Chapter 4
FOUR
Adriano
When I arrive at Gabriele's house I find him alone on the terrace. Sitting with a pile of paperwork on the table in front of him, he looks better than he has in years. Marriage suits him, or more to the point, Katya does.
Since the Russian bombshell came into his life, he's been less tense. The color has returned to his cheeks. He reminds me of the boy I grew up alongside. For a while after the attack, he treated everyone like an unwanted guest. We’re past that now.
I knew the first time I saw them together that Katya would be good for him. She's brought sunshine into his life. A force of nature, she won't let him get away with that shit where he tries to retreat from the world.
He stands as I approach and we embrace. We've always been close, ever since we were children.
Being the same age means we hit the same milestones together.
We attended the same classes at school, were inducted into the family business at the same time, got our driver's licenses within one month of each other.
We even celebrated our eighteenth birthdays jointly at a club Damiano owned.
I had a wild night. Gabriele looked as if he'd have preferred a quiet evening at home.
"You have her?" he asks.
Despite letting him down when I lost Eliza in Sydney, I told him I was heading to Scotland to pick her up.
"She's at my house."
He nods and looks out over the gardens, a muscle working in his jaw.
Despite how far his life has moved on, the thought of Eliza being a mere twenty kilometers away still affects him.
I don't know what that's like, to know the woman whose treachery had such terrible consequences.
I'm not squeamish but even I have trouble looking at Gabriele's face sometimes.
It's hard not to imagine being held down and cut like that.
I'm glad he's wearing an eye patch today.
"Is she okay?" His question is unexpected. Before I can answer, he shakes his head. "Never mind. I don't want to know."
He gestures for me to sit. As I grab a seat, his housekeeper, Maria, appears with coffee for Gabriele. She smiles when she sees me.
"Signore Adriano. May I fetch you a cup?"
"Please."
She nods and hurries off to get it. Gabriele waits until she's gone before he speaks again. Though his staff are thoroughly vetted by Gabriele's right-hand man, Lukas, and they know what will happen if they repeat anything they hear, Maria is fairly new. Trust needs to be built and that takes time.
"There's a new gang selling drugs in San Lorenzo." Gabriele gets straight to business. "They beat up the owner of Galaxy two nights ago."
Galaxy is one of our clubs, catering to the lower end of the market. Since it doesn't attract a wealthy clientele, we don't provide the same level of security there as we do at some of our other establishments. That makes it a soft target for wannabe mobsters trying to muscle into our territory.
"Do we know who they are?"
"Yeah. The leader is Massimo Vetti."
Vetti is a name I haven't heard for a long time. Frankly, I hoped to never hear it again. "One of Gianni's sons?"
"The eldest. It seems he wants to reclaim his father's territory."
I roll my neck, working out the tension that's threatening to develop. "You want me to help out with that?"
Though technically I report to Gabriele and we both answer to Damiano, we both tend to operate independently.
As long as we're all moving in the same direction and the Volante family coffers are being filled, Damiano doesn't interfere.
Those of us who share the boss's bloodline enjoy an elevated position within the organization but family ties don't save us if we fuck up.
My father's an example of that. He pissed Damiano off a few years ago by briefly losing control of the port. He was kicked out of the organization and told to consider himself lucky he wasn't being buried in landfill.
I bear no ill will toward Damiano for it. My father's an asshole and an incompetent one at that.
"Lukas has it under control." Gabriele smiles tightly as Maria appears with my espresso. She sets it down on the table in front of me and hurries away. "But ask your men to keep their ears to the ground. Vetti was a pain in the ass and I'm betting his son will be as bad."
Pain in the ass is an understatement. My instinct is to deal with Vetti junior decisively before he gets any bolder. But if Gabriele wants Lukas to take the lead on this I'll keep out of it. For now.
I pick up my coffee and smell the rich aroma before taking a sip.
"Anything else brewing?"
"Not here but the situation in Marseilles is getting worse. The Albanians blew up a warehouse in Fos-sur-Mer. Attracted a lot of unwanted attention."
"Fuck. What are we doing about it?"
"Since it affects us all, the consortium wants a coordinated response."
That makes sense. My family works with other mafia and bratva organizations on a number of joint projects. It's better for all of us if we're not constantly trying to kill each other. Of course it means collectively we have a lot of enemies but that's part of the fun.
"My brother wants you to be the point of contact on our end," Gabriele continues. "Moving forward he'd like you to take a bigger role in the family."
Up until now I've mainly worked independently, forging deals and kicking a percentage of the profits up to Damiano. He never seemed to mind.
"He's clipping my wings?" I ask.
Gabriele shakes his head. "He's bringing you into the fold. With Lorenzo focused on the vineyard, he wants you at the top table."
"Why not Benito? He's in Florence."
"Because you understand the business side of things. Benito's strengths lie elsewhere."
My half-brother has worked as an enforcer for the family since he came of age and he's damned good at it but he's not just a blunt instrument.
