15. Dom
15
dom
“The ‘Ndrangheta kind.”
I blinked slowly, trying to school my expression as I processed Ella’s words. Inside, my stomach fisted. ‘Ndrangheta was similar to the Mafia, but more secretive, and perhaps more dangerous because of it. More concerning to me was Ella’s connection to it.
I was glad my voice was level when I asked, “Can you be more specific?”
Ella shifted on the seat and looked around, as if assuring herself no one was paying attention, before she asked, “How much do you know about them?”
“Not much,” I admitted. “Like Cosa Nostra, right?”
She nodded. “In some ways, yes. The ‘Ndrangheta is a powerful organized crime syndicate with strong family ties. But unlike the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, our clans are almost exclusively based on bloodlines, and our power is more decentralized than hierarchical.”
My blood chilled. “You said our .”
“Not by choice,” she said, casting her eyes downward. “It is the world I was born into. My birth name is Alessandra Mariella Ferraro. My father was—is—an important man. Seven years ago, he arranged a marriage between me and the son of another ‘ndrina capo to unite the families and create a stronger clan.”
I stiffened. “You’re married?” My gaze dropped to her hand even though I knew she wore no ring.
“No,” she said, shaking her head slowly. “I couldn’t go through with it. Even if I wanted to honor my father’s wishes, Giorgio was a womanizer. A playboy. I couldn’t bear a future where I was nothing more than a trophy wife, pitied because my husband’s favorite pastime was openly hooking up with other women.”
Venom laced her voice, and I was beginning to understand why she’d been so resistant to me at first. Sure, I had dated a lot of women over the years, trying to find the right one, but I had never cheated on anyone. And as far as marriage? That was sacred.
I wasn’t intimately familiar with the inner workings of the Calabrian mob, but I knew you didn’t just say no to an arranged marriage, nor did you just walk away unscathed.
“What happened?”
Ella shifted in her seat and took a sip of cappuccino before answering, “Our engagement party was held on a private yacht on Lake Michigan, and I knew exactly how things would go. Giorgio was no happier about the arrangement than I was, and he made it perfectly clear to everyone that he had no intention of respecting marital vows. When he took one of the pretty young servers into the galley, I pretended to be upset and went onto the deck for some air. Then I threw myself overboard.”
I sucked in a breath. “You what ?”
Her lips curled in a grim, humorless smile. “Drastic, I know, but it was the only way out. The night was stormy, the wind and waves rough. My family believes that it was an accident and that I did not survive.” She paused and took a deep breath. “I nearly didn’t. Survive, I mean. I was in the water for hours, and I developed an infection that resulted in permanent hearing loss.” She raised her gaze back to mine. “I’ve been living under the radar ever since.”
I didn’t know what to say. I’d suspected Ella had secrets, but defying the ‘Ndrangheta? I hadn’t seen this coming. No wonder she didn’t want to be found.
And throwing herself into the water, knowing there was a good chance she wouldn’t survive? I could only imagine how dire her situation must have been that drowning was a better option. Anger simmered within me that she’d felt compelled to make that choice.
“That’s why you’re so averse to having your picture taken,” I murmured.
She must have been reading my lips because she nodded. “Things were going well—or so I thought. Last night, my cousin Pia showed up at the shelter, looking for me.”
“How did she find you?”
“Fate, I suppose. A picture of me appeared on one of the social media accounts she follows. She didn’t believe it at first and felt compelled to see for herself. With all the local coverage of the shelter, it wasn’t hard for her to find me.”
I thought back to the blacked-out luxury SUV I’d seen at the shelter the night before and cursed. “Will she expose you?”
Ella shook her head. “Only if she has no other choice. She understands why I did what I did. In fact, I believe she now finds herself in a similar situation. She’ll have to make her own decision soon enough.”
Minutes ticked by in silence as I processed that. “What will happen if your family discovers the truth?”
She shuddered. “They will do the only thing they can do—complete what I started. Make the farce a reality.”
The thought was incomprehensible to me. “They are your family .”
“The ‘Ndrangheta does not forgive, Dom. What I did was nothing less than a personal and political betrayal of the highest order. There is no coming back from that, daughter or not.”
