Page 64 of Storm and Sea

And Baia Vita was his home, whether Leo liked it or not.

Maybe on the mainland, they think differently.

He quickly shook himself, picking up a heavy load of fish, allowing the burning in his back and dizziness in his head to distract him. Ideas like that were pointless. Baia Vita was where his family was. Where he was needed. There wasn’t any room for fantasies about another life. This was the hand he’d been dealt. Now, he had to play.

“Play with a deck missing half the damn cards,” he mumbled, grunting as he set down the heavy load.

He’d figure it out.

He had to.

Most of the fishing boats docked early for the day. The catches were so meager they couldn’t justify the fuel for more than a couple rounds of netting. It was just as well; the Vino Rosso would never catch another fish in her life. Probably best she was now resting at the bottom of the sea rather than witnessing the fall of Baia Vita.

We’re disappearing.

And Leo’s family would be the first to vanish.

As the sun dipped behind flat rooftops, Leo rounded the corner and heard a familiar gravelly voice. But before Leo could call out to his father, a second voice spoke. Leo ducked behind a wall, listening hard.

“You’ve made the right choice, Signore Tradi.”

“I hope our working relationship remains fruitful for us both, Signore Vincenzo,” his father wheezed.

Leo’s heart dropped, and if he had not already been leaning against the stone, he would have wobbled.

Vincenzo?

No. His father didn’t just…

Leo darted from behind his corner, needing his eyes to confirm what his ears told him. And there they were. His father, worn like an old piece of leather, leaning heavily on his cane with bloodshot eyes. And standing above him like a vulture ready to descend on the dead was Alvise Vincenzo. He wore black pants and a halfway unbuttoned white collared shirt that revealed a thick gold necklace resting on his smooth chest. His piercing blue eyes caught Leo like a fish in a gill net.

“The mighty fisherman joins us,” he greeted Leo. “Your father has made a very good investment.”

Leo turned to his dad. “What have you done?”

Thomasso Tradi looked on the verge of collapsing as he opened his mouth to speak. “I’ve taken out a lease on a new boat with Signore Vincenzo. We’ve come to an agreement.”

No.

No. No. No.

Leo wanted to shout at his father, to beg him to take it back. But the triumphant twist at the edge of Alvise’s mouth told him it was too late. What was done was done.

“I’m sure you’ll have much better luck on one of my boats than your last—vessel,” he said like he hardly considered their rust bucket worthy of the title.

Leo’s throat tightened. He knew what this meant. And so did his father.

Alvise sauntered to him, shoes too shiny in the dim light. He leaned close as he passed. “I’ll be seeing you around a lot more, my pet.”

And he was gone, leaving Leo alone in the alley with his father. Seconds ticked by like hours.

“Why?” he rasped, his eyes stinging. “You know what that man is.”

“I’m sorry, Leofel. But it’s what we have to do.”

Leo knew this was their last option. He knew that, given time, he’d likely have come to the same conclusion. Still, he hated his father for it. Hated him for being so old. For leaving the burden of a large family resting on Leo’s shoulders.

His thoughts must have shown on his face because when his father spoke again, his voice was more hoarse and broken than ever. “You probably hate me, and I cannot blame you. And if you ran away from all this, if you took the next barge to the mainland and never looked back, I also wouldn’t blame you.”