He's got a decent brain in his head when he's allowed to use it.
He's one of the few people in my family whose words can cut me to the bone. Benito sees things others don't.
"You might be surprised what else Benito can do."
"I admire you wanting to champion him, Adriano, but you know some of our men cling to tradition. They're not ready for Benito to take a leadership role."
What he's trying to say is that some of the older men won't take orders from a bastard. The mafia hasn't made it all the way into the twenty-first century yet, not as far as bloodlines and shit like that go. It pisses me off but arguing won't change it.
"Okay. I'll reach out to Timofey Lenkov and find out what's happening in Marseilles then."
"Good."
I sip my coffee and look out over the gardens.
There was nothing here a few months ago.
Now under Katya's influence there are flowers, plants and even a water feature.
She had saplings planted at the far end of the garden that will one day grow into an orchard.
If that's not a sign she's in this marriage for the long term, I don't know what is.
It looks good and I can't help wondering what it would be like if I let a woman loose in my house. Would it end up becoming more of a home than the museum it currently feels like thanks to my interior designer? I don't allow myself to imagine that the woman making my home more liveable is Eliza.
"How was Gio?" Gabriele asks, pivoting from business to personal matters.
"Good."
"I haven't seen him since he was thirteen, maybe. Remember that summer they all came over?"
"Vividly." Our American cousins are a lot to handle all at once. "He's happy."
Gabriele nods. "Married life will do that to you." He picks up his coffee cup, drains the contents and sets it down again. "It makes you see things differently."
"Like what?"
"Well, I look at Katya, the way her life could have gone and I realize our world isn't kind to women."
I shrug. "We've always known that."
Closing his eyes, he taps his finger on the arm of the chair. It's a habit he's had since we were boys, a sign he's mulling something over. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. He does this several times. Then he opens his eyes and looks at me, his mind made up.
"Killing women doesn't sit right with me," he says.
"Nobody's asking you to pull the trigger." At this point I'm not sure what would happen if he asked me to. I've never shied away from killing anyone, male or female, who deserved death. The trouble is, I don't yet know that Eliza has earned a bullet. My gut tells me she hasn't.
"No, but I don't like the idea of anyone hurting her."
"You still have feelings for her?" That would really fucking complicate matters.
Gabriele laughs sardonically. "I doubt I ever did."
"You told me you planned to marry her."
"Because she seemed to fit." He picks up his empty cup and runs his finger around the rim. "You know, I never even fucked her."
I don't know what to do with that information. "You didn't."
"No. I told her it was because I wanted my bride to be pure but that's bullshit. Katya wasn't a virgin and I didn't think twice about marrying her."
I rub the back of my neck.
"So what do you want me to do with Eliza? She's sitting in my house, Gabriele."
"I know. Perhaps you should have left her where she was."
I pin him with a glare. "I spent three years chasing this woman down, Gabriele. Are you telling me to send her away?"
He shakes his head. "No. She's still a problem. I can't have her running around knowing the things she does about us."
"Okay so what do you want me to do?"
"She needs to be contained."
"Contained?" I say flatly. Why does it sound as if I just landed myself a prisoner for life?
"Contained or dead are the only options that work. I don't want her dead."
"Okay, I understand."
Relief flashes across his face before he covers it. "So you'll deal with her?"
"Yes, cousin, I'll deal with her." How is something I'll need to figure out.
Every time I think I have a handle on her, I'm thrown off balance.
The memory of last night surfaces, the way she walked toward me, hoping she could seduce me into letting her go.
I think about the warmth of her pussy as I explored her with my fingers.
I banish the image. This is not the time. I'm not sure it ever will be.
"Perhaps she won't be your problem for long," Gabriele says.
That gives me pause. "Why's that?"
"I'm going to tell Katya about her. She might take matters into her own hands."
"You'll tell Katya?"
"I don't want secrets between us."
I feel a pang of envy at that. What would it be like to have a woman you wanted to conceal nothing from? Sharing every part of myself with someone seems terrifying but suddenly I wish I could. I file that away somewhere I won't examine it.
I get to my feet. Gabriele stands with me and we embrace once more. As he releases me, he looks me in the eye.
"I need to know why, Adriano."
"You want closure?"
"Closure?" Gabriele shakes his head. "You're a psychiatrist now?"
"Hell no. And if I was, yours is the last head I'd want to get into."
He laughs loudly, a sound I don't hear from him too often, then sobers. "I need to know why she did it, if she deserves the chance to live."
I nod and walk away, leaving my cousin on the terrace. What will happen if Gabriele doesn't like what Eliza has to say? Will he change his mind about killing her if she admits she gave him up for financial gain?
It isn't until I round the corner and move out of his sight that I let out a breath. Finding out her motivations could change everything or nothing. A part of me doesn't want to find out which. But I owe it to Gabriele to ask. Just not today.