by Anna Ray
A chill shoots down my spine.
What is Giuliani talking about?
I’m speechless, trying to work out if this is some ploy by Giuliani to save his own ass or what. Thankfully, Alessandra still has her wits about her and says, “Explain yourself.”
“I think a mutual friend can do a much better job of that,” Giuliani says, snapping his fingers.
From the shadows, Donte appears.
My eyes narrow. “I trusted you!” I say, my voice tight from the hurt of betrayal.
“As I intended you would,” Giuliani says. “Donte is my man through and through. And it’s a good thing he is because without him, we’d never have learned the truth. Carlo DeLuca killed your family.”
I glance at my second and ask, “Is he for real?”
“He’s for real,” Donte confirms. “Under Stefano’s orders, I’ve been keeping tabs on DeLuca. Recently, I was able to get a confession from him, and unknown to DeLuca, recorded the whole thing.”
Donte steps forward and hands me his phone where a video waits. I click play, and an image of Carlo in his office appears. I can just see the edge of Donte’s body opposite him, and on the table between them is a half-empty bottle of Amaretto.
“The rat was passing on information to the police,” Carlo says, his voice full of venom. “I couldn’t believe it, my oldest and dearest friend, Primo, a pentito.”
“So you took out a hit on the whole family?” Donte asks incredulously.
“No, this one was personal. This one I did myself, though it pained me terribly.”
“But why kill the wife and kid, too?”
“To control the boy. I saw something in him, you know that. You see it, too. Massimo and I are cut from the same cloth. He isn’t a rat, like his father. I knew if I left him alive, I’d have complete control over him, to shape and mold him into the perfect heir.”
“And Giuliani? How does he figure into all this?” Donte asks.
DeLuca actually smirks at this point, and I feel my blood boil. He killed them all, my father, my mother... sweet, innocent Bianca, and he actually had the gall to smirk? I’m tempted to throw the phone across the room, but then Alessandra’s hand on mine calms me.
“We need to hear it all,” she says softly.
“Giuliani has always been a thorn in my side,” DeLuca continues. “He was gaining too much power, and after the hit of losing Primo, he began gaining ground. Massimo was hell-bent on revenge, of course, so I waited. I bided my time. I molded Massimo into the perfect killer, and then, I pulled the trigger. I told him Giuliani murdered his family, and I told him about Giuliani’s secret daughter.”
The video ends, and I hand the phone back to Donte.
“I’m sorry,” he says sadly.
I stand in silence, too stunned to form thoughts, let alone words.
To fill the void, Alessandra asks her father, “Is this why you didn’t agree to Massimo’s demands immediately?”
Giuliani can’t meet Alessandra’s gaze, and his shoulders slump. “I’m sorry, I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought if I met Accardi with no proof, he’d kill us both. I needed more time for Donte to get a confession out of DeLuca.”
“So all this time, you left me with someone you thought was your enemy?” Alessandra asks in a flat, monotone voice, her gaze distant. “Anything could have happened to me.”
Even though my heart aches for her, I can understand Giuliani’s reasoning. If he had agreed to my demands immediately, I would have killed them both. I’d never have learned the truth.
Giuliani took a gamble that I wouldn’t harm his daughter, that I’d keep her safe to use as leverage. It was a huge risk, given he knows nothing about me, but luckily for them both, it paid off.
Giuliani grimaces. “I know, and I’m sorry. If I thought there was any other way to save us both, I would have done it. And you’re okay, aren’t you? Your bruises have healed quickly. Accardi treated you well, didn’t he?”
“Massimo never hurt me,” Alessandra confesses, a faint blush covering her cheeks. “And I did those bruises with makeup, to make sure you agreed to his demands. We needed to know the truth.”
“We?” Giuliani asks with narrowed eyes. His gaze darts from his daughter to me, and he shakes his head as though he can’t believe what he’s seeing.
In an instant, Giuliani’s gun is out and aimed at me.
“You son of a bitch. If you’ve touched my daughter, I swear I’ll kill you.”
Alessandra reaches out, covering her father’s hand with her own, forcing him to lower his gun. “Daddy, listen. It’s not like that. Massimo was good to me, we grew close —”
Giuliani turns pale, and he blinks rapidly. “You’re telling me the two of you are involved? Romantically?”
My entire body goes rigid as I wait for Alessandra to reply, and I’m half expecting Giuliani to point his gun at me again.
“He’s a criminal, Alessandra,” he says finally.
“So are you,” she points out, and I have to suppress a smirk.
“That’s different,” Giuliani tries to argue, but he can’t come up with the words to justify how his actions are any different from mine.
“Besides, Massimo has promised to give up all that. Now we know the truth, we’re leaving. We’re going to start over.”
I hate myself for what I’m about to say, but I know I can’t even contemplate starting life over with Alessandra until DeLuca is dealt with. “And we will, but only after I’ve killed DeLuca.”
Alessandra whips around to face me, her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean? You said I’m more important than revenge.”
“That was before I knew it was DeLuca who killed my family. He lied to me for ten years. He set me up to kill your father. And besides, he’s not just going to let me walk away and have a fresh start. Especially not when he finds out you and your father are alive. I have to kill him, for all our safety.”
