Page 77 of Satin Empire

Maddie dings a knife against her glass. Conversation fizzles as she pushes her chair back and stands. “I want to start by saying how happy I am that everyone’s here. I wish the circumstances were better, and I feel like we need to do this more often with everyone, but I’m glad we’re doing it now.”

“Here’s to that,” I say and Saul waves me down.

Maddie clears her throat and looks down at the table. She takes a moment to compose herself before speaking again, and I wish she wouldn’t say anything, I wish we didn’t have a reason to be here like this, but we all knew this was coming.

I think of the eulogy Renzo gave in the church, how he’d spoken of Mom’s life, of her early days before she met Dad, and our painful and strange childhood, and how Mom was always there for everything even if she couldn’t always make things better.

“Stella Rossi was a beautiful woman,” Maddie says. “I only knew her for a little while, but I loved my time with her. Alzheimer’s is one terrible disease, and the last couple of years weren’t great, but we did everything we could to make her life as comfortable as possible, and I know she appreciated how often all of you visited with her even when she was having rough days. She loved you boys, and when we were gardening together before she got too bad, she’d talk about all four of you constantly. So here’s to Stella, and here’s to all of you.”

We drink and I push my chair back to speak next. Alana’s hand lingers on my wrist and I nod at her, not sure what I’m going to say, but suddenly overwhelmed by the need to say something.

“We all loved Mom,” I say, because that’s easy and it’s true, we did love our mother even when she was difficult, and especially when she was sick. “But I also love all of you in this room. We’re stronger together, and even if things haven’t always been easy over the years, I wouldn’t want to go through all this shit without you people by my side. And I mean that, not just my brothers, but the girls too, and now all these damn kids. To the Famiglia. To all of us.”

“Alla nostra,” Renzo says. “Salute.” And the table drinks as I sit back down and Alana leans over to kiss my cheek.

“That was nice,” she whispers. “Good job.”

I lean over and kiss her, holding her close for a few moments, lingering in this short silence with the woman I love more than anything in this whole world. I’m so damn proud of her I could burst, and even though this isn’t exactly a happy occasion, at least I have her by my side making it as bearable as possible.

Conversation turns, and even though Mom’s never far from the topic at hand, everyone seems lighter than they did earlier at the church. It’s a new era for the Rossi Famiglia—new children, new capos, new businesses sprouting up all over Philadelphia. We’re even expanding outside of the city with the help of the Rinaldos and the Milanos; now that our three Famiglias are connected, we can do a lot more than any one of us could’ve done alone.

It’s late when Renzo pulls me aside. He’s a little glassy-eyed from all the wine, and we stand on the back porch smoking cigars while the others are busy putting down the kids or playing pool in the billiards room.

“That was a nice toast you made,” he says, blowing out smoke as he stares over the garden. The butterfly bushes glow in the moonlight. “And you’re right that we’re stronger together, which is why I should tell you this.”

“What’s up, bro?” I step closer until we’re almost touching shoulders. I puff on my cigar, an anxious knot in my stomach. He glances at me, and his face is hooded in shadow, the cherry glow casting a strange orange light, exaggerating his features. He looks grim.

“There are more changes coming to the Famiglia,” he says very carefully. “Some of them will be personal, and some will be business. You’ve proven yourself with the club, and I want you to take on a bigger role once those changes start to happen.”

“Okay, I can do that,” I say carefully, since I’m not sure what the fuck he’s talking about.

“You know how we’re expanding. I’m going to need people I trust when we start getting a foothold in New York and Chicago. That might not be you, but I’ll want you to vet the men we send. Only the best and the most trustworthy.”

“I can do that.” I’m surprised that he’s asking me to do this. It would normally be Saul’s job to find the right Capos for position like these, but I have a feeling Saul’s going to be busy with other tasks.

“The Aslanov and the Lynch crews were checks on our power. They were small, but they were enough to make sure we never got too big. But now that they’re both dead, and we’re allied with the other Italian families, there’s nothing holding us back anymore. Which means more power will flow into our organization, but that’ll bring with it more attention and more enemies. We’ll need to be careful in the coming years, Carlo. All of us will need to step up.”

I don’t answer right away. I draw on my cigar and blow it out, looking up at the stars and the full moon, thinking of how much Mom used to love sitting out here on the porch with Maddie back when she was able. Those were hard days, but they were good days too, and sometimes I miss having a simple purpose like I did back then. All I ever thought about was where to go and who to shoot.

“Sometimes I worry that I got too used to being at war,” I tell him, which isn’t something I’ve ever admitted to anyone but Alana. “I find myself missing the old days, you know? I miss Dante most of all.”

“I miss him too,” Renzo says. “We all do. But change is coming. It won’t be a war like you’re thinking, but it’ll be something like it. I want you to be ready, brother.”

“My life is for the Famiglia. You know that.”

Renzo nods and squeezes my shoulder, and there’s something dark in his expression, something I can’t read. Sadness maybe, or fear of what’s coming.

The door opens and Alana steps out. “There you are,” she says, walking over. “I was looking for you.”

Renzo backs away, toward the door, and stubs his cigar out on an ashtray. “He’s all yours,” he says before heading back inside.

Alana leans against my arm and gives me a worried look. “Everything okay?”

“All good. Renzo was just being cryptic again.”

“You really think something big is coming?”

“I don’t know,” I admit, and I want to tell her more, but right now all I have are guesses and worries, and she doesn’t need any extra stress in her life. “You have class early tomorrow. We should head home soon.”

---