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She flicks through the book. “I prefer the musical,” she says after a moment’s silence.
“Can’t say I’ve seen it.”
“Really?”
Something switches in me. I’m not even sure what, but the truth comes out for once. “Actually, I love it but not as much as I love The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Would not have guessed that about you, and I studied you for a long time. Got a lot of stuff in a file about your life but not that. Shows you never really know someone, doesn’t it? What’s with this opening up?”
I shrug. “Maybe because I’m never going to see you again. Maybe someone taught me it’s all right, to be honest sometimes.”
“Maybe it is. You want to get moving. I’d hate for you to be late for your flight.” She holds a hand out toward me. “Thank you for doing the right thing.”
“First time for everything.”
“I mean it. I had a long talk with Marvin, that guy you brought to the commission. He had a lot to tell me about your brother. Getting Ernesto out of play will save many people a lot of pain in the years to come.”
“He’s been charged, has he?”
“He will be, and no amount of fancy lawyering will get him out of it. Not with the tape you got hold of for me. Got to say, I was wondering when I set you loose if you’d just run.”
“I’m running now.”
“Not with no charges against you. You’re moving onto fresh pastures. Find some Italian musicals. Are they a thing?”
“I guess I’ll find out.”
She lowers her voice, leaning toward me. “Between you and me, Ernesto must work hard to get out of the commission trial alive. We’ve got the tape and Marvin’s testimony. He beat his wife regularly and killed a detective without getting consent for the hit. Worst of all, he tried to use Marvin to kill you on your wedding day.”
“That’s the worst of all? After everything else he’s done?”
“The commission rules are made clear to all the families. No hits on wedding days. That alone is a likely death sentence for him. Don’t it make your heart bleed?”
“He made his decision. Now he has to pay the price. That was on him, not me. When’s the trial?”
“Taking place right now. You go enjoy a vacation in Rome while it’s in progress. Once the decision’s been made and the sentence carried out, I’ll let your father know, and you come back and take over. Run the family the way it is meant to be run, and you’ll have the commission’s backing. For me personally, I salute you. I never saw a way out of this for you, but you managed it, dealing with your brother and Brody breathing down your neck, and never missed a beat. I’m impressed. Your father taught you well. Mind if I ask about Bex? Thought there was something real there. Sure looked like it, but I hear you got an annulment. How come?”
I get to my feet. “I’ll see you around.”
“You shared your love of musicals, but now you clam up?”
I walk away.
“You’ll be pleased to hear Melanie and Buffy retracted their statements,” she calls after me. “You’re welcome, by the way.”
I keep walking. It’s all over.
I win.
Doesn’t feel like a victory, though. I walk out to the waiting car and don’t feel the elation I thought I’d feel at becoming Don of the famiglia. I feel nothing at all about that. Only deep sorrow that I’m leaving any chance of reconciliation with Bex behind when I go.
It has to be this way. She wanted the annulment. She got it. I won’t beg or grovel at her feet. That’s not the way I’m built. I’ll walk away with my head held high and my heart broken in two.
I know the truth now. It builds in me as we drive to the airport. I love her. Maybe I always loved her. From the first moment I set eyes on her in Rome, in that towel, panic-stricken across her face, her son of a bitch ex frightening her.
Well, she never needs to be scared of him again. She’s free to do whatever she wants with her life. Me too. I can start again. Go spend some time in Rome with my father and my daughter. Leave all this behind.
I can’t love her. Love isn’t real. I’ve known that my whole life. Mom and dad hated each other. Pretended it was love. Sofia was the same. Lying on the wedding day, pretending she cared about me. All she cared about was the drugs, not me, not her daughter.
