After changing Leonas’ diaper, we headed downstairs into the kitchen. Zita was in the utility room ironing Dante’s shirts and it was Gabby’s day off, so I had the kitchen to myself. To distract myself and because Anna and Leonas loved them, I prepared French toast with a vanilla-mascarpone crème on top.
Anna helped me whisk the eggs while Leonas dipped his fingers into the sugar and licked them clean. They loved their learning tower and I loved that it gave them the chance to feel involved when I cooked. We settled at the table and both Leonas and Anna dug in eagerly. They looked utterly content, their faces dusted with sugar and cream. I tried to cling to the sense of peace I felt watching them but my worry over Orazio soon took over. On the one hand, I was happy for him, happy that he’d found someone he loved, but on the other hand, I worried for his future, for his life. What if this was a spur of the moment thing? How long had he even known Lucy? Was she really worth leaving everything behind for? He couldn’t just change his mind in a few months when things didn’t work out. He’d be considered a traitor and… God, would Dante really kill my brother? What about Papa?
I closed my eyes, terrified for my brother, for my family.
A hand on my shoulder shook me out of my reverie and my eyes shot open. Dante towered over me, his blond brows pulled together in obvious worry. “Are you all right?”
“Mom made us French toast!” Anna said brightly. Dante stroked her hair but his eyes remained on me.
Leonas raised his arms and after a moment Dante bent down and picked him up. For a second, I allowed myself to enjoy the heartwarming scene of Dante holding our son carefully in his arms. I hadn’t eaten a bit of my French toast, not feeling hungry. “Do you want some?” I motioned at my plate.
Dante shook his head. “Have you heard something from your brother?”
My eyes widened. I stood slowly. “Why?”
Dante became tense, worry settling on his face. “Because he didn’t show up to a meeting with your dad this morning. I thought you might know what’s going on and it seems I was right.”
“He just called. A few minutes ago.”
“And?” Dante asked carefully as he put Leonas down on the floor before he came over to me. He touched my shoulders, searching my eyes. “What did he want?”
I had a feeling Dante knew something was horribly wrong. What was Orazio doing? I glanced at our children, not sure if I wanted to have this conversation in front of them. I picked up my plate and went over to the sink. Dante followed me.
“We did a video-chat and he told me he had to leave… because he was going to marry a girl named Lucy,” I whispered.
“Goddamnit,” Dante growled, his face flashing with fury.
“Dante?” Cold fear spread in my body.
The way he looked at me made me worried about what he had to say. “It’s a Chinese girl?”
I shrugged. I wasn’t sure of the girl’s nationality but that Dante knew made me wonder how long he’d known about this. “You knew?”
Dante shook his head but his thoughts seemed miles away. “Before we married, your father mentioned his problems with Orazio to me. It was about that girl. Orazio refused to give her up for a long time until your father finally convinced him.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t Capo back then and even if I had been, I wouldn’t have gotten involved as you know.”
“So they’ve been together for years? That makes sense.”
“Does it?” Dante asked angrily. “Your brother is bound by his vow. By betraying the Outfit he risks the life of fellow Made Men.”
“He only wants to be with the woman he loves. How does it hurt his fellow Made Men if he goes into hiding to be with her?”
Dante’s fingers on my shoulders tightened. “Because you know I suspect that there’s a spy among my soldiers. Maybe it wasn’t Fabiano…”
I exhaled sharply. “You think it could be Orazio?”
Dante sighed and pressed our foreheads together. I wrapped my arms around his waist, trembling. “Tell me he wouldn’t do it.”
I wanted to say it but I’d seen the look that had passed between Orazio and Lucy, and I didn’t want to lie to Dante. “I can’t,” I whispered thickly, my eyes prickling.
“Val,” Dante said quietly, sounding tortured. “If Orazio has been helping the Famiglia…”
I didn’t want to imagine it. I couldn’t.
“Do you know where he might be right now?”
I shook my head. “No. But he was in his car.”
Dante cupped my head and closed his eyes for a moment.
“Please don’t kill him.”
Dante took a deep breath. “I’d do almost anything for you, Val. I’ve chosen you over the Outfit before and part of me wants to do it again, but if Orazio betrayed the Outfit by working with the Famiglia, I have to punish him accordingly.”
