by Seth Eden
“Relax, Marco,” I instructed, but when Marco looked back at me angrily, I raised an eyebrow as if to say, “Soon, but not yet.” Marco probably didn’t like hearing that Denise had asked about Kelly any more than I did hearing that she asked about Alexis, but if she had such sensitive knowledge, she had to get it from somewhere. “Let’s get a little more information out of her first.”
I was a little surprised when all three of my brothers responded, “Yes, boss,” in unison, the bit of unity probably thanks to our bonding over lunch.
“Oh?” Denise spoke finally, and her voice was sultry and low. “Are you the boss now?”
Willow looked at Stacy and then back at me. “She sounds different.”
“Well, it seems you figured out that I was putting up a bit of an act there, Mrs. Varasso, so it shouldn’t be all that surprising,” Denise responded. “I apologize for deceiving you.”
“Sandro, get the information you want from her quickly. I’ve got one in the chamber that’s eager to meet her,” Marco hissed.
“My patience has already run pretty thin,” I replied, “so I suggest you tell us who you are and why you know so much before I allow my brother to empty his gun into you. It’s been a long time since he’s shot someone, and I can tell you he’s eager for the opportunity.”
Marco took a menacing step closer so he could set the barrel of his gun directly on Denise’s head. Denise held up her hands, her cool expression turning panicked. “Okay, okay, okay. Relax. There’s no need for things to get messy here. We all want the same thing, to eliminate Dario Binachi.”
The tension in the room grew exponentially. “How do you know Dario Binachi?” I asked.
Denise rolled her eyes. “He’s my brother.”
I looked in confusion at my brothers, but they all seemed just as lost. Our family had worked closely with the Binachis for years. Even before things turned sour between us, our businesses were closely intertwined. There was a point at which we considered the Binachis allies. At no point in any of the time that we’d worked with them had we seen a female Binachi. Donovan was careful to keep his wife uninvolved in his affairs. In fact, she believed he and his sons were day traders. He kept her identity unknown, even to us. He’d only ever talked about having sons, and as far as we knew, he had two of them, Dario and the now-deceased Dante.
“I was unaware Donovan had a daughter,” I said to her. “I find it hard to believe we wouldn’t have heard of you.”
“I was more of an inconvenience to my dad and his family than anything else.” She side-glanced Gabriel. “I was a mutt.”
I saw Gabriel shift uncomfortably in place. Gabriel didn’t share a mother with Luca, Marco, and me. My dad stepped out on my mom and had Gabriel, and for most of our lives, he was more of an outsider than anything. It was only after I left with Willow, leaving Gabriel and Luca with nothing but time to patch things up, that we started to all come together. I always saw Gabriel as a brother—that’s what my dad told me I should do—but Luca and Marco always treated him poorly, often calling him a mutt to his face.
“You know what that’s like, don’t you, Gabe?” Denise asked. “I was born between the boys and was intentionally left out of the family business. Apparently, I wasn’t good enough to sell stocks. I was always treated like I didn’t belong, even though Dario and Dante’s mom raised me like one of her own.”
Gabriel’s voice was softer when he spoke up. “I understand.” I eyed him, silently warning him not to fall into Denise’s trap, but he just shook his head. “But you and I are different. I’m not stupid. You must be to wander into a Varasso business as a Binachi.”
“I’m almost done with you,” I warned her.
“I didn’t lie when I said I was a fan of your family. It’s very true. I’ve admired the way you’ve handled my family up to this point, and I’m very much interested in seeing the job through to completion.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” She smiled. “I want to help you kill my brother.”
I looked at Willow, and I could see the suspicion in her eyes. My brothers were exchanging looks, and I could see Luca calculating the way she could aid the cause. I wouldn’t admit it, but I was lost on which way to take the information. I let Willow’s subtle shake of her head inform my decision.
“I wouldn’t trust you enough to let you.” I crossed my arms. “We will kill your brother exactly as we intended to, without your help, and unfortunately for you, we want all of the Binachis gone. So, it seems this is the end of the road for you.”
