by Reilly, Cora
“I would have stepped down from my position as Underboss then. Samuel could have taken over.”
“Then it would have been his task to punish his twin.”
Samuel and Pietro exchanged a look. Neither of them would have ever hurt Serafina, nor would I. Yet, our world was a harsh one, with even harsher consequences if you broke the rules.
“I couldn’t allow that. I need you. The Outfit needs to be strong.”
“We would have been stronger with Remo dead,” Danilo said bitterly. “You took our revenge from us.”
“You got revenge. You tortured him for two days.”
“And what good was that? The fucker didn’t cry, didn’t beg for his fucking life once. I bet he’s laughing at us now,” Samuel said.
Pietro stepped up to me. “You still didn’t answer my question, Dante. Would you have let Anna go if she loved the enemy?”
I wasn’t sure.
Pietro shook his head. “I lost my daughter today. I won’t ever get her back.”
I touched his shoulder. “You don’t know that. Remo Falcone is a monster. She’ll realize it eventually.”
Danilo scoffed. “Aren’t we all?”
I sent him a hard look. On any other day, he would have been dead by now, but emotions were still running high.
“I won’t have a war at two fronts. The Camorra and Famiglia only cooperate loosely right now, but if they both attack with full force we’ll have a hard time holding them off.”
We walked into the hall where Pietro grabbed his coat and motioned for Samuel to follow him.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to tell Ines that our daughter is gone, that you gave her up without good reason.”
“I’m heading back home. Or do you need me for anything else?” Danilo asked, his voice clipped and eyes hard. “I have a duty to the Outfit to fulfill after all.”
“No,” I said, fighting to keep my own emotions in check.
Danilo left without another word, and Samuel and Pietro followed shortly after. I ran a hand through my hair, my eyes following the trail of blood on the floor that Remo had left behind. Was this the best for the Outfit? I believed so. Remo had given his life for his brother. What would he do for his children?
I had thought about the way he had looked at Serafina when he called her angel. In some twisted way, he cared for her and he would for the twins as well. He had something to lose now, and it would make him more restrained. Since Luca had kids, he’d held back with rash actions too.
But even if it wasn’t the best solution for the Outfit, it was the choice that would keep my children and Val safe. I’d always choose them over the Outfit. One day Leonas would take over but I had to make sure he was protected until then.
Grabbing my keys and coat, I headed to my car and drove back to the mansion, knowing full well I’d be greeted with chaos.
A door slammed shut, and I sat up in bed where I’d been reading, unable to fall asleep while Dante was in the safehouse torturing Remo. I slipped out of bed and slid a bathrobe on. I walked closer when a female cry rang out: Ines.
I froze on the staircase at the scene playing out before my eyes. Ines was clutching Pietro’s shirt, shaking her head. Her hair was a mess and her face frantic.
Sofia, Anna, and Leonas crept down the steps but hovered close to me, obviously as confused as I felt.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Samuel shot me a glare. “Dante let Remo go!”
I headed downstairs. “Why would he do that?”
The door opened and Dante stepped in, looking as if had come straight from a battlefield.
“Ask him,” Samuel spat.
Dante narrowed his eyes.
Ines staggered toward Dante, accusation looming on her face. “You handed my daughter over to the man who raped her?”
“Ines,” Dante said in a voice meant to placate her, his gaze briefly darting to the children. “Serafina chose him. She helped him.”
Ines raised her arm and struck Dante across the face. Leonas gasped beside me. Anna and Sofia watched with open-mouthed shock and my own body seized up with horror.
Pietro quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him, but his expression was full of fury toward Dante as well. “She’s confused! You should have stopped her. You stole my daughter from me. You took her away.”
Tears slid down Ines’ porcelain skin.
“I did what I thought was the best,” Dante said as if Ines hadn’t just slapped him.
“For whom?” Ines whispered harshly, nodding toward Anna. “For your daughter?”
