An image of deep blue eyes and hair like starlight fills my vision before a frown mars my brow at the memories, and I push them away.
“We need to be patient, Rafe. They were painstaking in setting their plan in motion. We must be equally diligent.”
I meet my friend’s knowing eyes and nod once in silent agreement.
There’s a soft knock on the door, and Emiliano slowly opens it to admit the only survivor of the ambush that saw my father gunned down.
My sister's companion, Maria, was left violated and on the brink of death in a burnt-out warehouse that our family had used previously for human trafficking. My father had put an end to that side of the business upon his ascension to power, extending it to the other four families. It was something Francesco Conti had never agreed with.
His son, too.
“You requested my presence, Don.”
Don.
Shit! That’s going to take some getting used to. That should be Alessio’s title, damn him to Hell.
As she slowly steps inside my office, I can see Maria’s face is still badly bruised despite the subsequent ten days since the attack.
“Yes, Maria.” I gesture toward the chair opposite me. “Take a seat.”
She sinks down gratefully into the velvet seat, folding her hands atop her lap before fixing her eyes on mine. Beneath the bruising, I can see she’s pale, and it’s costing her dearly to be here today.
“You want to know what happened,si?”
I steeple my fingers, resting them beneath my chin as I lean forward with a barely perceptible nod. “I’m afraid I’ve waited as long as I can afford to, Maria. I need to know what happened that day so that I can ensure they pay the price of double-crossing the Caruso family.”
She swallows heavily, then nods. “It happened so quickly, Don Rafael. The convoy was taken down in a matter of seconds. Your father threw me and Miss Aurelia to the floor of the SUV, shielding us with his body. Our driver must have taken a hit or something because he suddenly veered away from the fracas, and the vehicle crashed…”
Maria’s eyes are dull, her brow furrowed heavily as she relives the horror of my father’s last moments.
“Don Giacomo pulled both of us from the wreckage before the attackers got too close, and when he saw where we were, he bade us to run for the warehouse. He said not to look back. Keep running. Keep Miss Aurelia?—”
Her voice catches on a sob as tears spill down her cheeks. “He said to keep Miss Aureliasafe, no matter the cost.”
She slams her eyes closed, and I give her a minute to compose herself, having a rough idea of what comes next but needing her confirmation regardless.
“We reached the warehouse, and I pushed Miss Aurelia inside before I looked back to see if Don Giacomo was still behind us, and that’s when I saw…he was kneeling in the dirt. A tall man stood over him with a gun pressed to his temple. They exchanged heated words before your father cursed him loudly, then spat on the man’s shoes.”
I smile despite myself. My father was his own man, right up until the end, clearly. I can only hope to be half the man he was.
“The tall man spoke one last time before…before pulling the t-t-trigger.”
Maria wedges her eyes closed with a low, keening cry. “They came for us then. I hid Miss Aurelia. I kept her safe. I refused to tell them where she was even as they beat me. Even as they took?—”
She inhales sharply, her next words escaping on a sob. “They took turns violating me.”
Emiliano swears under his breath as he shifts his stance at my side, and I grit my teeth at the depravity this woman has experienced.
Fucking animals.
“The tall one—the one with the obscure hand tattoos—he was American. And he relished the pain he inflicted.” Then she swallows roughly. “He did this.”
Maria shakily tugs her high-necked blouse to one side, showcasing heavy bruising around her throat. Large fingerprints mar her delicate flesh.
“Right before I passed out, I heard Miss Aurelia scream for them to stop. And—and that’s the last thing I remember, Don Rafael.”
Long moments of silence pass as Maria smooths her skirt along her legs, and I digest her horrendous story, eventually reaching into the drawer on my left to pull out an image.