Denise’s expression turned desperate. “You don’t understand. My last name, Binachi, has ruined my life. My mother is too stupid to see what’s going on, or maybe she just prefers not to, but I know well what my poor excuse for a father and brothers have been up to. They cost me my real mother’s life, among other things. I want the Binachis dead as much as you do, maybe more. I say I can help you, but you’d be doing me a much bigger favor. I’d owe you for this lifetime and my next. If we both want Dario dead, why can’t we form an alliance? Dario thinks I’m taking on my role as a Binachi now that Dante and Donovan are dead. I can get you inside information. I can warn you if he’s about to make a move.” She turned to look at Luca, and it stoked my rage. “You’re smart enough to see that this is the best option.”
I looked over at Luca, and he was looking back at her with curiosity. He turned his back to her and walked out of earshot, and the rest of us knew to follow. Stacy and Molly stayed behind to keep guns on Denise while Marco, Gabriel, Willow, and I circled around him.
“This isn’t your choice to make,” I said immediately.
“Don’t let a little bit of stolen power force you into making a bad decision,” Luca replied, not with malice, but with sincerity. “This makes sense.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Willow responded. “Any idiot knows we want Dario dead. She’s preying on our hatred for him, and she probably is working with him. She still hasn’t explained how she knows all that shit about our family. We haven’t told anyone about Harpswell.”
“A handful of people outside us know,” Gabriel explained. “Stacy’s parents, their movers, our movers, and the security team in Maine. We could only keep it so contained. If the Binachis delved deep enough, it wouldn’t be difficult to find.”
“And that would explain how she knows about the kids,” Luca said. “The Binachis knew about that stuff before. That’s how they found you.”
Willow went quiet, but the clench in her jaw said she wasn’t happy. She looked at me, and I wrapped my hand behind her back and pulled her a little closer. “The reality is, we can’t trust her.”
“No one’s suggesting we trust her,” Marco said. “Believe me, I wanna put a bullet in her skull for bringing up Kelly, but we don’t have to trust her to know she’s got the same end goal as us. We can keep her on the outside of everything and use what she knows to our advantage. When we’re done using her, or sooner if she trips up, we just drop her. It’s as simple as that.”
Willow rigidified in my grip. I would have sent her away from the conversation if I thought she would go, but I knew she wouldn’t. “I agree that she could be immensely useful, but we can’t afford to be stupid. We’ll give her a little time to prove her loyalty, but we tell her nothing—nothing—important about family business. I don’t care if you’re just deciding what to do for lunch, keep it between us, is that clear?”
“Yes, boss,” Marco and Gabriel responded.
I eyed Luca. “Is that clear?”
Luca’s icy stare was back. He was no longer willing to play nice. “Fine.”
“And handle her with a fifteen-foot pole. I’m shocked. I honestly thought you guys were smarter than this, but at least don’t be alone with her or anything,” Willow quipped, and each of my brothers got a little irritated. She was right, so I didn’t say anything.
They walked back over to Denise after that, but Willow and I stayed behind. Wil
low shook her head. “Sandro.” I looked down at her, but she had a nervous, angry glare set for Denise as Molly and Stacy pulled their guns away. “This is a bad idea.”
9
Willow
It was a shame that all of my earned relaxation from Stacy’s yoga class had been completely wasted. It was stressful enough just dealing with Denise for that hour, let alone learning that the brothers were actually going to allow her into our lives. It’d been a tense night after we got back from the studio. Everyone’s feelings about Denise were different, but no one seemed to have the same level of anxiety about her presence as I did, apart from Alessandro, but he still allowed his brothers to goad him into the wrong decision.
I still wasn’t convinced that Denise just happened upon all the intimate information she had about our family. I still wasn’t even convinced that she didn’t purposely drop it to elicit a reaction out of Stacy and me, to begin with. Maybe she originally planned to just make nice with Stacy and eventually tell her the plan, but if she wanted an opportunity to negotiate with all of the Varassos in one room and knew we wouldn’t just grant her an audience, she certainly got lucky with how things led to that opportunity.
