Page 83 of Till Death Do Us Part

Take off went smoothly. I placed an order for a drink and then took out the phone Felice had given me, going through all the texts again.

“Mi scusi,” a familiar voice said to the stewardess. It came from the cubby across from mine. The man ordered red wine.

The stewardess fixed her hair, even though not a strand was out of place, and batted her long lashes at him. “Of course, sir.”

My mouth snapped shut when he met my eyes.

“Miss Corvo.” He tipped his hat to me. He was dressed to the nines in a suit. Just like an old-time gangster.

Who the hell dressed like that on a flight anymore?

Felice Maggio, that’s who.

When the attractive stewardess came back with his drink, she almost purred, “Mr. Maggio.” She bent over, setting his drink down, offering him a glimpse of her cleavage, but his eyes had never left mine. She left without another word.

“Carnivore,” I finally got out. “I guess it was a coincidence we ended up on the same flight.”

His eyes were intense on mine. “If we go down, we go down together.” Then the heat seemed to melt some, and his grin came slow. “Your cubby or mine?”

Chapter29

Felice

Ilet my presence be known in Italy, so it was no surprise when the call came through. I’d been waiting on it.

“No,” I said. “Not at your home.”

Emanuele Corvo wasn’t accustomed to the word no. But I wasn’t indebted to him. I made my own rules. And I refused to meet Emanuele in his home, allowing him to insult me by keeping me locked in his office, like an ugly animal hidden behind his bars.

“Where do you suggest then?”

I gave him the name of a restaurant in Florence, not too far from both of us. Lolita’s wedding was being held at acastelloin the hills. I wasn’t staying too far from them.

He gave me a time and hung up.

I’d picked the place, atrattoria,and he’d set the time. If that allowed him to take some of the control back, so be it.

“Should I drive, boss?”

I nodded to Celso, then told him to be ready in an hour. I took a shower, cleaned up my face some with a razor, and then dressed in a dark suit. Celso had the car waiting when I stepped outside. Fredo sat next to him, riding shotgun. I slid into the back seat.

Cassio texted me on the ride. He kept me updated on things in Chicago while I was gone. Tommaso thought it was a good idea that I disappeared for a while when I’d suggested it. He encouraged me to find a wife to forget about Corvo’s daughter. “Plenty of fish in the Mediterranean Sea,” he’d said.

He had no idea a different Corvo daughter was getting married the same week I’d decided to disappear in Italy. After what Tommaso had done to Roma, Emanuele refused to involve him in our issue. He knew he’d come close to having his daughter killed. He wanted me punished, not Roma.

I made sure Tommaso was on the same page, as far as forgetting about my relationship with Roma, before I entered Roma’s life again. Tommaso never forgot, but the issue between me and Emanuele was nothing but plastic underneath his ass while he tried to watch television. He didn’t want to be bothered with it.

This issue had nothing to do with Tommaso or our business, so Emanuele had no right to involve him in the first place. Now that Emanuele regretted his decision, Tommaso was blissfully ignorant to my real reason for coming to Italy.

To bring the woman who would be my wife back to Chicago with me.

My presence in Roma’s life made Alfonso and Baby Boy Jack nervous. They were putting pressure on Emanuele to stop me.

Emanuele was feeling enough pressure on his own. Never in a million years could he have foreseen this: someone like me being his son-in-law, never mind his daughter marrying a man he didn’t choose for her. He’d almost made it with all his daughters going through with the arrangements he’d negotiated. Roma would always be the one who got away from the tradition.

Celso slowed the car as we approached thetrattoria.

It was in the Piazza del Carmine in the heart of the Florentine Oltrarno. The district was known for its trendy bars and artisan shops. Roma had been frequenting the area with the wedding party. She’d gone to the Palazzo Pitti earlier and was having dinner with Elsa.

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