by Emma Nichols
“I am very sure, Donna Maria.”
She smiled and glanced at Giovanni who looked pleased with his protégé’s speedy progress. Giovanni nodded at her, affirming the plans she had asked him to arrange. “Roberto, do you know the scrap yard, north of the city? Rekogest?”
“I know it, Donna Maria.”
“There’s a car there; a black Alfa Romeo.” She handed him a piece of paper with the number plate on. The car belonged to my father.” She swallowed.
“I know the car, Donna Maria.”
His features remained unmoved, his focus steady and on her eyes.
“Good.”
“You want me to look for evidence?”
“I have reason to believe my father’s death wasn’t an accident, Roberto. I must find out if evidence has been…overlooked. And, if it has, I will seek justice for my family. You understand this?”
“Yes, Donna Maria. Capisci.”
“The yard manager will be expecting you.” Maria paused. She wanted the truth, and she would then work out how to handle the consequences. “He will turn his head while you look over the vehicle. You will have one hour.”
“I know where to look, Donna Maria. I will find what you need.”
“Go.”
He bowed his head, turned, and strode from the room. She turned to the two remaining men.
Giovanni smiled softly. “If there is evidence, he will find it, Donna Maria.”
She turned and went to look out of the window. “Alessandro’s business activities are becoming a problem for the city of Palermo. This new alliance with the ‘Ndrangheta will destabilise economic security. The port is in chaos because of the increase in imports from the mainland, and the workforce are taking strike action.”
“Chico Calabrian has agreed to a meeting,” Giovanni said.
Maria turned to face him. “Good.”
“I have eyes on Alessandro, Donna Maria,” Vittorio said.
She stared at him. “We are guarding Simone?”
Maria had entered the contact details of the man who would keep an eye on Simone into Simone’s phone and instructed her to call him immediately if Alessandro became a problem to her. She wasn’t to leave a message. She didn’t have his name. It was better for everyone that way. If she called, he would be there in seconds. The Amatos would not know him or that he was watching them.
“Yes, we are watching her.”
“Good. If Alessandro makes one wrong move towards Simone, we will take appropriate action. Vittorio, you understand what I am saying.”
Vittorio smiled. “Yes, Donna Maria.”
She looked to Giovanni. “When is the appointment on the mainland?”
“Tuesday.”
She brushed the front of her jacket with a calm hand, the weapon under her arm reminding her of the dangers of a meeting with Chico Calabrian. He could blow her away as soon as look at her. “Do we know what they are willing to trade?”
“They are on a fifty-fifty split with Amato,” Giovanni said.
“And they will take sixty-forty?”
Giovanni nodded. “I believe so.”
“I want a better deal.” He was staring at her quizzically. “Is there something else?”
“I should be the one to go, Donna Maria.”
Warmth flowed through her. Her focus softened, and her heart beat a quiet rhythm against her ribs. Giovanni was probably right that he should go and speak on her behalf, and if Chico got what he wanted, he wouldn’t care who the messenger was. But there was more at stake now, and she needed to be the one to look the Italian boss in the eyes. Chico would expect a demonstration of loyalty and strength. Boss to boss. He would get both from her and neither from the lily-livered Alessandro. “No. We will both go.”
Giovanni’s lips thinned and his shoulders dropped as he sighed.
She took a deep breath and released it slowly. Don Chico Calabrian, boss of the ‘Ndrangheta, had no loyalty to anyone outside his closest crew
members. What mattered to him was his bottom line and gaining easy access into Sicily. She had both of the things he needed.
“Firstly, we need to secure the business with ‘Ndrangheta and take it from Alessandro, then we will work out how to prevent Chico using the new channels for the transportation of drugs into Sicily. All good?”
Trading building supplies was one thing, but illegal trading was not the Lombardo way. She didn’t have a plan for the second problem. First thing’s first.
Giovanni nodded. Maria looked at Vittorio.
“Thank you for the party last night, Donna Maria. And your wonderful gift,” Vittorio said.
“Have you driven the car yet?” Maria laughed.
Vittorio tilted his head and laughed. “I had to check that it worked.”
Giovanni patted him on the back. “You know, it does eight-kilometres an hour but not with your hefty weight in it.”
They laughed.
“Everyone was very generous,” Vittorio said.
Maria smiled. He seemed genuinely gracious. She patted him on the shoulder. “You will be a good father, Vittorio.” A warm feeling moved across her chest, and she cleared her throat.
As Vittorio left the office, he had a skip in his step that made him lighter on his feet like a boxer hyped for a title fight. God help Alessandro if he got in Vittorio’s way today.
Maria turned to Giovanni, revealing her concern through an intense gaze. “Alessandro will be finding business difficult with the strike action. I need to know if he is planning to sort the problem out himself.” It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Vittorio, she just trusted Alessandro less.
“Angelo has ears to the ground too,” Giovanni said.
“Good.”
Maria jerked her head in the direction of the door as it burst open.
Angelo strode across the room, his face like thunder.
“The Riverside has been hit.”
Maria gritted her teeth. Blood rushed to her head. Fuck. “Is anyone hurt?”
