Chapter 24
Matt
Some victories taste like defeats. Sour, despite their sweetness.
This was the desired outcome, but I was still feeling like a victim of my own success. So, instead of circling the new addition to the Lords that ruled over the unlawful Cosa Nostra like a vulture, I stayed behind, trying to count my blessings.
But fuck, it was hard when all I could think of was that her ascension sealed my solitary future.
Great things come at great cost. I could almost hear my grandfather say in that solemn and wise voice of his. But then again, in hindsight, I couldn’t see him giving away the love of his life, even if it meant keeping his heart beating.
I did the right thing. I replayed that fact in my mind over and over again, my thumb and index pressing on my eyes as I concentrated on believing myself..
“Battaglia,” Massimo called from the double doors once the crowd had scattered a little. “I could say a toast is in order, but something tells me you’re gonna need at least a bottle before feeling festive.”
“I’ll pass out before joy hits.”
“That sounds like a plan. Let’s make it happen.”
Vincenzo Massimo was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and while I knew this to be true, at this point, I had nothing to lose.
Besides, maybe pulling a thing or two from him could prove useful when the time came to break our deal.
Men of Honor, my balls. When my baby sister is prey for easy-talking mafiosi men, I’ll cling to the top of the fucking food chain even if I have to claw my way up.
“You’re a motherfucker, did you know that?” I said nonchalantly as the waiter poured us two glasses of whiskey.
“Oh, come on, Battaglia. Don’t be bitter just because you didn’t see me coming from a mile away like you’re used to with the rest of these masterminds.” He sarcastically replied, not a single hint of anger in his words despite my insult.
I downed the full glass at once, craving the emptiness of an inebriated mind that could only focus on standing straight. But after years of testing and pushing that limit little by little without ever crossing it, I knew that I needed that damn bottle to stay right next to my glass.
“That’s because you’re not to be trusted, Massimo. Trustworthy men are predictable, and you, my friend… forced me into taking a fucking sharp left into a dead-end alley. Not appreciated, let me clarify.”
“It’s an obvious move, Matteo. But you’ve been,” he paused, probably weighing his words before saying them, “distracted, let’s put it that way.”
“And you’re the vulture waiting for me to be at my worst to nitpick on dead flesh.” I signaled to the waiter for a refill while noticing that Vincenzo had yet to take a drink of his whiskey.
“It’s business, Matt. Besides, I don’t know how you expected for Alison to slip through the cracks. This has been the mafiosi way since the beginning of time. Progression or not, some things don’t change. And blood is much more binding than a handshake. You, of all people, can’t say you don’t know this.”
“Protocol hits a little differently when it’s family. My sister is innocent. She’s not cut for this life.”
“She’s marrying me, not learning how to skin men alive.”
“Same difference.” Another full glass burned its way down my throat, and still, both Alison’s fate and mine weren’t being erased a single bit from my mind. “Just leave the bottle,” I called out to the waiter.
This damn nightmare was finally over, and we succeeded. My wife, my badass, mafia-fucking-queen wife will finally take her deserved place and live her dream.
This was who she was born to be. I’d never tame her to be less than what she aspired to. Never. But I wasn’t so sure if the sacrifice was worth it all. Alison was paying for my mistakes, and all I could selfishly think of right now was how much Francesca hated me after what I said.
By counting, with Don Massimo’s vote, our plan was more than solid, even though it cost me more than I’d bargained for. I needed him to know how displeased I was with this arrangement, even though, in the back of my mind, I knew that I’d make it my mission to break this deal at the first opportunity.
Don Fiori didn’t oppose a woman being a Don, or even being a part of The Commission, for selfish reasons. He had no sons, no brothers, no nephews. His family was one big harem, and I could see that he was somehow trying to protect his future and his family’s succession.
The Don chosen to represent others in The Commission was normally the most powerful and influential, which didn’t mean they got to keep the seat if they were deemed unworthy, either by The Commission or the other families for whom they spoke.
This meant that Francesca was probably paving the path for other women to take the same road she was. Don Fiori was a smart old man, but I could see the chip on his shoulder. I could see him protecting his ass’s future, and I intended to fully take advantage of that.
I had to have them believe that Francesca and I weren’t married and there was no conflict of interest here because, more than protecting their future, they’d be worried about protecting their present. Controlling two votes was enough of a threat to have them withdraw their support, no matter the risk.
“Alison will be taken care of. She will be safe.”
“She better, or she’ll become a widower real soon,” I threatened, but Vincenzo’s expression didn’t shift an inch.
“I wouldn’t expect anything else.” He raised his glass in a toast and gulped it down before rearranging his cane and standing. “Love makes us vulnerable, Battaglia. That was your only sin.”
“Us? Who has your balls in a twist?”
I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed dryly. Had I just found a chip on Vincenzo Massimo’s perfectly tailored armor?
“Your sister.” He answered with a sarcastic smirk before patting me on the back and slowly leaving me to drown in three fingers or ten of booze.
◆◆◆
“Mister?” A small voice called from beside me, snapping me out of my thoughts as I turned around to find the little kid standing beside me.
