Page 181 of Vita Mia

“I don’t need to tell you what happened to him there.”

“Is he alive? Fuck. Is he sane?” Carlo asked.

“Don’t know. That’s the fucking problem. When they came for us, they threw us in a room of concrete. Giovanni was shackled. I was shackled. Renaldo was shackled. The fucking warden came in with his threats. I was ready to die. I swear it on everything holy, I was ready. Renaldo. He—he—“

“What?”

“He wasn’t ready this time. Not this time. He’d already taken a bullet for Gio. He wasn’t ready. And me and Giovanni saw it. We felt it. I can’t explain it but that’s how brothers are. You know who to protect and who dont need it. I guess.”

“Then what happened?”

“Gio taunted the warden to kill him instead. And then I demanded it. Renaldo didn’t. You know how loyal Renaldo was to Gio. But he’d already lost Kyra. She’d left him.”

“She did? She left Italy?”

He nodded.

“Took the kids to America. They were fighting over him being underboss. She accused him of choosing Gio and the family over her and the children. Said she wasn’t going to sit back and wait to be a widow. Renaldo thought it was a bluff. But when we were locked down he had time to think. He wanted his wife back. Said he’d take time off to fix things with her. He even talked about stepping down if Giovanni would allow it. We didn’t know about you, but we knew things were never going to be the same for any of us with you and Lorenzo gone. I think it dawned on him in that moment that the warden would deliver on his threats.”

“Fuck,” Carlo sighed.

“That fucking warden beat and tortured him for hours. What he did to him, I don’t think even you can get justice for.”

“I don’t know if that’s true. I’m not known as the butcher for nothing,” Carlo said.

After another long pause stretched between them, Carlo spoke again. “You can’t be near this,” Carlo warned.

“You can’t keep me from this motherfucker,” Nico responded.

“No. Nico. This one goes the way the boss wants. Trust me, brother. That fucker is going to feel it for as long as it takes before Giovanni puts him to sleep for good.”

Nico wiped at a tear. He nodded his head in agreement.

“I have to go get this Russian rat. We’re almost out of time.”

“Russian? Why the Russian’s. Aren’t they our allies?”

“Long story. Short story is Lorenzo is alive and he may be the only way to save Gio. Our good luck is that they keep him near the Ukraine border. With the animosity between them Ukrainians and the Russians Dominic has found an opportunity. My bad luck is getting him out of there alive. It’s all on me.”

Before Carlo could ask questions, Nico tossed open the door and eased out into the night. He leaned in. “If I don’t see you again brother, I want you to know that I regret nothing, and I regret everything, but that’s how it should be.” Nico closed the door and he was gone.

Carlo wiped his hand down his mouth. He dropped his head back and closed his eyes. He felt the same way. However, the news of Lorenzo’s resurrection from the dead did make him wonder if anything he knew to be true was a reality. He started the car and sped away from his hidden corner. He’d locate the warden later. He needed to understand what he’d been just told.

Carlo pulled the cap down as low as he could on his head. He kept on his sunglasses and he ran almost every light he passed. He had grown his beard in and hoped it concealed him. But when he drove up to her door and knocked, nothing he did to disguise himself worked.

“Carlo? It’s you,” Arielle said. She went into his arms. He held her to him and squeezed her to his heart. “You came back. I prayed you would. You came,” she wept. “Where is my baby? Did you bring him?”

“Can I come inside,” he chuckled.

She laughed. She pulled him inside and locked the door. She hugged him again. He could smell her sauce cooking and his stomach growled. “Are you hungry? I was making my dinner.”

She pulled him into the kitchen before he could respond. Carlo pulled off his cap and sat down at the table. Arielle immediately went to her pots. “My baby? Is he here?”

“No, sorry love. I didn’t bring him.”

“Oh,” she said and paused. “Pictures, I need to see pictures. Did you bring any?”

Carlo reached in his back pocket. He removed the picture he had of Carmine and Jewel. Arielle came to the table and sat a plate before him. She took the picture as if it were a precious diamond in her hand. “He’s so big.Mio Dio!He’s beautiful,” she said. “I miss him so much.”

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