Chapter 36
Chapter thirty-six
Francesca Lenore Marconi
Sorrow for the lost Lenore…
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore…
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore”
The stanzas swirl in my brain, as I look down at the black and white picture of the beautiful blonde Sicilian. My hands tremble.
Born: August 31, 1960 in Palermo, Sicily.
Died: October 9, 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.
This was the woman my father loved.
This was the woman he slaughtered a whole family for.
This was the woman who carried a sibling that I would never get to meet.
“Cipi?” Dominic steps closer to me and puts his arm around my shoulders.
I don’t know how to feel. I don’t know what to think.
Skimming the description, the words blur before my eyes.
My Dad met my mom years later in 1987. They married a year later, and I was born a year after that.
Then Gigi was born twelve years later. I was only six years old when the whole Marconi family had been murdered and I didn’t even know it.
My father had been married with a child, yet still felt the need to avenge the woman he’d lost seventeen years ago.
Now twenty years later I’m paying the price for his decision.
I don’t know how I feel about that.
“I need to go,” I mutter. “I need to go question Elio and talk to Gigi. She’s going to be mad at me for ruining her date.”
“I’ll come with you. We can take my car.”
“No,” I cut him off. My voice is sharper than I meant it to be.
A surprised look crosses his face. “What?”
“I think it’s better if I handle this alone. You’ve done good work Dominic, thank you. You should take the night off. I got it from here.” I move to brush past him, but he grabs my arms and stops me.
“What’s really going on, Cipi? I feel like you’re hiding something from me?” His eyes search my face but I don’t meet his gaze.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea if you’re on the case anymore. I was wrong for asking you to do this.” I stare at the floor. From the corner of my eye, I watch disbelief flicker across his face.
His grip on my arms tightens.
“What are you talking about, Cipi?”
“You kept your end of the deal. I won’t say anything about your brother.” I move forward but he blocks me again.
“I haven’t kept my end of the deal because we haven’t found the killer. What are you blabbing about Cipi?”
“You heard what I said Dominic.” I can’t look at him.
“I don’t give a crap about our deal. This is getting dangerous and I’m not stepping back. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I’m a boss. I know what I have to do.” I step out of his grasp.
“That’s not what I’m saying. You brought me into this, Cipi. You don’t get to cut me loose. I need to finish this out,” he protests.
“This isn’t your battle, Dominic. Right now no one is taking me seriously. Everything that I’ve built is slipping through my hands.”
“That’s not true, Cipi.”
“Yes. It is. Right now my whole family is questioning everything I do. They’re upset that I haven’t found the killer yet. They think I’m too busy fucking my ex.” I shove my hands in the pocket of my coat.
Dominic scowls. “Fuck what they think. This is why you want me off the case?”
“It’s not that. I brought you in because I thought it would work, but it’s not working. Now you're questioning every damn decision I make. I need people who are just going to do what I say.”
“I’m not questioning you,” he steps closer. “I’m trying to protect you because I care about you.”
“You don’t understand Dom.” I take a shaky breath. “If the killer can’t get to me. They may come after you next. It’s a known fact that when you want to weaken the enemy you go after what they love the most.”
Dominic grabs me and pins me against the wall. One hand palms the wall near my head while the other one grips my face tight so I’m forced to look at him.
“You love me?” His lips are inches from mine.
“Yes. I never stopped,” I whisper.
He kisses me.
“I don’t care about all that. I’ve faced danger countless times. You’re the one who's important to me. You’re the one I’m worried about. I know it’s you they want, not me.” Dominic declares.
“I can’t do this right now,” I whisper.
“Stop acting like you’re bulletproof, Cipi. You’re a strong independent woman but everyone needs someone to lean on and have their back. I have your back. Don’t push me away.”
“It’s for your own good.” I brush past him and into the foyer, grabbing my keys on the table.
His jaw tightens. “Yeah right. It’s fine. Run away like you always do when things get too much to handle. That’s why being the head of the family works so well for you because it gives you an excuse and allows you to hide your emotions.”
I whirl around. “You’re the one who chose to leave.”
“Again with this shit. I thought we were past this Cipi. That choice I made was stupid. I regret it every day of my life.” He takes a deep breath.
“It’s obvious that I’m not a fan of the lifestyle you lead, but that had a lot to do with my brother and cousin.
I shouldn’t have taken my feelings out on you.
You don’t know how many times after our breakup that I thought about you.
I kept tabs on you just to make sure you were alright. ”
I open the door and step out onto the porch.
“I thought about you too and I never stopped loving you. But the reality is that once we find out who the killer is we’re going to go back to our normal lives.
I’m going to continue being the boss and you’re going back to working for your company that investigates people like me.
It would never work, so we might as well just end things now before we break each other’s hearts again.
I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to you. ”
“It doesn’t have to be like this, Cipi, we can make this work.” Dominic follows me, closing the door.
I ignore him and walk down the steps to my car. “I have to go find Gigi and make sure she is okay. Then I’m going to torture Elio until he confesses to whatever he’s doing with Valerio.”
I yank the door open and drop into the seat. I push the start button.
A loud noise punches through the air like an explosion.
The deafening roar booms against my eardrums.
My body jolts.
My head slams hard into the back of the seat.
Glass flies past me.
Heat sears my skin.
Dazed, I look through the cracked windshield and see flames licking my hood as it crumples.
Fire swallows the engine block.
“Cipi!” Dominic’s voice sounds far away.
Strong hands grab me and pull me out of the car.
Dominic takes me into his arms and carries me to shelter at the side of the house.
Boom!
A second blast blows the car apart. The doors fly open, glass scatters everywhere, and smoke fills the air.
Fire rips through the car like an angry beast swallowing every bit of metal.
Dominic lowers me to a standing position and holds me tight.
I feel the world around me starting to blur.
This is the second time I’ve escaped death.