Page 110 of Gin & Trouble

“Sì, sì.” He nodded and pulled a cell from his pocket.

“Do you mind if I borrow it? I will see that you are well paid for your trouble.”

He handed me the phone and turned for the door.

“Grazie.” I hated to be rude. Again. But I didn’t need him overhearing my half of the conversation.

I dialed Marco’s cell and prepared to leave a voicemail. My brother was far too busy to answer calls from unknown numbers.

“Marchionni.” The sound of his voice tightened my chest.

“Hey, bro.”

He went silent on the other end of the phone.

“It’s Dante. Can you hear me?”

“I’m here. Sorry. I’m…” He cleared his throat. “Where are you? It’s been days. We all thought you were dead.”

“We made it to the rural side of Alicudi. We’re okay. Banged up, but okay.”

“How did…never mind.” He drew a shaky breath. “How’s Frankie?”

“She’s okay. Stitches in her leg, but she’s healing.”

“And mentally? How’s she handling this? She has to know this was an attempt on her life.”

Until that moment, I hadn’t stopped to think about it, but he was right—and that changed everything. “We haven’t gotten into it. I’m not sure if she’s in shock, or denial, or if it hasn’t hit her radar yet. What day is it?”

Marco sighed. “It’s Thursday. Christmas Eve.”

This isn’t how I imagined spending our first Christmas together.

“What’s the fallout? Have you met with theFratellanza?”

“Yesterday. It was ugly, real ugly. Like I said, we thought you were dead.”

I could only imagine the turmoil the explosion and our disappearance had caused in Palermo. “Did you order retaliation?”

“I didn’t have to. Giancarlo did, on the basis that he was supposed to be on the yacht.” He lowered his voice. “Ma and Pops are taking this hard.”

“Tell them I’m alive and come get us the hell out of here.”

“Leo is on the phone with Ma now.”

I remembered I needed to have a conversation with Enzo, but it could wait. “Come get us. I want Frankie and I to spend Christmas in Comiso.”

“I’ll come once the sun sets. A couple of hours tops. I’ll need the address or the family’s last name.”

The details floated around me like gnats. Too small and too many to catch. Evidently, Maria’s special tea took time to clear the system. That or I’d hit my head harder than I’d thought. “That soon? Wait. Why is he on the phone? Aren’t you on the family compound?”

“Leo and I arrived a couple days ago to…go through the wreckage.” Marco sounded as if he was struggling to hold himself together. “Ma wanted something to put in your casket.”

His words stopped me cold. I hadn’t realized I had tears running down my face they landed in my lap.

Working to keep my voice calm, I focused on the facts rather than the emotions. “Mia and Arianna Abruzzo were waiting at the dock when Giancarlo and I arrived.”

“Giancarlo told me and mentioned that Mia was hostile toward Frankie. Do you think they were involved?”

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