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‘Yes. You know I do,’ I implored. ‘We have something more to offer than marrying well and breeding the next generation.’
I watched as Alessio stepped back and began to nod slowly at me, before looking down at the floor and crossing his arms over his chest. Slowly he lifted his gaze and a look of resignation had spread over his face.
‘But what if marrying well and providing heirs was the very best thing a woman could do for her family?’
My legs felt slightly weaker as his last question was left hanging in the unexpectedly tense atmosphere of my papa’s office.
‘A strong and intelligent woman would accept that, as long as she was party to all the reasons why,’ I slowly replied, understanding just what I was possibly agreeing to.
With a smile, Alessio took the few steps needed to take me into his arms and for a few minutes he held me tightly to him. Feeling my brother’s love, I used the guilt I still held inside me over Salvatore to convince me that it was what any good and dutiful daughter would do for the sake of her family. But inside my heart, I knew I would be doing it for other reasons. I realised that being married to another man would mean that Salvatore and I could then never be together. Once married, I would never give in to my own needs, not even in the weak moments that came almost daily, and surely a marriage that helped my family was no less than a remiss daughter deserved.
‘I think you should go and get your lunch and come and sit outside with me and Papa, I have something that needs to be discussed, and if you’re agreeable, it could save us all.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
SALVATORE
‘So, we have no new leads?’Vincenzo Ferraro questioned as he looked up from sipping the iced tea he seemed to love so much and met my eyes with his own.
‘No, they’ve effectively gone to ground,’ I answered.
‘Or maybe that could be becausehe’sbeen hospitalised for weeks.’ I watched as my father Gianni shrugged at his own suggestion. Without me saying or doing very much, I knew that all the men in the room including Don Ferraro, believed that Alessandro Giordano was probably the man we were looking for. His expensive lifestyle and travelling back and forth to England had added fuel to the fire.
‘Perhaps.’ I added my own endorsement to the accusation.
A silence filled the room.
‘And, Salvatore, I instructed you to find the madam of the San Luca brothel and to let her know we had questions she’d best answer. How’s that going?’ Vincenzo enquired.
I lifted one foot off the floor and placed my ankle to the knee of my other leg and straightened the fabric of my trousers. The answer I was going to have to give profoundly irritated me. It was the first time I felt like I’d put a step wrong in many, many years.
‘As you know already, she’s been missing since the day of the Crimine. Unfortunately, I got word that in the early hours of this morning, her bloated body washed up on Soverato beach.’
If I hadn’t gone to see Serafina, I could have got to her first.
‘That is indeed unfortunate.’ The heat of his glare was focussed solely on me. I stared back, refusing to capitulate.
‘Vincenzo, we just need to sit tight. Anything this lucrative, especially something that has been going on for so many years, will rise to the surface again.’ My grandfather added his thoughts into the tense conversation. Silently, I thanked him for taking the heat off me and for subtly reminding us that Calabrian people had been trafficked for many years and all the time apparently without our Don’s knowledge.
My grandfather as underboss had attended many of these meetings, but after the revelation had hit our tight knit community, Gianni and I had also been catapulted into the Don’s presence. I could only assume that we were being included, because he kept his friends close, but kept those that could possibly bring about his downfall even closer.
A knock on the door sounded.
‘Come,’ Vincenzo offered.
‘Ciao.’ Mrs Ferraro smiled as she walked into the room carrying a heavy looking tray.
‘Ciao,’ we all replied, as my grandfather stood to assist her.
We’d been going over business for the past two hours and I’d taken in everything that had been divulged, already understanding that a strong leader was only as powerful as the information he held. But as soon as Ferraro’s wife had been allowed entry into the room with plates of antipasto and fresh bread, I’d thanked her, helped myself to some food and relaxed, knowing that the important business had obviously been concluded.
‘Oh yes, the last thing…’ Vincenzo picked up a cream-coloured piece of paper. ‘Alessandro Giordano has written to me asking for a suitable husband for his eldest daughter.’ He placed the piece of paper down onto the table in front of him, leant back into his chair and cast his eyes around the room. My ears pricked up and I was instantly one hundred percent focussed.
As I heard the words he’d just spoken, every cell in my body went back on full alert. I hadn’t seen Serafina in the flesh for a few weeks, but as usual she’d featured in many of my dreams. In truth, the way she’d felt as I’d held her in my arms on the beach had disturbed me. I could only put it down to the fact that I still had her brother’s blood on my hands.
Whatever it was, I refused to think it over. My plans of revenge were at last coming to fruition, I could feel it. So, after stupidly riding my bike down there a few times in the hope of seeing her, I’d made the decision to stay away.
Instead, I’d placed men all around the villa, making sure their every movement was reported back to me. I’d gathered the information they collected, but it was only when her name was mentioned was my interest really piqued.