“Mamma will be devastated… and Papa. God, I can’t even think about it. Maybe it’s not as we think.” I swallowed, trying hard not to cry, not to lose it before I knew all the details.
Anna headed our way with her empty plate. I blinked hastily and swallowed, then forced a smile. “Do you want Mommy’s toast?”
Anna shook her head. “I’m full.” She glanced between us as if she could sense that something was going on. I’d noticed it before. Anna was perceptive, especially when it came to gauging people’s emotions. It was a beautiful talent but also worrying because I wanted to protect her from so many things in our world and her empathy would make it harder for me to succeed.
PART SIX
Dante
Word about Orazio’s disappearance spread like wildfire in the Outfit. Pietro had tried to exert damage control but the men who’d worked with Orazio had obviously spread speculations. Rubbing my temples, I stared down at a report about an attack on a storage facility and lab near Cleveland.
“When’s my father going to be here?” Valentina asked, carrying Leonas against her chest as she stepped in. He was only in diapers and a shirt, and already twisting on her arm to get back down and undress more. She looked tired, which wasn’t surprising because her worry over her brother had kept her up at night and during the day Anna and Leonas kept Val busy so she couldn’t try to catch up on sleep then. With the escalation of the Famiglia situation and Orazio’s defection, my workload had doubled and even as I tried, I wasn’t much of a help. I stood and walked over to her. “Do you want me to take care of him for a bit so you can take a hot shower and have a coffee in peace?”
Val raised her eyebrows, looking down at herself. “Do I look that bad?”
I touched her hip, my thumb slipping under her cashmere sweater to feel the smooth skin beneath then I leaned down to give her a lingering kiss. “You are beautiful as always, Val.”
She pursed her lips. “I don’t feel it right now. I feel like a mess.”
“This is difficult,” I said quietly and took Leonas from her. His eyes snapped up to me and he grinned. “Daddy, play in garden!”
“So when’s my father going to be here? I know you’re going to discuss the Orazio situation with him again.” This was another reason for Val’s sleepless nights.
“In ten minutes. Your brother isn’t our only topic. The war with the Famiglia is taking up many of our resources.”
Val nodded slowly. “You don’t have any hints where he could be.”
“Not yet.” Val regarded me as if she wasn’t sure I was telling the truth. She had every reason to be wary. While I didn’t have a trace to Orazio’s whereabouts yet, I wouldn’t have told her even if I had. When I caught Orazio, I wouldn’t tell Val. Giovanni and I had agreed on that.
Leonas squirmed in my arms. “Please down!”
I set him down and he stumbled toward my desk chair, trying to climb on it.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll grab a shower now.” With a last glance at Leonas and me, she slipped out of my office. I glanced down at my son, remembering Giovanni’s shaken expression when he’d found out Orazio had run off. Giovanni didn’t know it yet, but I wouldn’t tell him if I ever caught his son either. Maybe Orazio was clever enough to go into hiding somewhere we didn’t have contacts, Scandinavia or Asia would be good options. The desk chair was spinning around itself, making it impossible Leonas to climb up. I walked over to him and held the chair by its backrest. Leonas finally managed to pull himself up then throned on my chair with a proud grin. His blond hair was all over the place, definitely in need of a cut. So far it hadn’t darkened much, but when I had been his age my hair had been lighter too.
I tried to imagine how I would feel if he’d run away from his family, from his duties. The mere idea hit me like a punch in the stomach. Maybe Giovanni should have been more lenient when it came to Orazio’s wish to be with Lucy. But the Outfit would have been against the union no doubt. An Asian woman, or really any woman without Italian ancestors, would have a hard time being accepted in our circles.
I hoped this would change by the time Leonas was old enough to fall in love.
The bell rang. Anna’s delighted scream followed and despite the tension in my body, I couldn’t help but smile. I picked up Leonas and walked toward the front door where Giovanni was hugging Anna to his chest and lifting her up while Gabby held open the door for him. He seemed to have aged ten years since the news about Orazio’s disappearance. “There’s my favorite princess,” Giovanni said as he kissed Anna’s cheeks. She beamed all over her face then grinned at me with flushed cheeks. Giovanni headed my way, the smile becoming tenser. He set Anna down then pressed another kiss to the crown of her head. “Your dad and I have business to discuss, bambina, but I’ll read you a story later, how about that?”
