Chapter Thirteen
Aria Bianchi
The only sign of discomfort I allowed myself to show was the fidgeting on my finger over my watch as I waited impatiently for a message from my father.
I didn’t know what I expected or wanted from this conversation, but I was hoping for the most favorable outcome. I had gathered enough intel to make a reasonable assessment—he would never be able to stand against Giovanni and all of their manpower. From everything Enzo had told me and everything I had gathered, they had well over double the men that we had, only they were hidden much more effectively.
Now, despite waiting on traitorous communications, I sat at Enzo’s side, surrounded by a huge crowd of Rissis.
Just like at our wedding, the women talked loudly and expressively, and the men around the table didn’t seem to mind as they continued their conversations, slathering butter on the restaurant’s bread and scarfing down bites.
“Ms. Aria, please tell me more about yourself now that you’re married to my nephew.”
I bit my lip and nodded. “What would you like to know?”
He chuckled. “We learned that you graduated from law school with exceptional marks. Why did you go to law school? What are your plans moving forward?”
That wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have. “I just really like learning. Law school seemed like the best option given the life we live.”
Giovanni nodded, crossing his fingers as he rested his palms on the table.
“And you intend to utilize the degree, I assume?”
It surprised me to see his eyes full of genuine curiosity. No malicious anticipation or manipulation as I had grown to expect in my own upbringing.
“I don’t have any plans yet. I need to take the bar exam first.”
“If you had adequate time to study, would you pass it?”
I nodded. “Probably so.”
Definitely , I wanted to tell him. I had all the textbooks memorized from cover to cover. I knew the examples of every case. I knew all of it, and there wasn’t a single question they could ask that I wouldn’t anticipate.
My pocket vibrated lightly, and I took a deep breath, sitting up straighter.
“I need to wash up and use the ladies' room before the first course,” I told him, pulling the napkin from my lap and standing with a smile. Enzo grazed my hip with a hand, and I offered him a small smile in turn.
Could he see my anxiety and anticipation? Could he feel the way I didn’t want to go to the bathroom or give my father anything significant?
When I reached the hallway toward the restrooms, I veered inside and locked the door behind me, pulling my burner phone from my pocket. I didn’t bother waiting before dialing my father’s number with a deep breath.
He answered, and when I heard his voice, my body didn’t stiffen and turn into a puddle of fear as it always had in the past. I didn’t know why. Nothing had truly changed. He still owned me, and he still had the leverage to keep me from misbehaving. He had all the power.
But his voice didn’t draw up the same level of fear as it had mere weeks before.
“Calling is a risk that you should know better than to take,” he chastised immediately.
“It’s one we need to take.”
He sighed as if my call was somehow inconveniencing him. It was always the small shows of power that he preferred. It didn’t matter what I was sacrificing by being here for him. I was just another employee to him.
“What is it?”
“We have to call this off.”
He busted out laughing, and I clenched my jaw. “I knew you were impressionable, but I never took you as stupid, Aria. This isn’t something that can be called off. There are too many parts in motion here. Too many things are contingent on you doing your fucking job. Are you telling me you can no longer do your job, Aria?”
The threat was palpable and unspoken.
“They have five times the numbers we think they have. They have a foothold in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. They have business alliances in every subset of the city. Your territory. The Russians’ territory. All of it. We have to call it off because if you pose a genuine threat, they will destroy us. It won’t even be a war. They’ll eliminate us immediately.”
“Where the hell are you getting this information?”
“From Enzo.”
“Oh, Enzo,” he said with a malicious lilt to his tone. “You’re fucking him for information, I assume?”
I felt the flush creep up my cheeks. “The information I received is solid.”
“Fuck,” he shouted, and something shattered on the other side of the line. I couldn’t tell what was happening, but when he spoke again, a hard impatience filled his tone. “Tell me about the forces he has in our territory.”
“Dad, he won’t let me in on details, but he assured me there were a lot.”
“He assured you, did he?”
“Maybe it would be a better option to call this off and build an alliance with them. You have all the control you need to—”
“I don’t have all the control. I still have the fucking Rissis at my back door, limiting my potential. We could have everything we ever wanted, and that’s why these plans are in place. Don’t talk to me as if you’re the one in charge here. I am directing you. You’re going to do as I say.” He audibly huffed. “You’re trying to get out of this after a few weeks, but this plan could span years if plans continue falling through. You’d better get comfortable.”
I knew he meant it as a threat, but for some reason, the thought of staying away didn’t leave the sour taste in my mouth that he had anticipated.
I didn’t say anything as he began rambling to himself about potential plans.
“They’re weak, and they won’t initiate an attack. Not when they have so much to lose. But I have you in their home. Around their people. With you…”
He trailed off as if an idea hit him squarely in the chest.
“With me, what?”
“We can take out Giovanni Rissi.”
“No.”
The word left my lips before I could stop, and I cursed myself.
“No?”
“I mean, it won’t work. Everything will transfer to Enzo, and they’ll be just as powerful. They’ll be more powerful, and it will give them a reason to strike.”
“I know what I’m doing, and I expect you to carry out this plan for me.”
No . I had done everything for my father, but I couldn’t stoop to his level. Gathering information was vastly different than murdering a man who had shown me nothing but decency. A man who had shown decency to his people.
I couldn’t do it.
I wouldn’t .
“I’m not killing someone for you,” I told my father, shaking my head. “It’s too far.”
He stayed silent for too long. I had never denied him anything as long as I had been alive. I had always accommodated his whims and wishes. I wasn’t rebellious like Noemi or oblivious like Evelina. I didn’t have a “fuck it” attitude like Livia. I had always been the “perfect” oldest daughter.
Until now.
“You’re going to make me hire someone else to do this?”
“I'm not a murderer.”
“If I have to hire someone, Aria, I will need to raise the funds.” I wanted to tune out his next words. He knew exactly where to hit me where it hurt. I held my breath. “I will have to arrange an auction for Evelina’s virtue. Men will pay top dollar for something like that. Maybe if I receive a high enough offer, they can have her.”
“She’s your daughter,” I shouted into the line. “You can’t.”
“Because she’s my daughter, I can. I only need one of you.”
He knew the position he put me in. He knew he had checkmate before he even said the words, and I’d been foolish to think I had another option.
“Fine,” I spat. “I’ll do whatever you want. But if you hurt her—”
“I’ll get back to you with the information.”
He ended the call without giving me a single assurance.
He ended the call knowing he was forcing me into doing something that I would never forgive myself for. He knew I would ruin myself for either of my sisters.
He knew he could trust me to do this because the alternative was something I could never live with.