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I stared at Luciano for a long moment. “You… got his charges dropped?” I frowned a little. “And brought him into the fold?”
The name was still swirling in my head as I stared at the man. He grinned at me ear to ear and sipped his tea as the front door opened. I heard three pairs of footsteps come stomping back into the room. Dante stormed in first followed by Steven and Gino. All three men looked anxious, and Dante immediately knelt down in front of Luciano and took the man’s hand into his own.
“Don Leone,” he said. “I’m so sorry to make you wait. Gino told me you had arrived and I hurried here as fast as I could.”
I gaped in horror as the truth hit me like a stone.
Don Leone.
I’d just been sitting and having tea with the head of the Leone Crime Family. Luciano Leone looked like any other old Italian man, and I’d simply assumed he was from the neighborhood, or maybe some childhood friend of Dante’s. It never occurred to me that he could’ve been the head of the family, but looking back, I should’ve seen something right away.
“Nonsense,” Don Leone said. “I was just having tea with this nice young lady.”
I gaped at them as Dante turned his head toward me. “You were on your best behavior, I hope.”
“I… I was… I didn’t know he was…” I stared as Don Leone began to laugh and Dante frowned at me.
“It’s okay,” Don Leone said. “There’s no way she could’ve recognized me, Dante.”
“I hope she was polite regardless.”
“Oh, she was. I told her the story about your little foray into burglary from when you were a boy.”
Date winced. “You don’t need to always tell that story.”
“But I love it so much, Dante. And to think you nearly got away with it.” Don Leone extracted his hands and patted Dante on the cheek. Dante grimaced and sat down at the table, nodding at Steven and Gino. The two men took positions at the edges of the room and Dante leaned toward Don Leone.
I could see the tension in Dante clear as day. He was worried, and I’d bet anything that a visit from the Don of his family to his private home wasn’t a normal thing.
“Don Leone, what can I do for you today?” Dante asked.
Don Leone sighed and smiled like he wished they could go back to talking about the old days. “You know why I’m here,” he said.
“I believe so, yes.”
“Word has reached me about your meeting with Vlas.”
“I hoped it would, sir.”
Don Leone studied Dante and his face slowly fell from the kindly grandfather and transformed into something harder. In that moment, I saw the mobster hidden beneath the kindly exterior, and I realized why Don Leone was the head of the family. He was a chameleon, capable of shifting his shape and changing his true colors. One moment, he was gentle and laughing, and the next he was diamond hard and razor sharp, a force to be feared.
“Vlas didn’t give you much choice in the matter, did he?” Don Leone said with a sigh.
“He didn’t, sir,” Dante said.
“I was told his demands were simple. He wanted the girl in recompense.” Don Leone’s eyes flashed to mine then back to Dante. “And yet here she is, still in your home.”
“I wouldn’t give him anything,” Dante said. “I’ve given him enough. Any more would be weak.”
“I agree,” Don Leone said. “And yet, you’re willing to kill over this girl?”
Dante looked at me and I wished I could shrink away and disappear. The men were talking about me like I didn’t exist anymore, though Dante’s eyes on mine made a spark come to life in my chest.
“I would,” he said. “I’ve come to value her, Don Leone.”
“Ah,” Don Leone said, but didn’t look at me. “Value her. That’s an interesting choice of words. You wouldn’t say that you love her?”
Dante tensed then shook his head. “She was my prize from her father. He used her as a bargaining chip to try and sway my hand.”
“Didn’t work, did it?” Don Leone smiled and shook his head. “And so you refuse to do the same thing her father did, I suppose.”
“Yes, sir.” Dante’s jaw tensed. “I have lines.”
“I know all about your lines, Dante.” Don Leone shook his head and sipped his tea. He was silent for a long moment and I could sense the tension rolling off Dante in waves. I realized that he didn’t know how his boss would react to how the meeting went, and he was afraid that the Don would disapprove. I didn’t know what Dante could do if the Don told him to go back and give me to Vlas, and I didn’t want to think about it.
“Very well,” Don Leone said at last. “I believe you did what was necessary. You gave Vlas the traitor thief and returned his money. You apologized and went to a meeting on his terms. And yet he demands more, which is unacceptable. I agree, giving in would be a show of weakness, and I will not have weakness from one of my best Capos.”
