Chapter 42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
I so want to slap Alessio for what he put me through in this last week. I want to scream in his face and hammer my fists against his chest.
Tai asks me if it’s okay that the clean-up crew will wait for an hour or so, “until Jerry’s journey is complete.” I tell him that’s a good idea. He also asks if I would mind him having the sound system on the roof turned up to mask Jerry’s screams. I agree. We don}t want to bother the police department unnecessarily.
He moves to Alessio and asks if he knows about Jerry’s taste in music.
“Sure. He likes a lot of things. Fairly trad and old-school mainly. He listened to Billy Joel and the Eagles. He loves the old singers like Sinatra, Dean Martin. He kind of like most things, apart from girl singers, and he hates country.”
Tai nods and leaves.
Catlin comes to me with Erin and asks if I need her any more today. Looks to me like she and her new apprentice have some R & R in mind and, after the job they’ve done today, I’m not going to raise any objections. I thank them and shake them both by the hand. I knew my instinct was right about Erin.
Meanwhile, Bruno’s fists clench, and his teeth.
He tells Alessio, “If you were any mafioso, anyone, anywhere, you would be dead. The only question would be if anyone cared about you enough to make it quick. And, spoiler — they pretty much never do.”
Alessio bows his head.
Carlo says, “You betrayed us.”
Bruno nods, solemn and stern. “You betrayed Lucia. And that’s betraying all of us in the worst way.”
“No.” Alessio protests. “Come on. I didn’t.”
The air shakes with Beyonce’s version of Jolene .
Bruno’s face is like granite. “Yeah, you did, Alessio. You went off like a dog after a bone. Jerry promised you what you wanted to hear and you were all over him.”
Alessio turns to me, “Help me, Lucia?
“Oh, now the strongman pleads?” My chest buzzes with anger. “You were all about going your own way, making your own decisions. What was it you said? It was for the good of the family? I would come to see it in the long term? Is that right, or did I dream it all?”
“Okay.” He raises a hand. “Okay. You’re right. I got carried away.”
“I’ll say you did,” Bruno’s voice raises “Carried off without even putting up a fight.”
“Alright,” Alessio holds up his hands. “I did. I got it wrong. I believed his lies. But I came back. Didn’t I? I turned it around.”
Without too much enthusiasm, Carlo says, “You did.”
Bruno leans forward, “You always wanted it, even though you were never the real heir.”
Carlo agrees, “It’s true, Alessio. I remember the first day you moved into the house. You came upstairs. We’d already met. Up until then we got along okay, considering the differences in our ages, but that day you said, ‘I’m here now. All of this going to be mine. So you’d better be sure to stay on my good side.’ I’ll never forget.”
Bruno nods. “Yeah, Alessio. You were always kind of a prick.”
Alessio takes a long breath. “Oh, right. Let’s get it all out now, shall we?”
Bruno’s head tilts. “Well, it’s not like you don’t deserve it.”
Carlo presses his lips together, “You’ve had it coming for a long time.”
Taylor Swift’s Picture to Burn blasts out of the sound system.
“I’m here, right? I saw my mistake.”
“Well,” Bruno looks at Carlo. Both their heads shake.
Carlo says, “Not without some help.”
“Not without some serious nudging,” Bruno’s chin lifts.
“No” Alessio tries to protest. “I knew. By then, I swear I knew I’d been wrong.”
I’m thinking, Really?
And Bruno’s head shakes. “I guess we’ll never know.”
Carlo chimes in, “Who’s to say?”
I wonder. Would anyone believe him?
I tell him, “You were the rat all along.”
He spins to face me, blood draining from his face. “What?”
“You were the rat. Maybe it’s even worse, you were Jerry’s goof. You were ratting us to him and you didn’t even know it.”
Alessio holds up his hands. Palms forward.
“I made a terrible mistake.” He bites his lips and looks from Carlo to Bruno to me. “I don’t know if you can ever forgive me. I knew it this morning and that’s why I couldn’t make it to your brunch. I didn’t know you were going to call us for brunch or I would have scheduled it differently, but when you called, I was already on the table and about halfway through.”
Bruno and Carlo look at each other. Then at me. I shake my head. I don”t know what he’s talking about, either.
“Even then, I thought it would be finished in time, or I would have said, but it took longer than the artist expected. When he and I both realized it was going to take longer, I should have called you, I know but I already felt too much of a dick. That’s why I called Carlo instead.”
He pulls the front of his shirt out of his pants and, as he undoes the buttons from the bottom, i start to see a pattern. Gradually, he it takes shape and makes sense.
Across the whole of his abs is a big, elaborate tattoo with spread eagle’s wings, hearts and flowers, and in the middle, a stamp saying, in capital letters,
PROPERTY OF:
LUCIA BENEDETTI, DONNA FORTUNA.
“I hope you can forgive me because, if you can’t, I’ve learned and I know now, my life means nothing.” He drops to one knee in front of me. “I was an idiot. And I’m sorry. I love you, Lucia.”
A tear is welling up in my eye. I’m telling myself that if I keep really still and keep my eye open wide, it won’t fall and roll down my cheek. I want to grab him and hug him.
Carlo shakes his head. Bruno says, “Boy, that must have hurt.”
Alessio says, “On the way here, it came to me what an idiot I really had been. And even then I didn’t know anything about the phone or any of that. I could only see what a stupid thing I’d done when I thought my eyes were open. You and Carlo did try to set me straight and talk me down and I took no notice.”
… “So the reason I was late was, I had to go back and get this,” He turns unbuckles his belt, turns around and lifts his coat. Then he pulls his pants down to reveal, on the curve of his right cheek, a smaller version of the stamp, saying,
CO-OWNED BY:
brUNO FORTUNA
Then he turns to lower his pants to expose the left cheek:
CO-OWNED BY:
CARLO FORTUNA
Our faces all seem to be wet as we all close in for a big hug.
The sound system roars with Dolly Parton singing I Will Always Love You.