41. Little chat with my brother
CORRADO
41
Drago disappears while Michela retreats into the bedroom. I wait a few more hours for Severio to wake up and receive Drago’s incident report, which will prompt him to call me while he’s still running on the treadmill. He won’t wait until he gets into the office because he knows if he waits, I’ll make a move he might not like.
If there’s anything Severio loves more than me and my sister, our money and our Order, it’s power and control. When situations like this one threaten to tip the power in my favor, Severio’s feathers are ruffled.
Usually, I give in to his demands because I don’t care enough to disrupt our family dynamics. This is different. He almost killed my wife. Fake wife or real, he crossed the line when he didn’t tell me about the trigger he put in her phone.
When Severio and I come to a crossroads, the resulting clash is a threat to the harmony of our kingdom, never more so than now. While I’d probably react the same way if he shacked up with a bird nobody knew anything about, that’s neither here nor there right now.
What’s important is that my brother and I come to an agreement about how to best handle the recent problems and which people we need to deploy or eliminate to restore stability. Order members dislike shake-ups, and even though they happen every year when we distribute severance packages to the underperforming families, under normal circumstances, the rest of the members remain in the dark about what’s happening. If not in the dark, they remain unaffected.
Business as usual.
My wife’s face plastered all over the news is certainly not usual.
The red serpent slithers across my telephone screen before the screen turns red and the ring tone starts to blare. He’s calling on an emergency line, so this conversation is going to be as fun as I anticipated.
I decant a whiskey and sip it neat before sitting on the couch and turning off the TV. The red serpent slithers over the screen again, this time around a flashing bright red light. Taking my sweet time, I grab a stack of hardbacks from under the living room table. I place them on the glass and lean the phone against them.
Only then do I answer his call.
Severio’s hair is pulled back and away from his face, which gives me a clear view of his stormy blue eyes.
“Corrado,” he says calmly, even though I know he’s anything but. My brother waits for no one.
I smirk. “Severio.”
He whips the towel from behind his neck and smacks it on the treadmill. “You’re lucky I’m not around or I would slap the smirk off your face.”
That took all of five seconds. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Severio grinds his teeth.
Messing with my brother amuses me. Because he’s older and he taught me just about everything, I know he still thinks I’ll fall in line for him. He can lead when I allow him to lead me. This isn’t one of those times.
“I’m only smirking because I’m trying to think of how I’ll retaliate for you putting out a hit on my wife.”
“There was no hit. It was a precaution.”
“Still, she could’ve died, and I wouldn’t have taken it well.”
“Why not?”
“Reasons.”
“This is not the time for jokes or whatever midlife crisis you’re going through. Her picture is plastered all over the American news stations, and people we’re dealing with speculate Benvenuti Sr. lost his eyes for appreciating your wife’s tits.”
“They are right.”
“And his son?”
“What’s the word on the street?” I ask.
“That he’s dead.”
I nod in confirmation.
Severio’s eyes widen. “You were there?”
I nod again.
Severio slides off the treadmill and takes a moment to catch his breath. “I trust you were careful.”
“I was, and Drago went back and cleaned up whatever he thought should be cleaned.”
“And what was there to clean up?”
“A thumb.” I threw Dom’s body part out the window, and Drago wanted to keep it just in case someone could lift something off it, so he went back and collected it from the friendly forensics team already working the crime scene.
Severio wipes his face and sits on the bench.
Since I’m on his big screen in the workout room, he can move around and get business done while also working out. My brother is one of the most efficient and hardworking people I know. I’d like to think great work ethics run in our family.
“If you don’t want the girl dead, and you’ve killed for her, given her lives of a few Order members who were on her security team, then I presume you will bring her into the Order.”
“She isn’t meant for this life.”
“Is she stupid or naive?”
I crack my neck and take a sip of my drink.
Severio smirks as he picks up a dumbbell.
“She’s kind. Wants to help everyone. People would take advantage of her and use her to penetrate the family.”
“A risk, then.”
I nod.
“What do you plan to do with her?”
