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“Have big plans for the day? I can’t imagine you got all dolled up for me and your mama,” he said with a wink.
Sabina forced a smile. “I’m going to surprise Enzo later, meet him at his office and convince him to have dinner with me. I thought maybe we’d grab a pizza from Pompei’s and take it to Arrigo Park.”
Papa nodded. “That sounds good—it’s a beautiful day for a walk and a picnic. It’s been a while since you two have done anything together.”
Though there was no condemnation in his tone, she still felt the censure. She flicked at the beading on her skirt.
Papa put a finger under her chin to raise it up. “What’s bothering you, Bina? Something I can help with?”
Sabina drew her bottom lip between her teeth as she contemplated the best way to introduce the matters on her mind. “I don’t know. Papa—do you want me to marry Enzo?”
His eyes widened. His brows lifted. “That’s a silly question. You know I love Enzo like a son. If you love him, then nothing would make me happier. Why do you ask, principessa?”
She lifted a shoulder and ran her gaze over the shelf of books in front of her. Some of the titles were in Sicilian, some in Italian, others in English. They ranged from novels to philosophy to histories—and were mostly just for show. She could count on one hand the times she’d seen him reading anything but a newspaper. “It’s just that I was talking to Mama the other day, and she explained why she’s always pushed it so much. And when I was…seeing Roman. She always tried to talk me out of it. You never did.”
Papa set his mouth for a moment, leaned back in his chair, and folded his arms over his chest. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at. You know I didn’t like the way you were treating Enzo. But at the same time, I want my picciotta to be happy. When I thought Roman might be better able to accomplish that than Enzo…” He held out his hands and shrugged. “The choice was yours.”
“I guess I just wondered what you want for me. I mean, Enzo’s made it pretty clear he wants a life apart from the one you and Vanni have. Roman, for all appearances, was trying to get into it.”
“Ah, I think I see. Your mama wants you out—we’ve talked about it many times. But you were wondering if I shared her feelings, or if I’d prefer to see you with a mafioso.”
She gave a short nod.
“There’s no simple answer, Bina. When we’re getting shot at, sure, I want you as far away from it as you can get. But you’re still my daughter, so it’s always going to be close to you—even if you’re out. Just ask Enzo. And really, this life isn’t so bad, not when you take precautions. We have a code. Even if you married a mafioso, you wouldn’t be targeted. That’s not the way we do things. Family is precious.”
The remembered sound of bullets whizzing by her head screamed a contradiction, but Sabina bit her tongue.
Papa must have read her mind. His voice was a thrum, low and deadly. “Whoever dared to fire on me when you were so close breached that code. And he’ll pay. Make no mistake about that.”
“What about Roman?” she asked before she could stop herself. “While we’re on the subject of payback, I mean.”
Papa let out a long breath, steepled his fingers, and studied her. “He’s got a free pass. This time.”
The words were a relief, though she wasn’t sure why. She could practically taste vengeance on her tongue and yet…her vengeance would never mean killing him. She was pretty sure her father’s would. Which begged another question. “Why?”
The corners of Papa’s mouth pulled up. “Enzo asked me to spare him.”
Her spine went straight. Maybe she shouldn’t have been surprised—but she was. “He did?”
“Mm. Didn’t explain his reasons, though I can guess them. He tries to steer us away from anything illegal or immoral whenever he suspects it. And he’d be afraid it would hurt you more. That’s why I agreed. And because I owe him—the fool wouldn’t accept any payment above his standard legal fees.” He shook his head with what looked like fond bafflement. “Actually—I should tell you now. I probably should have before. When you called him for me, he was furious. I’d promised him that if he pursued the law, we would never ask him to be a Mafia attorney.”
Sabina’s lips parted, but no words would come. That was why Papa had said, “not Enzo,” that day? Not to spare her, but to keep a promise?
Was it anger that snapped inside her, or guilt? Or some simmering pot of both? “I didn’t know.” Why hadn’t she? Why had no one told her of this agreement between her father and her fiancé?
She wasn’t surprised that Lorenzo had secured the promise, now that she thought about it—now that she knew his strong convictions about staying away from the family business. Especially now that she had a better idea what those businesses were. But why, why had they kept her in the dark?
Papa patted her knee, chuckling like it was just some sweet little joke. “Of course you didn’t know. He was angry with me, Bina, not you. He thought I’d made you call him. But we’ve straightened it out. After this is finished, we’ll go back to our arrangement. I promised him that. If any troubles crop up in the future, I’ll go to Darrow.”
That pot of emotion inside her just kept simmering, despite his easy tone. Lorenzo would expect her to do this too—to separate the family from what the family did. But was he going to help her navigate how to do it, or leave her to bumble about on her own?
She scooted off the desk and turned to leave, though she got only a step before another ingredient in that pot bubbled to the surface. What the family did. She paused and turned again. “You really run bordellos, Papa?”
He answered with a quirk of his brow.
She shifted from one foot to another, fiddling with her beading again. “It’s just…you raised me to believe in fidelity, so—so it seems strange you’d profit from…”
Papa reached for his coffee and took a careful sip. “Bina, things are different for men.”
