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“Your Mafia men?” says Dante with disgust.
“Yes,” I say.
“No,” Dante counters. “We pay. We get my grandson home safely. I can get the money together. It’s not a problem.”
Maria places glasses of water for everyone on the table and I thank her. She collects the first aid kit and encourages Connie to stand.
“I’ll take her through to the sitting room. She’ll be more comfortable and I can dress her wounds there,” she says.
“I’ll help you,” Dante offers. He picks up Connie’s glass of water and then he and Maria both put an arm around Connie and support her out of the kitchen.
I sit in Connie’s vacated chair and take Cece’s hands.
“Cecelia, listen to me, your father and I, we will do whatever it takes to get Micah back safely, okay? You can trust us to do that. By this time tomorrow this will all seem like a bad dream.”
She stares at me, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes glazed and flat. “You’ll bring him home?” she asks. “You’ll bring our little boy home?”
I nod vigorously. “Yes, I’ll bring him home, I promise.” And I mean it. I need to fix this.
“Mr. DeMarco,” I say, when Dante returns to the kitchen a few moments later. “Please listen. I have contacts and resources at my disposal and there’s a good chance we can intercept the kidnapping. Save Micah and deal with the kidnappers ourselves. Make sure justice is done sooner rather than later. Not just sit around waiting.”
“Mr. Luciano,” he says through gritted teeth. “I’m not prepared to gamble my grandson’s precious life on a ‘good chance’. And I know Cecelia isn’t either.” He puts a protective hand on Cecelia’s shoulder. “If you really love my daughter, as you claim you do, you’ll let me do this my way.”
I look at him and try to contain my frustration. I respect that as the head of the family, he wants to take charge, but I think he’s making a mistake. I want to be more active in saving my son. I saw what Ricci and his kidnappers did to Cece and I dread to think what could be happening to Micah right now. However, if I fight Dante on this, he’ll doubt my love for Cece and he’ll never accept me as her husband. I begrudgingly nod my agreement.
Raphael returns to the kitchen. “Nothing and nobody outside,” he reports. As I suspected, but it was worth checking. He picks up one of the glasses of water on the table and glugs it down. It is the only sound in the room.
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to get on with organizing some funds,” says Dante. He leaves the kitchen and Raphael and I look at each other. His black eyes have gone but there’s still a scab on the bridge of his nose from where I broke it. He runs a hand across the back of his neck.
“So, Dante’s gonna pay the ransom?” he asks.
I nod.
“Is he gonna call the police too? If he is, I think that’s a bad idea. You should just take the money. It’s a fair swap. Little Micah’s life is worth—”
“You can leave now, Lombardi,” I say, cutting him off. “This is a family matter. We’ll take it from here.”
“I can stay. Help…” He shrugs and gestures towards Cece. The fact that he thinks he could be any help in this situation is ludicrous, and especially not where Cece’s concerned. The only reason I’ve tolerated him being in our presence today is because Micah is at the forefront of my mind, not my war with him. He pales into insignificance in comparison.
“Your help isn’t needed.” I surprise myself with how civil I sound.
He nods then looks down at Cece. “Well, I hope you get Micah back safely,” he says, as though he is the family pet. “I’m sure Dante will keep me updated.”
As soon as he leaves, I gently pull Cecelia up and steer her towards the sitting room to sit with Connie. Maria is in there cleaning her up, but Connie still seems non-responsive. I settle Cece on the other couch and ask Maria to keep an eye on her while I make a call.
Leaving the room by the external double doors, I walk a few paces out into the garden and close my eyes. The late afternoon sun feels pleasant, and I take a few deep breaths trying to ground myself, trying not to let myself lose it completely. I look back towards the house, imagining Dante in his office instructing whomever he needs to instruct to gather together €2,000,000 in cash. I think about Cece and Connie, both going through such unbelievable trauma that their bodies and minds have just shut down. I think about Micah’s face when I told him I was his papa. My eyes well and I look up and try to blink the tears away. Now is not the time for emotion. I need to be strong and pragmatic for my family.
I light a cigarette and pull my phone from my pocket and call Gianni.
“Boss?”
“Gi, I’m at the DeMarco’s residence. Can you get Carmello over here to check on Cece and her sister?”
“Sure. Everything okay?”
“No.” I sigh. “No, everything is not okay. Micah was taken from outside his school earlier today. We’ve received a ransom note.”
“What the fuck?” says Gianni, summing it up succinctly.
