Chapter 43
“Elodie is with her family, Gianni. If you’re worried about her being at risk in case a member of the Sicilian mafia wants to avenge Angelo’s disappearance—which I doubt will happen—you can relax.
The Cajun,” Abaddon says, referring to the boyfriend of my wife’s sister, “has a real army protecting him, and now the newly discovered brother is there, too.”
“I never doubted Beau would protect her. Amber’s pregnant with his child, and the man knows how intense their bond is. That’s not what I’m worried about, but rather the impact of what Capria declared to the press and what it’s going to do to our relationship.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“What I didn’t want to: involve my lawyers. I have a meeting with her and with our legal representatives tomorrow afternoon.”
“And your mother?”
“She responded well to the surgery. I’m outside the room, waiting to see her.”
“Your world seems to be collapsing all at once.”
“Yes, in three random spheres.”
As soon as I make sure my mother is okay, and after the meeting with that miserable ex-girlfriend of mine, I’m heading straight for the United States.
The phone I gave Elodie doesn’t even go to voicemail anymore, and I’m starting to think she threw it away. I know she’s hurt, but her refusal to talk to me is pushing my patience to the edge. She can’t just run from me.
“I’m ditching this phone. I’m leaving the United States. As much as I like easy money, I have nothing to do here, man. Your woman is protected.”
I hang up and turn to enter Mamma’s room at the exact moment Tommaso is coming out.
“She wants to talk to you. I don’t know how, but she already knows about Capria’s baby.”
“Shit!”
I pass my brother, bracing myself for a lecture from my mother as soon as I walk in, but the moment I see her, every other worry disappears from my head.
I clench my hands at my sides, trying to keep my composure.
Seeing Greta—the beautiful, strong woman whose whole life has been pure suffering yet has never let it break her—lying in a hospital bed freezes me in place.
“Don’t look at me like that, Gianni. I’m not dead,” she says, stretching out a hand to me in her characteristically ironic way.
“I’m not going to fight with you for not telling me you were sick,” I promise, more to myself than to her, as I approach the bed.
“Yes, you will, because that’s how we Andresanos are: we fight, we cry, and we talk loud.”
I kiss her forehead. “You never cry, Mamma.”
“Inside, I do,” she says, placing her hand over her heart. “Here, I’m shattered into a thousand pieces, son. There came a point when there were so many fragments there was no way to put myself back together again.”
I hold her gently in my arms. If I didn’t already hate Dino, which I have since I understood the kind of relationship he and my mother have, I would hate him with every drop of my blood right now.
Most people blame her for the love triangle. It’s convenient to hold the mistress responsible. What most forget is that she was a teenager when she got pregnant with Tommaso. For a long time, Dino kept his relationship with Carina secret. When Mamma found out, she was already in love.
“Tell me about this mess with Capria. I knew that one was going to pull something.”
“She’s pregnant with my child, Mamma.”
“How do you know it’s yours?”
“I don’t. But an intrauterine DNA test is risky for the fetus. I’ll have to wait until the child is born to be sure, but until then, I won’t deny her my support. Now stop worrying about it.”
“I’m fine, Gianni.”
“You look tired.”
“I had surgery less than twenty-four hours ago, so of course I look tired. But if you don’t know, being a mother is a twenty-four-seven job. Your happiness will always come before mine. Now, explain to me how this could happen. Weren’t you using protection?”
As much as it disgusts me that Capria is the mother of my child, the unexpected pregnancy wasn’t either of our faults. We always used protection, because we’d break up now and then and see other people, but condoms aren’t one hundred percent effective.
“There must have been an accident,” I say, and thank God she doesn’t press the issue, because talking about condoms with my mother is awkward as hell.
“And what about Elodie in all of this?”
I tell her in detail what happened since that night at the event, mainly that Elodie doesn’t want to speak to me.
“Have you tried her sister?”
“We’re not teenagers. I refuse to send messages through Amber. At some point, she’ll have to talk to me.”
“And Capria?”
“I’ll settle that once and for all tomorrow.”
“How?”
“Don’t worry about that, Mamma. Worry about your recovery. We need you at our Sunday lunches.”
“I’ll be fine, Gianni,” she says, but it’s not enough for me.
As selfish as it is, I want an oath. A promise.
I don’t care how old I am. I want my mother with me forever.
“You will,” I say, drawing her into my arms again.
“And you?”
“What about me?”
“Will you be okay? As I said months ago, I know you, my son. I know how broken you are. Elodie means a lot to you.”
“She does. I’m going after her, Mamma. I’ll bring her back.”