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“Yeah. Anyway, I reckon Alfonso will be setting up guard around his whole house now. Carolinne texted me this morning to say he’s already started installing CCTV to monitor the comings and goings around the house and he’s linking it up to his phone, plus to a screen that Nonna Tocchini can watch in the kitchen. He’s taking fatherly protection to a whole new level.”
“You need to make the time you spend with Carolinne more low-key stuff so that her father won’t have a problem with it. You can invite Carolinne over to do your homework here at the mansion. And if you want some privacy, you can go into the library. And if you want to watch a movie, you can watch a movie together.”
Danio looked at me in surprise. “What about Marco?”
“I’ll talk to him—Marco won’t have a problem with it. It’s just about what looks proper to the outside world, to the rest of the Fratellanza.”
“I don’t give a damn what the rest of the Fratellanza thinks.”
“I know you don’t, but Carolinne’s family does. And we have to follow their wishes on this. You can invite Carolinne over here. But only when one of us is around. We won’t stand over you and you can do your own thing, but you need to stay downstairs and no going into your bedroom. You know none of the staff or soldiers here will gossip. They know better than to repeat anything about the happenings in this household. But just make sure you don’t do anything in front of them.”
“Like gazing into her eyes?” Danio joked.
“Or kissing her,” I responded.
“We haven’t done anything like that,” he said quickly.
“Yeah, you haven’t done anything like thatyet. But you might one day and I’m just saying to be careful. What does Carolinne think about all this?”
“She’s distressed that she’s upset her father and family. She wants to do the right thing.”
“She’s a good kid. Her family is really protective of her, especially after she was gunned down when she was seven years old.” Carolinne had been shot by the Russians in a drive-by shooting. She and her family had been entering a Fratellanza-owned hotel, attending a family celebration after the christening of her cousin. The bullet had hit her chest and she had required extensive surgery to repair the internal damage. Marco had only been Capo for a short while at that point.
“Yeah, probably too protective,” replied Danio.
“You can never be too protective of your family in this life,” I warned.
“So, you’ll square it with Marco so that Carolinne can come to our house?”
“I will. As long as you don’t do anything which draws the wrong sort of attention, he’ll be fine with that. Alfonso is one of our most loyal soldiers and we have to respect his wishes regarding Carolinne and her upbringing.”
I could see Danio was thinking about what I had just said.
“You know Marco loves you, right? It’s just that his position as Capo puts him in a difficult position. He can’t cross his men on family matters. Alfonso has the last word on Carolinne, whether we like it or not. Marco cares about you. He just wants what’s best for you.”
“I know. I guess he just has a hard time communicating it sometimes.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “He just yells at us. He sees it as a more efficient way of getting things done,” I chuckled.
“You were always the calm one when we were growing up,” said Danio.
Yeah, I was, I thought, except for the time when Marco and I had beaten our father to death. That had been our father’s last day as the boss. And his death had signified Marco’s first day as the new Capo of the Fratellanza.
I usually didn’t let myself lose control. You had to be in control of your thoughts and emotions—otherwise, people could get under your skin and get inside your head.
I worried that Danio wasn’t guarding his emotions and that he was letting Carolinne into his heart. And that could only end in heartbreak one day. Alfonso already had his plans for Carolinne, and love didn’t come into it.
Love didn’t matter in the Mafia world. We had to marry for the good of the Fratellanza.
***
After talking with Danio, I decided to head up to my bedroom and grab some more clean clothes to take back to Cate’s apartment later.
I wasn’t in the best of moods today. I was definitely feeling frustrated at the lack of sex with Cate so far. Holding back was killing me.
As soon as I entered my bedroom, I was met by the sight of a big fluffy mound lying sprawled in the middle of my bed.
I felt my blood pressure rise as I thought about my pristine bedsheets being covered with dog hair. Mr. F was officially Juliana’s dog, but Danio and Debi spent a lot of time looking after him as well.
