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And with that list, I know where I need to start.
Teresa.
FIFTEEN
-Lilah-
The Monday after the family meeting and exactly one week after the announcement of Paulie’s and my engagement, I let Dante know I will not be at work the normal time, instead working toward my goal of creating a friendship with my seemingly potential mother-in-law.
Teresa.
The woman is an interesting conundrum, appearing to play the part of the perfect mob wife and also acting as the all-knowing, potentially devious super sleuth.
I need to know more.
I remember the words she said to me that first night we met.
I knew your mom. She was a good friend to me in my time of need.
It couldn’t have been when Tony went away—those trials took place when she was her sickest.
And what would Mom—a politician’s wife and the lover of the heir to Teresa’s rival family—possibly have in common with Teresa Carluccio?
And then there was that family meeting, where she said she was the power of attorney for Tony. Where she fought with her son.
Where she looked at him with such distaste, it made me question her motherly love for the man.
And finally, there was Johnny’s insight.
Paulie put a hit out on Teresa.
For money?
For power?
Does she know?
I have no idea, and when I asked him, neither did Dante. I need to know more, to figure out what the puzzle of Teresa looks like and decide if she’s friend or foe.
But I know I won’t find my answers at the club working.
So instead of heading into work today, I find myself walking across the property to a small cottage on the outskirts ad knocking on the door I know to be that of Teresa Carluccio.
She opens the door with zero hesitation, telling me she either expected me or saw my approach on some kind of security camera, but either way, she greets me with a friendly smile.
“Good morning, Delilah. What a lovely surprise,” she says, moving to the side and using her arm to sweep across the small but stylish expanse of her entryway. “Please, come in, come in!”
I do as she asks, moving into the room which is decorated mostly in stark whites and chromes, everything new and top of the line. A plush white rug sits under an expensive-looking all glass coffee table, a comfy but elegant light-colored suede couch sitting before it.
“What brings you to my little corner of the compound? Can I get you some coffee?” she asks, walking toward a kitchen area, and I follow, my heels clicking on the hardwood as I do.
“Maybe later, thank you. I was actually hoping to do a little shopping today and wanted to know if you wanted to come along? I need to get a dress for the engagement party, and we can get lunch after. Maybe start planning for the community event, if that works for you. I booked the pavilion in the park for three weeks from now, so the turnaround is a little tight, but I’d love to start working on getting the community back on our side as soon as possible.”
Teresa stops and turns to me with a smile on her lips.
“Just like your mother, you know,” she says with a small shake of her head, that smile staying in place. I pause, unsure of what to say. “She got an idea, wouldn’t drop it until she saw it happen.” She turns again, headed away from the kitchen and toward a closet. “We met before you were born, families running in the same circles and all.” She smiles over her shoulder at me. “You know how that goes.”
“Yes, I do. I didn’t know you were such good friends with my mom.”
