Chapter 14
MARCO
I have a hard time facing Armani the next morning.
Make me.
My own brother is threatening what’s mine.
How am I supposed to ignore that? I know how I’d like to react, but violence won’t get us anywhere.
Besides, Armani has the whole secret-spy-assassin thing going on and I could come at him a hundred ways and he’d get the better of me every time…
and years of childhood head noogies have left me with enough PTSD to avoid sparring with my older brothers unless absolutely necessary.
On top of that, I don’t need to defend my wife’s honor as much as I need to prove once and for all that she’s not a spy.
Do I think Karina has been completely truthful with me?
No. I’m sure there’s information she’s withheld either on purpose, for her own reasons, or else by unintentional omission.
But I still don’t believe she’s a Bruno plant who used her feminine wiles to worm her way into my life just so she could spy on my family.
I believe in her, and I need to prove to the rest of my family that they can believe in her, too.
We’re gathered around the breakfast table, and for once, every member of the household is accounted for—Dante and Frankie, Armani, Karina, and myself.
But no one is speaking. The baked eggs and rustic toast and sausage have been set out and the dishes sit there steaming, but no one makes a move to take a bite.
My insides are in knots, making my coffee sit like lead in my stomach.
I wish somebody would break this silence.
Armani sits there stone-faced. Karina is quiet at my side, nervously twisting the cloth napkin in her lap.
And Dante must have told Frankie where we went yesterday, because her eyes are puffy and red and she didn’t bother changing out of her pajamas this morning, which isn’t like her. As for me? I feel like shit.
I ended up sleeping in my office last night, not ready to face Karina with figurative, if not literal, blood on my hands.
Even though I took an egregiously long, hot shower and scrubbed my entire body down multiple times, I couldn’t get the feel of what I’d seen up at the cabin to fade.
I don’t know how Armani does it, nor how he manages to look so cool and put together this morning.
He’s reading the paper like nothing’s happened.
Like we didn’t just kill a guy and burn a house to the ground.
At the other end of the long table, Dante speaks quietly to Frankie.
I can’t hear what he’s saying, but she’s dabbing tears away with her napkin.
My heart tugs to see her so miserable. Dante wanted to keep her out of this.
But there’s no way she can avoid the discussion this entire family needs to have.
If only Armani would get his face out of the fucking paper.
“So. I think we all know that we have a lot to discuss.” I sip from my coffee and immediately regret it. “Armani, can the paper wait?”
“It can,” he says blandly, folding it in half and setting it aside.
His gaze darts to Karina. She’s not paying attention, but she stiffens a little as if she feels him looking at her. Sliding my chair closer to hers, I level off my brother’s attention.
“Well? What’s the move now?” I ask. Turning to Karina, I quietly add, “We visited the cabin yesterday. We didn’t find anything. Essentially, we’re back at square one.”
Her face pales. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t even sure that place was relevant, I just…”
“It’s not on you,” I tell her gently, then look back at Armani, gesturing for him to speak.
Pushing his chair back to give himself room to talk with his hands, per usual, Armani announces, “Our war with the Brunos has no end in sight. One of their properties burned to the ground last night, and law enforcement at the scene uncovered multiple bodies in the debris.”
Karina audibly gasps, but Frankie’s face is still. She’s heard news like this before.
“There is now an ongoing investigation,” Armani continues, “and certain Bruno associates have been taken into custody for questioning. I won’t sugarcoat it: Things are only going to escalate from here. They could strike back at any moment, and we have to be ready.”
Dante clears his throat. “As the head of this family, I’ll be reaching out to the other families immediately in order to ensure their loyalty.
Any protection they choose to offer will be accepted with open arms, but there will be no personnel on Bellanti grounds that isn’t already one of ours.
A lesson we learned the hard way when Frankie and Charlie were taken last year. ”
Armani nods. “Good. Make the calls. If the Brunos get to the other families first, they’ll spin this whole thing in their favor.
Make us out to be the bad guys, like we’re on a mission to take over and won’t stop until we’ve destroyed each family one by one.
We can’t risk the Brunos forming any alliances against us.
Everyone needs to know that this war is between us and the Brunos, and that’s it. ”
Dante leans back in his chair. “Consider it done.”
“There’s one big flaw in this plan, though.
” Armani narrows his eyes at Karina. “How do we convince them that we’re only dancing with the Brunos when we stole one of their women?
It sets the precedent that we’re not above taking whatever we want.
Maybe a daughter from one of the other families is next, eh? That’s how others may view this.”
“But Marco didn’t ‘steal’ me,” Karina interrupts.
Her voice sends a jolt through me.
Armani spreads his hands. “The Brunos said that he did. That’s the story they’ve spun.
The Bellantis, so desperate for revenge, kidnapped their precious pawn before she could be married off to form an alliance with a goddamn king of the criminal sector.
