Page 241 of Marcello

And then her eyes opened wide.

“Oh God, no,” she whispered as she took a step backwards.

“I didn’t want to!” I protested.

“You’re in the Camorra?!”

“He was going to kill my family!”

“You’re one of them?!”

“…yes.”

“But… that means…” Her face suddenly filled with fury. “You brought them here to KILL my FAMILY?!”

“Quiet!” I whispered as I glanced over my shoulder. “I didn’t bring them here – they were already coming!”

“But you knew I was here – ”

“No, I didn’t,” I said reproachfully, “because you never told me you’re in the Cosa Nostra.”

“You never told me you were in the Camorra!” she shot back.

“I guess that makes us even, huh?” I snapped.

“I never asked to be born into the Cosa Nostra!”

“And I never asked for my family to be threatened by your friends!”

“What do you mean, ‘threatened by my friends’?” she asked, confused.

“The mobster in Florence is Cosa Nostra.”

“…the Rosolini family?!”

My eyes widened in surprise. “You know Fausto Rosolini?!”

“No. I mean, yes, I know his name, but I’ve never met him.” She got a sick look on her face. “Wait – you coming here tonight – is that why you wanted to leave town?!”

“Yes.”

“So you KNEW you were coming to kill my family?!”

“I thought we were coming after a bunch of Cosa Nostra gangsters, not you!” Then I tamped down my anger. “Look, I can’t stay here – I have to get back before they come looking for me.”

Giulietta’s face filled with terror. “My brother! My parents!”

I couldn’t tell her the truth – that her brother and father were as good as dead – so I said, “I’m going to try to save them, but you have to stay here.”

“What do I do?”

“Hide up there,” I said as I pointed at the hole in the wall.

“I don’t have a light!” she protested.

Shit –

I patted myself down, but I knew I hadn’t brought a flashlight because of the night vision goggles.