I slapped my thigh. “I should have figured it out before now.”
“Figured out what?”
“That Sylvie asked you not to murder her.”
“Well, you could say that was her general stance.”
“And you couldn’t bring yourself to say no, even though you knew it was fucking insane; you just hope that if you go along with what she asks, she might recover and become the woman she once was.”
“You think I did the wrong thing?”
Bandit love.
“No. I’d have done it too, but that woman is cruel, ruthless, and diabolical. She’ll hunt us down and chop us into pieces.”
He sank his nails into my shoulder. “No. We’re going to be hunting her, and we won’t let up for a second until we’ve shattered her little empire.”
So that was his plan. “You could have at least asked me if I wanted to sign up for your war.”
“Why? Would you have refused?”
“It’s crazy, Beniamino.”
“This is a tumor that has to be eliminated.”
I sighed. “And who says we’re the surgeons for the job?”
“I say so. And this time, we’re not going to bring cops and Mafiosi into it. We’ll do this our way.”
“We’re old school gangsters, relics of a past that’s gone forever. They’ll eat us alive.”
“Then go back to Lugano and sit on your park bench while I clean up this mess.”
“No, fuck, there’s no way I can leave you to do this on your own; who knows what kind of a mess you’d get into this time.”
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Old Rossini with a cunning smile on his face. Son of a bitch. Max had seen it all.
The guy stood up and took his leave of Greta Gardner with a hasty but formal kiss on the hand. He left the restaurant and walked away. We gave him a fifty-yard start and started tailing him.
He was a professional and it wouldn’t be long before he noticed us and recognized us. He’d think we were amateurs who didn’t even realize we were doing his job for him. Maybe he’d smile to himself, or tell himself that this was his lucky day.
It would never cross his mind that the old smuggler and armed robber walking by my side just wanted him to know that he wasn’t hiding anymore, and that in order to keep a promise made to his love, he’d be risking his life according to rules that none of his enemies knew or could understand. This was bandit love. I’d follow him to the end because I lacked any love so compelling or powerful; I had nothing that tied me to a single person or place. And after all, Rossini is my friend. One of the only two friends I still have. And in a world where everyone’s busy fucking everybody else that has to count for something.
THE END
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Edoardo “Catfish” Fassio, Ernesto Milanesi, Luca Barbieri, Elena Battista, and Heman Zed.
About the Author
Massimo Carlotto is the author of The Fugitive, Death’s Dark Abyss, The Goodbye Kiss, and most recently, with Marco Videtta, Poisonville, all published by Europa Editions. His novels have enjoyed great success outside of Italy, and several have been made into highly acclaimed films.
ALSO BY MASSIMO CARLOTTO
The Goodbye Kiss
Death’s Dark Abyss
The Fugitive
Poisonville (with Marco Videtta)
Bandit Love Page 17
