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“How long until we go to the summit? Will I have time to prepare myself? I don’t want to get us into trouble with other families. And I certainly don’t want to do anything to get into trouble with your family.”
“Our family,” I correct her. “You are, for all intents and purposes, my wife, and that makes you a real Vietti.”
“So, how long do I have to get ready, Frank?”
“I’m not sure yet. As you can imagine, getting such a massive amount of people together without alerting the authorities isn’t an easy thing to do.”
“So, I might have a few months to get ready for this,” she mumbles to herself.
“Or it might be next week. You never know.” I like keeping her on her toes.
But when her face shows pure panic, I know I shouldn’t have said anything to bring her more stress than I have already put her under. “Are you kidding?”
Laughing, I want to bring the tension down a notch or two. “Of course, I’m kidding.”
Sighing with relief, she smiles. “I see you have a sense of humor. I’ll have to get used to that and not take everything you say so seriously.”
“You’ll get to know me. And I’ll get to know you. One of the things you need to work on is your naivety.” She’s got it in spades.
“How can I work on something like that?” The wonder in her eyes tells me she’s absolutely clueless.
“Maybe Sheila can help with that. In this family, and by the word family, I mean the whole gang my brother runs, we like our members to be bright and on top of their game. This thing you do, taking everyone and everything at face value, is dangerous. And not only for you but for me and the entire family.”
“And how is that exactly.” She gives me all of her attention, ready to take in any morsel of knowledge I’m about to give her. And I like that very much.
I move my hand over her cheek gently. “I think you’re going to be a quick learner, Lisa. You really give it your all. I don’t want you to worry, but I don’t want you to go on as you are, either.”
Shaking her head, she says, “I don’t understand.”
“Okay, let me give you an example of your naivety being dangerous.” Perhaps a real-life example will help her understand better. “Let’s say you’re out picking up groceries. Someone comes up to you and asks you something kind of simple, like what you’re making for dinner that night.”
“Why would anyone come up and ask me something like that?” A bewildered expression tells me she’s not understanding me at all. “That’s never happened to me before. Not even once. So why would that suddenly happen now?”
“Well, when you’re my wife, and our rivals find that out, you could be approached, and the information you give them could be detrimental to our lives. You’ll find people coming up to you now that you’re a Vietti.”
Shivering, she wraps her arms around herself. “I didn’t realize something like that could happen.”
It’s good she knows the danger she’s in. But I don’t exactly like the way she’s dealing with it. “You gotta be strong, Lisa. You can’t look weak, or they’ll eat you alive.”
With eyes as big as saucers, she looks at me. “How can I be strong?”
“Just don’t act like you’re afraid.” I think it’s a pretty easy thing to do.
“But I am afraid.” Her eyes begin to shimmer, and I think she might actually cry.
I run my thumb over her cheek, trying to calm her down. “Hey, you don’t have to do anything right away. No need to cry.”
Taking my hand, she holds my palm against her cheek. “I know I shouldn’t, but I trust you to teach me all I have to learn.”
She’s right—she shouldn’t trust me at all. She’s way too trusting and innocent. Somehow, I have to change that. But she’s also right to think I can teach her how to be a good Mafia wife.
“You can trust me. And you can trust Sheila. But you can’t trust anyone else. Not yet, anyway. I’ll teach you how to see through people.” Hopefully.
Nodding, she lets go of my hand. “I’ve never had a reason not to trust. I know I have to learn how to see through people. It was too easy for you to take everything away from me.”
“Hey, there’s no shame in you not knowing what I was doing. I was taught from birth how to take advantage of people.” Plus, I have a certain gift for deceiving people.
But, for some strange reason, I don’t want to deceive Lisa any more than I absolutely have to. What I want to do for her is teach her how to be tough, strong, and brave and put all the innocence and naivety behind her.
