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“Is it not working out?”
“I don’t know. What chance has a relationship like ours got, realistically? We’re from completely different worlds and we have nothing common beyond completing that dumb Moviedle game each day.”
“Ohh, what’s Moviedle?”
“That’s what you’re taking away from what I said?”
“Your father’s waking up,” she replies while a voice starts to talk in the background. “It’s Kelly. Here, you can speak to her. She wants to know how you are.”
“Kelly,” my dad’s voice comes on the line. “I’m doing okay, sweetheart.”
“I’m glad to hear it. What happened, Dad?”
“Don Colombo told me he had an offer to make me.”
“What kind of an offer?”
“He wanted me to tell him where you were. Said he’d pay me a fortune for the information but I had to keep our meeting a secret.”
“What did you say?”
“I said I had no idea but he didn’t believe me. Called me a shitty liar. Told me if I didn’t tell him he’d have me shot. One of his men pulled out this gun and I swore to him I didn’t know where you were. He said I did and then I don’t remember much after that. I think they dumped me at the hospital but I was losing a lot of blood so I don’t know for sure. Why not just kill me though? That’s the bit I don’t get.”
I know the answer. Ricardo was right. Dad was shot to draw us out of hiding. “Don Colombo wants revenge,” I say down the line. “For what happened to Alessandro. He obviously thought if you were in hospital, me and Ricardo would come see you. He’s probably got people watching the place. Are you being careful?”
He goes silent for a minute. “Does Don Colombo think you have something to do with Alessandro’s death?” He’s quiet again for a moment. “Did you do it, Kelly? Did you kill him?”
I ignore the question. “Did Ricardo say anything when he came to see you?”
“Only that he would sort all this out. Oh, and that we needed security here at the hospital. He’s got people outside the room now. They’ve got guns. What’s going on, Kelly? What have you gotten yourself into?”
I put a hand to my stomach. “I’ll call you back,” I say.
I hang up, feeling dizzy. I know he told me not to but I need to speak to Ricardo. I need to find out what’s going on over there. I want to come home. I don’t want to be in Italy anymore. I don’t want to be on my own.
I dial his number but it doesn’t even ring. It just goes straight to his voicemail. “Ricardo, please call me when you get this. I’m worried about you.”
I get myself dressed, needing fresh air. I can’t stay inside any longer. I head outside as soon as I’m decent, taking my phone with me ready for when he calls me back.
He doesn’t.
What I get instead is a call from his enforcer, Diego while I’m walking near St. Peter’s. It’s Ricardo’s number but it’s Diego on the other end of the line.
“I tried calling Ricardo,” I tell him when he identifies himself. “Is he there with you?”
“Don Bianchi asked me to tell you that your relationship is over.”
“What? He didn’t say that, did he?”
“He has just completed a deal with Don Colombo. Your life will be spared as long as you remain where you are. Do not come back here or you will be executed. The Don wants nothing to do with you. Stay out there and stay away from him. He’s put five hundred thousand dollars into your account. Call it a severance package.”
He hangs up on me, leaving me standing there with the phone by my ear, stunned as if someone just whacked me over the head with a club. I can’t speak. I can’t move. I can’t think.
My mind just keeps repeating back to me what Diego said.
He wants nothing to do with me?
Didn’t even have the balls to call me himself to say it. Can it be true? Could Diego be lying?
