“I’m okay.” We walk into the living room.
“First the shooting and now a car explosion.” He stops short as he hears the cabinets opening and closing in the kitchen. “Who’s that?”
“Dominic.” I sit on the couch. “He doesn’t want me to be alone tonight so he’s staying here.”
An amused expression crosses his face. “Well that might be a good idea.” Salvatore sinks into the armchair, worry creases his brow. “You scared the hell out of everyone, Farfalla. Nonna called me in tears. She mentioned Bruno and Dominic got into an argument.”
I nod.
Salvatore shakes his head. “This killer is doing a great job at tearing us apart. Bruno hasn’t been the same since he got shot.Did you know he got into it with me yesterday? He said I’m not doing a good job as a consigliere”
I lean forward. “Sal, I want to ask you something and I need you to be honest.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You know you don’t have to ask for honesty from me, Farfalla. I always give that to you.”
“I know my father didn’t eliminate the Marconi Family because they were feeding information to the Feds.”
Salvatore pauses for a moment, but doesn’t look surprised. “You’re correct, Farfalla.”
I reach over and grab the paper with Francesca’s obituary. I hand it to him. “It was because of her.”
He takes a moment and studies the paper. “Yes, it was. Francesca Marconi.” He sighs. “That was the most foolish thing your father ever did, but I can’t blame him. She was beautiful. The beauty of a woman can make a man do crazy things.” He folds the paper and places it back on the table. “As you know your father and I grew up together, we were like brothers. When my parents died, your grandparents gave me a place to stay. When we were teenagers your father fell in love with the youngest Marconi, Francesca. I told him it was a bad idea seeing as how the families were bitter enemies, but your father didn’t care. His decision to be with her became more serious when he told me she was pregnant with his child.”
“He told you?” I gasp.
“Of course, he was my brother. We told each other everything.”
“What happened?” I ask.
“They were going to run away together. But the night before they planned to leave the city, Francesca told him that her brother Aldo had asked for a meeting. She told him she was going to go and try to make things right. But instead her brother shot her and killed her. That broke your father’s heart. Aldo dida great job of making it look like it was a drive-by orchestrated by another family. He almost tried to blame it on us but we put a stop to that quickly. Your father never recovered from the loss of Francesca and their unborn child. He vowed revenge. I figured he had gotten over it when he married your mother and had you. But then one day he disclosed to me that he was going to eliminate the entire Marconi family to avenge Francesca.”
“What did you do?” I ask.
“I told him not to do it. It would start a war among the families and that’s the last thing we needed. But he went behind my back and created the plan. He used lies and manipulation to justify his decision to the other families and as a result got the Marconi Territory to boot.”
“Are you sure everyone died? Do you think someone could have escaped?”
He scratches his head. “I don’t know. It’s possible. The police reported that everyone important died but it was a big party. Someone could have escaped or never attended. I knew that eventually there would be some retaliation against us which is why I brought Bruno on. He was an old friend of mine and worked in security. I told your father we could use Bruno’s expertise to keep us safe and he trusted my judgment. Surprisingly there were never any attacks against us until now.”
“Did my mother know?” I ask.
“Hell no.” Salvatore shakes his head. “She would have never been okay with Vincenzo eliminating a whole family to avenge an old flame. She would have killed him herself.”
“I think my father was murdered,” I blurt out.
“That’s impossible,” Salvatore’s eyes widen.
“He didn’t have a heart attack. We found another report saying it was cyanide.”
“Then why wasn’t it in the computer?”
“Because someone powerful must have paid the forensic examiner to not upload it into the computer or report it to the authorities,” I fold my arms. “What happened the night Dad died?”
Salvatore runs a hand through his hair. “We had a routine meeting. It was your father, Bruno, and myself. The guards were around. We talked business, had some muffins, then he told us he had work to do and for us to leave. I wish I had stayed with him but he wanted to be alone. He was the boss after all and we respected his boundaries. He seemed troubled that night though, like he had a lot on his mind. Nonna was cooking when we left. She offered us soup, and when we said we had a lot of work to do, she gave us to-go cups.”
I lean back on the couch. “Somebody knows about all of this. Someone wants revenge.” I take a deep breath and the smell of basil and garlic fills my nostrils.
Rubbing his temples Salvatore continues. “I don’t know how someone could have poisoned your father. Cyanide is a fast acting poison. Your father ate and drank the same food as us. We had our forensic team look over the entire room and analyze the half a muffin and a glass of wine, but they didn’t find any trace of poison.” He stands and gives me a pat on the shoulder. “I have to go Farfalla. You’ll figure it out. You’re your father’s daughter, after all. You’re smarter than all of us.”
