Page 54 of Corrupted Memories
Nico hands me the supplies and I shift over him, cleaning and wrapping his tattoo up before relaxing back into the seat.
My father sighs. “What did Genovese want? No one on the Cosa Nostra commission has been able to contact his father in months. There are rumors circling Italy.”
I blink, shocked by the information. I would assume that Luca would handle Italy before they came knocking. I frown. “Luca believes there’s a coup forming within the Famiglia.”
“And his father?”
I shake my head. “He didn’t say.”
My father looks at me, studying my face for lies, and my eyes twitch with disdain. “I owe no loyalty to Luca.”
He shrugs. “Loyalty, no. But he’s who hid Gianna, ehh? I know your vindictive streak, son.”
My tongue rubs along the back of my teeth, and I narrow my stare. “I’ll get you all the information you want, but I want Arthur gone.”
“We’re not bargaining?—”
“You promised I’d never have to get the crest!” I snarl at him. It’s not his fault, but I can’t help feel the failure of his promise. After everything our family has been through with my younger brotherand mother, this is the one thing my father has always held true. I’d seen enough death to know what I wanted in life, and it wasn’t to be a Made Man.
My father’s nostrils flare, his teeth grinding as he drives on in silence before his shoulders slump. “Gone? In what way?” It’s as much of an apology I’ll ever get.
Nico and I exchange glances. I clear my throat. “In a way that leaves a vacancy Nico can fill.”
“But not dead?”
Nico shakes his head. “He does have loyalty within the city, more than you and Christian suspect. There’s more than one reason we reached out to the Irish.”
My father narrows his stare and pulls off the road. He nods for us to get out and snaps his fingers for us to leave our phones. It’s a ridiculous precaution, but one we follow for him without question.
We huddle at the corner of a building, feet from the car parked at the curb. The sting of the tattoo on my chest makes me shiver.
“Explain. Don’t leave anything out.”
I blow out a breath. “When we were watching Arthur, we stumbled across information that we weren’t meantto find.”
Nico cracks his neck. “He’s been working with the Italians’ spies, sparrows as they like to be called. At first we weren’t sure what we were looking at because we’ve never heard of these sparrows, but they seemed to have been planted in every organization years ago and have slowly been funneling information back to the Famiglia.”
My father raises his eyebrows. “Just the Famiglia? You sure it’s not approved by the Cosa Nostra?”
I shrug. “If it is, we don’t know and neither does Luca, but he didn’t seem to know about the sparrows either.”
Nico nods. “It seems to be another entity within the Famiglia, but not Luca. They are connecting directly with Arthur.”
“Who isn’t relaying anything to Christian… I see,” my father says under his breath.
I lick my drying lips. “I miscalculated involving the Irish with their volatile history. They acted, exposing the fact that everyone knew about the sparrows before we were ready. The line has gone dead.”
My father strokes his chin. “But it helped find traitors among their mist and they owe that favor, ehh?”
I grimace now. “I used it to locate Gianna.”
His nostrils flare and he looks away from me. “Why? You’ve assured me over and over that you don’t have feelings for her. That it’s only retaliation for what she did in college, and yet you’re making deals with the fucking Irish over her.”
Swallowing down emotions I’ve kept buried as often as I can, I stay silent because I’m unable to come up with another excuse to tell him.
My father turns back to me, wild fury bright in his eyes, and he grabs onto my shirt. “Do you love her?”
My lips tremble, and my breathing shallows, but I struggle to refuse it outright.
