, especially for a man like Pace; he’ll need those clues.
Ask him to find her. I bet he already knows, and he’s just waiting for a sign from you. ”
“She’s right.” Nicola wraps her arms around both of us.
“Pace is a quiet man, extremely thoughtful and vigilant. He won’t do anything until you ask him to, but he’s probably got the information already.
He prides himself on being ready for anything at any time.
” Her eyes focus on the distance, and as I turn to look, I already know he’s standing there.
I can feel his stare on me. “Go ask him.”
They both give me a subtle push as Domino and Natale, holding baby Gia, come over to their wives. “Hi.” Pace’s hands immediately encircle my waist and pull me into his strong frame.
“Will you find my mother?” I blurt the question because, otherwise, I might chicken out.
A look enters his eyes—dread—and I know he’s already found her.
“You already know.” His lips thin as he nods.
“She didn’t want me.” Piercing pain stabs me in the chest. I believed I had already accepted that was likely the case. I was so wrong.
“Your birth mother was a drug addict. She sold you to another woman, from whom the church stole you.” I feel sick. “After a couple of years, that woman stopped trying to get you back and accepted that she was never meant to have you. She’s moved on and no longer wishes to learn about you.”
Burying my face in his chest, he holds me tight.
“I’m sorry, dolce. They don’t deserve you.
” I can only nod because I had foolishly hoped that it was only a matter of me asking about it, and he was just waiting on me.
Turns out, he wanted to spare my feelings.
If I believed in the Lord, I would swear that he gave me Pace for the sole purpose of being my strength when I need him the most.