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“What happens if something happens to you? Like right now while we’re dating or later when we’re…”
“Married,piccolina. That’s where I want this to go. If you don’t want that, then we end things whenever you want.”
“You’ve told me that more than once. I understand why that’s important to you. I don’t want out, Enzo. I wouldn’t have said yes to a single date, and I wouldn’t have had chai with you if I didn’t see something in you. This isn’t about being able to say I dated a mobster.”
“I’m not Irish.”
“Huh?”
My brow furrows. That came out of nowhere.
“That’s something else for you to understand. The mob are the Irish. The O’Rourkes. Did you hear about them from Laura?”
“I know the Kutsenkos don’t get along with them, and that something happened to Laura and Anastasia because of them. I know — I know your family did something to Anastasia too.”
“We did. Carmine, Gabriele, and Luca thought to send a warning. It went horribly wrong and way beyond their control. It nearly cost Anastasia her life. The O’Rourkes are one of three principal rivals for us. The Diaz family is the other. Did you hear about them?”
I look down and nod.
“What do you know?”
“Laura grew up beside Pablo and Juan. She was so close to their family that Enrique Diaz, thejefe, has her initial and her sister’s on his arm. They’re at two points of a cross with a P and J on the other two. She will not talk about them at all. I know better than to bring them up. I know Juan is dead, and I can guess why. He didn’t really want her until Maksim did. I’ve known that family as long as I’ve known Laura. I used to play with Juan and Pablo. I’ve been to parties at their parents’ home. I know their mom, Margherita, is sick right now. Cancer. I know their dad, Luis, travels to Colombia way more than he should. I know there are some other cousins, but I don’t know them well at all. Only in passing. Laura never knew them that well, either.”
“All of that is true. Three of the other cousins are brothers. They go byTres J’s. Javier, Joaquin, and Jorge. Stay away from them, Chellie. Pablo andTres J’shave another cousin, Alejandro. We’ve been getting along with the O’Rourkes and Diazes more than we ever have, but it’s a time bomb waiting to detonate. Latin American syndicates are cartels.TheCartel are the Colombians. We’re the Mafia will a capital M. These days people throw that around as indiscriminately as their do mob. But we are Sicilians. Some Mafia syndicates are from other parts of Italy like Serafina’s family. They’re from Venice.”
“Wait. Who’s Serafina?”
“Carmine’s wife. Her mother is Sicilian, and her father is Venetian.”
“So, she’s Mafia on both sides of her family?”
“Yes.”
Wow. I know Lorenzo’s sister, mom, and aunts were probably all born into the Mafia, but it feels even more intense to have different Mafias for each side of the family.
“That’s a secret, right?”
“Yes, and no. It wouldn’t take much for people to figure out if they know her maiden name and where to look. But it isn’t something we broadcast any more than acknowledging we’re the Mafia in the tri-state area. If you want to be truly accurate, we’reCosa Nostra. It’s Italian for ‘our thing.’ My family aretheItalians. Just like the Kutsenkos aretheRussians, the O’Rourkes aretheIrish, and the Diazes aretheColombians. If you hear those countries, then you know which families we’re talking about.”
“I know Maks’s family won’t target me. But would the O’Rourkes and Diazes?”
“I want to say no, but it’s not impossible. You asked what to do if something happens to me. You go to my family immediately. Do not go to your place. Donotgo to Laura and Maks. I’m serious about that, Chellie. Aunt Sylvia has a policy that Laura adopted too. All women can have sanctuary at any of our homes until their family can get to them. I know Maks will keep you safe, but I can’t promise he wouldn’t use you to get to me or my family. The only reason to ever go to them if there’s a problem is if you’re certain you’ll die if you don’t.”
My eyes just keep getting wider and wider. I figured I could go to Laura since she’s my best friend, but it makes sense why I shouldn’t now that I’m involved with Enzo. It also means that there are times we’re going to be — what — enemies?
“I know what you’re thinking,piccolina. This doesn’t have to pit you against Laura. I pray there’s never a time where you need to get to my family because of an emergency. But if I’m hurt or get arrested, you leave me and you get to my family. Promise me, Michelle. You will not stick around if I tell you to go. I won’t stop protecting you. You know what that means.”
I do. I scoot as close as I can get and wrap my arms around him. I kiss his bare chest and shoulder. He hugs me, but I’m not ready to let go when he loosens his hold. He lifts me until I’m fully straddling his hips.
“Little one, I’m scaring you, and I’m sorry. I hope we only have this conversation once and then never have it again. I wish we didn’t have to have it at all. But you need to know what you’re agreeing to. I need you to agree by your own free will.”
“You said it’s your aunt’s policy. Why does she have it?”
I feel him sigh, and I can already feel the sadness that’s coming.
“Aunt Sylvia didn’t come to America until a few weeks before she married Uncle Salvatore. They didn’t know each other and didn’t meet until she arrived. Never have two people been a better match. My uncle is hardly the soft and sweet kind. At least, not until he met Aunt Sylvia. Who he is with her and their daughters is a man I never imagined. But people would be fools to underestimate her. She grew up in Sicily, and her father heads their branch. A few years after moving here, members of a rival family chased her younger sister, Sophia, after they killed her guards. Those men assaulted her and killed her, too. She was pregnant, and they knew it. She passed three different homes while she ran, but she knew no one would help her. Aunt Sylvia refuses to allow that to happen to another woman. So, any syndicate woman may seek shelter with us until their family can safely reach them. It changes nothing between the men except for peace long enough to get their woman and go home.”
“Their woman?”