Dante simply looked at her.
“What about the twins?” I asked.
“She took them with her,” Samuel muttered.
“Wasn’t it her choice then?”
Dante gave a small shake of his head, wanting to keep me out of the conflict but I wouldn’t let him brave their anger alone.
Ines gave me a sad smile. “Of course, you stand by him even when he sacrifices my family.”
“Leave Val out of this,” Dante clipped.
Ines began shaking. “Out of my house. All of you.”
I blinked.
“Mom,” Sofia began but Ines stormed toward Dante and pushed against his chest. “Out. Of. My. Home!”
“Ines—” Dante tried again but she shook her head and stormed off.
“Leave,” Pietro said.
Dante straightened his shoulders and gave a nod. I wasn’t sure what was happening, completely stunned and overwhelmed.
“Grab your things,” I told Leonas and Anna. They hesitated but I nudged them upstairs and finally they moved.
I followed quickly and put on jeans and a pullover over my nightgown, then slid into sneakers barefoot. Grabbing my overnight bag, I hurried back out.
“Leonas, Anna!”
They joined me a moment later, looking completely terrified. “What’s going on?” Anna asked.
I shook my head. I wasn’t sure.
When we arrived in the lobby, Pietro held the front door open as if he couldn’t wait to have us out of their house as quickly as possible. Santino waited on the front steps while Taft and Enzo sat in two cars.
Samuel and Ines were gone.
Sofia was pressed to Pietro’s side and it broke my heart when she and Anna hugged tightly as if this was a final goodbye. It wasn’t. It couldn’t be.
I took Dante’s hand, needing to show him my support. He squeezed lightly. “I hope you’ll understand my decision soon.”
Pietro held Sofia even tighter against his side. “I understand, Dante. You protected your own children and gave up one of ours in turn. It’s not the first time.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant.
We stepped out and Pietro closed the door.
I took Anna with my free hand and Dante gripped Leonas’ hand, and together we headed toward our car.
I didn’t look back, not willing to make this feel like a true goodbye.
We drove a while before Leonas spoke up from the backseat, sounding confused. “Why did you allow Uncle Pietro to throw you out? This is your city too.”
Dante nodded, not taking his eyes off the street. He looked exhausted. How long had he been awake? “It is, but it’s Pietro’s home, it’s his family, and even as Capo I have to respect that, and especially as part of their family. They need time to mourn.”
“But Fina isn’t dead,” Anna whispered.
“No, she isn’t,” Dante said. “But she’s lost to us.”
Anna bit her lip, glancing out of the window. “Sofia said Fina is in love with Remo, and that she wants to raise the twins with him.”
“It’s not love,” Dante said.
Wasn’t it? Maybe twisted love, but love often came with pain and sacrifice. I didn’t know what Fina felt, much less what went on in Remo Falcone, but I didn’t share Dante’s certainty either way.
“How do you know?”
“Because Serafina isn’t herself, not
right now. If she were, she wouldn’t have betrayed her family, her upbringing, simply everything for a man like Remo Falcone.”
I touched his thigh. Anna’s eyes were wide and uncomprehending. This was difficult as it was. I didn’t want to unsettle her more.
Dante cleared his throat and his expression smoothed.
“Will I see Sofia again?” Anna asked softly.
I turned in my seat with a smile. “Of course.”
Dante didn’t say anything.
We remained in a state of shock after Serafina left with Remo. A stronger, more lingering paralysis than after her kidnapping, because this felt more permanent. When Remo had kidnapped Serafina we’d been certain to get her back, that we’d do everything in our power to bring her back home. This time a sense of final loss lingered in our minds and hearts. One that even the most daring hope couldn’t dispel.
Our family was broken. For the first time, I worried we wouldn’t be able to fix it.
