Page 38 of Mafia Virgin (The Kings of Italy)

Zani came over, his face pulled into a deep scowl. “You think this is Virga?”

“Of course. Who else would dare?”

Over the last few days Zani and I had secretly met with some other bosses. We needed to find out who might be convinced to back us against Virga when the time came. I could take the capo out myself, but I didn’t want any retribution for it.

Had one of the families reported back to Virga? Everyone we spoke with hated him more than we did, but it was dangerous, going againstil capo di tutti capi. Maybe someone has cold feet?

“I’m going upstairs,” I said, pushing off the wall. “Pay the doc when he’s finished and then come join me.”

“Wait. I want to talk to you.”

I wasn’t in the mood. Ignoring him, I left the room, but was annoyed to find him trailing me up the stairs. “What do you want?”

“I want to know what happened when you carried Emma upstairs. You seem on edge.”

I pushed through the cellar door and went into the house. “How is that your fucking business?”

“Sal says you’ve been spending more and more time in the cellar. How are your knuckles?”

“You’re pissing me off. Don’t we have other things to talk about that are more important than my home life? What have you learned about Mancini?”

Zani showed me his palms, signaling peace, as we reached my office. “Still no direct answer from Mancini. His brother, Reggie, is still passing on information. And more bad news: Virga is in the wind. No one knows where.”

“Cazzo madre di dio!” I pounded the wooden desk with my fist, then pointed angrily at Zani. “I thought we were tracking him. I paid a fuck ton of Euros to get a tracker on that boat before it left port.”

“Someone must’ve found it. All I know is that we lost the signal. Virga’s on the open water.”

That motherfucker. He planned to stay hidden until the deadline so I couldn’t kill him.

Zani’s voice penetrated my dark thoughts. “Does your wife know the timeline has been pushed to three months?”

“It doesn’t matter.” I went to get a drink. This day had been shit from start to finish. “Whether it’s a year or a month I’m not fucking her.”

“Mo, you might not have a choice.”

“There are always choices. And sleeping with a twenty-year-old child is not happening.”

“She isn’t a child. She’s a woman. Anattractivewoman.”

Ignoring that comment, I said, “So, we can’t find Virga or speak to Mancini.”

“Correct.”

There were too many unknowns. I needed to strategize.

When I failed to impregnate Emma there was one person Virga would come after. One innocent person who would suffer unless I took drastic measures. I had to protect my sister, even if she didn’t like it. “We need to move Viv here.”

Zani shook his head like he was hard of hearing. “Sorry, did you say move your sister here?”

“It’s the only way to keep her safe when shit goes sideways.”

“She won’t like it. The change may set her back.”

Why was he telling me things I already knew?

Viviana hadn’t lived in our house for years. It held only terrible memories for her, as it did for all of us. But miserable and still alive was better than happy and dead. “There is no choice. I’ll bring her nurse, too. I’ll move her whole fucking room here, if that’s what it takes.”

“The right thing to do is to fuck your wife and give her a baby. You’d rather ruin your sister’s life?”

---