“Massimo, please don’t. DeLuca is dangerous. I don’t want to lose you.”
“Alessandra, you know I have to,” I say, making sure my voice is stony and emotionless.
Giuliani steps up behind his daughter and wraps his arm around her protectively. “Accardi is right. While DeLuca lives, we’re all in danger. Why don’t you come back to the house, now? See your mother, let her know you’re okay. Leave Accardi to deal with DeLuca.”
“No! I’m going with him.,” Alessandra says, her eyes blazing with fire
“No! DeLuca is dangerous. I won’t have you in harm’s way,” I say.
“But it’s okay for you to risk your life?”
“Yes, because I’ve been tainted by his evil, but you’re innocent still. I won’t have you darken your soul or be in danger for something you had no part in. Do as your father says. Go back home where you’ll be safe. I’ll call you once DeLuca is dead.”
“But I have a part in it. I’m involved because DeLuca framed my father and told you about my existence. You could have killed us, and for what? Lies DeLuca told you. I deserve to see this through to the end, too, Massimo. And that’s not the only reason I want to be there with you. I want to be by your side when you face DeLuca because I care about you, and I won’t let you avenge your family alone.”
I want to run to Alessandra and crush my lips to hers, but I don’t think that will go down well with Giuliani. So instead, I try to suggest a compromise. “Why don’t we all go? You, me, your father, and Donte. I can seek out DeLuca, and they can protect you. Then if anything goes wrong, your father can get you to safety.”
Giuliani doesn’t look happy about this suggestion, but Alessandra nods. “Yes, then you’ll have backup against DeLuca, too.” Her father opens his mouth to protest, but she stops him by saying, “I’m going with Massimo whether or not you and Donte come. The choice is yours.”
“Fine. We all go to seek out DeLuca then,” Giuliani says.
22
Alessandra
In the parking lot, my father tries to co
nvince me to get in his car with him and Donte, but part of me doesn’t trust that he won’t just drive me home instead. Besides, there’s no way I’m leaving Massimo alone while he processes everything he’s learned about DeLuca and prepares to kill him.
“I’m going with Massimo,” I say, folding my arms across my chest.
He huffs out a breath. “Fine. But we’ll be right behind you, and you’re not to enter the building DeLuca is in. Am I clear?”
“Yes. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything stupid,” I promise, knowing he’s still getting to grips with me and Massimo being together. If I want him to treat me like an adult and accept my relationship with Massimo, I need to start acting like an adult.
Massimo and I get into his car and cross the city in silence, both still tense over what happened in the warehouse. Knowing my father didn’t kill his family is a huge relief, but my time away from home has made me realize that I’ve been stifled by my parents’ overprotectiveness. It’s time I branch out on my own.
I glance across at Massimo, who has a white knuckle grip on the steering wheel, and his jaw is tightly clenched. I want to take all his pain away and give him the fresh start he’s given me, but I know this is something Massimo needs to figure out on his own.
“I should call DeLuca and tell him you and your father are dead.”
The thought causes a chill to run down my spine, but I know it’s the lie Massimo has to tell to get DeLuca alone.
“Will he believe you?”
“Why wouldn’t he? He has no reason to doubt me.”
“What about that Donte guy? Do you think DeLuca suspects he was a mole for my father?”
“He wouldn’t be alive if he did,” Massimo says coldly, and I can tell by the tone of his voice he’s still hurt by Donte’s betrayal.
“What are you going to do about him?”
Massimo shrugs. “Do we need to do anything? I’m done, and once I’ve dealt with DeLuca, all this is over”
“So when DeLuca is dead, we just walk away?”
“If that’s what you want. I’ll do whatever you want, Alessandra. We can travel the world. We can move to a new city and start over. You tell me.”
I bite my bottom lip and confess, “I’m not sure what I want yet. But I’m sure we can figure it out. Together.”
“Together,” Massimo promises, reaching across to squeeze my hand.
We come to a business estate where an expensive office block stands. I glance up at the dark building, the only light illuminating the top floor. “Is DeLuca up there?”
“Yeah, that’s his office. He likes to look down on all of Chicago; it makes him feel powerful,” Massimo replies darkly, pulling into the parking lot. “I need you to stay in the car.”
“Okay. I’ll wait here. But you be careful, please? I can’t lose you.”
“I will,” Massimo vows, pressing his lips against mine. “I’ll do what I have to and be straight back.”
“Okay. If you’re not back in an hour, I’m coming up.”
“No, send your father or Donte. Don’t come up, and especially not alone.”
My stomach lurches at the thought of something going wrong, but I can’t let the negative thoughts invade my mind. If they do, I’ll never let Massimo go to do what he needs to.
“Stay safe,” I say again, kissing him one more time.
He holds me in his arms, our lips joined, and for a moment, everything else ceases to exist. There’s just me and him at this moment.
When he pulls away, tears trail down my cheeks, and I see moisture shimmer in his eyes. Without another word, he gets out of the car, and I lock the door securely behind him.
