“Seriously?” He rolls his eyes when Sonny sends his boys to go pat him down.
“Can you blame us?” Cecilia says a little sharply, making it clear she’s not going to intervene on his behalf.
Matthias loses his attitude in a hurry. “No, I sure can’t.”
“He’s clean,” Sonny says. “But I think we ought to cuff him in case he gets fucking cocky.”
“Hey, I’m just here to speak to my sister.” Matthias grumbles. He looks her over, taking in the sight of her pregnant belly and the fact that my arm is around her shoulders. “Can we talk, Cecilia?”
“Yes,” she says. “But my husband is coming too.”
He nods. “Fair enough.”
Sonny is still scowling and my brothers are circling Matthias like angry jackals. With one gesture from me, they back off.
The best place in the house for a serious meeting with your Mafia assassin brother-in-law is where it’s always been. My father’s study.
After Matthias is ushered inside, I pause at the threshold and take my wife’s hand. “We can go to the library instead. Fewer memories there.”
Cecilia considers this and ultimately shakes her head. “We’re surrounded by memories, Julian. Some of them happen to be bad. None of them can hurt us.”
Matthias glances around with discomfort, like this might be the last room on earth he’d like to be standing in. He shakes his head when I offer him a seat.
There are no visible signs of what occurred here on Christmas Eve. The leather sofa where my father took his last breath has already been burned. Teresa’s painting is back up on the wall. Cecilia’s cat is even curled up on a burgundy throw rug in front of the cold fireplace. She sniffs in Matthias’s direction and decides she doesn’t like what she finds so she runs out of here.
Before dealing with Grimaldi, my priority is helping Cecilia take her coat off and get comfortable in a chair. Matthias watches the process with an intense eye. He waits until his sister is settled and then doesn’t beat around the bush.
“The old man is dead,” he says. “Choked on a pillow last night.”
“I see.” Cecilia exhales with a shudder and reaches for my hand. “Pillows can be dangerous.”
Matthias gives her a tight smile. “They do tend to cut off all the oxygen when held over a man’s face.”
It’s the closest he’ll come to admitting that he committed the deed personally. I would have gladly claimed the honors myself but I don’t blame him. He had every right.
“Thanks for traveling all the way out here just to share the news,” I say.
His gaze becomes less friendly when it lands on me. “I had other reasons too. Vittorio Messina wants an assurance that you’ll be stepping into your father’s role as head of the family. He says all deals only apply if you’re the one running the show.” Matthias’s shrug is packed with irritation. “He likes you for some reason.”
“That’s touching,” I say. “But my father is being buried as we speak and I’m in no mood to talk about succession plans.”
Finally, a twitch of shame turns his cold stare into a grimace. “I am sorry for your loss, Julian. I mean that.” Next, he looks at his sister again and deflates. “Cecilia, I really don’t know what to say about Gabriel. I wish I did.”
“There are no words,” she says. “Whatever terrible things you’ve heard, the reality was worse.”
He heaves a sigh and lets this sink in before cutting to a different topic. “I stopped by Angelo’s hospital room before I came here. He says he’ll be getting out of there in a day or two.”
“I know,” Cecilia says. “I spoke to him this morning.”
Matthias gazes at his sister for a long unhappy moment. “I should have fought for all of you. The last few days I’ve had a lot of time to beat myself up about that. You were just kids. You watched your parents die. I was the adult you should have been able to count on.”
“You were only twenty-one,” Cecilia says. “And you’d just lost the girl you love. You were in no position to assume responsibility for three teenage siblings.”
Rather than let himself off the hook, his jaw muscles clench and his eyes swerve to me. “Julian, would you have ever run away and left your three brothers behind to fend for themselves?”
“No fucking way,” I reply. I’m aware this isn’t the kindest answer but he’d know any alternative is bullshit anyway.
“Right.” Unsurprised, he nods and blows out a breath. “Angelo said no arrangements have been made for Gabriel’s body yet.”
