Page 94 of Mafia Star

Beth is safe, and all is right in the world again. My dad is here.

“Papa.”

I wrap my arms around him just as tightly as he does me. He gives an extra squeeze before pulling back and looking around. The moment he sees Beth, he runs to her. He doesn’t crush her quite as much with her hug as he did with mine, but it’s just as enthusiastic. I watch her hug him back, her cheek against his chest. I can tell she takes comfort in his presence, and I love knowing my dad’s accepted her as his daughter. It means he has just like Mama. Well, they’d accepted her already. They accept her without reservation.

I make my way over as Papa lets go. He moves to hug Carmine as Uncle Cesare hugs Beth and me at the same time. It’s not long before the rest of the family hugs us too. Uncle Sal goes first, so he can step aside and speak to Pauly. He’ll get the rundown from him while Carmine, Beth, Steve, and I assure everyone else that we’re alive and well.

Emilio stands off to the side, Matteo stuck halfway between him and the rest of the family. I stare at the man I’d once considered more of an older brother than a cousin however many times removed. Now he’s a virtual stranger. I jerk my chin. I can at least acknowledge my thanks that he came, even if he wasn’t needed.

I look at Luca, who’s watching me. My expression is blank, but he understands. It was the right thing to do even if Luca may never forgive Emilio. Until Emilio can admit why he did what he did, and Luca can make peace with him, he’ll never be welcomed back into the fold. The only five people who know the truth are Emilio, Luca, Carmine— who was eleven and there —Luca’s wife, Olivia, and Carmine’s wife, Serafina.

I shift my focus to my best friend. He doesn’t know what to do, so he just shrugs when he meets my gaze. I don’t envy him. He loves Emilio because he’s his brother. That will never change because family will always be more important than anything else. But he doesn’t like his brother. The fight with Luca was the worst thing Emilio did, but it wasn’t the only shitty thing he did. If the situation were reversed, we’d all drop everything to save Emilio. Once we were sure he was breathing, he’d be right back in exile.

“Marco?”

I look down at Beth, who’s come back to stand beside me after reassuring every man in my family at least five times over that she’s okay. She also introduced Steve to everyone.

“Piccolina, what do you need from me?”

That could sound so horrible, but I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I’ll do whatever I can right now. I can’t imagine what she’s thinking or feeling. I don’t know if she even is thinking or feeling yet.

“To know you’re safe. That no one else is going to try to murder you today.”

I almost make a quip— at least not for now —but that won’t help things. I open my arms to her, and she gladly steps closer to me. I rest my cheek on the top of her head. Simms is dead. That’s one threat eliminated.

I found out Alejandro’s plane is now part of Wing-hung’s fleet. He’s the leader of the Wo Shing Wo, one of the Triad. We thought he’d killed Simms from the photo we saw of the beating Wing-hung or one of his men doled out. With Alejandro's plane in China, the Diazes know to back off. That’s a second threat that’s at least alleviated for now.

But there’s still the issue of who inside the FBI and ATF is really gunning for us. They’re always trying to build cases against us, but nothing sticks. We make sure we pay all our legal taxes on time. The rest of the money is so damn well-hidden Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, and a bloodhound couldn’t find it. We aren’t going down for tax evasion like fucking Al Capone. We keep our records meticulously encrypted, so they aren’t getting us on RICO— Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act —like they did John Gotti. My uncle is the real “Teflon Don.” You live, you learn. And that chaps their motherfucking asses.

“We’re both safe, cuore. We’re going to go home, take a shower, and sleep for three days.”

“Sleep, Daddy?”

She playfully pouts. Despite what she’s endured today alone, she’s doing her best to remain strong. Even making jokes to convince me she’s fine. She won’t be. That’s a given. I was a fucking wreck the first time I killed more than one person in a day. I threw up four times and didn’t sleep for two weeks. Then again, she’s thirty-three, and I was sixteen.

“Just enough so we have energy to fuck like bunnies.”

She waggles her eyebrows at me before we share a brief but tender kiss. I need one day with nothing blowing up, so I can propose to her. Maybe we’ll have a longer engagement than anyone else in our family. Maybe we won’t. But we’re in this together for good. You don’t go through a day like today without either being bonded for life or disintegrating into dust. I don’t think we’re the latter.

“Seriously though. What’s going to happen here? We got everything in the truck, but there’s DNA everywhere. It’s obvious there was a blood bath here. You can’t exactly scrub blood out of grass.”

“The six guys who arrived with my family are scrubbers, actually. They’re fully capable of joining a fight when they need to, but their job is to clean up afterwards. They’ll work their magic once we’re gone. No one will think a blade of grass was disturbed by the time they’re done.”

We have teams that go in after us when we have situations that get out of control and get messy. They repair things and dispose of things that we can’t afford anyone finding. They’re worker bees who build the hive or the worker ants that build the sand hill. They don’t get noticed, and we all prefer it that way. But they’re diligent. Beth looks around and nods. She won't ask more questions. I could tell her what I just thought, but I can’t tell her more specifics.

Uncle Domenico signals it’s time for us to go. Enzo and Matteo are going to take the truck to our garage. They’ll deal with the bodies there, and we have men who can dispose of the truck, so no one ever finds it. Uncle Domenico, Uncle Cesare, Carmine, Luca, Gabe, and Emilio climb into an SUV. My guess is Emilio and Gabe are in the third row, and Luca is driving. They’re as far apart as they can get. Beth, Steve, Pauly and I climb into another SUV with Papa and Uncle Salvatore.

Papa’s driving, and I have a flashback to four kids riding in Papa’s minivan— yes, he drove one because it was the least assuming car a Mafioso could have —while he got us Happy Meals. Luca would trade me half his cheeseburger for half my nuggets. Maria would have taken a finger off if anyone got too close. Youngest child and only girl— she was tough. Enzo was just happy to be left in peace. Middle child life.

As Beth and I lean against each other, both exhausted, I think about how I’d gladly exchange my electric BMW i5 for a Volvo EM90 electric minivan. Yes, I’m into sustainability even if I spend some of my days destroying shit. I’m still an electrical engineer and love the science behind these cars. I’d let my kids get the apple slices and the fries. We only got fries when Papa was absolutely certain Mama wouldn’t find out. At least not until we’d all woken up after passing out in the car after games.

The ride to Queens is blessedly quiet. I’m so drained right now I barely have the energy to breathe. I’m just so grateful I’m still able to. I laced my fingers with Beth’s as she sits in front of her brother, who’s in the third row with Pauly. She checks over her shoulder periodically, and Steve keeps squeezing it. When we get to my parents’ house— which is as big as Uncle Salvatore and Aunt Sylvia’s —we go through another reunion with the moms and aunts like we did after the shooting.

Then I’m finally alone with Beth. She watches as I take a large trash bag from beneath my bathroom sink, putting each item of my clothing in it, holding it out to her in between for her to do the same. It’ll get burned. All of it. We left our shoes downstairs, and I had to explain that they would be disposed of, too. There’s no salvaging either pair.

Once we’re in the shower, we can’t keep our hands off each other for a breathless kiss that makes my head spin. From the way she clings to my arms, I think she feels the same.

“Daddy, I was so scared they were going to kill you, and I’d have to watch. That there’d be nothing I could do to stop them.”

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