by Nicole Fox
“And what was Joe’s plan?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. He didn’t say anything, and your men got to him before he had a chance to touch me. You could have asked him, I suppose, but I’m not sure I would want to know anyway.”
“I focused more on business with the family,” I admitted, feeling the whiskey burn my throat pleasantly. It would be easy to just keep drinking and forget everything that had happened over the last few days, but there was work to do. “I already know what he did to you, and I didn’t really have much time to rehash that with him.” I poured another shot, but I passed it across to her.
She stared at it for a moment before her eyes slowly slid back up to me. “What happened?” She wasn’t as enthusiastic now, her voice lower and more scared than expectant. She hadn’t realized just how big of a deal this was up until now.
“Sophia, you have to know that in situations like these, I can’t always control what happens. I have to do what’s right, both for us and for the family. As I expected, he wasn’t very cooperative.”
“I see.” She considered the drink once more, then tipped it back. “Just tell me.”
“It took some …time to get the truth out of him.” I promised myself I wouldn’t give her the details. As much as I was sure she hated Joe, she didn’t need to know exactly what had happened. Perhaps I was also trying to hide from her what I was capable of. “Frankie told me before he died that he didn’t trust Bruno. I didn’t see any good reason for that, but Joe confirmed it. Bruno went to Michael Vincenzo and told him about the hit. There’s no telling what other secrets he might have told him as well.”
She blinked rapidly. “The big guy with the hound-dog eyes? I thought he was close to your father.”
I nodded. “He was, and that’s what makes this such an awful situation. He’s my father’s best friend. Tonio isn’t going to like hearing this, and I don’t even know if he’ll believe me. He might think I’m just trying to get revenge for my own loss.”
“But it wasn’t his fault that Frankie was killed,” she protested. She was on the edge of her chair now, her body tense.
“No, not really,” I agreed. “My father wouldn’t agree to killing Joe, and things might have been different if he had. But Frankie may well have been the one sent out for the hit anyway, and we couldn’t have stopped Bruno from telling the Vincenzos. I don’t blame my father, but I could see how he might think I would.”
“Then you’ll just have to make him understand,” Sophia insisted as she swiped her tresses back over her shoulder. “I don’t know him that well, but he’s still your dad. Surely, he’ll come around. He’s got to. We can’t let Bruno just carry on like this.”
I liked how she was saying “we.” Sophia didn’t expect me to do this all on my own. It would be up to me, really, but I knew she was behind me. At least, until I told her the rest of my news. “And I don’t plan to let him. He has betrayed our family, and he’ll have to pay for it. If my father doesn’t want to do anything about it, then I will. But there’s more.” I came out of my seat and kneeled in front of her. I hadn’t even done this when we had our impromptu engagement, but it felt right. “I knew that Joe would never really leave us alone. He would stay away for a little while, but soon enough he would be back. He’s not the kind of man to just give up.”
She looked at the floor, then back up at me. “I know that.”
“Sophia, I had to kill him.” I didn’t know what to expect from her. Joe was a horrible man—a monster. He deserved to die, and he deserved far more torture than he had gotten from me that afternoon. But she and I had never agreed on exactly what I would do once I had Joe in my control.
A large tear glistened in her eye for a moment before sliding down her cheek. “Okay,” she whispered.
“Are you upset with me?” I had never needed permission to do what needed to be done, but this was somehow completely different.
She looked down at her lap, where I was desperately holding her hands. “No. I’m just upset at the situation. When I was working at the diner, I knew girls who were actually friends with their exes. Not like they hung out or anything, but they got along when it came to the kids. I guess I had hoped for that. Not for myself, but for Christopher. It’ll be hard to explain to him.” She looked at me once again, her eyes like blue irises after a rain. “But I’m not mad at you. I understand, and I don’t think it could have happened any other way.”
A huge weight I hadn’t realized I was carrying suddenly slipped off my shoulders. I rose up to kiss her, spreading kisses on her mouth, her cheeks, and her nose. “I don’t want to do anything else without knowing you’re okay with it. I must expose Bruno, and I might need to take him out. You don’t know him all that well; he may mean nothing to you at all. But I need to know that I have your blessing before I go out there.”
“Yes. Of course.” She swiped at her face with the back of her hand. “It’s because of him that all of this was so hard in the first place. You do whatever is necessary, as long as you come back to me. That’s all I ask.”
“And Vincenzo?” The man was the second-biggest danger to my family after Bruno. Either one of them could come back and threaten Sophia and Christopher just to get to me. “He can’t get away with killing Frankie.”
“No, he can’t.” She smiled at me. She was so beautiful, even when she was crying. “Get out there, Ciro. Do what you do best.”