I hated the resignation in her voice. The acceptance. As if she deserved nothing more.
“Well then,” I said, “I guess we just have to make sure they never find out.”
Her eyes widened. “We? What are you saying?”
I didn’t know. It wasn’t like I’d planned for this. But I knew how I felt. I knew she was my future.
I took her hands in mine and looked deeply into her eyes. “You’ve shared something very personal with me. Now it’s my turn to share something with you.”
“All right.”
“I knew from the very first moment I saw you that you were the one I’d been waiting for.”
She scoffed and tried to pull away. I held on.
“Listen, okay? I know it sounds like a line, but I swear to you, it’s not. I feel something for you that I’ve never felt for anyone. A connection. A spark. When I look at you, I see my future. Tell me you don’t feel it.”
Her eyes widened with every word. She wanted to believe me. I could see it in her eyes. Most importantly, she didn’t deny it.
I decided to take a different approach. “See that guy back there behind the counter?”
She was surprised by the change of topic but looked over my shoulder to where I knew my nonno was watching.
“That’s my grandfather. He’s a cupido . He claims he can look at two people and know immediately if they are meant for each other. He has never been wrong.”
More disbelief shone in her eyes. “Never?”
“Never. My parents, my siblings, my aunts and uncles. He’s batting a thousand. Shall I call him over and see what he says?”
She shook her head. “That’s not necessary.”
“What’s the matter, Ella? Afraid of what he will say?”
“Of course not. It’s just ridiculous, is all.”
“Then humor me. He’s staring at us right now, isn’t he? With a smile on his face?”
When she didn’t say anything, I had my answer.
“Nonno,” I called out without turning around. “Will you come over here? There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
“Stop it,” Ella hissed under her breath, but I just smiled and stood.
My grandfather was there in seconds, as if he’d been waiting for me to ask.
“Nonno, this is Ella Ferris. Ella, this is my grandfather, Francisco Cerasino.”
Ella shot me a look, then smiled at my grandfather. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Cerasino.”
“Ah, bella ,” he said, taking her hand in his. “You call-a me Nonno, eh?”
A pretty blush colored Ella’s cheeks.
Nonno looked at me, his grin wide, eyes sparkling. “ Si ,” he said, nodding. “ Lei è quella che aspettavi .” She is the one you’ve been waiting for.
Without missing a beat, Ella responded, “ Come puoi esserne così sicuro? ” How can you be so sure?
Nonno clapped his hands together and laughed in delight. “ Bella , I never wrong about affair di cuore .” Affairs of the heart . “You ask-a anybody.”
My grandfather put his hand on my shoulder, patted once, then walked away to greet a customer.
“See?” I said when Ella and I sat back down.
She still didn’t look convinced, but there was a smile playing about her lips that hadn’t been there before. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long.
“He seems like a very sweet man,” she said on a sigh, “but it doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t matter how I feel about you or how you feel about me. The truth is, I need to disappear again. My being here is putting a target on everyone’s back.”
I was shaking my head before she finished. “No. It does matter. In fact, it matters more than anything. We’ll figure this out, I promise.”
“How?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said honestly. “But we will. Just please, promise me you won’t do anything stupid in the meantime, like taking off in the middle of the night.”
“I can’t promise that.”
“Please,” I repeated. “Give me a few days—that’s all I’m asking. I’m worth that much, aren’t I?”
It was a gamble on my part. I held my breath as she considered my request. A few days didn’t seem like a lot to me, but to someone living in constant fear of being discovered, it might as well be a lifetime. And while I had already accepted that she was the woman for me, she hadn’t.
Finally, she nodded. “All right then.”
I started making a loose plan in my head. I figured I’d talk to Vinnie first, then hit up my uncles at the IAC. I was sure some of them had more than a passing knowledge of organized crime, given where they had come from and the number of businesses they owned between them. Two things I knew in my soul: someone in my family would have answers, and they would all have my back.
“Let’s head back to the shelter,” I told her. “You’ll be safe enough with everyone there during the day.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Talk to some people who know more about this kind of thing than I do.” When she started to protest, I put up my hand. “Trust me, okay? I just found you. There’s no way I’m going to lose you now.”