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Jake has already briefed us to not talk until we get back to the jet, so we remain silent. All of us lost in our own thoughts about what we all just agreed to, as our cars snake through the streets of New York back to the airport.
26
Frankie
After hearing from Marco on the phone earlier this evening, I am scared about what he has planned. Not because I don’t think he can handle things, but the New York mob is an entirely different entity. You can’t even begin to unravel the impact dealing with them will have. On his business, on his family, on his health.
There is no escaping where their ties lead and what is involved. They have deep connections, with everyone in power. There is a reason that they continue to operate, despite running a bunch of illegal entities. Everyone has a price and Sebastian and my papa are very good at finding out exactly what that price is. Money is exchanged for the most part, but for those that are greedy, usually pain and violence is involved. Either way, the mob gets what they want, when they want. No one ever says no. The police look in the other direction, the Feds keep their distance, and the family are in charge of everyone and everything. Once you meet the mob, you are on their radar for life, and for someone like Marco, who has money, power and influence, he is a very worthwhile associate to have.
I loved hearing his voice tonight, but now I am sick with worry about what is happening. I feel like something is going on, but he wasn’t telling me anything. His phone is right next to me and has been all evening. My gun is loaded, and I have checked and rechecked the locks on my apartment door and windows dozens of times throughout the night. I am full of nervous energy, waiting for any news, from anyone, but it is silent. My apartment is deathly quiet, the streets below are still, and I am just sitting and waiting for news.
It is now close to midnight, and I know I won’t get any sleep, so I make a cup of coffee and download my latest Netflix obsession. I sit down on my sofa and wrap a soft blue cashmere blanket around me. I have everything at my fingertips in case I need it, and I settle in for a long night in front of the TV, because I know sleep will be elusive.
Just as I begin my show, my phone rings. Rushing to pick it up, I grab the cell Marco gave me before realizing that it isn’t this phone that is ringing. I reach for my other phone and I see Sebastian’s name and my stomach drops. I immediately want to vomit.
“Sebastian!” I say with panic. I don’t know how I know, but I know that he has the answers I have been waiting on all night. He is my brother, he always has the answers.
“He has big fucking balls, Sorella. If he wasn’t a Marshall, I would swear he was part of the mob already,” he states without a normal hello or any type of greeting, and I can imagine him pacing the floor in his office in his club in New York. Pacing is something he does when he is agitated, something I notice Marco does as well. Perhaps they are more alike than I realized.
“Oh my god, what happened? Is he all right? Is he alive? What is going on?” my voice rushes out in panic, wanting answers to so many things I can no longer keep inside. I am dying to know what is going on, and I want answers now. My hands are shaking and my palms are sweating, my heart is beating out of my chest because I know something big has happened.
“I can’t tell you what is going on, Diletto, but he will. I can tell you he was here, and he left alive.”
“He was in New York!” I screech out. I am beside myself. Why would he go to the home of the mob? He is batshit crazy, and if he isn’t killed before he comes back to me, I am going to kill him myself.
“Diletto,” Sebastian says soothingly, trying to calm me. “Everything will be okay. He will be in touch, and I will see you real soon.” His voice is caring and this is the side of my brother that no one else ever gets to see, and I am thankful that he is still this way with me.
“What about Papa?” I say in a whisper. I never question Sebastian on papa. I listen to what Sebastian offers me, but I never ask him straight out. Sebastian and my papa work closely together but have a strained relationship. They are often at odds with each other and don’t see eye to eye, especially since papa tried to marry me off to Enzo. To say Sebastian despises papa may be more accurate, and while I am not privy to many of their conversations, I do know Sebastian is walking a very fine line. Sebastian has started talking to other family members and building a case to take over from papa, so tensions are extremely high in our family at the moment.
“Papa is in Sicily right now, but his people are out there.” My heart drops at his response. I don’t know where Marco is or what he is doing, but I am praying to every angel in the sky to keep him and his family safe.
“Fratello,” I say softly, needing to hear from him that everything will be okay. I need his reassurance, I need my big brother.
“It will be okay, Diletto. I have my team following him to the airport, he will be back with you in one piece soon.”
I sigh, grateful for the information that Sebastian has given me and thankful that he has been working with Marco on whatever hair-brained scheme he has come up with. Whatever it is, it obviously is working because Sebastian seems to be on board with it all. I am not sure what changed Sebastian’s mind, but I have a feeling Marco is the one responsible. I just hope Marco didn’t agree to too much.
“Thank you, Fratello, thank you,” I say, knowing whatever went down between the two of them tonight, that my brother did it for me. I know it puts a target on all of us, and for that I feel extreme remorse, but I cannot live another day on this earth without Marco by my side.
“Just tell me one thing, Diletto,” Sebastian says, and my interest is piqued that he actually wants to know something from me.
“What?” I ask, suddenly on guard and curious about what he wants to ask me.
“Do you love him?” he asks, not in an unhappy way, but a resigned way like he may not want me to love Marco but knows that I do.
“Yes,” I whisper out, scared of what Sebastian’s response will be, but willing to put myself on the line and admit to him I am in love with a man who is not part of the mob and not even Italian.
“Good,” he states before ending the call and leaving me in the silence of my apartment still wondering what the hell is going on.
27
Marco
The flight from New York to Boston takes just over an hour, but tonight it is the longest flight of my life. My brothers and I continue to dissect the events of the evening. We relay everything to Romeo via speaker phone, who is in his back office at the restaurant. Jake and Romeo continue to talk, working through the next steps of the plan to ensure everything and everyone is secure. Shaun and Stephen are on their phones, relaying the same messages to their loved ones, and I sit back grateful to have so many supportive people in my life.
Jake didn’t say anything, but I know our cars were followed from Sebastian’s club to the airport tonight. The need to look over my shoulder has already begun, and I can’t say that I like it, but I will live with it. For Frankie. Everything I do now is for her. For us.
My sole purpose for going to see Sebastian tonight was to earn his respect and to get his approval to marry Frankie. I expected both of those tasks to be a lot harder than what they were, but he is a smart guy. He knows that Frankie could do a lot worse than a rich and powerful Boston Billionaire, and although I now owe him a favor of which I am sure will hurt when he calls for it, I am all in. Once Frankie is legally mine, then no one has a claim on her. Not her father, not Enzo, not anybody.