As soon as I swung my head around, the whole wall of bottles behind the bar seemed to follow in a blurry drag that mixed all those damn colors together.
“What?” I grumbled, knowing that my frown wasn’t exactly directed at him.
“This is for you.”
His trembling hand reached out to give me a small, white envelope, and my heart sank to my stomach. I didn’t even need to turn it around to know who it came from.
Ripping it open, I took the rich piece of paper from the inside, squinting my eyes to try and focus my vision enough to read what it said.
“You just couldn’t let her go, could you? It’s time to join the real Don Battaglia.”
I couldn’t help but laugh before averting my eyes back to where the kid was standing not even a minute ago. But he’d vanished like a ghost. I read the note again, feeling that somehow those words sounded better than intended. If this was my life now, a bullet seemed pretty tempting.
Whoever took their time to send these damn notes didn’t realize that Francesca wasn’t mine anymore. I fucking wished I had the power to make her stay.
Crushing the note in my hand, I stuck it inside my pocket, noticing there was another paper inside.
Fuck!
Max had given me a note, too, before the meeting, telling me to read it with urgency. I hadn’t had a minute alone since then, with both Don Massimo and Don Fiori not leaving my side for a damn second until the meeting had already started.
I pulled the paper from my pocket and carefully read through it, my heart beating like a jackhammer in my ears as soon as I recognized Francesca’s handwriting.
Tell me today that I am your world, and I will leave mine behind to be with you forever. Tell me you want me, and I will forget the past to be with you in the present because you are my only future. Tell me you love me, and I will be forever yours. All the rest be damned. I think I know why you did it. I just need you to come get me back if that’s what your heart desires.
Forever yours,
Francesca
FUCK! FUCK! FUUUUUUUCK!
My heart sank to my feet, further down with every word, until all I could feel was a sharp pain in my chest. It was as if someone was ripping my heart out and squeezing it into a pulp. I couldn’t believe I didn’t see this.
She was telling me she wanted me.
She preferred me.
She fucking chose ME!
I was so focused on what she had told me about her dream, about what she wanted for her life, that I missed the point when that changed, just like it had changed for me. I was her new dream, her new destiny. As she was mine.
I let my head fall into my hands and sank my fingers into my hair. I pulled on the strands in some kind of punishment for being such a blind fucker. Even as she was about to get exactly what she had dreamed of her entire life, what she thought she’d never have, she was willing to give it all away for us.
Grabbing the Macallan, I poured it into the glass with a violence that made the liquid slosh and overflow. With a direct line to my gullet, I tipped the tumbler back and swallowed the whole thing without a breath.
My mind was a different kind of blur now. A mingled fusion of faith and hopelessness. A fogged clarity that brought me a new objective that I had no idea how to reach. I had to let her know I wanted her just as much. She was my whole fucking world. The only thing that mattered in this meaningless life.
After a couple more glasses of whiskey that had rapidly made their way to my head, I found myself feeling even worse than I was before, but at least now I had clarity. Not visual clarity because that one was either fucking damaged or they just hired another two people to bartend, and they were oddly similar to the first one.
I stumbled up, struggling to balance. The floor was moving too quickly for my feet as I marched out of the hotel, determined to speak to her.
I knew deep down this was a huge fuck up, but my hazy mind told me otherwise. I was all heart right now. I had to try to make her understand what I’d done and why. If I had to give up my place to be with her, so be it. Now that she was in, I had nothing I was afraid to lose. I would happily step down if that meant having the love of my life in my arms forever.
I called Don Amato, who told me she felt sick again after the meeting and that he had seen her leave with Alison. If she was out of the hotel, Max would be tailing her, just as I had asked him to.
I struggled to fish my phone from my pocket, and thank fuck it recognized my drunk ass face and unlocked immediately. I called Max, hoping he’d stuck to his assignment so he could point me in the right direction.
“I’m coming, Baby,” I mumbled to myself as the phone rang.
“Boss?” Max answered right away.
“Are you with my wife?”
Something in my voice must have tipped him off because he ignored my question, replying with one of his, “Are you okay? You don’t sound normal.”
“I’m fine.” I lied, steadying myself against one of the glass windows on the hotel’s fa?ade. “I want her back, Maxy. Come get me.”
“Are you drunk?”
“Me? Never! But I’m still your boss, and I’m telling you to come bring me and get me to her. I mean, get me and, you know… the rest that I said. I’ll shoot you if you don’t.” I stumbled over the words.
“I don’t think they’ve invented Bluetooth bullets yet, but fine. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Just don’t talk to anyone.” He chuckled, and I made a mental note to scold him for the mockery as I looked at the screen to memorize who it was I needed to reprimand.
“What would I say?” I said into the phone, not bothering to place it back on my ear. “That I’m a dumb fucker who divorced his wife to make her a Mafia Queen? No one can blame me for telling the truth.”
“Sure. But they can arrest you, and we both know they’ll use your words against you.”
“What’s taking you so long?”
“It’s not even been a minute since you called. I’m on my way.”
Without another word, I hung up and let my body slide down the slick window, sitting on the sidewalk while waiting for my ride to arrive.
I wanted her back. I needed her back. FUCK NO! I was going to get her back.
How? Fuck knows!