My head and back ached as I stretched from the warmth of my bed. It was the first official day since I took up permanent residence in the Varasso estate that I just wanted to stay in bed and hoped that nothing bad would come to find me. I even considered calling Alessandro in to lay with me. If I told him I wanted to make sure we didn’t do anything untoward but just wanted him there to help me sleep, he’d oblige. I tossed the blanket back and climbed out of bed, knowing such a luxury wasn’t one I could have right now, maybe ever again. It wasn’t just that Sandro and I weren’t together, it’s that he’d made a decision that significantly decreased the chances of all eight Varassos coming out of the fight with the Binachis alive. Letting one in, even just to the outer ring of our circle, was a hefty risk.
I opened the door to the bedroom and walked out, absent-mindedly headed for the kitchen, but when I got into the living room, I stopped short. Alessandro wasn’t there. He never woke up before me. I turned around and walked back down the hall to the bathroom, but the door was open, and the light was off. I peeked into the second bedroom, but it was empty, as well. I walked back into the living room and took a good look around it and the kitchen, but Alessandro was nowhere in the suite. My heart immediately leaped to panic, but then I noticed that Alessandro’s phone and computer were gone, and one of his suits had been pulled from the nearby closet. He’d gone to work and hadn’t waited for me to wake up before doing so.
My inclination was to be angry, but I realized how I didn’t really have that leverage. We weren’t together, after all, and once we were divorced, every day would be like that. The thought of waking up and not seeing Alessandro immediately brought a burn to my nose, and I had to swallow back the ball of emotions in my throat. My stomach started to twist, joining in the party with my head and back. I went back into the bedroom, doing my best to ignore them, and got dressed. I grabbed my phone and computer and headed up to Alessandro’s office.
I knocked but didn’t wait for an answer. I let myself in. My heart started to beat a little faster, mostly due to anger. Alessandro was behind the desk, and Luca, Marco, and Gabriel were situated in the chairs to the left of the desk. Sitting center on the couch, facing Alessandro’s desk, was Denise. All five pairs of eyes shifted to me as I walked in, and Denise gave me a see-through smile.
“Good morning, Willow,” she greeted, but I didn’t respond.
I shut the office door and started off toward my seat at Alessandro’s side. Luca cleared his throat with his arms crossed. “We agreed to keep the wives out of it.”
I glared at him as I passed. That was a paper-thin agreement if I’d ever seen one. Gabriel had already promised not to keep Stacy out of the business, Kelly wasn’t there, and Molly was the only one Luca trusted. I didn’t need to delve into the origins of that condition to know that Luca had probably posed it, or that he’d specifically done it to keep me out.
No fear of being ousted came to me, however, as Alessandro didn’t make any move to refute my arrival. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders at Luca and gave him a heavy, “Drop it.”
I sat in my seat, and Denise locked on me. “How are you this morning? What’s it like being the leading lady of the Varasso family?”
I ignored her once again. Maybe everyone else was going to be dumb about her involvement, but I had no intention of letting my guard down around her. In fact, I had no intention of even hiding that I hated she was there at all.
“Focus,” Alessandro ordered her. “What else can you tell us about your brother?”
She crossed her arms and scoffed. “Where he’s been hiding and how he’s running his legions in secret isn’t good enough, huh?”
“You’re only as useful as the information you have, so you probably don’t want to rush to the bottom of that barrel,” Alessandro replied.
“Wouldn’t it make more sense for me to keep a few pieces of information to myself as protection, then?” she asked.
“If you’re saying you’re no longer going to be helpful, I’d be more than happy to let my brother remove your head from your body,” Alessandro said simply, and I had to clench my hands into fists out of his sight so that Denise wouldn’t see me crack.
“Did you know that your father wanted to name you Angelo Jr?” Denise asked suddenly. “I see why now.”
There was a thick, intense silence around that question. Alessandro was the third of his father’s sons, with only Gabriel below him. Denise may have been just blowing hot air to try and get under Alessandro’s skin, but we’d all spared a thought to the idea that Alessandro had turned into an eerie shadow of his father. We had no way to know the validity of the musing since both of Alessandro’s parents were dead, but if that had been a consideration when Alessandro was born, it might have served as a horrific premonition of things to come.
