by Reilly, Cora
Danilo let out a deep sigh, twisting the engagement ring in his fingers. “My father insists I’ll marry someone from your family,” he said. “A bond between our families is necessary, especially at this time.”
He was right. We needed to demonstrate solidarity to quiet the dissenting voices. I’d rather not have to silence them with violence. We needed every man in our ranks to fight the Camorra and Famiglia.
Pietro sighed, slumping in his chair. Samuel shook his head with a glare. “Serafina won’t marry. She needs time to heal.”
“There are other options,” I said.
Danilo’s eyes flashed. “What options? I won’t accept the daughter of any other Underboss. My city is important. I won’t settle for less than was promised!”
I narrowed my eyes. “Watch your tone, Danilo. I realize this is a difficult situation but I expect respect nonetheless.”
Danilo glared down at his fist, which held the ring. “I’m not going to settle for less than a bond with your family.”
“You can’t have Fina!” Samuel repeated, taking a step forward, anger twisting his face.
I motioned for him to stay back.
“You can’t have Anna either,” I said sharply. I wasn’t sure if that was what he’d been hinting at. But I wouldn’t promise my daughter to Danilo, not looking into his haunted, angry eyes, not when I knew he wanted Serafina.
Danilo stood. “You need my support in this war. You need a strong family at your back.”
“Is that a threat?” I snarled.
Danilo smiled bitterly. “That’s a fact, Dante. I think you’re a good Capo but I insist I get what my family deserves. I won’t settle for less.”
“I won’t force Fina into a marriage, not after what she went through,” Pietro said.
I nodded. “I agree.”
Danilo shoved his hands into his pockets. “We’re at an impasse then.”
I exchanged a glance with Pietro who briefly closed his eyes. He shoved to his feet and turned his back on us. “Is that what you ask of me, Dante?”
I was being selfish but I couldn’t promise Anna. I just couldn’t. Not now. “Pietro, if we follow the rules, Danilo could demand to marry Serafina. They were engaged.”
Samuel glanced between us, his brows pulling together.
Danilo waited calmly.
Pietro turned around. His eyes were hard and full of warning as he leveled them on Danilo. “I will give you Sofia.”
Danilo scoffed. “She’s what, eleven?”
“Twelve in April,” Samuel corrected, scowling at his father. His hands were curled to fists.
“I’m ten years older than her. I was promised a wife now.”
“You’ll be busy with this war and establishing your reign over Indianapolis. A later wedding should be of advantage for you,” I said. I could tell that Danilo would agree eventually, but he wanted something else.
Danilo glanced down at the ring once more, lost in thought.
“Danilo?”
“I have one condition.”
“What condition?”
Danilo motioned at Samuel. “He marries my sister Emma.”
Samuel’s eyes widened in shock. “She’s in a—”
He stopped himself with a grimace.
Danilo looked murderous. “In a wheelchair, yes. Which is why nobody of worth wants her. My sister deserves only the best, and you are the heir to Minneapolis. If you all want this bond, Samuel is going to marry my sister, and then I’ll marry Sofia.”
“Fuck,” Samuel muttered. “What kind of twisted deal is that?”
“Why?” Danilo growled. “Your father has been testing the waters for possible brides, and my sister is a Mancini. She’s a good match.”
Samuel exchanged a look with Pietro then he looked my way. The Mancini girl wouldn’t find a good husband if not for Danilo’s bargain.
Samuel took a deep breath then he nodded. “I’ll marry your sister.”
Danilo smiled darkly. We all knew this was a deal made in hell.
“Then it’s settled?” Pietro asked. “You’ll marry Sofia and accept the engagement cancellation with Fina?”
“It’s not what I want but it’ll have to do.”
“It’ll have to do?” Samuel growled, stepping forward with narrowed eyes. “That is my baby sister you’re talking about. She’s not some fucking thing you accept as a consolation prize.”
Danilo laughed again. “You might want to remember that as well when you meet my sister.”
