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“She must have heard wrong.” Lotto dismissed my news. “Our brother is long dead.”
“So, how would she have come up with the name Mikey, then, if she’s never heard it used before?” Betto, the middle brother, challenged Lotto. “There are only four people in this family who know about that name, and one is not here in this room.”
“We all know that Micco,” Pippo interrupted, “used the name Mikey to handle certain business transactions. The only person who would be so deceitful and underhanded to use it would be Rosa.” There was a long stretch of silence, and I tried not to move as I stayed hunkered down under the window. “Lotto, bring up the books. We need to check any dealings Rosa and Stefano have handled in the last two years.”
“Hang on,” I heard Betto say as he tapped away on the keyboard, and a few moments later, I heard a gasp. “Pippo, look at this account. Look at these withdraws. I haven’t touched this account in over thirteen months.”
“That wicked old woman!” Pippo shouted, and I took the opportunity to make my way back the way I’d come. I knew I’d just cracked open the whole messed-up game she was playing.
Nonna Rosa’s photo stared at me as I entered the kitchen to grab a bottle of Prosecco and a wine glass. For someone so old, she sure wasn’t losing her mind in the slightest. She was sharp and quick and, I reminded myself, that made her very dangerous.
* * *
With newfound confidence, I poured myself a generous glass of wine then stepped into the hot tub, sinking carefully into the water. Steam swirled around me as the jets beat at my sore muscles. I leaned back against the pressure and closed my eyes as I sipped. I took a moment to enjoy my win.
“I knew you were still working with them.” Anna’s nasty voice broke my moment. My lips curled into a dark smile. “Once again, you have everyone around you fooled but me.”
Anna was like an unwanted hair in your food. You might remove it, but just knowing it was once there was enough for you to want to toss the rest of it out.
“Oh, Anna,” I chuckled, taking a long sip from the tasty Prosecco, “you really don’t have much of a life if you have to follow me around like an obsessed lover who can’t seem to move on. As flattered as I am, crazy is not my type.”
Her face flushed. Apparently, I’d hit a nerve.Interesting.
“You think I’m obsessed with you?”
“Well, you seem to go after the same men I do, you stalk me, and I’ve seen you naked more than anyone should.”
“Screw you!” she spat. I laughed, amused, and it pissed her off further. “I’m calling Stefano!”
“Sorry, sweetie,” I dripped, “Stefano can’t come to the phone right now.” Her brows drew up tight, and her neck contracted in confusion. I pulled my necklace up from below the bubbly water and dangled his family ring for her to see. “You understand, it’s nothing personal.”
I could see the truth dawn on her face. “You crazy bitch!” She broke out in a sob. “He was my future!”
“You honestly think he was keeping you for the long haul, Anna?” I made atisksound with my tongue. “He was using you. Just like you were using Mariano, and Mariano was using me to distract Elio from seeing them make their moves. And you were all good, but not good enough.” I watched as each of my words ate away at her acid core. I hoped I could tear her down the way she tried to do to me. There was a time when I thought the whole eye-for-eye thing was wrong, but now with all I’d been through in my time with these very people, I hoped she hurt as much as I had.
She looked away for a moment, then her bony shoulders straightened like her mental pep talk had worked, and she turned her icy eyes back in my direction. She started to walk toward me, and with every step she took, her skin seemed to grow more red. Her hands fisted, and I knew I’d finally gotten through to her.Well, guess what. This orphan now has a family with a hell of a lot more power than yours.
She stood close and leaned down to whisper, “If my father was still alive, he’d have regretted ever saving Piero Capri, but he taught me well, and guess what, Sienna?” She let out a bitchy laugh. “I saw you eavesdropping on the uncles, so your day of having any kind of position here is over once I tell them what I saw.”
I didn’t give it a thought as I reached up, wrapped my hands around her neck and pulled her down hard, holding her head below the waterline. She bucked and flung her arms around, trying to pull herself up, but I just held on tight as she fought me. Soon, the water filled her lungs, and she slowed in her struggles. Once the convulsions stopped and her arms went limp, I pulled her forward and let her slip under the hot water.
“There you are,” I said as my fingers found my dropped glass. I tipped it upside down then refilled it with more Prosecco. “Ah, yes.” I took a moment to savor the taste and let out a happy sigh. “I wish I’d thought to bring some strawberries,” I said to the body that was now bobbing around in the jets. “Perhaps next time.”
A shadow flickered at the corner of my eye, but I ignored it. Instead, I admired my family ring that caught the sun’s rays as it peeked through the clouds.
“I can do this job.” I raised my glass to Anna and went back to my soak. “Hey,” I called to a soldier who appeared on the patio and pushed Anna away from me with my foot. “Deal with this.” I flicked my wrist at Anna then leaned back enjoying my newfound high.
* * *
I used the side of my hand to clear the mist off the mirror and brushed my wet hair, thinking how much I enjoyed getting rid of the people who bothered me in my new life. For years, I’d put up with so much, but not anymore. Mama’s face popped up in my head and got me thinking. I’d wasted a lifetime wondering who she was and if I was even the slightest bit like her, and now…I didn’t understand why I even cared. It wasn’t about who I was, anyway. It was about who I was now and who I would be in the future that mattered.
“Sienna,” Ugo came rushing into the bedroom just as I exited the bathroom, “what on Earth did you say to the uncles?”
“Why?” I slipped a sweater over my bare shoulders and admired the new cotton dress I’d picked up a few weeks ago.
“I overheard Lotto mentioning that you told them something, and whatever it was, it’s got them riled up.”
I held up a finger to stop him saying anything else, then went back to admiring my outfit. It looked good. I took a deep breath and turned to him.
