“He’s dead, Papa.” My tired eyes stared into his, then out of the window at the clear blue sky.
“I’m so sorry, son. He was a good boy. Do his parents know?”
“Not yet. They are on their way back from Spain.”
“I can’t believe all this happened. I knew that Abriana had a mean streak, but I had no idea she would go this far.”
“Where is Gino, Papa?”
“He’s at his grandparents’ home. He is trying to find his mother before she gets herself into more trouble.”
“I’m afraid it’s too late for that, Papa. Mario is out for blood. He won’t stop until she’s dead.”
“Let’s just hope we find her before he does, then.”
“I don’t care who finds her, Papa. All I want is to see her pay.”
“She will, Joe, she will.”
ELEANORA
I made my way downstairs when I heard Joe’s voice. He looked so tired. I took him by the arm and led him upstairs to the bedroom.
“My love, please rest for a moment. I’ll ask the chef to bring you something to eat. You can’t keep going like this. Come, I’ll draw you a bath.” I was holding him in a tight embrace. My husband was hurting.
“Franco is dead.”
I let go of him and sat down on the edge of the bed. I tried to speak, but no words came out. I felt responsible for his death, even though my reason told me that it wasn’t my fault. I closed my eyes and saw him lying in my arms, bleeding. I saw his face the first night I’d met the gang. I couldn’t handle any more bad news, not now. I curled up into a little ball and cried. Joe came over to me, lay behind me, and we spooned until I fell asleep.
***
When I awoke, Joe was gone. I had no idea what the time was or how long I’d slept for. In a daze, I went downstairs to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. The house was quiet—it was an uncomfortable silence. I found Bella in the kitchen.
“Hi, Mama. Where is everybody? Is my mother okay?”
“Glad to see you up, Ella. You look much better. Alicia is having a nap, The poor woman is exhausted. I heard about Franco. I’m so sorry, Ella. Come, sit, I’ll pour you some coffee. Are you hungry?” She reached for a mug as I sat down at the kitchen table.
“Starving. Where is Joe?” I took a big gulp of coffee. The warm, soothing liquid went down like a homesick mole. I felt better.
“He’s with Antonio.” I was waiting for more, but that was all I got.
“Are they here?”
“No, they’re out looking for Abriana. They got a tipoff that she was hiding out at her cousin’s house.”
My heart sank. I was worried all over again. Abriana wouldn’t go quietly, and the thought of Joe being anywhere near her made me sick to my stomach.
“Don’t worry, darling. This time she won’t catch them off guard.”
I prayed that she was right. I needed the nightmare to be over. I wanted to go back to our new home, our new lives, and leave the troubles with Sicily behind, once and for all.
JOE
I had no idea where Mario was, but Fabio and I were sticking close to the “Coli muscle.” Abriana was hiding out at her cousin’s—she hadn’t covered her tracks as well as she had before her big plan went south. I had a score to settle with her. Not only did she put our lives in danger, but she put my unborn baby’s wellbeing at risk too.
It wasn’t going to be easy to get to her. Her cousin, Andrea, was as nasty a piece of work as she was. He was on the shady side of Palermo’s crime wave, the side that no one wanted to be associated with—or cross. Andrea’s house was armed to the teeth when we surveyed the area. There’d be no point in walking up to the front door, ringing the bell, and hoping for tea and biscuits. Things were about to get ugly, and we knew it full well. Living in Palermo in the 70s had its drawbacks, and we were about to experience them first hand.
We tried our best not to announce our arrival, which was rather tricky, as we burst through the steel gates in a cement truck. Being in construction had its benefits. Andrea’s men crawled out of every conceivable hole, like fire ants after a storm. The ruckus was deafening, men running, shouting, shooting—the perfect distraction for Fabio and me to sneak into the house, unseen. Once inside, we were on the hunt, room by room, for Abriana. We’d searched nearly eighty percent of the house before we found her, defiant and spewing insults.
“Oh, so the brave Joe Coli is here to do his papa’s dirty work, is he? A real man would have come himself.”
“This score is mine to settle, Abriana. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
She stared at me as if she were daring me to put my money where my mouth was.
“How’s your little princess holding up? Is she missing her stud, Enrico, yet? They had such a close relationship. A real love affair.” She smiled sardonically.
“As a matter of fact, Enrico did himself in. Probably repulsed by the idea that he’d be stuck with you for the rest of his life. Can’t say I blame the poor fool.”
“So, now what? Are you here to punish me? Gonna drag me off to the Coli mansion for a whipping? Or perhaps Antonio wants to have one more roll in the hay before he sends me to my doom? We were great together, by the way. He kept coming back for more. He couldn’t keep his hands off me. I’m sure he thinks of
