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Following Adriano’s lead, I started to curse myself out, to beat myself up –
But I stopped.
I had one rule, and I’d followed it.
There was no way I was going to kill an innocent woman who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It was just bad fucking luck. Like getting stopped at Lake Como.
If I had to, I’d take the rap alone… go back to San Vittore, if that’s what it took…
But I wouldn’t apologize for what I’d done.
I had one rule, and I’d followed it.
Nothing else mattered.
129
When I got back to the house, the mood was grim.
Dario was calm but obviously stressed. Adriano was pacing back and forth. Niccolo was sitting in a chair, his head bowed like he was praying. Valentino fidgeted nervously in a chair. For the first time since I’d met him, Roberto had taken off his tie and jacket, though he still wore his vest over his dress shirt. Only Massimo seemed relatively unfazed as he leaned against the wall.
Adriano glared at me and shook his head in disgust. “A fuckin’ enforcer who won’t enforce shit.”
“Shut up,” Niccolo snapped at his brother. “It’s not helping.”
“She surprised me,” I said apologetically. “I should have seen her – I could have kept my back to her – ”
“You SHOULD have taken care of her!” Adriano snarled.
I wheeled around on him. “By doing what, exactly?”
He didn’t want to say Killing her – even Adriano had his limits – but he still barked, “You should have taken care of it!”
For the first time since I’d set foot in the house, I yelled at the top of my lungs. “I DON’T KILL WOMEN OR CHILDREN, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!”
Adriano jerked back, shocked at my outburst – but he didn’t seem angry. Just surprised.
“Good,” Massimo said approvingly from where he leaned against the wall. “That’s the way it should be.”
“I agree,” Dario said as he clapped me on the shoulder. “It may be… inconvenient at the moment… but you did the right thing.”
Despite telling myself I wouldn’t apologize, I still felt bad enough to say, “Sorry it happened.”
Dario gave me a wan smile. “I know your rule. I sent you out there knowing it. Whatever happened, I know you did the right thing.”
“Besides, it may not be a big deal,” Niccolo said morosely, like he was trying to put a positive spin on the situation but failing miserably.
“How’s that?” I asked.
“There aren’t any homicide detectives out here in the sticks, so they’ll probably call in somebody from Florence. We have half the force on our payroll, so if we get the right cop, we can bury the investigation.”
“And if you don’t get the right cop?” I asked, slightly nauseated.
“Let’s just hope we get the right cop,” Niccolo said darkly.
“It’ll be fine,” Dario said. “Time for all our bribes to finally pay off.”
