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“Listen, I’ve been married to Frankie for three years, and it’s been three of the best years of my life. It really has. But I don’t want you to enter this life unknowing of what it entails. I would hope that someone would warn me, so that’s why I’m here.”
I finally paused, glancing at the serious look on her perfectly manicured face. My car was only a few paces ahead, but I stopped anyway. I felt like I needed to hear whatever she wanted to tell me, even if she had the wrong idea about Carlo and me. It felt important to hear her out when she’d come all this way to talk. I turned fully to her and allowed my bag to dangle at my side. “What are you trying to say?”
She looked to the ground before taking a deep breath. “Do you maybe want to go and sit so we can talk?”
I didn’t. I didn’t have time to stop and discuss this with her, but I couldn’t blow her off when she’d gone out of her way to find me to talk. I supposed I could spare a few minutes, especially knowing that I’d be seeing her again. I nodded, and she gestured to a bench before a small boutique.
“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath. “The last thing I want is to watch someone be brought into this life and be hurt because of it. But it’s dangerous. Like, really, really dangerous. I was lucky to slip my guards before coming here, and I have them for a good reason. A lot of people want to see the guys dead, and in turn, that means they’ll do anything to seeyoudead.”
“I know what I signed up for,” I told her kindly but firmly.
“But you don’t—not until you’ve seen it.”
I’d been so busy trying to push her away that I didn’t even consider what an opportunity this encounter was. Bella surely knew things about the Bonanno brothers and their enemies that could be useful, and we were alone. She could tell me whatever I wanted.
“Okay, then tell me what’s so dangerous,” I told her, bending a knee and placing the sole of my shoe against the bench beneath me. I rested an arm on my leg.
“I couldn’t even begin to—”
“Please,” I cut her off. “You came all the way here to meet me and warn me, so tell me what threats I may be facing if I stay with Carlo.”
She sighed and nodded. “The hierarchy of the mob isn’t common knowledge. Most people only know that five Italian families are involved, and they work together to go about mob business. But there’s so much more. The families have feuds and alliances. They all deal with different things. For example, any motorcycle gangs around the city probably answer to the Genovese family. They have businesses here and in Chicago, and the motorcycle gangs run it. You don’t have much to worry about with them. Frankie and Alonzo Genovese get along well.” She paused to take a breath, looking out over the street. “The Lucchese and the Gambino families have it out for the Bonanno brothers. They’re dangerous and will take any opportunity to take down the Bonannos.”
“But why? Aren’t they supposed to be working together?” I asked.
I supposed organized crime didn’t make as much sense to me as it did to her, as she laughed and shook her head. “They coexist, and the Commission keeps them in line.”
“Commission?” I asked.
“Think of it as the Supreme Court that rules the Italian mob. Each family has people involved, and they keep the peace.” She eyed me skeptically. “It’s Carlo who acts as the go-between for us. It’s surprising you didn’t know that.”
“He doesn’t talk much about what he does for work or his brothers,” I lied. “What can you tell me?”
She looked away, her brow crinkling as she considered. “Well, Carlo is clearly the most level-headed, and therefore he’s the face of the operation. He’s also the underboss. Frankie has a bit of a temper and one hell of a protective streak. He does all the interrogations and anything like that. I don’t know much about Louis, but he’s an ass. And Tommy just came back a few weeks ago, so I don’t know much about him, either.” She shrugged. “They’re all decent men, and that’s not normal for this business. Most men…aren’t.” Her eyes flashed with something for just a moment, but before I could discern the emotions, she turned away and took a deep breath. When she returned her gaze, the emotion was gone. Had it been guilt or sadness? I couldn’t tell, but I wondered immediately what had put that look there.
“Anyways,” she continued. “I just don’t want you going into this blindly. If you took my recommendation, I’d say to get out while you can. The last thing I want is to see an innocent woman caught up in all of this madness and killed because she didn’t know what she was getting herself into.” The sentiment was kind, but the look on her face was grave and serious.
“Have there been a lot of other people caught in all of this?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Not since I’ve been here, but you get burned when you’re involved with the mafia. Everyone does at some point, whether it be losing a friend or a lover. It leaves its mark, and if you can avoid it, you should.”
But I don’t have a choice.I wanted so badly to tell her I wasn’t entering this willingly, but it would give too much information away. I hated that she came all the way here to warn me away, only for me to have to tell her I wasn’t going to listen, but it had to be done. So I nodded and told her that I appreciated her time and the sentiment of coming to see me. I assured her that I’d keep our meeting private, and that I would think about what she said. And I would. There was just nothing I could do about it.
9
CARLO
The sickening sight of Bella on Frankie’s lap would be ingrained into my mind forever, and Ididn’tlike it. We’d ordered pizza and planned to have a movie night, and then Bella showed up fifteen minutes into our evening, and it’d been tense since. It wasn’t Bella that bothered me as much as how she constantly ground into Frankie’s lap, whispering into his ear and feeding him pizza seductively. And every time one of us spoke, she had something to say about it.
“Oh look, another piece of hair in the pizza,” Louis said, pulling a long strand from the cheese and tossing his slice back into the box. “I wonder how that got there.”
Bella laughed and sat up a little straighter. “Ugh, it’s impossible to stop losing hair. Maybe it’s my new shampoo.”
Frankie didn’t say anything as Louis grabbed another piece. “Please, tell me more about your new shampoo. I’m dying to know why you think it’s making you lose hair inmypizza.”
Bella didn’t seem to get that Louis was being an ass, and she went on, explaining why the shampoo she bought wasn’t cut out for her hair. She lost all of us within the first sentence, but Louis blankly stared at her as if listening. Sometimes I wondered if she realized that Louis was being rude or if she behaved this way to spite him. Bella had been all smiles and ditsy head bobs from the moment I’d met her, but I swore I could see something beneath the ignorance. Sometimes the way she responded to Louis’s insults was quick and almost cunningly oblivious.
Maybe this was all an act—a way to cope with Louis’s blatant hatred. She tended to tone down the stupid blonde-girl act when he wasn’t around. I had to believe it was an act. I couldn’t think about my brother marrying someone who was like this on a normal basis. Frankie was far from patient, and I didn’t think even an immaculate sex life could mask a personality like hers, but who was I to judge?