“Enough,” I growled. They were riling each other up on purpose when their anger was directed at Remo not each other.
“The wedding will have to wait until Sofia is of age,” Pietro said, looking tired.
“Of course,” Danilo said. “My sister won’t marry before her eighteenth birthday either.”
Pietro nodded.
“Then it’s decided,” I said.
“I have to return home now. We can settle the details at a later point.” Danilo glanced at me for confirmation and I gave a terse nod. “Just one more thing. I don’t want word about Samuel’s bond to my sister to get out yet. She doesn’t need to know this was a deal in exchange for Sofia.”
I nodded again. It really didn’t matter when we’d announce it. People would talk anyway.
He turned and stalked out but Samuel rushed after him.
I hoped they wouldn’t get into a fight but I didn’t bother getting involved. Instead, I walked up to Pietro who held onto the edge of the desk. “Ines will be furious.”
“Danilo is a good catch for Sofia.”
Pietro jerked his head up, angry. “He’d be a good catch for Anna too.”
I couldn’t deny it. An Underboss was the best possible match for my daughter at the moment.
“But you couldn’t let her go, could you?” Reproach carried in his voice, and it wasn’t unfounded.
“It makes sense to give Danilo your other daughter when Serafina cancels the engagement.”
“You can turn it whatever way you want. You didn’t want to give up your daughter. That’s all. Instead you force me to give up mine.”
“You agreed to a bond with Danilo years ago, Pietro. That wasn’t my doing. You wanted a bond between him and Serafina.”
Pietro sighed and straightened. “You are right.” He shook his head. “This feels as if I’m betraying Sofia anyway. Danilo isn’t the boy whom I gave Serafina. This ordeal changed him.”
“He’s not a man who’d abuse a woman, no matter how changed he is by what happened.”
“You’re right. But Samuel marrying the Mancini girl? I don’t know. I feel pity for the poor girl but Samuel needs to produce heirs. Can that girl even bear children?”
I didn’t know, but Carla had been infertile as well and I hadn’t loved her less because of it. “There are other options if it’s the case.”
“I hope now that this is settled we can all return to our normal lives. Ines has been suffering so much. She needs a break.”
“Serafina will heal, and with it our family.”
I wished my words had proven right.
A few months later, Serafina told us she was pregnant with Remo’s child and any hope to forget what had happened was crushed forever.
We’d all secretly prayed that Serafina’s twins wouldn’t show any resemblance to their father. It was our only hope at this point, our only chance to give these kids a future in the Outfit.
Ines called me shortly after Serafina gave birth to a son and daughter, Nevio and Greta.
Her breathing was labored, her voice low and desperate. “They look like him.”
I held my breath. “His hair?” I’d seen photos of Remo Falcone, the dark hair and even darker eyes.
“The hair, the eyes, everything. Especially the boy. It’s as if Remo modeled him after himself to torture us.”
“Ines,” I said softly. “These kids don’t ever need to know who their father is.”
She made a choked sound. “They are his
spitting image, Val. People will talk. It’s impossible not to know whose kids they are. Heaven have mercy, what are we supposed to do?”
“We can’t do anything but help Fina deal with the situation. How did she take it?” Some rape victims couldn’t bear it if their children resembled their abuser but so far Serafina had recovered surprisingly well. She’d insisted she wasn’t raped. Dante and the others didn’t believe her, blaming it on Stockholm Syndrome. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I had no right to pry unless Fina confided in me.
“She’s completely smitten with them. It’s as if she doesn’t even notice that they look like Falcones.”
“They are her children.”
“I know I shouldn’t say it, but I wish she would have never gotten them,” Ines whispered.
I wasn’t sure if Ines had exaggerated about the similarities but when I saw the twins for the first time two days later, it took effort not to show my shock.
Their hair was pitch black and their eyes impossible dark. They didn’t look like Cavallaros or Miones. They were Falcones, at least by blood, but they’d learn to be part of our family, of the Outfit.