Anna pouted but nodded. I stroked her head. “Why don’t you help Gabby?”
Anna nodded even though she looked disappointed. Giovanni tousled Leonas’ head who giggled in response.
Gabby grabbed Anna’s hand and led her into the kitchen.
Giovanni peered down at Leonas squirming in my arms. “He’s already grown so much.”
I handed Leonas to Giovanni who cradled him to his chest with a wistful smile. Leonas calmed down for a moment. “I remember when I held Orazio for the first time…” He fell silent and I could tell he was fighting with himself. I squeezed his shoulder. “Maybe it’s for the best if he stays in hiding. Right now, we don’t have the resources to waste on searching for him.”
Giovanni looked up, realizing what I was saying. I wouldn’t actively search for Orazio. That was my gift to him and Val.
“If you catch him, he’ll be seen as a traitor…”
I sighed. “We’ll cross that bridge when we reach it. As of now, we don’t know if he did anything that can be construed as betrayal.” Running away from the mob was betrayal but if that was his only crime, maybe I could be lenient, even if that would send a fatal message to other Made Men considering defecting their duties. As it was the best outcome for all of us would be if Orazio would never show up again.
I led Giovanni into my office and he sank down in an armchair with Leonas on his lap who freed himself and stormed toward my desk chair. This time he managed to climb up without my help which caused the chair to spin around itself with him. Leonas laughed in delight.
Giovanni sighed. “What are we going to do once I retire? Who’s going to be Underboss?”
“We still have many years to decide on that. You won’t retire anytime soon.”
“I’ll do my best. Livia already tortures me with a low-carb diet. As if a real man can’t deal with pasta and bread.”
I stifled a smile.
Rocco would arrive in thirty minutes for our meeting. I always met with Giovanni a bit earlier because I trusted him the most and because I enjoyed our conversations.
“The attack on the Cleveland lab was a success,” I told him.
Giovanni nodded distractedly as he stood and spun the desk chair around, causing Leonas’ laughter to grow in volume. Luckily, he was still too young to understand the majority of what we discussed. Once he got older, I’d have to be careful what I shared in his presence until he reached an age that allowed him to deal with the problems of our world and keep secrets. Val wanted Leonas to remain shielded as long as possible but I needed to prepare him.
My phone rang. It was Rocco, which made my pulse speed up at once. He wouldn’t call so shortly before a meeting unless something had happened. “Yes?”
“I’m on my way, Dante. I have bad news.”
“What is it?”
“I’ve been reaching out to the MCs in Famiglia territory. They are impossible to negotiate with and stupid as toast but they can’t keep their big mouths shut. And they mentioned a very unfortunate development…”
My patience was running thin quickly. “Spill.”
“Orazio has found shelter in the Famiglia. Rumors has it he’ll take their tattoo and serve under Vitiello.”
My eyes darted to Giovanni who watched me with a small frown. Despite Leonas’ loud protest, he stopped spinning the chair and came toward me.
I swallowed. “Is this certain?”
“They mentioned a pregnant Asian cunt, their words not mine, at his side. They moved into an apartment building in the Upper East Side. High security.”
I looked away from Giovanni, feeling as if someone had punched my stomach. My fingers on the armrest tightened as fury and trepidation overwhelmed me. This was the worst possible news.
“I’m sorry, Dante,” Rocco said. “I know what it feels like to be betrayed by family. The Famiglia has stolen too many of ours. I’ll be at the mansion in ten minutes.”
“All right.” I hung up, then stared down at my fingers clutching my phone. This war had become very personal. More personal than I’d ever thought it could be.
“Dante?” Giovanni asked quietly.
I met his gaze, wondering how I’d tell him that his son had betrayed us in a way that made it impossible for me to show mercy. And to be honest, I had absolutely no intention to do so, even my love for Valentina didn’t change that. “Orazio has defected to the Famiglia.”
The color drained from Giovanni’s face. He shook his head slowly then stared toward Leonas.
I could only imagine what he felt now.