Chapter Nineteen
Ciro
“You’re sure about this?” Despite the late hour, my father was still dressed in a fine suit. He leaned forward in his chair, his large belly hanging down over his knees. He hadn’t been expecting me to show up at his house like that—not after the argument over Frankie and the hit on Joe. In fact, he’d barely spoken to me other than his polite condolences at the funeral. But that was the way things worked between us. We would address our business when we had the chance. This was my chance.
“Yes. Frankie said he had his suspicions, but I never got a chance to ask him why. Bruno was the last person I would have expected to betray us. But Joe confirmed it before I killed him.”
Tonio nodded. He hadn’t even flinched when I told him of setting up Joe so that I could get a hold of him and interrogate him. In fact, his bobbing head indicated that he was impressed with the idea, and I had to give credit to Sophia for that. She might have tried to resist this lifestyle, but she was born to be a mistress of the mob. “How do we know that Joe was telling the truth? He had been working with us for a long time and he knew most of the men. He could have said anyone’s name just to get you to let him go.”
“Well, that would have been a mistake, since I never would have been stupid enough to let him go anyway.” I leaned back in my chair and ran a hand through the stubble that clung to my chin. “I guess I don’t have any way of knowing for sure—not until we ask Bruno himself. And it isn’t as though he’s going to admit to it.”
Big T frowned, considering the options. “Vincenzo might tell us, but I’m not ready to go that direction yet. We need to take care of our own first, don’t you agree?”
It was the first time in weeks that my father had asked my opinion. All of this business about going legit, marrying Sophia, and whacking a cop was quickly falling behind us. “I do.”
“Good. Then I’m calling a meeting. I want all the top personnel here. We’ll stay for however long it takes, but we’re fixing this thing for good. We can’t continue on if someone—whether it be Bruno or anybody else—is talking to the Vincenzos.” He stood up and went to the door of his study, muttering to the man posted there to make all the arrangements.
“I’m glad to hear you say that. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if you would care now that we aren’t going to be the Santora family anymore.”
He swiveled on his heel, moving gracefully for such a big man. “What do you mean?”
I held my hands in the air helplessly. “I mean if we’re going legal. The family secrets aren’t really all that secre
t if the Vincenzos aren’t our true rivals. They’ll have the city to themselves, anyway, once everything is done. I’m not sure there’s a point to it all. But I don’t like the idea of someone so disloyal in our midst.”
“Yes, I’ve been thinking about that.” He strode over to the window, spreading his legs wide and putting his hands in the pockets of his trousers as he looked out over the pool. “I don’t know if that’s the right direction for us after all.”
My heart lifted in my chest. I could provide a decent living for myself and Sophia by running the shipping company, but it would be nothing compared to what I had been making for the last few years as an underboss. There were so many opportunities out there, and I hated to miss them. “What exactly are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I haven’t made up my mind yet.” He waved his hand dismissively at me. He didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “I’d also like to tell you that that boy of yours is something else. Christopher looks just like you did when you were that age. I think he might be smarter, though.” He looked over his shoulder and grinned.
“He gets that from his mom,” I said with my own smile. I had ensured Christopher was returned safely home before I had begun any of this business about Bruno, and I felt warm inside knowing he and Sophia were curled up safely in front of the television. “I hope he behaved himself for you while I was gone.”
Tonio chuckled. “He couldn’t stop exploring the house. He wanted to see every nook and cranny. Let’s just say, I got my exercise.”
The capos began arriving, and I had no more time to think about my son. Big T and I made our way down to the large room in the basement where we held our meetings when we didn’t go to the pub. I proudly took my place at his side and waited impatiently for things to begin.
This room could have just as easily been the pub itself. A long, oak bar took up one corner of the open space, right next to the door that led to the wine cellar. A large pool table sat nearby. The stone floors and timbered ceilings were nothing like the modern interior throughout the rest of the house. We sat at a long, wooden table, some of the men pausing to grab beers. It felt secretive and ancient, as though many such meetings had been held here over the centuries.
Bruno was one of the last to arrive, and he sat on my father’s other side without question. Tonio greeted him warmly, as was expected of him, and the two of them chatted amicably until the last capo arrived. He didn’t want to give his intentions away until the last moment.
Tonio stood, bringing the room to silence. “I appreciate your prompt arrival. I know this isn’t our normal night for meetings, and you all know how I like to stick to a schedule.” A ripple of laughter flowed through the room; Big T was known for planning things well in advance. “However, an urgent matter has come to my attention, one that must be addressed immediately. You all know that our dear Frankie Boccia has fallen while attempting to fulfill a contract. While this is unfortunate, it is made even more so by the fact that it could have been prevented. Someone in our midst has betrayed us.”
Sharp intakes of breath and furtive glances spread around the room. Everyone was whispering to their neighbor, speculating on who it could be. Only my father, Bruno, and I sat quietly, waiting for the shock to wear off.
“I have called this meeting,” Tonio continued, “in an effort to flush out the mole. Whoever it is can’t be permitted to remain part of the Santora family. This is a chance for the double agent to come out right now and admit what he has done.” He scowled at every man in the room, carefully avoiding Bruno.
