26. Lorenzo
CHAPTER 26
Lorenzo
“ T he two weeks I promised you are up.” I had Don Gallo on speaker phone; my eyes were on the computer in front of me. Damian had done a preliminary run of a delivery—the route they’re supposed to take—and we were planning for him to shadow a real one in the next few days. That way, we could figure out where the shipments were making unsanctioned stops. “Do you want to send a car for Gia, or shall I send her home with Damian?”
Don Gallo made a disgruntled noise. “Two weeks is hardly enough time to get to know anyone,” he said. “Gia should stay with you for another few weeks.”
“No.”
“Don Vitali?—”
“I agreed to take her in so that things would be even between us. I gave her the exact amount of time that I said I would.”
Another disgruntled sound. “You didn’t even try!”
“Try what, Don Gallo? We never agreed that I would have to do anything besides play host. I did my part.”
“But you didn’t?—”
“I never promised anything besides what I did,” I reminded him again. “She had a chance to impress me.”
“And you weren’t?” His voice had gone flat, and I knew that I had to walk a thin line here. If I insulted Gia, then it would have been a waste of time for her to come here at all.
“Gia is a beautiful girl, Don Gallo. She’s going to make someone a fantastic wife someday.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
“She’s young,” I said. “She’s too green.”
Don Gallo was quiet for a moment, and then he sighed. “If I had an older daughter, I would send her to you.”
“And I would appreciate that,” I lied. “I assume that we can call things even between us now?”
Reluctantly, the man said, “Yes. We’re square. We’ll send someone to pick her up in an hour or so.”
“Of course.”
“Now, tell me what you’ve found about our shipments.”
Thank the fuck . We pivoted into business, and I filled him in on the plan for Damian to follow a shipment from the moment it came into the harbor. Don Gallo approved of the plan, and we were able to wrap up our conversation without it turning into World War Three.
Isabella
“Can you help me with Gia’s bags?” Amalia asked. “Her father is sending someone for her soon, and I don’t want to make three trips.”
I jumped up from the piano bench. I had been practicing my scales recently, and I was surprised by how much it came back to me. I hadn’t taken lessons in more than a decade. “Of course.”
I followed her upstairs. When we got to the guest room that Gia had been using, we could hear her sobbing. Amalia glanced at me before knocking on the door. “Gia, can we come in?”
The sobbing got louder, and Amalia took that as a yes, please . Amalia pushed the door open. Gia was stretched out across the bed, head in her arms. When she looked up and saw me, she snarled. “You had to bring her?”
“I’m here to help,” I said.
Gia didn’t take this well either. “You just want me gone.”
She wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t going to say that to her face. I might not exactly like the girl, but I didn’t want her to be heartbroken either. “I’m sorry that things didn’t work out the way you hoped.”
“ Vaffanculo ,” Gia spat.
“Noted,” I said with a nod and looked at Amalia. “What do you need help with?”
She handed two of Gia’s bags to me, and then she grabbed for the handle on her suitcase. Together, we got all of her luggage to the foyer just as an SUV pulled up out front. Amalia pulled the sniffling girl into a hug and patted her back. She murmured something to her, and then, with one last sneer at me, Gia Gallo swept out of the house.
“I don’t think I’ve met anyone more delusional in my entire life,” I said, staring at the closed door. I turned to smile at Amalia, but her mouth was twisted into a frown. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “You don’t understand.” Her hand came up and rubbed, hard, at her face, and it was shocking to see tears welling up in her eyes.
I reached out, feeling more than a little lost, and put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re right,” I said. “I don’t understand. Could you explain it to me?”
Amalia took a deep breath, and for a moment, I thought that she was going to say no. But then she said, “I need a glass of wine for this.” She turned and marched toward the kitchen, me on her heels.
She took down a wineglass from the cabinet and held it up in offer, but I shook my head. It was still a little early in the day for me. She shrugged, as if to say suit yourself , and took a bottle of red out of the wine rack on the counter. I knew there was a bigger collection of wine in the cellar, but Amalia brought up a couple of bottles every few days to go along with dinner. She poured herself a healthy glass and gestured for me to join her at the kitchen table.
“I told you that women in the Cosa Nostra have particular roles, remember?”
I nodded.
“Well, Gia is in the same position that I was before I married Elio. She has to find a good match that is advantageous for the Gallo family.”
That much, I did understand. “She had mentioned that her father had arranged things for her and Lorenzo.”
Amalia rolled her eyes. “ That was delusional on her part,” she said. “The Gallos have about as much sway over the Vitalis as I do over the weather. No one has more power than the Vitali family; it’s been like that since before I was born.”
“So, why did Lorenzo even agree to let her come in the first place? If he has so much power?”
She gave me a patient look and sipped at her wine. “Men like Lorenzo stay in power by giving in to the small things every now and then. The Gallo family was upset, and by Lorenzo agreeing to have Gia come here, he made them happy. He secured his line of power.” She took another, much longer, drink, emptying the glass. She grabbed the bottle and poured another one. “I wish he would have thought everything through before he sent her home, though.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “What could happen to her?”
“Hopefully, Don Gallo secures another match for her quickly.”
My stomach started to roll sickeningly, and I swallowed hard. I pictured Gia, spread out on the guest room bed, weeping like someone she loved had died. “She’s so young. What’s the rush?”
“Women of the Cosa Nostra marry young. I had just passed my twenty-first birthday when I married Elio, and the little old biddies at the church were whispering about it.”
That’s insane . But I kept that comment to myself; Amalia didn’t need me criticizing her marriage. “What if Gia’s father can’t find her a husband?” Something told me that allowing her to date and find a boy her own age wasn’t an option.
Amalia looked grim. “She’ll end up married one way or another, Isabella. Not getting married isn’t a path for women like her and me.”
“So, she’d end up with someone who’s what? Older?”
“Most likely. If you think Lorenzo can be unreasonable, try some of the men who are in their sixties. The men who are on their second or third or fourth wife.” She drained her second glass of wine. “The men whose wives have mysteriously disappeared, and we’re not allowed to ask about anymore.”
Just like Sienna . My nausea was getting worse. “There’s nothing to be done about it?”
Amalia shook her head. “Even if Lorenzo could, he wouldn’t.”
“Why?”
Amalia gave me that patient look again. “We all have our roles to play, Isabella. Even you.”
Yeah, broodmare . It wasn’t a pleasant thought. “If Lorenzo were to have a daughter.” I swallowed hard. “Would he treat her like that? Like a thing to be traded for the best deal?”
She didn’t like that, I could tell, but Amalia didn’t argue with me. “It’s what he knows.”
I shut my eyes and let out a breath, slowly. It was the only thing keeping me from throwing up. I wanted out. I needed to get out. No sane person could exist in this kind of life; there was too much moral gray area and ambiguity and shrugging things off.
But the idea of using a baby as my ticket out was too much. I slapped my hand over my mouth and took off for the powder room nearest the kitchen. I barely reached it before my stomach twisted itself inside out. I gagged until there was nothing left, and then I washed my mouth out in the sink.
“Lorenzo is a dangerous man, but he’s hardly the only one in the Cosa Nostra,” Amalia said, standing in the doorway, staring at me. Her eyes were a little glassy now; her mouth a little looser than it normally would be. “At least he doesn’t beat women for fun.”
I bent over and sipped at the running tap again, swirling the water around my mouth before spitting it back out into the sink. “There’s nothing we can do for Gia?”
Amalia shook her head. “Pity her.”