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“Salvo, please let me go.” We were way too close. “I’m not yours to have. I’m with—”
“I know, you’re with Elio.” He rolled his eyes rudely. “But you’re in a world where men are gods and they take whoever they want when they want. Besides, history has a way of repeating itself, you know, with the lovers your mother had. You could do the same.”
Wait, what?
“Pardon me?” I tasted tin as I moved my tongue to dampen my suddenly dry mouth.
“This is the mafia, after all.” He snorted. “Your mama had a lover while she was married to Theo, Noemi had Bosco while she slept with Theo. Theo had lots of women while he was married to Elenora. Elio’s a Don, so he’ll have multiple women while being with you, and now you can have me while still being with Elio. See how we all win? It’s the mafia way.”
“You think I would cheat on Elio with you?”
“Your mama didn’t seem to have a conscience on the matter. I just figured like mama like daughter.”
I saw red.
I pulled the syringe from my pocket and jammed the needle into his neck, injecting the drug into his bloodstream. His eyes went wide with pain and shock.
“My mama was sold off to the Coppolas like a slave. She loved Francesco, and I love Elio!” I screamed into the wind, and my words echoed along with gunshots off the cliffs. He wavered in his step and turned away from me as the drug coursed through his veins, clouding his ability to think.
Elio suddenly appeared and snagged the syringe from my hand, tossing it aside.
“Damn, I couldn’t get a safe shot. Are you okay?” I nodded and angrily turned as Salvo tried to take a swing at Elio, but Elio calmly stepped out of the way, and Salvo tripped over his own feet and fell. His head smacked hard on a rock. The sound his skull made when it impacted the rock make my stomach roll.Yuck.
Elio nudged him with his foot and looked at me. “What was this?” He’d picked up the syringe.
“Goodfellas.” I smirked at the street name for it. “Seemed kind of poetic, don’t you think?”
“Fentanyl,” Elio wrapped the needle in a handkerchief, “I see.” He seemed impressed. “What made you snap like that?”
I watched as Gain and Harris casually rolled Salvo off the cliff. His body landed in the lake below.
“He said my mother slept around and then implied everyone in the mafia sleeps around, and that he’d be a companion for me.” I glanced up at Elio and held his stare. “If we’re modernizing the syndicate rules, that will be one.”
“Agreed.” He pulled me in for a kiss and then walked me to the car.
During the ride home, I was lost in thought. Elio tried to get me to talk, but I let him know I needed to be alone with my thoughts. Salvo had opened a door in my head I didn’t like, and I was working hard to close it.
I hardly noticed the drive, and when we arrived and he opened the door for me, I had to blink myself to the present.
“Hey,” he bent down so he was at eye level with me, “I’m sorry you had to kill someone who was a friend. I know it’s not easy.”
“No,” he’d misunderstood my silence, “his death didn’t bother me, but what he said did.”
“I’m sorry he said that about your mama.” He rubbed my leg. “Despite everything else about Elenora, she was still your mama, and he shouldn’t’ve said that.” I nodded, and he stood, offering me a hand, which I took. Thatwasn’twhat was bothering me, but I didn’t want to bring it up to him right now. Today had been mentally tiring, and I just wanted to be at the Hill House without any more drama.
Elio left to go fill in Piero while I gave my play by play to Niccola, who needed to document everything. Some nearby hikers had heard the gunshots, and now we needed to provide a simple alibi to give the police, along with a pile of cash. I knew that was how things worked in this life.
After dinner, Andrea came to me in the living room. I was looking at the family crest, thinking how crazy my life had been.
“Sounds like you were pretty impressive today.” She took a seat behind me while I studied their family photos. I loved Elio’s smile. It never changed over the years. I loved that even in his darkest moments he could bring me to my knees with it.
“It was different,” I muttered and moved my gaze to the next photo. It was one of Elio and me at the old house in Sicily. I’d never noticed until now that in almost every photo I was in, so was Francesco. He really had watched over me.
“Elio said Salvo had some pretty nasty things to say about your mother.” She tried to fish as to what was bothering me.
“He wasn’t wrong.”
“Perhaps not, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”
