Page 145 of Married With Malice

We find the Castelli brothers scarfing down food at the buffet table. Earlier, when Luca asked them what their plans are now, they joked that they’ll just go back to slinging dough in their father’s pizzeria.

Now Luca makes them promise to visit us. I really hope they do. They are Luca’s friends but now I feel like they are also my friends.

Luca needs to see his aunt before we go. She’s in the kitchen and she’s boiling a pot of ziti, although there’s more than enough food spread out on the buffet tables already. Her daughters are there too, along with some of the wives of Richie’s associates.

Conversation comes to a halt and we receive some curious looks but no hostility. When some of the surviving members of Richie’s inner circle balked at the idea of letting Luca just walk away, his Aunt Donna intervened and claimed it’s exactly what Richie would want.

I doubt this is true. But Donna probably knows more than she pretends to know. Richie is gone so she doesn’t need to choose between her loyalties anymore. She was free to do this one last favor for her nephew.

Besides, with Vittorio Messina keeping a keen eye on everyone, the general mood is one of extreme caution. My uncle has made it clear that since Luca is married to his niece, Luca is now protected by the family. With bodies still being buried, no one will be willing to challenge my uncle.

Donna hands a wooden spoon to her daughter and approaches Luca for a hug. “Thank you for being here, both of you.” She releases him and peers up into his face with maternal fondness. “You’re really leaving tonight?” she asks.

“Yes. Anni and I already have our plane tickets.”

“But now you’ll be with Cale.” A melancholy smile crosses her face. “I remember the day you came to live with us. You were such good boys, you and your brother. And Richie loved you both so much.”

Manipulation and threats don’t equal love.

But Luca is kind enough not to argue with her. He changes the subject.

“You should visit us in Colorado sometime,” he says.

Donna tucks a strand of wispy hair behind her ear and considers this. “I would really love to see Cale’s baby girl. She has red hair like her mother, doesn’t she?”

“She does,” Luca says. “You could call him. I think he’d like that. And he can send you more pictures of the baby.”

Without Richie’s codes and commands standing in the way, there won’t be anything keeping Donna from seeing her exiled nephew and his family.

She touches his cheek. “I’ll miss you, Luca.

He smiles. “We’ll see each other again, Aunt Donna.”

Donna turns to me and brushes her lips over my cheek. “Goodbye, Annalisa. Give my love to Sadie and Cale.”

“I will.”

Luca’s arm slips around my waist. “Aunt Donna, do you mind if I take something from Uncle Richie’s office?”

She’s both surprised and pleased by the request. “Of course you can. Anything you want.”

Donna returns to her stove and Luca steers me through a series of hallways and rooms until we reach Richie’s office.

I’m curious about what he could possibly want to keep from here. It’s unlikely he’s looking for a souvenir to remember his uncle by.

Luca walks straight to the mammoth desk and picks up a framed photo sitting on the corner.

“I’m not leaving her here,” he explains. “She’s coming with us.”

I recognize his mother in the photo. She’s young here, probably in her late teens.

With the picture frame tucked under his arm, Luca is now impatient to go and suggests we leave through the back door.

Most of our belongings will be shipped once we find a place to live. All we’re bringing with us are a few suitcases and those are waiting at my mother’s house. We’ll leave for the airport from there.

Vittorio and his men have basically taken over the house. Two of them are standing outside. Another one holds the door open.

Luca inhales when we walk in. “I’d recognize the scent of Big Man Bowie’s Burgers anywhere.”

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