Chapter 6 #2
Unlike with most of my opponents, her fear doesn’t please me. But I will use it against her anyway. I have to.
“Then you know how ruthless he is,” I press, watching her carefully for any hint of emotion. “And that he wants to become don of the Revello family.”
“My father is the don, and Amedeo isn’t next in line.”
Her brother, Leo, would have been. But Leo’s dead.
“I know that, and you know that. Amedeo knows that too. But he doesn’t respect it. In your brother’s place, Tomasso has been looking to crown your cousin Francesco.”
“Squeaky?” She looks genuinely surprised.
I’ve put out some feelers where she’s concerned. And it’s looking like what my informants have told me is correct. She really has been out of the game these last five years, on the other side of the country, immersing herself in her degrees.
For a second, I feel a twinge of something that feels a whole lot like envy jolt through me at the idea of being able to escape this world. But then as quickly as it hits me, it’s gone. Pointless too.
I nod. “Tomasso wanted Squeaky to become the new don, and soon. Amedeo caught wind of the plan and has been working hard to start something. He’s planning to have your father and Squeaky killed.”
“What? I don’t believe it. Amedeo is heartless and vile, but he always had nothing but respect for my father. He would never try to kill him. It can’t be true.”
“He’s already tried. Fortunately, we have some moles in the Revello ranks. We knew what was happening before it went down, and when the car your father and Squeaky were meant to take blew up last week, we had them miles away, safe.”
She’s gone pale now, her bravado flagging as she hugs herself. “Amedeo tried to bomb my father’s car? I don’t understand. Why would my father appoint Squeaky now?”
I hesitate, not wanting to be the bearer of bad news, and then I mentally kick my own ass for such ridiculous weakness where she’s concerned.
“Daddy Dearest told you he’s got cancer, right?” I keep my voice cold and unaffected. “Started out in his lungs, and it’s spread. The prognosis isn’t good. He needed to make a move for the future of the family. Unfortunately for him, it’s one Amedeo doesn’t like.”
“I… So, he does have cancer, then? My father, I mean. He told me. It was my reason for coming back here. But I wasn’t sure after what happened…”
Ah, so that was how Tomasso had lured her.
“He’s got cancer,” I confirm. “He’s been fighting it for a while now.”
“How long? Do you know?” Her gaze drops, her cracked lower lip trembling. “He never said anything. I…we haven’t kept in touch much. I’ve been so busy.”
I’m seeing a part of her she’s kept hidden until now. It’s like the walls she erected around herself have lowered, and suddenly, I’m in. I seize the advantage.
“I don’t think he ever wanted anyone to know. The stubborn bastard thought he’d fight it and win. But that’s changed.”
She’s still hugging herself, looking disheveled and alone, tears welling in her eyes. The angry, shoe-wielding wild woman has been tamed. And all because of sadness over her undeserving prick of a father.
“This is where we come in,” I add. “The Andrianis and the Revellos unite, and together, we’re stronger than Amedeo.
We keep him in his place, and we keep the Irish, the Bratva, and the other families in theirs too.
There’s only one way to do it, and if we don’t, Amedeo’s going to kill not just your father, but you too.
He can’t afford to leave any stone unturned in a coup. ”
Her eyes go wide. “Me? But that’s ridiculous. I don’t even live here. I don’t want to be a part of this fucked-up crime world.”
If I had a heart, I’d feel bad for her.
But I don’t.
“That’s the thing about the Mafia, sweetheart,” I tell her.
“We don’t get to choose whether we want to be a part of it.
We’re born into it, and we die in it, and there’s not a thing any one of us can do to change that.
You don’t walk away. Because if you do, the minute your back is turned, there’ll be a bullet in it. ”
I’m being harsh but honest. Luna needs to hear this. Needs to let the truth sink in. Needs to understand that there’s only one way to save herself and whatever time her father has left, and that’s by marrying me.
I lick the blood off my lips. “I’m starving. Dinner will be served in ten minutes.”
She stares at me like she’s seeing me for the first time. “I’m not having dinner with you.”
Her rejection shouldn’t sting, but it does. Fair enough. This is a lot for anyone to process in the span of one day.
I shrug. “Suit yourself. But if you don’t come out to eat, you’ll go to sleep hungry. And you might want to eat up because tomorrow’s a big day.”
Her brow wrinkles. “Tomorrow?”
I grin. “Our wedding day, topolina .”
With that parting shot, I turn and head out the door, closing it behind me just in time. I hear the thud of a shoe clattering against the panel, but I leave it deliberately unlocked. The scent of homemade lasagna is in the air, and I have a feeling the future Mrs. Andriani won’t be able to resist.