Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Amadeo pales but nods. I didn’t mean for him to get in trouble. Punishment in our family at Romeo’s decree could mean anything from a beating to excommunication to a brutal, vicious death. I feel sick to my stomach and a little dizzy.
He’s called everyone here.
I’ve messed up before, but I think this time… I think this time I may have gone too far.
“She was scared,” I whisper.
Romeo scoffs. “Scared? A nameless woman you’ve never met asks for your help and you give up everything to help her? You know who should be scared?” Romeo fumes. “You. You have no idea what Capo’s capable of. No idea what he could do. If he–” He stops himself mid-sentence. “No.” He takes a deep breath. “Let’s hear the story.”
I had no idea, I think to myself, but a small voice in the back of my head reminds me that I did, I had a suspicion that he was someone to be feared. He knew Amadeo. Every warning bell in my mind went off and still, I had to just throw caution to the wind, as if somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that I’d land on my feet like a cat.
There’s nothing for it now but the truth. I tell him everything in a rush of words, wishing I could take it back, wishing I could stop the room from spinning as member after member of our family enters Romeo’s office stationed in the war room at the back of The Castle.
“Then he left,” I finish.
Romeo nods and turns to Amadeo. “Your side.”
To his credit, he tells things exactly as they happened and thankfully doesn’t demonize me any further.
When we’ve both told our stories, we look up to see all the members of the inner sanctum— my brothers Mario, Tavi and Orlando, Mario’s wife Gloria, my sister Rosa’s husband Santo, and my cousin Sergio—standing around us in a semi-circle.
“Marialena’s in grave danger,” Romeo begins.
Gloria’s eyes narrow as he tells them what happened. “He didn’t know the trapdoor in the palm reading room led to the sex club? Everyone knows that.”
Mario winces. “Uh, not everyone, babe.”
Alright, so that’s something I didn’t need to know about my brother and his wife.
“Especially not someone who’s spent the last eight years in jail,” Tavi reminds her.
“Right.”
“We’re wasting time,” Romeo says, shaking his head. “We need to find a safe place for Marialena. He recognized Amadeo, so he likely recognized her.”
That flare of recognition in his eyes. Yeah, he knew who I was alright. Dammit.
I squirm.
“Marialena?” Romeo says warningly.
“Yeah, I think he knew who I was.”
Romeo curses under his breath. “We can’t send her to Tuscany this time. We don’t have enough manpower to protect her.”
“Safe house X?” Gloria says, holding Romeo’s gaze. I don’t even know what that means, but she hasn’t given a location of the safe house, so it’s either new or highly confidential.
Romeo frowns. He doesn’t like that idea. “That would work as a temporary solution, but we need something more long-lasting. Capo’s type hold grudges for years.”
Years? Shit.
“If he realizes Marialena had anything to do with hiding the woman from him...” His voice trails off. “Gloria, I want you to go and see if you can find anything at all that hints at a potential marriage for Capo. See if we can at least identify the woman Marialena hid.”
I’m still stuck on years.
Gloria nods and pulls out her phone, as the others continue to talk about further solutions. Their voices meld into a stream of gibberish as the reality of what I’ve done hits me.
I’m not safe anymore. Even my brothers—the strong, powerful men I love and trust—can’t protect me now.
I’ve never felt so alone in my life.
I let them hash out my future and tell myself I’ll do whatever they say. My heedless actions have caused enough problems as it is. And then I hear the one word that makes me come back to full attention.
“The only safe choice is probably marriage,” Tavi says with a grimace.
Marriage.
Marriage!
Marriage?
I’m the only single Rossi woman left, and I’ve known for a while—we all have—that my marriageability and virginity make me a really, really hot bargaining chip. The very thought makes me sick to my stomach. I’ve never even really given myself permission to think too much about it, because if I did, I’d want to leave. And I love it here. I love my Nonna and Mama, my brothers and sister, my nieces and nephews and those who’ve married into this family. I don’t want to leave them, and a part of me hoped my family was secure enough, especially after solidifying ties with our cousins, that he wouldn’t need to marry me off.
Marriage.
My sister was married young to a man who cheated on her. My brothers have broken the mold by being faithful to their wives, but none of us are fools. We know that a typical mobster only marries for convenience. Infidelity is their bread and butter. My father and his brothers all had mistresses, and Tavi’s wife, my sister-in-law Elise, has told me horror stories of the loveless marriages she witnessed in her own family.