Page 47 of Married to the Mafia

“You going to shoot a made man?” he says with a laugh. “Stop bluffing and go call the Don. He wants to talk.”

“Who says I can’t shoot a made man? I already whacked Santo.”

“Only the Capo dei Capi can whack made men without permission,” he says, not looking as bold as he did a moment ago. “You know that.”

“Should have left the shelter alone,” I say. “Where’s Ricardo?”

“Gone where you won’t find him.”

“I’ll make it quick if you tell me.”

“So make it slow. I’m no pussy.”

I curse under my breath and then shoot him in the head. “He might have talked,” Corrado says as my ears start ringing.

“Torture him long enough and he’d tell me he was the Pope,” I reply. “Men like that take their secrets to the grave. You have any luck finding Ricardo?”

“Not yet, but I’m working on it. What do you want me to do about the shelter?”

“Get the new building constructed fast. No one talks to Rose about it, got it?”

The soldiers nod.

“And get rid of that body. Do it so Don Belucci doesn’t find him.”

I walk over to the stairs and climb up them, stepping out into the study. I’ve barely set foot in there when I get a message on my cellphone. Unknown number. Library. A single word, but one that sends a chill through my blood.

I’ve not been called to the library for years. It’s where the Capo dei Capi sends his messages. Public space. Computer terminal one in the corner on the third floor, Italian political history. He’s got a sense of humor, I’m guessing.

Am I scared? No, it’s not that. What is it then, this feeling running through me as I head out to the Bentley? I work it out while I’m driving. It’s fear that he’ll refuse to recognize the marriage. Tell me I’m not good enough for his daughter.

I’m not giving her up.

That means if he won’t allow the union, I go to war with the most powerful man in the country, a man I’ve never seen in person.

Rumor has it he has his killings done quietly, bodies dissolved, never to be seen again. Is that what’s about to happen to me?

She’s still in the bedroom, and the last thing I did was walk out on her. Will I get to see her again?

I check my gun. Good to go. I’ll fight the devil himself, if that’s what it takes to keep her by my side.

I get to the library and park up. I walk inside and take the stairs to the third floor. Last time I was here, I’d been Don for twenty-four hours. He already knew and sent congratulations, gave me a job that should have been impossible.

Take out the cutter, the guy in Europe who slices up theworn out women, the ones trafficked over there back in Don Belucci’s heyday.

I went over to Europe and tracked him down, found him with a family, wife, kids, little kitten. Hard to believe I had the right guy, but the fingerprints proved it.

He was hiding in plain sight. That’s the way to do it. Hide out in the open where no one expects to find you.

I waited a week for the right moment. Until he was home alone. Got Timmy to help me bypass the security and then got in there. The Capo dei Capi said the cutter was still using his skills on the locals. Since we dealt with the trafficking, he was obviously getting bored. Time to retire him permanently.

He was supposed to be impossible to find, but I managed it. Impossible to kill, but he died easily enough. I got rid of his body before his family got home. Did they know who he really was? Impossible to say.

I let them live. They weren’t involved. They didn’t know I’d even been inside. The only evidence I was ever there was the scar on my side from his blade. Cut me deep, but I cut him deeper.

I walk out onto the third floor of the library and wonder what the message will be this time.

The computer terminal is empty. Is this the way he talks to all the families or has he got dead drops all over the city? Who knows? What I do know is I sit down, and the screen goes blank at once. He must be watching the cameras, know I’ve arrived.

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