The Lanzas promised our arrangement would never be exposed neither would my secret. If I’d gone to Don Bellomo, the Lanzas would have revealed my mother’s real last name. Don Bellomo could have burned me and my mother alive. The Lanzas were the less hazardous option. “Considering the relationship between Don Lanza and your father, I was afraid that Don Bellomo might call me a liar or favor his friend over me eventually. The Lanzas could have twisted everything and convinced your father they were innocent,” I lied, even though with Leo’s intelligence, he could have easily figured it out.
He was about to speak, but Nicky emerged from the drugstore and headed back to the car. Thankfully. I wasn’t ready for any more questions. I hated to lie to him, and my guilt, shame and self-destructive urges were bellowing at me to confess the last of my sins and get it all over with.
She climbed in and slammed the door. “Drive.”
“Did you find out?” he asked her, starting the car.
Her head shook once. “The bathroom is broken.”
That was the last thing any of us said until we reached a fisherman’s cottage in Catania. I wasn’t filled in on the details, but the man Leo was talking to in the dark by the beach while Nicole and I remained in the car was obviously playing a role in their escape which involved a boat.
Leo limped back toward us and popped his head inside from Nicole’s window, while the man disappeared. “He gave me the keys. The cottage is ours for the night until our boat is ready.”
“I thought we could go now,” she said.
“We should have but…”
“But what?”
“I just wanna make sure you can handle it first.”
“I can fucking handle a Goddamn boat ride.”
“Boats aren’t safe for pregnant women in their first trimester,” I jumped into the conversation.
She darted a glare at me. “I’m not pregnant. I can’t be. I’ve been on the pill since puberty. This is just distress which will go away once everything is over.” She glanced back at Leo. “We have to go now so it willbe over.”
“Let’s be sure first, okay?” he said. “If you’re not, we’ll go right away.”
“And if I am?”
He paused for a moment. “We’ll figure something out, but I won’t be responsible for putting an unborn baby in danger, Nicky.”
A warm feeling tickled my heart, and I caught myself smiling. The psycho monster everybody was afraid of, everybody wanted to kill, had a tender, protective side that made my heart melt. God, I loved him. Every part of him, the dark before the sweet.
She gripped the car door handle. “Fine. I’ll take the fucking test right now just to prove you wrong and we can get on the fucking boat.” She pushed Leo out of the way and marched down to the cottage.
Leo’s gaze followed her until she got inside. Then he sighed, distraught darkening his face.
“Perhaps we should go in with her. She will need the support,” I said.
“I think she needs privacy, and you’re not her friend.”
“Neither are you. But right now, we’re all she’s got. The three of us are allwegot.”
He sighed again. “Cazzo, I hate shrinks.” He opened my door and linked arms with me, dragging me out. Then we walked to the cottage.
“Another thing I’d never imagined it’d be like this,” I scoffed.
“What?”
“Our first stroll on the beach.”
He rolled his eyes. “I guess it’s safe to say nothing about me is like what you imagined.”
“Well…you definitely exceeded my imagination. Some parts more than others.”
He laughed. “Slut.”