Angelo glanced from his brother to Maria. “Antonio is in hospital.
He will be okay. Two women are being treated for shock. They made him
pay the invoice, Donna Maria. And a second one. Payment on delivery.
They dumped more stock on us.”
Maria inhaled deeply and turned away. Her spine stiffened. This attack was down to her decision to not pay the invoice and redistribute the stock. Her employees were suffering because of her. A sharp pain jolted her from her thoughts, and the taste of iron slid down her throat. She couldn’t even hear the two men behind her breathing. Their silence was a clear message that they needed instruction. She continued with her back to them.
“Give the stock back to his clients.”
“Yes, Donna Maria.”
Giovanni’s tone was quiet. He wanted more. She turned and looked at him. “I will sort out the imports. They won’t have any stock to distribute.
Tell Vittorio to deal with the delivery guys once and for all.”
Giovanni smiled.
Maria turned her back to both men. Their footsteps quieted, and the door clicked shut. She looked at her trembling hands. The aching in her chest spread. Her knees buckled, and she grabbed the desk, cursing the gun as it jabbed her side. Whether she took the hit personally or not didn’t seem to make a difference. She clenched her fists. Control, Maria. Discipline.
Her father’s words echoed. Simone? Her chest expanded sharply, and her thoughts tumbled with reasoning. How could she get Simone out of Café Tassimo? What if Patrina found out about them? What? Them. She rubbed her closed eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.
The war had begun.
14.
Maria paced the floor as Roberto crossed the room and stood at her desk. She took her place behind the desk and stared at him. He bowed his head. She opened the drawer and took out a buff envelope, and placed it on the desk in front of Roberto, making sure to position it precisely between the picture of her parents and the leather
-bound diary. “What did you find?”
“The brakes had failed, and the steering had been tampered with.
The driver will most likely have lost control as a result.”
“You are sure, Roberto?” she asked calmly.
“Yes, Donna Maria. There is no doubt.”
This evidence should have been found. She frowned. Is Rocca behind this? She lifted her chin and inhaled through her nose. “Thank you, Roberto.”
Roberto waited.
I’ll deal with the car later. I need to sort out the imports. She looked at Roberto. He was frowning at her, and she saw concern flash across his eyes. The urge to keep him safe was as strong as it was with Simone, but he wanted to be involved. And he was good. He moved around the city without a trace. And, like a well-trained puppy, he was up for any challenge she could throw at him. And, most importantly, she trusted him.
“Is there something else, Donna Maria?”
She moved to the other side of the desk and looked into his eyes. “I need you to do another job, Roberto. It is dangerous work.”
He nodded, unmoved by the potential threat that came with the job.
Good.
“Yes, Donna Maria. I am ready.”
“The manager and two innocent women were hurt today in an attack on the Riverside.”
Roberto shook his head. “This is very bad news.”
“We need to send a message to the people who did this terrible crime.”
“Yes, Donna Maria.”
She stared at him. “The Amato fleet will be forced to park up at the docks tonight. The vehicles need fixing.” She nodded her head once as if to
confirm his understanding of her request.
“I can do that, Donna Maria. I can fix vans as well as cars.”
“Good.” She continued to stare into his unflinching eyes.
“Is there anything else, Donna Maria?”
She looked into his eyes. “Your sister is going to be at greater risk after tonight. Alessandro will lash out. He does not discriminate. I want you to know that I will handle the situation with Simone, so you can concentrate on what you need to do. She will be safe, but she may need to stay away from the café for a while…maybe permanently.”
“I understand, Donna Maria.”
She handed him the package containing fifteen hundred euros. He had earned it.
Roberto pocketed it without question.
“You are a good man, Roberto.”
He turned away from her and left the room.
Maria walked to the window and looked out over the city. Darkness couldn’t come quickly enough. Her chest still hindered her breathing. The tightness wouldn’t lift. The explosion, when it came from the east coast, would wake those sleeping, and the flames would be visible across the city.
That Alessandro would wake to the decimation of his business with
‘Ndrangheta brought a small wave of satisfaction. He wanted a war, and she would give him a bloody war if she had to, and even though she resented having to give the orders and detested the bloodshed, putting Alessandro out of action would certainly simplify their negotiations with Chico Calabrian. And, when the Amatos eventually came for her, she would be ready for them.
As her thoughts drifted to Simone, a sudden urge to see her caused her hand to come to rest on the gun tucked into her side. The protective instinct subsided, leaving her vulnerable to her emptiness, and heat flushed her skin. Simone hadn’t needed to call the number, and that was a good thing. Her man on the ground had also confirmed Alessandro’s attention seemed distracted by business matters. That business would have been the Riverside. The bastard. She stretched her fingers and clenched them, the scenarios they might face as Alessandro sought retribution coming as a sequence of images. They needed to increase security at all their restaurants, but their crew were already stretched. They had been overpowered at the Riverside two-to-one. She had underestimated the fire
in Alessandro’s belly. She wouldn’t get caught out again. She needed to ensure her own family’s safety and Simone’s. Alessandro would think nothing of coming after her mother and sister. There was only one way this problem was going to go away and that was to get rid of the source. If Alessandro was taking control of the Amato business, he was an increasing threat to Patrina too. It was a long shot, but maybe she could leverage Patrina to help with the problem. Her stomach twisted. It was unlikely after their last encounter. She looked at her watch, and her thoughts switched to Roberto. Would Simone worry about Roberto? With an explosion of this magnitude, every parent in Palermo would be concerned for their child on the street this evening. She plucked a set of keys from the desk drawer and headed for the silver Alfa Romeo parked in the garage below the building.
