Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Dante
Five hours later
In a plane, over British Airspace.
‘ B rother-in-law.’ I spoke the only title I was willing to bestow on him, with as much condemnation as I could muster. I deliberately made sure my English accent came over strongly, so he was in absolutely no doubt of who he was speaking to.
I knew he recognised me, even before he replied.
‘Giordano,’ he reciprocated. ‘What can I do for you?’ he continued sarcastically.
‘Some simple math,’ I answered, and at the same time I willed my body to remain calm. We’d lost so much to him and now years later, it was his turn to feel the pain.
‘Math?’ Salvatore questioned.
‘I have two sisters,’ I carried on, feeling sick at the thought of Mia, unconscious and scarred from the thoughtlessness of his younger brother Gabriel. And then there was my older sister who had been forced to marry the obnoxious bastard I was talking to.
‘You do.’ I could sense his interest had been awoken.
‘And right at this minute, both of them are at risk,’ I stated, feeling a burning bile rise to the back of my throat. I was so fucking sick of my family’s lives being controlled by his, but still the white-hot flame of resentment caught me by surprise.
‘They’re safe.’ His voice increased in volume at my accusation.
I couldn’t help the small laugh that left me.
‘Have you found him, then?’ I asked, already knowing the answer unless things had changed in the hour and a half we’d been in the air for.
‘No. Not yet,’ he admitted and I heard just how much he begrudged each word.
‘Exactly.’ I underlined his failings.
The silence between us on the line was deafening.
‘You have one sister,’ I carried on.
‘What are you getting at?’ Anger consumed his tone, and knowing I had the upper hand I closed my eyes and did my best to supress the smirk on my face before I twisted the knife in a bit further.
‘Is your sister safe?’ I questioned. Concentrating on keeping my joy to myself, I twisted the leather bracelets on my wrist around with the fingers from my other hand. Just as soon as I finished the question, I heard another phone in his car ringing out its distress.
Coraggioso.
I admired their bravery, knowing what they were about to admit to could well cost them their lives.
The previous four days had been a rollercoaster.
Somehow, I’d had to bury the anger. I’d needed to escape sharing the pain of my family’s downfall at the hands of the wanker on the other end of the phone. But I’d also recognised about four days before that the only way I was going to change my family’s fortune was to play the bastard at his own game.
The men who were speaking to Salvatore now on the phone in his car were explaining that, somehow, they’d lost Giovanna somewhere around Naples after being thwarted this morning by my right-hand man Marco, and I knew they’d be lucky to escape with their lives.
‘Why do you ask?’ Salvatore questioned me as calmly as possible and, reading between the lines, I knew without me saying another word he understood our situation. But if he could play, so would I, until the end.
‘How does it feel, Salvatore?’
‘Where is she?’ he demanded.
‘We’re on our way to England, I’m going to show her the sights.’ I laughed at my joke. ‘Your family all but ruined mine. Serafina only married you to save us and now my sweet baby sister has been harmed at the negligence of your brother… A sister for a sister.’
I knew my last comment would hit home.
‘It seems you are incapable of protecting any woman you care about.’ I twisted that knife in as deep as I could.
‘FUCK YOU, Giordano!’
‘I’ll keep Giovanna, until I’m satisfied my family is out of harm’s way.’
‘I’m beginning to wonder if your papa only produces “feccia” and “codardi” for sons,’ he hit back and the coward accusation struck home.
‘Arsehole!’
‘You should be here working with us to avenge your sister… I’ll find Enzo and I’ll deal with him, without your help. Then I’ll come after you. A coward shouldn’t be too hard to find.’
‘I’ll be waiting.’ I disconnected the call, dropped the phone from my hand and looked across at the woman who was just beginning to wake up.