Chapter 21
Lucy
Acold wind slices through my black coat as Damiano and I stand hand in hand before the open grave. Dad’s casket is being lowered into the earth while the same priest who performed my abandoned wedding ceremony drones on somberly.
Across the grave from me and Damiano, Mom is statuesque in a black blazer and narrow dress, with a black hat atop her sleek hair.
She dabs a tissue at the corner of her eye, clutched in a gloved hand.
Ariana is by her side, and our extended family is clustered around them both.
Various aunts and cousins glare balefully at us.
Mom made it clear that Damiano and I are not welcome on that side of the grave with them.
She’s been telling everyone that Dad’s death is all our fault, and since they all witnessed Andreas’s murder and me kissing my “brother,” they have no reason not to believe her.
I don’t know if Dad ever saw a doctor about his heart problems, or if he was afraid of a diagnosis. Don Carlucci Barone shunned any hint of weakness and imperfection.
Whether he did or not, it’s too late now.
All that’s left to do is decide who is going to lead the family now.
I’ve noticed several of Dad’s capos sizing each other up, as though they’re wondering how soon is too soon to make a play for power.
Damiano is watching them all closely with a hard expression in his eyes.
They’re scheming for something that belongs to him. I wonder if more blood will be spilled.
We each toss a handful of dirt onto Dad’s casket, and I feel hollow as we turn and walk away from the grave. I don’t want or need to shed a tear for the man who ignored me for most of my life, and who was happy to marry me off to a man like Andreas Montoni.
There’s a wake at Dad’s favorite restaurant, but an invitation wasn’t extended to us. Damiano and I decide not to impose our presence.
I stand at the open car door and watch as the gathering at the graveside slowly breaks up. “Dad’s will is being read tomorrow. If by some strange twist of fate we’re left with nothing…” I trail off.
Damiano takes my chin in his hand and raises it gently. “If we’re left with nothing, we’ll still have each other, and we will build a new life together.”
He says the words easily, and there’s no worry behind them.
“You don’t think you’ll be disinherited?
” I ask, and he shakes his head. I suppose it is unlikely that Dad would have changed his will when he caught Damiano and me together in the bathroom, because he seemed to place all the blame for that incident on me.
“In that case, Mom, Ariana, and I will be left with almost nothing, while the house and all the money are bequeathed to you.”
“I will never begrudge you anything,” Damiano reminds me.
“You or Ariana. She can break off her engagement to Don Cristiano if she wishes, and you can go to college, or start a business, or learn three languages. Your life is yours.” He dips his head closer to me, and his lips are very close. “As long as you’re still mine.”
I play with his tie and gaze up at him through my lashes. “You know what I really want.”
His smile widens. “Yes, I do.”
“Will you give it to me?”
“If everything goes as planned tomorrow, I’ll give you the whole fucking world.”
As we walk to Damiano’s car, his two closest soldiers join us. Antonio’s arm seems to have healed well. He’s probably wearing a bandage beneath his suit, but his arm and fingers are mobile.
“Are you two waiting to see what happens tomorrow before you abandon me?” Damiano asks, his voice light.
“We’ll never abandon you, Damiano,” Antonio tells him.
“And if I have to fight for what’s mine, or someone starts a war to overthrow me?”
Giovanni’s expression is deadly serious. “Then we’ll fight with you and do what we can to convince our fathers to join the winning side. They respect loyalty to blood, and you are Don Carlucci’s blood.”
“I respect your loyalty to me and Lucy. It won’t be forgotten.”
“And the Sokolis?” I ask quietly. “Have there been any…repercussions from the wedding?”
Antonio and Giovanni exchange glances.
Giovanni’s expression darkens. “They’ve gone quiet. Too quiet. We’ve had our ears to the ground, but there’s been no retaliation. Nothing.”
“That’s what worries me,” Antonio adds. “After what Lucy exposed, they should be screaming for blood.”
Damiano’s hand tightens on mine. “They’re planning something.”
“Probably,” Giovanni agrees. “Gerardo has men watching the Sokoli territories. If they make a move, we’ll know.”
“We’ll deal with them when we need to,” Damiano says firmly, squeezing my hand. “For now, let’s focus on securing what’s ours.”
