‘Shall we?’
His gaze shifted to Fist and the two soldiers flanking me. Then to the lieutenant closest to him before turning to head inside.
The armed man stepped up to me. ‘Just you.’
I raised my hand at the slow hiss emanating from Fist. ‘It’s fine.’
I felt his silent protest drilling into me, but I didn’t look back as I followed El Topo. Hopefully, the ticking bomb tucked into my pocket would make him behave.
The inside of the mansion was just like the outside – showy, expensive but altogether unremarkable. My feet ate up yards of polished floors as I followed another soldier to a large study with all the antique bells and whistles.
Bonafacio was seated behind a massive desk that almost swallowed his slight figure. I hid my surprise that his son, Maddelena’s father, wasn’t present.
I waited till the door shut behind the soldier to approach.
‘May I sit?’ I asked evenly.
A flash of surprise lit his watery blue eyes. Then he waved permission.
I released my jacket button and sat down. ‘First things first. I’m marrying your granddaughter, most likely by the end of the year. If it’s a rumour you were hoping was false, sorry to disappoint you. I’m also here to advise that doing anything other than giving your wholehearted blessing will be viewed very unfavourably.’
His eyes slitted. ‘Let me get this straight. You’re keeping my Maddelena hostage, no doubt blackmailing her into your bed, and you have the balls to come here to ask for my blessing?’
It would’ve probably been less volatile to allow him to believe that. But I had to take every crumb of suspicion off Maddelena. Because sooner or later, he’d work out that blackmail or not, his granddaughter and I were seriously into each other. Hell, even Igot a little embarrassed for us for our inability to keep our hands off each other.
When that happened, El Topo’s tiny brain would explode all over my Maddelena. So I needed to play this right.
‘The only blackmail going on here is mine. On you.’
‘There you go, showing your balls again. Why should I not send you back to your grandfather in several tiny pieces?’
‘Because the outcome will be the same. A pile of shit on your doorstep.’
His beady eyes flashed pure loathing. Then he bared his capped teeth. ‘This should be interesting.’
‘I know the identity of the person who killed my mother.’
His smile switched off. ‘Be very careful what you say to me next, boy.’
I nodded solemnly, like I was taking his advice seriously. ‘I don’t want nor need your blessing. I’m with your granddaughter now. What I came here to say is that if you do anything that even hints at you attempting some sort of retribution for the fact that Maddelena is now for all intents and purposes an Untouchable and a Salvatore…’ I paused to savour the sight of his face contorting with rage at the very thought. ‘If you do that, I will take immediate steps to put you down.’
He grinned, a mirthless display of too-large teeth. ‘You’ve clearly been inhaling too many engine fumes from your piece of shit car.’
‘And you, unfortunately, are giving gangsters a bad name by not knowing when to keep your mouth shut. Especially after doing something as sacrilegious as having your rival’s wife gunned down in broad daylight.’ I reached into my pocket for the tiny pen drive, watching him closely. Sure enough, his smile slipped once more and he micro-shifted in his seat. ‘At your age it’s probably a waste of time to teach an old dog the trick of notmaking the mistake of confessing to murder to a priest you then murdered too, huh? Poor Father Sanguinetti, God rest his soul.’
He lost a shade of colour, but his eyes didn’t shift from the drive.
‘What you didn’t know was that after your first confession, Sanguinetti told Patri Calogero he feared for his life. That he feared exactly what you ended up doing to him. So he took precautions. We have you on tape, literally confessing to murder. And implicating your granddaughters and several other people who would be very upset to be named.’ I tapped my forefinger on the drive a few times, just to taunt him. Then tossed it back into my pocket and rose.
‘I’ll say this once. Stay away from my family. From today onward that includes Maddelena. Her mother and siblings will be welcome at our wedding if she wants them to. You and your son, however, are not. I’ll leave it to your imagination what the consequences of defying this request will be.’
I turned and headed for the door. The creak of his chair reached me just before he snarled, ‘You will not get away with this.’ His agitation thickened his accent, but I heard him loud and clear.
It was my turn to smile. ‘We both know I already have.’
Outside, my men re-flanked me.
And yeah, outwardly I may have looked calm, but facing the enemy in his territory was anything but a walk in the park. All it took was a tiny spark to start a conflagration. Whatever my past temperament, Maddelena deserved not to be left alone to face our families with news of my demise.
