Page 84 of Of Beauty, Brains, & Bravery

“You take down a lot of people, Antonio, and a lot of people will be after you if you try to take me down. You know we don’t do traitors in the Mafia.”

“That means nothing to me right now, Papa. I need to find Callie.”

“These fucking Rowney women. That Rowney family.” He took a deep breath. “Come to the manor. I’ll give you what you want.”

“I need you to tell me.”

“I’m still the don, Antonio.” And with that, he hung up.

I stared at Jimmy, and then I stared at Serena. “We got to go,” I said.

“Your dad tell you where they at?”

“No,” I shook my head, “but I think he knows a lot more than he’s letting on.”

“You think so, boss?” Jimmy said, looking surprised.

“You remember my dad was singing that song, the hush little baby song? The one that Callie’s mom used to sing to her?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“I still don’t know why he knows that song. Let’s go.”

33

Callie

“Mama, is that you?” I said, pressing my hand against the walls. Had I heard her correctly? Had she said she was Phillipa Rowney? The lady on the other side of the wall was quiet, and I wondered if I was being tricked. I wondered if this was some cruel, sick joke. “Mom, is that you? It’s me. It’s Callie. Callie Rowney, your daughter.”

“Callie.”

I could hear my voice reflected back at me, but it was older, sweeter. It sounded just like my mom. It sounded like she was crying.

“Oh, Callie, is that really you?”

“It’s me, Mom.”

“I don’t understand. What’s going on? How are you alive? I thought you died of cancer. That’s what Dad told me. Did Dad put you in here? What’s going on? Oh, Callie. I don’t even know where to start. I don’t even know if this is a bad dream or a good dream or a nightmare. I just don’t—”

And then I heard screaming. There was a loud banging on the other side of the room.

“Please, no!” the female voice was saying. I could hear what sounded like gunshots, and I fell to the ground. I had no idea what was happening, and then I heard my door banging open. I jumped up quickly and ran toward the main room. Two men were standing there in masks. “Don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt my mom.” I started hitting one of them in the chest.

“Let her go.”

I saw Antonio rushing into the room. He had a gun in both hands. Alessandro followed right behind him, and so did Jimmy.

“Duck!” Antonio shouted at me, and I kicked the guy holding me in the shins and ducked down. Antonio shot him in the arm, and all I could hear was cursing. I ran over to the bed and just sat there wondering where I should go, what I should do. But before I could even blink, Alessandro and Antonio had both masked men down on the ground. Antonio was kneeling on one, and Alessandro was leaning on the other. I watched as Jimmy handed Antonio some rope, and he wrapped it around the men and held them together. I bit down on my lower lip. It all seemed so familiar, and yet none of it made sense. Jimmy walked over to me and pulled me into his arms.

“We have to go. It’s not safe here.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on. How are you back? We were worried about you. Antonio, what’s going on?” I looked over at him. Tears were streaming down my face. “What are you doing? What sort of sick fucking game are you playing with me? I thought I heard my mom’s voice. I thought…”

“What are you talking about?” he said, shaking his head.

“How did you know I was here? How…”

“My father,” he said, “and Luisa. They told us to come back to this cabin. It’s on our property.”

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