Page 8 of Mafia Virgin (The Kings of Italy)

We rode in tense silence. Virga wanted to meet about the wedding. Again. So I would walk in, tell him to fuck off, and then demand he forget all he’d discovered about me.

“Call Mirabella,” I said as I punched the gas pedal. “Check that Viviana is okay. Virga could have a man there. I want to make sure she’s safe.”

Zani dialed and spoke to the guard outside Viv’s room. He reported that my sister was fine, everything perfectly normal. After warning the guard to be on alert, Zani hung up as I parked at the address we’d been given.

It was an old hotel, the kind that had passed its prime decades earlier. Exactly the sort of place I’d expect Virga to patronize, the outdated fuck. His man approached us in the lobby and we were quickly hustled into the elevator.

Zani and I didn’t speak on the way up. In our world there were eyes and ears everywhere, and I wouldn’t put it past Virga to be listening in.

When the doors opened we arrived at a large suite with plenty of windows and a balcony. The furniture looked cheap, the kind you self-assembled. I would probably break the sofa if I tried to sit on it.

A group was gathered on the balcony. Virga was surrounded by several men, everyone looking very serious. But that wasn’t the disturbing part.

A priest was with them.

Che cazzo?

“Mo,” Zani asked quietly over his shoulder. “What the hell is happening?”

Virga came toward us. I counted the number of men with him. Eight in total. Not great odds, but I was confident I could give them all a fair beating before they subdued me.

“Don Buscetta” Virga called cheerfully as he approached. “Thank you for coming.”

“Don Virga. What is this about?”

He grabbed me and kissed my cheeks like we were family. “I would think it obvious, even to a man such as yourself.”

Stupid, in other words. Though the old insult stung like salt in a wound, I didn’t react. Out of necessity, I’d learned to hide my emotions at a very early age. Virga couldn’t rattle me. “Maybe you should explain it.”

“You thought you could ignore me.” Virga moved in closer and put a bony hand on my shoulder, squeezing. “You thought you didn’t need to do as you’re told, that you are more important than the brotherhood. But you are not more important than me or the Cosa Nostra. And you will do what you are told, starting today. Capisce?”

I met his smug gaze with steady calm. He was talking in riddles and I needed answers. “How did you learn of her?” We both knew who I meant.

“I have friends everywhere, Don Buscetta. You would be wise to heed this moving forward.” He dug his fingers into the muscle of my shoulder. “And should you try to move her, I will find out where. You can’t escape me,ragazzetto.”

Little boy.

Outside, I wore a mask of indifference. But inside I was a storm, raging with anger and resentment. He dared to threaten my sister? My pulse pounded with the need for violence, a burning desire to maim and destroy. I could almost taste Virga’s blood on my tongue.

“Va bene,” he said and patted my shoulder. Then he called the group on the balcony. “Let us proceed.”

“What is happening?” I snapped at Virga. “Why is a priest here?”

A door opened in the rear of the suite and one of Virga’s men emerged with a young woman—very young, probably late teens or early twenties. She was pretty, with dark hair and big brown eyes. No makeup, which meant she wasn’t a mistress or wife. Someone’s sister, maybe.

I watched her gaze bounce around until it landed on me, and the uneasiness and fear I saw there sent a sliver of trepidation through me. Who was—?

Understanding struck like a lightning bolt. No. It couldn’t be. She was in Toronto, well guarded by her father’s men.

Except my eyes didn’t lie. This was Emma Mancini.

I stepped backward.

“Take your place, Giacomo,” Virga ordered. “Right the fuck now.”

“You can’t do this.”

“I am the boss, so I may do whatever I like. At my request, you will marry her today. You will consummate this marriage after the ceremony. And you will get her pregnant in six month’s time—or else I will burn everything andeveryoneyou love down to the ground.”

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