4. Vincenzo
Vincenzo
I take a pull of the Dalmar in my glass as Nicolo stares into the half full cup of coffee on his desk. “Nicolo, there’s much to do tonight. Tell me what’s on your mind already.”
His eyes meet mine. “Why’d she run, again, Vincenzo?
Why did Anna run? We don’t hold women captive just because we want them, right?
We didn’t start that, right? It was to protect her, but now, everyone fucking knows she’s alive and if the Gallinis know she’s here, how long do you think it’s going to be until Massimo finds out and we’re at war with every family out there? ”
I start to say something, and he just keeps fucking talking. My jaw tightens, and the tension in my head is just getting stronger. Only for Nicolo after what we just went through with our mother, and in the woods, will I allow such disrespect.
“You can’t just keep a Cassone and make her marry you if she doesn’t want to wear your ring or take your name. You have to give her back to Massimo and her sister. He’s got his soldiers out burning the fucking city down looking for her, you know that, Vincenzo.”
“I do fucking know that, Nicolo. But the fact still remains that she’s safer here, and safer yet if she wears my fucking ring. I’m not letting those fucks get to her and if forcing her hand is the only way to keep her safe, then so fucking be it.”
He shakes his head. “Did you see her eyes when you said she was no longer going to be a Cassone but a DeLuca tomorrow? Tell me you didn’t see it?”
My blood heats with fury. “Did you see her eyes when that fuck had her captive, the terror of getting dragged right back into a life of brutality and abuse again? Do you know what that fuck did to her?”
He starts to say something, but I don’t give him a chance. “I’ve made up my mind. Tomorrow, officially, she’s going to be mine. Finito!”
Nicolo runs a hand through his hair, and his dark eyes meet mine.
“I’m sorry, Vincenzo. Maybe in all of this, I lost perspective on exactly what she went through with Barcelo and your feelings for Anna.
You saw the damage firsthand, and I’m sure that stayed with you both.
Whatever you need, Vincenzo. I’m in, but her reaction?
I just had to get the shit off my chest.”
It’s not like I didn’t see her reaction too.
She was running from me; danger be damned for a reason and I want to find out exactly why far more than Nicolo, but whatever the reason, it’s not going to keep me from protecting her from those fucks and it’s not just that she wanted to protect me and my family. That can’t be the only reason.
“You’re the best brother and underboss I could ever have and I hear what you’re saying and you’re not wrong.
We don’t traffic women, we don’t take and torture women like the other fucks out there, but I love her Nicolo, and I’m not letting her go.
This wedding, it’s not for profit or gain, it’s going to protect her, but the timing has to be fucking perfect for it to work.
It has to be tomorrow. We have a very small window of time. Trust me.”
His eyes narrow. “What aren’t you telling me, Vincenzo?”
“The rationale for keeping Massimo in the dark about Anna’s whereabouts was simply to keep her protected from the Gallinis.
If the Gallinis wanted her and all the rumors about her being promised to Barcelo by her father had been true, I didn’t want anyone to find her until we could get her out of the country. ”
Nicolo takes a sip of his coffee.
“The Gallinis and Sarones who captured Anna tonight, if one of them had made it out alive after they saw our faces we’d have to shift plans, but they didn’t Nicolo.
They’re fucking dead. Maybe they got radio messages out to Bastian that they captured her before we got there, but nothing to tie us to their death that I can tell, am I wrong? ”
He looks thoughtful. “You’re not wrong. So far,” he adds with smirk.
Fucking smartass younger brothers all three of them, but he’s the worst. “The way I see it the first place Bastian will go is to the Roselli’s and you told me yourself that Massimo moved Anna’s sister Sophia into the property on the ocean for better security.
“Massimo Roselli did not get to be the boss of Jersey City by being meek, mild, or not being able to assess a situation and get his troops in front of danger before it gets to him and his family. The way I see it, yes, Massimo is going to be pissed as hell when he finds out I’ve been holding Anna, and learns she wasn’t taken by the Gallinis from the car that night but at the end of the day he’s going to be grateful we’re keeping her safe, no matter how we chose to do it. ”
Nicolo squints. “You think?”
I take a draw of the Dalmar and put the glass of amber liquid back on the desk. “It’s a gamble I’m willing to take. Put yourself in their place. If it were Lanah?”
“The fuck. If someone took Lanah captive, we’d fucking burn this city down until we found and annihilated the bastards.”
“All of which the Rosellis have been doing, is that not right?”
“What am I missing here?”
So much that I can’t tell you yet brother, but soon, the entire family will know.
“If the Gallinis are watching and you know that they are, they already know that Massimo Roselli and his family are looking for Anna. After tomorrow, Bastian going to have every one of his soldiers watching the Rosellis like a hawk to see if they were the ones who swooped in and rescued Anna and more than likely form an attack.”
Nicolo’s tracking.
“So we have a very short window of time to make Anna mine, make sure Mom is okay and that Lanah has what she needs. The minute Anna is mine, says I do and has a ring on her finger and a document that says she’s legally mine, then I make a call to Massimo.”
“We have a meet set up.”
I shake my head. “No, after we say I do, he needs to know the Gallinis are coming for him to find Anna or at least who they think took her.
“While they’re busy with that, we’ll be working to ensure when they head our way, that they don’t have a fucking play. Capiche?”
Nicolo takes another drink from his coffee, mulling around what I’ve said. “Yeah, basically either way, we’re heading into a multi-family war.”
I nod. “It was always coming, Nicolo. You knew that. We all did, it was just a matter of time, but this, it puts the Rosellis and the DeLucas in alignment rather than at odds.