Page 164 of Marcello

Then I stopped.

Caught myself.

Calmed down.

This is the part of the movie where the hero has a temporary setback.

That’s all it was. Nothing more.

Nobody was really trying to kill me.

Not yet, anyway.

I was just frightened of losing Giulietta, that was all.

I wasn’t even that frightened about tonight. Cesare’s crew was ridiculously well-prepared. I should know – I was the one who’d been overseeing their training.

We’d practiced for eight months. We were like fucking clockwork. The Cosa Nostra had no idea what was about to hit them.

If I just showed up and did my part, it would probably go exactly like Lucrezia had planned.

It would be dangerous, yes…

But my entire life was dangerous. And had been for seven years.

Just go and do it…

Come back home…

And when Giulietta can sneak out, leave Naples THEN.

As soon as I thought of her, I glared into the distance. I was still pissed at her, after all.

Wait –

What ARE you pissed at her for, man?

Because she wouldn’t leave her entire life at the drop of a hat, just because you called her up and said some crazy shit?

She even said she’d join you.

She didn’t say ‘no’ –

She just said, ‘Not tonight.’

Pull it together, you fucking asshole.

I laughed out loud.

A bitter laugh, yes, but a laugh nonetheless.

All I had to do was stay alive one more night…

The same thing I’d been doing the last seven years.

And then…

Then I could be with the woman I loved.