Page 142 of Wounded King
"Oh, you aresogoing to regret saying that," she warns, a wicked glint in her eye.
"Never." I finally move toward the door—but I stop just shy of the threshold. Just for a second.
Zia Rosa's still standing there, eyes glassy, trying to pretend she's not five seconds from sobbing into her apron. It takes a breath. And then another. I clear my throat.
"Ti amo, Zia Rosa."
Both women freeze. Violet's eyes go soft. Zia Rosa presses a trembling hand to her chest, like I just handed her the moon.
Now they're both staring at me, speechless, syrupy, and wrecked in a way I'm never going to recover from.
Wisely, Luciano keeps his mouth shut when we head one floor up, to the roof of my skyscraper, where Toni's helicopter is already parked to take us a few rooftops further to where the meeting is being held.
"What do we know?" I ask, settling into my seat and pushing all thoughts of Violet from my mind.
"Nothing. Edoardo's been pretty close-mouthed." Toni hands me a glass of Blue Label, and the chopper takes off.
"Are Gigi and the other girls okay?" I've talked to him on the phone a couple of times since the incident already, but asking is still the polite thing to do.
"Yeah, they're fine. How's Violet?"
"Home," I tell him.
"That's good." He nods.
Then we follow our own trains of thought, which I imagine are not all that different. We've both been summoned to the same meeting, after all.
I suspect it might be about Edoardo's missing mother-in-law, but I'm keeping that information to myself for now. If Margarita were a man, I would know exactly what to do with her, but she's not, which leaves me with a conundrum. She's tried several times to have me killed, and she hurt Violet during the last attempt. I cannot and will not allow her to move about anymore, but neither can I hurt or kill a woman. It goes against all my ethics. It's a position I've never been in. It's likely the reason why there aren't many women in any kind of power role in our organization.
Not even five minutes later, the chopper sets down on another skyscraper. Luciano and I, along with Toni and his second-in-command, Vito, get out and allow the elevator to take us a few stories down to where the meeting will be held. The outer office is swarming with guards, there to protect their don and capos.
Edoardo gives us an exasperated glare when we enter, but he keeps hisyou're late as usualto himself for a change. We take our seats and wait until Edoardo is good and ready to inform us of the reason he called this meeting, which takes longer than the helicopter ride did. He loves his theatrics.
Besides Toni and me, the other capos, Fabrizio and his son Enrico, as well as Gustave and his son Stephano, are present. Roberto's spot remains unfilled, since he and his entire household were brutally murdered. The sight of the empty seat reminds me of Sophia and how it has been entirely too long since I've heard from her.
"I have two important points on the agenda for today, in case you're wondering why I called this meeting. The first and most pressing is that my mother-in-law, Donna Margarita, hasn't been seen or heard from in several days." Edoardo's eyes roam the assembled men around the table, trying to figure out if any of us has anything to do with his mother-in-law's absence.
He allows a low murmur to go through the room before he continues, "If any of you know anything, now is the time to speak." Again, he falls into a dramatic silence, assessing us. I busy myself with my cufflinks, pretending disinterest in Donna Margarita.
"You're well aware that not too long ago, a man very important to her was murdered, Fabio Becattini. This is more than a coincidence. I need all resources directed toward finding Donna Margarita. My wife is very distressed."
I hear Toni sigh and grin. It's well known that Edoardo hates his wife and doesn't give a shit about her feelings. Donna Margarita, however, is part of our family, so her disappearance will cause a few waves. Plus, if what we're suspecting is true, she has a lot of dirt on him that he wants to keep under wraps.
"It has also come to my attention that Enzo Carbone is in our city." Edoardo looks at me. For once, giving me a chance to say something before he pounces on me. A fact I should appreciate, which only serves to irritate me further.
"You don't have to worry about Enzo. That's a family matter." I say, looking up from my cufflinks, which are as fine as they were before.
"Family matter?" Edoardo arches an eyebrow, thinking it makes him look menacing.
The last thing I want to do is air our dirty laundry and bring Violet into this, but since she will be my wife, the others have a right to know. So I give them the Cliff Notes. "It turns out that my future wife, Violet, is Enzo's long-lost daughter. His wife took their children from him when they were little. Like I said, a family matter, and I'm handling it."
Stephano whistles quietly under his breath while Enrico narrows his eyes at me. The only one who knew was Toni, so I assumed the others did as well. Guess I was wrong.
"I'm still not convinced he has nothing to do with my mother-in-law's disappearance. I'll keep an eye on him, and I'd appreciate it if you did too." Edoardo takes the conversation back.
I keep my poker face, "Of course."
I don't give a shit if he suspects Enzo. Let him.