Alessandro’s glare was hate-filled as he muttered, “Marco.”
Marco was up out of his chair in an instant, gun in hand, cocking it at Denise. I hated myself for feeling like I’d be relieved if it turned into the end of her. She held up her hands, and her eyes lost some of their unearned arrogance.
“Fine. Call him off,” Denise said. Alessandro nodded at Marco, and he backed off but kept his gun in his lap as a threat. Denise shook her head. “I really don’t have much more.” Alessandro opened his mouth, but Denise held up her hands. “I’m serious! I was just bluffing. Your dad could see through a load of shit, too. I should have expected you’d have the same skill set.”
Alessandro folded his hands on top of his desk. “You have nothing else?”
“Not really. I know my brother isn’t planning an attack for the time being. He’s been very clear about that. ‘Don’t go near the Varassos. We have to build up again before we can strike.’ He knows he doesn’t have the power to take you on right now. He’s still keeping me mostly uninvolved.”
“If it’s ruined your life so much, why is that a problem?” Marco asked.
Denise looked over at him. “Because I’ve had to suffer all the consequences without having any of the fun.” She looked back at Alessandro. “The male Binachis may have muscles, but underneath of all it, they are dumb as rocks. They have no idea how to run a business with intelligence and strategy.”
“So, when Dario’s gone, you’ll take it over?” Gabriel asked.
“When Dario’s gone, I’ll burn what he built to the ground and dance in front of the fire,” Denise replied. “I’ll take the isolated chunks of gold my dad left behind and build something new, something successful, not attached to the grease stain that is the Binachi name.”
“What would you have us do next?” Luca asked. “If you were us, what would be our next plan of action.”
It was obvious in his tone of voice that Luca wasn’t seeking advice. He was testing her. If she really didn’t care a
bout her brother, her answer would be obvious—kill him. If she suggested anything like waiting or taking mercy, she wasn’t really as committed to ending his life as she claimed she was.
“I don’t care as long as it ends with a bullet in his chest,” she replied simply. “You know where to find him now, so the sooner, the better.”
Luca sat back, satisfied with the answer, and Marco and Gabriel seemed to take some sort of refuge in the answer themselves. Alessandro’s pensive expression was hard to read, and I was smart enough to know that Denise would know how to answer that kind of question.
Alessandro nodded. “Fine. If that’s really all you have, we’re done here.” She got up and started to leave, but Alessandro called out, “Denise.”
She looked back over her shoulder at him. “Yes?”
Alessandro smiled then, and it made both me and his brothers more than a little uncomfortable. “We’re having a family barbecue today. You should stick around. I’d welcome the opportunity to get to know you better.”
“I’d love that!” she said with a wide grin. “I can help cook. It’s kind of my thing. It’s fun.”
“It is,” Gabriel responded. “Molly is a chef. She’s been teaching me how to cook over the last few months, and I love it.” He stood up from his chair. “I’ll take you down.” He looked at Alessandro. “Er, as long as we’re done here.”
“We’re done,” Alessandro said. Gabriel led Denise out of the office, chattering happily with her about food, and Luca and Marco left shortly after him.
Once the door was closed, I spun on Alessandro.
“What?” he asked.
“What happened to not so much as telling her our lunch plans? Inviting her to a family barbecue? Have you lost your m—” I stopped short. It was never a good phrase to use with Alessandro. “This is not a good idea. How could you invite her?”
“I need her where I can keep an eye on her,” Alessandro replied, surprising me a little. “I was wary before, but now I’m certain we can’t trust her. Not just the stuff you heard, but this entire meeting, it was everything my brothers and I wanted to hear. She told us where Dario has been holed up, told us how he’s running things, told us he isn’t planning an attack. It was all said to get us to let our guard down, and looking at those three”—he motioned to the wall where his brothers had been sitting moments before—“it’s working. They’re too lost in the idea of ending things with the Binachis. It’s clouding their vision. They’re viewing the world through rose-colored glasses, which is odd for men who know all too well how cruel the world can be.”