Antonio glances curiously at the man I once called my brother. “There’s a rumor going around that you two are not actually related. It’s true, isn’t it?”
Damiano smiles at Antonio, saying nothing.
“It has to be true,” Giovanni says. “What I don’t understand is why you’re not confirming it one way or another, Damiano.”
“It’s simple. Lucy and I don’t owe anything to anyone.”
Antonio gives him a shrewd look. “It probably doesn’t hurt our enemies to believe that Damiano Barone is borderline crazy, and your mom sure looks pissed off about the whole situation.”
He lets Antonio and Giovanni speculate about this, until Giovanni changes the subject by saying, “I heard a rumor that the Lucania don might be having a family reunion.”
Damiano turns to him in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“Rafiel is being sent to prison,” Antonio replies.
“You’re kidding,” I exclaim. “Both Rafiel and Gabriel in prison. The Lucanias can’t catch a break.
Damiano gazes across the graveyard, lost in thought. “I’m sorry for Rafiel. I’ll reach out to him to see if there’s anything I can do.”
The following morning, we sit in Dad’s lawyer’s office beside Mom and Ariana for the reading of the will, though their chairs are discreetly drawn apart from ours.
We’re all dressed in mourning black, and a somber mood hangs in the air.
Mom’s hands are clenched in her lap, and her knuckles are white.
She refuses to look at us, let alone speak to us.
As the lawyer reads the will, her hands start to tremble.
Everything goes to Damiano.
Everything.
The house. The money. The various properties.
The investments. Damiano is the head of the Barones, both the domestic family and by implication the crime family.
He has all the assets and authority necessary to wield power in Malus, though whether Don Carlucci’s capos will be loyal to his son or start a turf war remains to be seen.
Despite being a loyal wife to Don Carlucci for decades and raising his children, all Mom’s left to show for it is a handful of jewelry that he gave her over the years and some personal effects.
There are provisions for her, and for his daughters, but they pale in comparison to the riches that have been heaped upon Damiano.
Mom is given an allowance, and she’s permitted to reside in the family home, which is now Damiano’s home, until her death.
Ariana and I are provided with an allowance until we’re married, but it’s cut off as soon as we turn twenty-five.
I suppose if we were still unmarried at twenty-five, Dad believed it would be an incentive for us to accept the next eligible man out of sheer desperation.
Mom kept a pretty smile on her face, her mouth shut, and her eyes turned away from Dad’s business dealings for all those years, for the sake of a few scraps at the end. If I were her, I’d be furious.
Mom turns narrowed, sparking eyes on Damiano.
She is furious.
But not with Dad.
“Mr. Rosso. Leave us for a moment.”
The man gets up out of his chair and leaves quickly, no doubt grateful to close the door behind him on the tension in this room.
“Congratulations,” Mom seethes when we’re alone, spittle flying from her lips. “You got away with it, both of you. If he’d lived just one more day, you would be disinherited, or better yet, dead.”
I think of Dad’s final words to Damiano in the ICU. How he acknowledged that I’d saved the family. How he told Damiano to protect me. How he gave his blessing, in his own way.
Mom has no idea. She thinks Dad died hating us.
Damiano gazes calmly at Mom, his long legs crossed, and his arm draped possessively across the back of my chair. “I won’t challenge your right to live in my house, but you will treat Lucy with respect. She’s the lady of the Barone estate now.”
Mom grips the arms of her chair. “How dare you, Damiano. I’m the lady of the Barone estate, and I always will be.
” She takes several short, angry breaths.
“This is what’s going to happen. At Ariana’s engagement dinner, in front of all the prominent people in Malus, you are going to give a brief speech and tell everyone that you and Lucy are not related.
Then you may announce your engagement, if you must. Lucy will not attend Ariana’s wedding.
Damiano, you will give your sister away to Cristiano.
The two of you may marry in a discreet, private ceremony much later in the year.
” Mom pauses for a furious moment, and continues icily.
“I need not point out that if your father were still alive and the head of this family, you would be facing deadly consequences for what you have done to this family. You had better be grateful for my concessions to your disgusting behavior. You may not be brother and sister by blood, but you have lived as brother and sister for half your lives.”
Damiano is lounging in his chair, perfectly at ease. He replies with a single word. “No.”
Mom’s face goes from pale to red. “What did you say to me?”