Page 107 of Married With Lies

“Sure.” The rain begins to pelt down a little harder. “I’m the one who’s still breathing.”

Luca stuffs his hands in his pockets and glances at Richie. “There’s nothing you could have done, Cale. It wasn’t your fault.”

“What the hell do you know about it?” The question sounds harsher than it should. The details of what happened inside a seedy New Jersey apartment building aren’t for Luca’s ears.

My brother meets my eye and doesn’t blink. Right now he looks the part of a serious man as opposed to my innocent kid brother. Can’t say I’m a fan of the change.

“I was in the room when Richie was talking to Franco,” Luca says. “Uncle Vinny is a big loss. We all feel it. Richie’s really busted up. He and Vinny must go back twenty years.”

“More like thirty,” I say, still not pleased that Richie kept Luca around while discussing business.

For two weeks me and Vinny and a couple of the boys crisscrossed the eastern seaboard chasing after the fucker who had the poor judgment to kill an important Amato associate. I never even asked for particulars on the original dispute. It didn’t matter. I was tasked to do a job and I was going to do a job. We were hot on his trail and had good intel that he was holed up in Newark. When we went in for the final kill we got blindsided. Vinny was hit. I took out the target and one of his minions. The boys who were my backup took out the other two. Vinny Tello wheezed out his last breath in my arms. He had no final words because of the bullet in his throat. He bled out a river, shuddered and then it was just all over.

But that’s not a story I was planning to share with my brother.

Richie is now talking to Albie Barone. Ordinarily, Vinny Tello’s funeral wouldn’t have attracted a top family boss. But I guess Barone wanted to make the gesture of respect to Richie now that they’re all tight and shit.

“I thought Sadie would be here,” Luca says. “Why didn’t you fly her out for the funeral?”

“Because this has nothing to do with her and I don’t want her getting sucked into this shit.”

Luca gives me a long, searching look. He slowly nods, as if he’s just received an answer he’d been waiting for. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I figured.” He sighs. “Are you heading over to the house now?”

The prospect of mingling with a gaggle of mobsters at a post-funeral gathering just doesn’t appeal to me. Sure, Richie will be pissed but who cares?

“I can’t. I’ve got somewhere to be.”

Luca’s forehead creases with concern. “You should go to the house, Cale.”

“I said I can’t. I’ll come by later. When are you flying out?”

Luca looks over his shoulder at Richie, who is now watching us intently. “Not sure,” he says. “But you’ll be at Richie’s later?”

“You have my word.”

Luca extends a fist for a bump and I meet him with my own fist. “Later, man.”

He cracks a grin and finally looks like the old Luca again. Then he strolls across the wet grass to join Richie’s group. Albie Barone shakes his hand. Richie pulls him under the umbrella. As I’m watching, they all start walking in the opposite direction toward the parking lot.

There are not many people left here now. The two men who pass me by offer curt nods and keep moving. I suppose they don’t like me much. After all, I’m the guy who told them to eat dinner under the table like dogs.

“Hey.” I call to them.

They both turn around at once. Their eyes are red and immediately their expressions become nervous. Vinny’s two nephews are little more than kids. Just a few years out of high school.

“Get out while you can,” I tell them.

It’s good advice. But I don’t wait around for them to awkwardly stammer out a response. I just hope they listen.

The rain continues to pelt my head on the walk to my car. It makes the air humid and unpleasant. Once I’m inside the car I pull out my phone. The desire to hear Sadie’s voice is overwhelming. It’s also nothing new.

My head hasn’t been focused since I left her at the gate of Bright Hearts Ranch. I’m pretty sure the sharp edge I’ve lost is one of the reasons why Vinny Tello is dead. The cold-hearted badass mafia henchman that had prevailed for so long is gone. Replaced by a guy who left his heart behind in Colorado and discovered he’s nothing without it.

It’s true. I’m nothing without her.

The last time I heard from Sadie was five days ago. She sent a photo of Bright Hearts. Judging by the vantage point, she was standing at the front door of the house as she pointed the camera toward the yard. That was the day Vinny died. Since then I still haven’t found the words to explain any of this.

There are a lot of things I need to say to Sadie. But for now I swipe away from her photo and tap out a text to a different recipient to say that I’m on my way.

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