None of the men moved. They sat perfectly still, terrified. They knew Big T wasn’t lenient when it came to mafia business.
“Okay. That’s fine. It’s too bad, though. If you had stepped forward, I would have let you go. I would have given you my blessing to leave the family and go out into the world. But now, since you want to make things difficult, we’ll do it your way, Bruno.” He turned to his consigliere.
Bruno started in his seat, clearly shocked by the accusation. “What? What are you talking about? I’ve been nothing but loyal to this family.”
“Ray. Mack.” I gestured at the two capos with my head. Ray had heard Joe’s confession, so I knew he would understand immediately what I meant for him to do. I was glad to see he had finished with the body and had made it here. There was always a chance I might need a witness. I watched as he and Mack moved around behind Bruno and quickly restrained him in his chair.
“We’ve been told that you aren’t so loyal, actually.” Big T’s voice was calm as he walked across the room and opened a closet door. “I’d like to give you a chance to explain your side of things.” When he closed the closet door, he had a baseball bat in his hand. He patted it softly against the palm of his left hand as he came back to Bruno.
“Tonio, you’ve got to be kidding me. This is some sort of joke, right? You’re all going to yell ‘surprise’ and tell me I’m on camera or something?” He was a tall, imposing man, but he looked terrified as the two young capos held him in place. “I mean, I never did anything.”
“That’s what people always say when they have something to hide.” Big T lined himself up and swung the bat through the air several times. It made a swishing noise as it just missed contact with Bruno’s knee. “But I’ve found over the years that I don’t have the patience to wait for someone to tell me the truth. If they don’t give it to me, then I take it.”
I stood in the opposite corner of the room, where I was out of the way, but my presence would be noted. It felt uncomfortable to have all these men watching this process, but I understood why my father was doing it this way. He needed to make an impression on the other capos. They had to know what the consequences were if they betrayed him. Nobody crossed the Santoras and got away with it. Joe had already learned that lesson today.
Bruno flinched at the swings. “Come on, Tonio. It’s me. I’ve been your friend for how many years now? We’ve known each other since we were breaking glass bottles in the alleys. You know I wouldn’t do a thing like that.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Big T adjusted his hands on the handle of the bat. His eyes were hard as he looked at his friend. “But, you see, whoever betrayed us is working with the Vincenzos. That’s not just a simple mistake, you know? And I had a witness tell me you were at a meeting with the Don.”
Bruno was sweating along his hairline. His glance shot to me, looking for help, but he wasn’t going to find any. “Who is it? Bring him in here. I want to hear him say it himself.”
“Can’t,” Big T replied with a shrug. “He’s dead.” He swung for real this time. The crunch of Bruno’s knee split through the room, and several of the capos flinched.
Bruno screamed, reeling in his chair and struggling to pull his arms away from Mack and Ray. “Stop! Don’t do this, Tonio! I don’t have any dealings with Vincenzo. I wouldn’t do that to you!”
My father remained calm. He leaned the baseball bat against the table while he lit a cigarette. “Is that so? What if I brought that fool Joe Pitera in here? Would he agree with you?” It was a wise move on his part. He had never said who the dead witness was, and it could just as well have been one of Vincenzo’s men.
Now Bruno was sweating earnestly. His skin was pale and clammy and his breath game in short, ragged gasps. “Surely you wouldn’t believe some fucking idiot like him over me. Is this how you repay me after all my years of service?” His voice was desperate.
Tonio leaned his fists against the table, his back to Bruno. He glanced up at me, and I gave him the slightest nod. I was sure it was Bruno. There was no question about it in my mind. I hated for my father to have to go through this, but it was the only way. Just as it had been with Joe.
“Unfortunately, your years of service don’t mean shit if you go running to our rival family and tell them everything we’re going to do. I don’t care if that hit had my stamp of approval or not. My son brought you in to witness that contract because he trusted you, and you betrayed him. Th
at means you betrayed me.” He swung again, cracking the other knee. “Why did you do it? I want to hear it from your own mouth.”
It took a minute for the screams to die down. Bruno was a tough man in a lot of ways, but nobody could stand that kind of pain for very long. He slumped in his chair, blacking out for a moment before coming back to his horrible new reality. “I just wanted some power for myself, T. I was tired of sitting along the sidelines while you got all the fame and the glory. I work just as hard as you do.”
“I paid you well,” Tonio argued. “You have a huge house, an expensive car, and a shiny boat. What more could you want?” I could see the hurt in his eyes, and I turned away.
“Like I said, it was the power,” Bruno gasped. “You can order men around with the flick of a finger. They listen to me, but only because they know I’m working under your orders. You practically own the city. You have everything, and all I am is an assistant. Vincenzo is weak. I knew I could get in good enough with them to take over someday. Then I would have a piece of the city all for myself.”