Ines and Pietro had thrown us out of their house. Ines and Samuel hadn’t even said goodbye. I could feel Ines’ pain almost like my own. She’d lost her daughter, not to death but the end result might be the same. Just thinking of losing Anna turned my heart to ice. Dante had increased safety measures. We wouldn’t allow a repeat performance. Anna would be safe even if the golden cage had become even smaller, even more oppressing. Her safety was Dante’s top priority. Santino was her constant shadow now.
We’d arrived in Chicago early in the morning and Dante had disappeared in his office right away, without any sleep after hours of driving, and hadn’t emerged since. I knocked, waiting for his reply. Gabby had brought him a few cups of coffee but he hadn’t eaten anything.
“Come in.”
He sounded tired and as I stepped in, I found that he looked it too.
He bowed over his desk, his hair in disarray, a rare sight and sign for his inner turmoil. I closed the door after me and regarded my husband for a long time, worrying deeply about him. He finally looked up, a look of stark concern in his eyes. I showed him the tray with bread and cheese. “You need to eat.”
His eyes followed me as I moved toward him, trying to hide my own anxiety. Dante had asked me not to hide my feelings from him, but right now he needed me strong. The weight resting on his shoulders was already too heavy for him. I’d called Bibi in the afternoon to get a feel for the current mood in the Outfit. Dario was well connected as the Outfit’s lawyer. To say that everyone was in a state of turmoil would have been an understatement.
“You are not alone. I’m here. Talk to me. Don’t draw back from me again.”
Dante leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “I’m not drawing back from you, Val. You are my lifeline. You and our children.”
I touched his shoulder and he surprised me by pulling me onto his lap. The last year had been hard, almost unbearably so. We needed to find our way out of the darkness clouding our life right now. “We’ll get through this together.”
Dante nodded slowly. “I hope Ines, Pietro and Samuel forgive me eventually.”
“You did what was right.”
“Did I?” His eyes flickered with doubt and worse with guilt. “I ripped Serafina away from her family. I allowed her to leave for an uncertain future. The Falcones are unpredictable at best. They are madmen. I only met their father Benedetto once and trust me, any child of his must be deranged.”
“She chose him, Dante. She isn’t a child.”
“I know, but it’s difficult to admit that eventually children outgrow the rules we set for them.”
“Why don’t you eat and lie down a bit afterward?”
Dante shook his head. “I invited your parents for dinner. I need to talk to your father. We need to make plans to ensure the Outfit’s power.”
I sighed and kissed his cheek. “At least, eat something.”
Dante took a slice of cheese and slid it into his mouth. I stood but Dante caught my hand. “I want you present when I talk to your father.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. He gave a terse nod. With an encouraging smile, I walked out, leaving him to his thoughts.
Leonas rushed my way. “Can Ricci and R.J. come over tomorrow?”
“R.J.?” I asked.
“That’s Rocco’s new name. It’s much cooler.”
I tousled Leonas’ hair.
“Mom!” he said indignantly, ducking away from my fingers. “My hair!”
I laughed. Did the vanity phase start this early nowadays? God, he was growing up so quickly, and Anna too. A deep longing filled me, for another baby, another small human to take care of and remind us of the beauty of life and our glowing future. Because I still believed in it: a good future.
“Of course, they can.” I’d been worried how the Rocco senior situation would affect Leonas’ friendship with the man’s sons, but luckily it hadn’t. His lack of fatherly compassion had something good after all. Leonas grinned, smoothed out his hair, and rushed away again. Almost nine. I needed to organize his birthday party even if it felt like we were stuck in a time of mourning. Life had to go on, especially for our children.
Dante and I had been trying to get pregnant for two years now. It hadn’t worked. I’d even considered doing hormone treatment but with everything else that had been going on, I didn’t want to push my body more than necessary. Maybe I had to accept that I was too old, even if many women got children well past forty and I was only thirty-six.
