Page 97 of Assassin's Obsession

"I don't know why you are smiling right now, Kathleen. I'm worried for you," she says again.

"If I ask him to leave right now, he would go." I'm confident of that.

Mom gives Angelo that gimlet stare that always gets me and Cookie to tell the truth. "Is that true? When Candi asks you to go, are you going to leave us alone? "

"If Candi asked me to go, I will leave."

"But I'm not asking him to go," I tell my mom. "He can answer your questions better than I can."

"Can he tell me honestly you weren't kidnapped last night? That he's not using you for his own purposes. Mr. Bianchi seems to think you're in danger if you stay in New York."

"He would say that." Stefano has wanted me out of New York at least since I was eighteen and probably since my birth.

The one and only time I was approached by a representative of my father's happened after I turned eighteen and aged out of the system. Stefano offered to pay my tuition and living expenses for college, on one condition. I had to go to a university in another state.

If that was his idea oftaking care of melike he promised mommy, it was a nonstarter. I couldn't leave mom and Cookie and turned the stipulation down.

I never told mom about the offer because she would have wanted me to go.

"Look, mom, we're both safe to say whatever we need to in front of Angelo. He won't get angry, no matter what that is. He's not going to hurt us." How do I know that?

That's a question I hope she doesn't ask, because the only answer I have is my heart trusts him. And that's way too lame to say out loud.

"You can say that about him?" Mom's derision hits me on the raw.

"Angelo isn't the one who ordered my death. In fact, if he hadn't declared me off limits, I wouldn't be alive right now. Yes, his men kidnapped me,for my own safety," I stress. "After they stopped one of Stefano's men from shooting me."

I'm still going to make them regret trussing me up, but that's neither here nor there. If Angelo and his men are going to be in my life then they have to learn I'm not a pushover.

Mom's face drains of color. "Someone was going to shoot you?"

"Gino was definitely going to kill me."

"Your old boss?" My mom asks with confusion.

I shake my head. "Another Gino. This one worked for Stefano and he was definitely going to pull that trigger."

"Worked for? Did Mr. Bianchi fire him for what he was going to do."

"Not likely."

"Then why are you using the past tense?"

"Because someone shot him before he could shoot me."

Mom gives Angelo a concerned glance. "Should you be telling me this? I'm assuming no police were involved in whatever happened."

"No police, but in the mafia, my people are as good as law enforcement." Angelo walks toward the door. "I'll order some tea and be right back."

"Who's going to make it?" I want to know.

"The housekeeper probably. I'll introduce you to all the staff and security later."

"That doesn't sound intimidating at all," I mutter under my breath.

Mom sighs. "I guess killing for the mafia pays well."

"That's what I said. He told me he inherited money too."

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