Later that day, I found Fina in the nursery with her twins, bent over their shared crib, a soft smile on her face. She looked up briefly when I entered before she turned her attention back to her kids.
“I know what everyone’s thinking,” she said fiercely. “I’m not blind. You all want them gone.”
I shook my head. “No, that’s not true, Fina. It’s difficult for your family to accept who their father is, that’s all.”
Fina chuckled joylessly. “Why can’t they accept it when I can? Why can’t they see them for what they are? Innocent children.”
I stopped beside her. Nevio and Greta slept close together, their hands touching. They had each other and they’d need their bond to brave the judgment of our world. “It’ll take time.”
“I’ll protect them no matter what it takes.”
I squeezed her shoulder. “You are their mother, of course you will.”
A knock sounded and Dante poked his head in. “Dinner’s ready.” He came in, his gaze striking the children before he focused on Fina. He couldn’t bear looking at them. I hadn’t noticed it before.
“I’ll be down in a bit,” Fina said with a tense smile.
I followed Dante outside and linked our fingers, facing him. “What was that?”
His brows rose. “What?”
“You couldn’t even look at the babies.”
Dante’s mouth tightened. “If you’d come face to face with Remo Falcone, and then looked at Nevio… damn, Val. That boy’s going to look just like that bastard.”
“But he isn’t Remo. He’s Nevio Mione. He’s a part of our family, a part of the Outfit.”
“I’m not sure the boy can ever be part of the Outfit, at least not in a position of importance. My men would never accept him.”
My eyes widened. “Don’t tell Fina. Not yet. She’ll never forgive you if you punish Nevio for his father’s sins.”
“I’m not punishing him, but I have to keep the Outfit in mind. A child of Remo Falcone will cause too much discord. Not to mention that the Falcone blood carries madness.”
I pursed my lips. “I think you let your hate for Remo overrule your logic, Dante. Don’t lose yourself in useless fury.”
He smiled darkly. “Val, whenever I think of Remo, and that is every time I look at Serafina or her children, all I am is pure rage and thirst for revenge. I won’t rest until I get my vengeance.”
I swallowed hard because his eyes showed absolute determination. Nothing I could say would change it. “Don’t allow it to destroy everything we care about.”
“I won’t allow it to destroy anything.”
Months passed and we returned to a tentative routine in Chicago. Dante and his men were diligently working on revenge but Dante kept his promise.
The kids and I remained untouched of his pursuit of revenge, and even Dante seemed calmer and less haunted.
I thought we might be on a good way toward mutual ignorance with the Camorra.
Maybe I had been foolish.
Any dream of peace, of normalcy was shattered when Dante, Danilo, Pietro and Samuel got their hands on Adamo Falcone, Remo’s youngest brother.
Shortly after Dante got the news about the capture, he got ready to leave for the safehouse where they kept the boy. A boy, only fifteen.
Dante was withdrawn, lost in his thoughts as he put on his jacket over his gun and knife holster. A knife he’d use today?
“Dante,” I said quietly. “The boy is fifteen. Serafina said he never hurt her.”
“He is not innocent, Val,” Dante growled, his eyes flashing angrily. “He’s part of the Camorra. He is a Falcone. You don’t know the first thing about this family. If you did, you wouldn’t even consider asking me to spare Adamo Falcone.”
His anger hit me unexpectedly.
I nodded slowly. He was right, I didn’t know anything about the Falcones except for the rumors making the rounds and the few things Serafina had said since she’d been freed. What I knew was that Adamo would pay for a crime he hadn’t committed yet. Maybe he’d become as cruel as his brothers, but right now he wasn’t.
“Leonas will be inducted in three years, will that make him guilty for your crimes as well?”
Dante tensed. “That’s not the same.”
Wasn’t it? I didn’t know. In less than two weeks Leonas would turn nine, still a little boy in my eyes, but for our enemies he was a future Capo in the making, a potential enemy.
“Dante?” Pietro called, his voice ringing with open eagerness.