“You let me worry about Michela.”
“See, I can’t do that because she’s become our problem.”
“Our problem is the Benvenuti family cleanup and how we’ll keep the other families from thinking we’re after them all.”
“You have a plan, I take it?”
“Mmhm. Michela’s brother runs the largest biker brotherhood in the country.”
Severio switches the weight into his left hand. “Go on.”
“He’s already set men in motion looking for his sister, and when he doesn’t find her, there will be hell to pay. Any Benvenutis loyal to Dom will face the music.”
“How can you be sure he’ll go that far?”
“She’s his twin.”
Severio pauses and nods. “Okay. He’ll take care of the Benvenutis and it won’t look like we had anything to do with it.”
“Exactly.”
“That leaves us with the girl.”
“As I said, I’ll worry about her.”
“What if the brother’s men find her?”
“We’re in Drago’s safe house. No way they can find us here.”
“Unless she gets ahold of them. Or him.”
“Her phone has one line directly to me and nobody else.”
“She has access to your phone when you sleep.”
“What makes you think I’m sleeping with her?”
“She looks like a bloody angel.”
I sip my whiskey, noting that my bother thinks Michela is beautiful. It bothers me more than it should. Severio would never take anything of mine, but I can’t help feeling like he shouldn’t comment on her beauty.
My brother drops the weight and smiles. “What’s the matter, little brother?”
My middle finger twitches. “Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?”
He changes spots and wipes his face again. I check the clock. He’s scheduled to remain in the workout room for at least another fifteen minutes, but it doesn’t look like he’ll exercise more.
“Thing is, Corrado, there’s heat on her now, and she’ll need to either disappear or face the federal agencies. In the latter case, she’ll sing.”
“She won’t say anything.”
“Birds sing, brother. It’s what they do, and it’s why we stay away from them. And if we like them, we vet them. You could bring her to the island.”
“You’ve thought about bringing her to the island?” He’s been baiting me, and I’m biting down hard.
Severio chuckles. “You married because you thought she would be an asset. Fine. As an asset, she’s served her purpose. Now she’s a liability. Let me take care of her.”
“No.”
“Then bring her in.”
“She won’t come. She won’t leave New York. Besides, I don’t want her on the island with the others. Members of the Order have partners who know nothing about us. I don’t have to bring her in or do anything with her besides keep her safe. I owe her that much.”
“You’ll have to do better than that. You must be ready. This is what I’ll do. I’ll find out what the feds are gearing up to offer her for singing, and I’ll make her a better offer while you leave the country and let her brother take care of the nasty business.”
“Her mother is in rehab, and her brother is in prison. She won’t leave.” I barely convinced her to move out of her apartment.
“Is she with you for the money?” Severio asks.
I snort. “I wish.”
“You wish?”
I nod. “She’s in it for the job with Evans.”
“Henry Evans?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh. He knows your marriage is fake?”
“He knows we’re dysfunctional, so it’s looking normal to everyone.”
“Have you asked her to come with you?”
I shake my head. “I already know the answer.”
“But have you asked?”
“I haven’t, and I won’t.”
“Why? Because it’s possible she’s in this marriage for you.”
I lean in. “No sane woman would be in a marriage for me.”
“You’re not a monster, Corrado.”
“Says the kettle to the pot.”
Severio throws up his hands. “What if she says yes?”
“She won’t.”
Severio walks up to the screen and looks directly at the camera. “Ask her anyway.”
I grab my phone for a closeup too. “Don’t tell me what to do.”
“God damn it!” Severio curses.
“Our marriage arrangement is over. She understands. I understand. Everything is fine on our end, and you will not touch a hair on her head, Severio, or I swear to our dead parents and ancestors, I’ll make you pay for it.”
Severio looks past my shoulder.
Fuck.
I turn to see Michela dressed in a mustard-yellow summer dress. She’s holding the duffel and wiping her tears. Severio wanted her to hear every word, seeing as how he spoke mostly in English.
I hang up with Severio at the same time that my wife makes a beeline for the front door.