Didn’t you know? Your fiancé Pietro had his claws in all sorts of shit that your uncle wanted in on, but us big, bad Bellantis kidnapped the pretty virgin and robbed them of their prize. ”
“Excuse me.” Karina’s spine straightens, color flushing her cheeks. “I don’t appreciate the way you’re speaking about me.”
Silence ripples through the room. Everyone looks at Karina, but I don’t think anyone is as shocked as she is. My brother eyes her with straight impassivity, but she doesn’t back down.
“My apologies.” Armani sips his coffee and then goes on, without a single ounce of apology in his expression.
“Let’s refocus. In order to keep the mob’s trust and have their sympathies on our side, you and my brother need to present a show of love.
Give every indication that you’re crazy about each other, can’t live without the other, wall-to-wall PDA, all that bull.
If you display anything less than complete and utter infatuation, we risk being compromised. Is that clear?”
Karina looks at me. I look away.
“It’s the only way we’re going to secure allies,” Armani presses. “Everybody loves a good Romeo and Juliet story. Especially Italians.”
“Understood,” Karina grinds out, like it’s the worst possible punishment imaginable.
Dammit, I understand, too, but this is going to make it extremely difficult for me to keep my emotions compartmentalized. I want nothing more than to hold her at arm’s length, yet now I have to hold her in my arms and pretend like I love her. When, ironically, I already do.
“Who’s to say they aren’t?” Frankie pipes up, her voice laced with pure challenge. She looks at me expectantly as if I’m supposed to address her question.
“Aren’t what?” I ask, pretending like I don’t know exactly what she’s talking about.
“Crazy about each other. Armani doesn’t have to make it sound like such a chore,” Frankie points out. “I mean, you’re newlyweds after all.”
Karina looks down, probably recalling how recently I threatened to run off with Jessica and then proceeded to do just that. I haven’t shown my wife an ounce of real affection in days, and if I had my way, I sure as hell wouldn’t start now. It’s too risky.
The problem is, it’s now my mission.
“Irrelevant,” Armani says to Frankie. “All I care about is how the other families perceive the relationship.” Looking back at me, he says, “Love each other, hate each other, I couldn’t give a shit. Just play nice. And one last thing. We didn’t talk about the safehouse yet.”
Dante and Frankie exchange a glance. Unease plays through my mind. This is the first I’m hearing about this safehouse.
“Which one?” I ask. I don’t even know how many we have at this point. Four? Ten?
“The one in west Texas that we’ve been meaning to sell when the real estate market bounces back down there,” Dante says.
Armani nods. “It’s been years since we’ve used it, but I made a few calls and arranged for it to be stocked and fortified right away. It’s off the grid, unknown to anyone but our family, and ready for any of us that needs a place to lay low in a hurry. Keep it in mind.”
“And…where is this place, exactly?” Karina asks.
The corner of Armani’s mouth twitches at Karina’s question.
“Only family knows—but I suppose you’re technically family now, so.” He takes out his cell phone and a moment later, Karina’s phone buzzes under the table. “That’s a link to a dropped pin on a map, and the GPS coordinates.”
She doesn’t look at her phone, only nods.
Just then, Dante’s phone rings. He looks at the screen and swears. “I have to take this.”
Karina jumps to her feet and goes around to the other side of the table. “I can help Frankie. You go ahead, Dante.”
My brother looks at his wife for her approval, then excuses himself when she nods. Karina takes Frankie’s arm and helps her out of her chair, leading her out of the room. I wait for the sound of their footsteps to recede before turning on my brother.
“Fucking tell me what your attitude is all about? What’s going on with you?”
“Your wife, that’s what.”
“Dammit, Armani.”
His chair topples back as he jumps to his feet and leans across the dishes of cold breakfast food on the table to glare at me.
“Do you understand that the baby Frankie is carrying right now is the only hope this family has? This child is our chance for a fresh start, our chance to make sure the Bellanti name means something good in the future. She’s innocent, Marco.
And I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure she gets the family and the future she deserves. ”
You could hear a pin drop between us. Or a tear, because I’m close to letting one fall.
I hear what he’s saying but I really, really hear what he’s not.
Frankie’s baby is going to have the loving family, and the peaceful future, that the rest of us Bellanti boys never had.
Thank God our father isn’t here to influence the child, but that doesn’t take the risk away.
If we don’t clean up this mess with the Brunos, Dante and Frankie’s kid—all of our kids, should the rest of us ever have any—will be permanently stained.
Just like we are.
Blinking rapidly, I step away from the table and turn my back. Jesus. I can’t believe Armani just wrecked me by saying the most unexpected thing.
Clearing my throat, I run a hand over my mouth. “I get what you’re saying, but Karina isn’t the enemy here. I wish you’d see that.”
“I guess we’ll find that out soon enough, won’t we?”
I look at him then, but his expression isn’t any less cold.
“Yeah, I guess we will.”