She would cruise around the city, go to the cathedral, and drive to see Simone. Why? She didn’t have an answer, just a strong desire to pray…and an even stronger need to be close to Simone tonight.
Maria had found Simone’s address and watched her from a distance since not long after their encounter at the opera house. She had driven past the house half a dozen times since and justified her uncharacteristic behaviour as being in the interests of Simone’s safety.
Simone had taken over the rental of the terraced property after her parents died. It was one of a small cluster of houses on the southern edge of the city, constructed in the 1920s. The properties in the row were well looked after, the street located on the better side of town. Simone’s house was two-hundred yards up from the main road on the left-hand-side opposite an artisan bakery. Access to Palermo was easy via the underground or bus services. For her journey to work, Simone took the bus from outside the restaurant and then walked up from the bus stop on the main road. The details were important in understanding a potential threat, Maria had told herself.
This was her third swing past the house this evening, and Maria’s justifications were utter fabrication. This was about fascination and…
affection. Yes, she was attracted to Simone. Her heart raced whenever she thought about her and in those moments of exhilaration, she even dreamed they could be together, though not in Sicily. That Simone might not want to leave the country hurt too much to entertain. She had seen something in Simone’s eyes. But she hadn’t had the chance to talk to her yet. If it hadn’t been for this damn war, she would have already taken her to dinner, courted
her, and made love to her. No good girl wants to be associated with the business. She took in a deep breath and switched her focus to the night ahead.
Maria parked up in the city centre, crossed the cobbled square, and entered the cathedral, drawing a cross on her chest with her fingers. She sat at a pew, lowered her head, and clasped her hands together in prayer. The foreign feeling inside the cool building prickled her skin. She had never found comfort here, though she admired the architecture. Her father had only gone to church at her mother’s insistence. She recognized herself in him and tears formed at her father’s image. The outburst from her heart flowed silently down her cheeks. She watched her tears darken the stone tiles at her knees, and an aching sensation clamped her throat and burned like a furnace. In the absence of thought, she became aware that her shoulders were rising and falling as she sobbed. I miss you, Father.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and wiped the tears from her face. She remained bowed until the tears stopped. As she lifted her head, the image of Patrina came to her with Alessandro at her side wearing a smug smile that barely made an impression on his bloated reddened face.
She moved her lower jaw from side to side to release the tension. If ever there had been a chance of negotiating with Alessandro, which she doubted, one thing was certain, there would be no talking to him after tonight.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She looked at the screen. Simone was outside Café Tassimo waiting for a bus. It was time to go.
She stepped outside the cathedral and inhaled the mild evening air.
The fumes from passing vehicles and wafting tob
acco smoke spewed from rolled-down car windows and caught in her throat. They really needed to address the pollution issue inside the city. She vowed to speak to the mayor about it and get a petition raised.
15.
The bus tilted slightly as Simone climbed the three steps and smiled at the driver’s familiar face. She turned to the hissing of the door as it closed behind her, her palm against her chest. There was no one behind her.
Did Maria’s man still have her in his sights? Was Patrina watching her, as she had in the restaurant for most of the day? The palpitations in her chest slowly settled. She turned to the driver and flashed her ticket. He smiled and bid her a good evening, but the words were hot air and absent of resonance, and she didn’t respond to him. She took her usual seat just behind his cab, looked out the window into the passing headlights, and took a long deep breath.
Maria, Maria, Maria. Donna Maria. She played with her name silently on her tongue, and her heart danced in her chest. She touched her bruised lip, and a tingling tremor moved through her in waves of increasing intensity. Reflecting on the tenderness with which Maria had tended to her injury the previous evening, a soft chuckle bubbled inside her. Maria had looked at her with a pained expression and kindness, and she’d appeared more hurt by Simone’s injuries than she had. Maria was hard to read; the epitome of respect. But with every touch, every look, and every unarticulated thought, Maria had revealed deep concern and behind that, she had noticed flashes of desire. The same desire that now fizzed through Simone as she sat staring out the window, the image of Maria firmly fixed in her mind. She felt the moan rumbling softly in her throat, and then heat coming swiftly to her cheeks. She looked around the bus. No one was taking any notice of her. She sighed and settled back in the seat. It was hard to breathe and impossible to focus on anything other than Maria’s sensual touch. Her stomach flipped, and she sat on her trembling hands. Her legs felt shaky even though she was seated. And then an image of Maria lying dead jarred in her chest and strangled her breath. I don’t want to lose you.
As she chased away the horror, a tear slipped onto her cheek.
She was being child-like and delusional. There was no way she could be with a mafia boss, though she never looked at Maria as a mafia boss. You are though, aren’t you? She shook her head. Why do I have these