I shuddered.
“I need to leave now. We can continue this discussion tonight.”
He hesitated then he came toward me and kissed my lips before he stalked out. Slowly I walked after him but I stopped halfway down the staircase. Samuel gave his father a grin which he returned. Their hunger for revenge was tangible. Dante didn’t even bother hiding the dark hunger for blood.
I clutched the banister, feeling a little lost.
Before they left, Dante looked up once more but his eyes didn’t reflect conflict. Adamo Falcone wouldn’t be granted any mercy. He’d suffer in his brother’s stead.
I headed downstairs and into the living room where I found Ines, Sofia and Anna with the twins. Nevio was crawling over the floor while Greta clung to Ines. The little girl looked a bit lost without Fina.
“I don’t like that Fina’s going to be there when they torture that Falcone boy.”
Anna gave me a wide-eyed look. I’d hoped she wouldn’t find out about the torture but Ines was lost in her worry and didn’t even realize how much she revealed in front of our girls.
“Fina said the boy is not much older than Sofia and me, only fifteen,” Anna said.
“He’s a Camorrista,” Ines said. Nevio crawled toward me, and I picked him up. His dark eyes flashed up to me, and I tried to imagine how Dante and the other men could see only bad when they looked at this boy.
I sighed. “I don’t know Adamo Falcone.”
“Does he deserve to be tortured?” Sofia asked curiously.
Ines shrugged. “Fina didn’t deserve to suffer either.”
Anna looked at me for answers. I wasn’t sure what to say. Sofia and she were twelve, and they suffered the consequences of Remo’s actions as well. Both were homeschooled, shielded from the outside world, their golden cages more restraining than mine had ever been as a young girl.
Steps rang out and Santino appeared, dragging a struggling Leonas after himself.
“What’s going on?”
“I heard noises from the weaponry, found him stuffing his pockets with guns as if he was gearing up for war,” Santino said with a curl of his lip, releasing Leonas who sent him a glower.
Santino had taken over as Anna’s bodyguard this summer. Dante had been wary of having a former Enforcer close to our daughter but eventually he’d considered him the best
option to guarantee Anna’s safety when he wasn’t around.
“Leonas, what is that all about?”
Leonas shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pants. I narrowed my eyes at him. “I just wanted to help Dad deal with the Falcone bastard.”
“Language,” I said sharply. “And how did you want to do that?”
Again that stubborn shrug. “Take a cab to the safehouse and help them torture him.”
I stared down at my little son, my almost nine-year-old, trying to understand what had happened. This war had taken his innocence too quickly, being surrounded by men thirsting for vengeance and blood. “You won’t ever touch a gun without permission again. Understood?”
Leonas’ eyes widened marginally at my tone. I’d never raised my voice like that against him before. He nodded eventually.
“Thank you, Santino,” I said. He nodded then turned on his heel and left. He’d return to his guard post until we left the house.
Anna rolled her eyes. “You’re an idiot. Do you really think Daddy would have allowed you to stay?”
“He knows I can handle stuff unlike you.”
Anna crossed her arms over her chest. It was a constant argument between the two that Leonas went to school while Anna had to stay home. Sofia nudged her and whispered something in her ear. They got up and hurried away.
I sighed, glancing down at Nevio who squirmed in my hold. Ines sank down on the sofa with a sleeping Greta, looking tired.
“When will we return to Chicago?” Leonas asked.
“Soon,” I said. I put Nevio down on the floor and bent down to be at eye level with Leonas. “Please don’t talk like that in front of your sister and Sofia again. I don’t want any of you to think about what Dad does in his job.”
Leonas tilted his head curiously. “Mom, I’ll be Capo,” he said with absolute certainty and as if that settled the matter.
I smiled wistfully. “I know but until you are initiated you are only my little boy.”
He scrunched up his face as I pulled him against me and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Mom,” he protested. When I didn’t release him, overcome with emotions, he eventually softened and hugged me. For some reason it felt as if he was consoling me.