Page 17 of Mafia Heiress
His fingers fly over the screen and he’s into some sort of code page before I step out of the room. I’ve never been one for computers.
“Where were you when this started?” Ciro asks, grabbing me into him and giving me a hug. I want to resist, but the fight has left me. I need this for just a moment.
“Took Vito to an erotic movie.” I laugh into his chest.
“A what?” His muscles tense for a moment, but I grab onto his arms and press myself further into them. If there’s anyone that understands this, it’s Ciro. We’re made from the same stuff.
“One of those theaters that show erotic movies. The one we saw had a lot of male on male. But the scenes were so fucking hot. He was harder than a rocket by the time we left.”
“Are you fucking serious?” he chuckles, holding me tighter still.
“Yeah. I had to get him in line somehow. No one is allowed to assume with me, Ciro. All I ask for is decency and respect.”
He grabs me on the back of the neck and tilts my head up so I can look into his beautiful face. “Always.”
I think he’s going to kiss me, but then Vito pops his head out of the panic room, a frown on his face. “The system has been fucked with.”
“What?” I leave Ciro’s arms and walk into the small room again.
“See this code here?” He points a finger at a bunch of letters and numbers. “It’s a virus embedded in the system. It’s supposed to make the whole system go down, but the asshole who programmed it forgot one detail, so it only cut the audio. The fucking dickwad.”
“Meaning what? We’ll never know what they’re saying?” I ask.
“I never said that.” His eyes brighten as he types in a few other commands. The system shuts off and the screen pops out of the wall. He takes it in his hand, rolling up some of the cables. “I’ll need to use my equipment to make it work.”
“You mean to tell me you're a computer guy? Like the Geek Squad?” Ciro says, almost about to lose it.
“Fucking hilarious, stronzo. Not the fucking Geek Squad. Way better in all things.” Giving me a wink he walks out of the panic room and down the stairs. Ciro and I watch him go and almost burst out into laughter, but then my mother comes in.
“You’re not going after him,” she commands.
“Ma. I don’t want to fight. You know I have to. The boys are too young. It has to be me.”
“No it doesn’t. You’re not meant for this life, Giacomina. This is the life of a dog, one that’s Master changes with the wind. Right now you have the power to get out. Take your brothers and leave. I won’t tell them anything.”
Her hands shake at her sides, her curls falling down on her face, some leaving the safety of the rollers. Without makeup she looks ten years older, something this life did to her.
“We can’t leave. It’s not just about Daddy. There’s more to it than that.”
“There’s nothing!” she screams, and I jump back into Ciro’s chest. My mother isn’t normally one to pitch a fit, but seeing her only friend get shot and her husband taken has got to be weighing on her.
“Momma, you need to calm down. I’m going to call Zia Teresa. She’ll come and take you to the house in the Hamptons. You can stay there till it’s over. Take the boys.”
Before she can respond, Cal and Frankie come into the room, angry and ready. “We’re not going to be pushed aside, Jack. You’re not in charge. You’re a fucking girl for Christ’s sake.”
“Enough!” Ciro says, pulling me behind him. I shove him out of the way and we stand side by side. “You will listen to your sister. I am second in this organization and what I say goes. Jack is with me until this shit is over, and you will go with your mother to the beach.”
I’ve never seen him this pissed off. Usually he’s stoic and does what he's told. He’s a smart ass and his mouth is worse than a public toilet, but he’s always in control. Now, his power is laced with madness.
Frankie is ready to argue, but there’s no room for it. My mother takes my brother’s hand and they walk out the door. A sigh of relief escapes me and I sit down on the bed once again.
“What the fuck are we going to do now? If the other families find out it was this easy to come into my house and take my father, kill my nanny, then they’ll think we’re all vulnerable. We have to zip this up quick, Ciro.”
He doesn’t answer, but takes my hand and pulls me up. “We’ll take care of it. Let me get you somewhere safe first. You can’t stay here alone.”
“Like hell I can’t. What am I, some asshole? I have my SIG and I can handle it.”
“The cops are going to be crawling all over this place in about twenty minutes,” Marcello says, from the doorway. He’s done up in his usual Marcello way, not a strand of hair out of place.