I went down into the basement, past our panic room, and picked up the box with Christmas decorations. I hadn’t found time to put them up yet, but now that we’d returned to Chicago for good, I wanted to create a Christmas spirit. After I’d sorted through the decoration, I called Anna and Leonas down. Anna had spent the last hour on the phone with Luisa and didn’t look as crushed anymore.
“But we don’t have a tree yet,” Anna said thoughtfully, as she lifted one of the delicate glass baubles.
“You’re right. We’ll get one tomorrow. Let’s decorate the rest of the house for now. How about you prettify all the fireplaces?”
Anna and Leonas grabbed a few items and dashed toward the fireplace in the living room where they began to brainstorm the best decoration. I watched them for a bit, my heart warming.
A few minutes later, the bell rang and Gabby hurried toward the front door. Zita wasn’t as mobile anymore—she was getting old—and so Gabby had been taking over more of her duties.
My parents stepped inside. Dad, too, had become completely gray and the wrinkles in his face had become deep furrows, but Mamma led a strict food regime and so he was still fit for mid-sixty. Mamma kept dying her hair brown, too vain to let a hint of gray show. She smiled when she spotted me, despite the anxiety in her eyes, and rushed toward me. We hugged longer than usual. “I’m so glad you’re back.”
Papa embraced me as well and kissed my forehead. “How’s everyone?”
“The kids are putting up the Christmas decoration, and Dante is in his office.”
Papa nodded with a solemn expression.
“Mamma, can you help Leonas and Anna? Papa and I need to talk to Dante.”
Mamma nodded and hurried into the living room.
Papa searched my face. “He puts a great deal of trust in you. And he’s absolutely right. You are clever and sensible.”
“I won’t become Consigliere,” I said firmly, surprising me but not Papa. I’d occasionally fantasized about the position, but after everything that had happened with the Camorra, I’d realized I didn’t want to be part of decisions like that. I didn’t want to be responsible for having teenage boys tortured, for all the other horrible things happening in this war. I’d still give Dante my opinion if he asked for it, and even if he didn’t, but that was all.
Papa nodded. “It’s for the best, Val. Right now, isn’t the best time for that kind of change anyway, and I’d rather not have you involved in everything we do. Women should be protected. The more you get involved, the more you get targeted by our enemies.”
/> Fina hadn’t been involved and still been attacked, but ultimately I agreed with my father. “I guess that means you’ll have to live forever so you can advise Dante.”
Papa laughed. “This disgusting low-carb and white meat diet your mother tortures me with has to be good for something.” He paused. “I still want to see my third grandchild grow up, or have you and Dante given up?”
I bit my lip. We hadn’t discussed it in a while but we hadn’t taken countermeasures either. “No, but maybe it’s not meant to be.” Sadness rang in my voice, betraying my lack of acceptance on the matter.
Papa touched my cheek. “Maybe now is the perfect time. We all need something good.”
I nodded but didn’t say anything. We headed toward Dante’s office and entered after I knocked. Dante looked less tousled than before and stood with a composed expression to shake my father’s hand. His mask was in place, impenetrable and strong.
“How’s the general mood?” Dante asked as we settled on the armchairs in front of the fireplace.
Papa shrugged. “Divided. Many are glad to be rid of the Falcone twins. You know how people worried that their looks would eventually draw Remo’s attention, and that man’s attention is never a good thing. It’s better to be rid of them and him. An escalation of the war with the Camorra and the Famiglia is something many want to avoid at all costs. Luckily, the Underbosses seem to sway toward this opinion.” He sighed. “There are the others, of course. The people who think you should have killed Remo and led attacks on both the Famiglia and Camorra.”
Dante nodded thoughtfully. “I assume Pietro and Danilo are among them.”
“Possibly, but neither have made their opinion on the matter public. They are family, or going to be family in Danilo’s case. That’s an advantage.”
“Pietro won’t badmouth you in front of others,” I said. Even if Ines, Samuel, and Pietro were heartbroken and even blamed Dante for it, they were still family and neither of them was prone to emotional outbursts out of vengeance.