My heart hammers in my throat as I watch him approach the dark building and enter it.
My father’s car pulls up alongside Massimo’s, and the engine goes quiet as he cuts off the lights. I know Massimo told me to stay in the car, but I can’t stand being alone. My father is right there. Knowing I’ll be safe with him, I unlock the door and gently slip into the back of my father’s Maserati.
For a moment, the car is filled with tense silence, and I can see Donte fidgeting awkwardly in his seat. He might have been working for my father and spying on DeLuca, but I doubt he wants to be caught up in the Giuliani family drama I’m certain is about to unfold.
My father turns to me, and I can see he’s trying to force a calm and natural expression on his face. “Once Accardi has dealt with DeLuca, will you be coming home? Your mother is desperate to see you.”
I long to see her, too, and I know I need to go home eventually. But I can’t bring myself to even contemplate leaving Massimo knowing what state he will be in after facing DeLuca. Even if he escapes the confrontation uninjured, there’s still the trauma of killing a man who was like a father to him. A man who betrayed him.
“We’ll see… I’ll need to be there for Massimo after.”
My father narrows his eyes. “Alessandra, are you sure about this man? You’ve only known him a few weeks, and for that duration, you were his prisoner. How do you know you can trust him?”
“I can’t,” I admit, figuring the only way I can get my father to trust me is if I’m honest with him. “Which is why I won’t be moving in with him permanently.”
“You won’t?” Father asks, his mouth falling open slightly.
“I’m not as stupid as you think I am, Daddy. And I’m not some child that constantly needs protecting, either. It’s time you start letting me live like an adult, and that includes trusting me when it comes to Massimo. He’s a good man, he never hurt me, and after the dynamics of our relationship changed, he was going to let me go free. It was me who convinced him we needed to get the truth from you first.”
My father’s eyes soften a little, and he asks, “Okay, so what do you intend to do?”
“Well, I want to finish my degree. And me and Massimo will need time to get to know each other, in a normal way, when I’m not his captive.” My father snorts. I ignore him and continue. “But I want to move out —”
“Don’t you think it’s too soon for you and Massimo to be living together?”
“I never said we would be. But I want my own place, Daddy. Maybe me and Taylor could rent somewhere together and live like normal twenty-one year-olds.”
My father pinches the bridge of his nose and bows his head. “This is because I’ve been too overprotective your whole life, isn’t it?”
“It is. I know you only did it because you worried one of your mob rivals might target you through me, and well, yeah, you were right. But, if I’d known more about your work, I’d have known to be more wary. In trying to protect me, you just made me feel suffocated and caused me to go behind you back. I don’t want to do that anymore. I want you to treat me like an adult.”
My father considers what I’ve said for a moment and nods his head. “Okay, and if I help you move into your own place with Taylor, and start treating you like an adult, you promise to finish your degree and take things slowly with Massimo?”
“I promise,” I say.
“Come here.” Daddy beckons me forward and wraps his arms around me and kisses me on the cheek. When he lets go and pulls back, I see tears shimmer in his eyes.
I feel my own tears start to fall, but then, gunshots ring out, and my father, Donte, and I glance up at DeLuca’s office.
23
Massimo
I can’t turn around and look back because I know if I do, my resolve will break. It’s already fragile, and I’m second guessing my decision to leave Alessandra in the car.
We could be driving off to happiness and our new life together, but I can’t. Not until I close the last chapter of my old life.
Not until Carlo DeLuca is dead.
“This is for you,” I whisper to the heavens, kissing my fingertips and offering them up to my mother and Bianca. I’m still trying to reconcile how I feel about my father… He wasn’t playing both sides; that was all part of DeLuca’s lie. But he was a police informant. Under a
ny other circumstances, I’d be just as mad that my father was an informant, but I see things in a different light now.
This business is poison.
Maybe my father was just trying to forge a better life for himself, my mother, Bianca, and I. Perhaps he didn’t want me following him down the same dark path. I’ll never know. I can’t ask him because DeLuca snatched that opportunity away from me.
As I reach the top floor of the office complex, I have to curb my anger. I need DeLuca to admit to everything. I can’t just go in there with guns blazing. Once he admits the truth, that’s when I’ll end him and all this will be over.
I gently knock on the door, and a moment later DeLuca calls, “Come in.”
I push open the door and have to fight back the urge to rush in and smack him in the face. I have to play the passive, obedient second, so he never guesses I know the truth.
“It’s done,” I say, taking a seat opposite him. “Giuliani is dead.”
A sinister smile covers DeLuca’s face, and the sight of it makes me feel sick.
“He admitted to everything then?”
I lean back in my seat, trying to act casual. “We certainly had a very interesting conversation before he died.”
“And the girl? What was her name, Alexandria or something?”
My blood boils, and I want to correct DeLuca and warn him never to speak Alessandra’s name again, but I swallow down my rage and remain impassive.
“She begged for her life. I didn’t listen,” I lie, knowing if DeLuca discovers Alessandra is alive she could be in danger.
DeLuca grins. “That’s my boy. And now your family is avenged, and the city is mine.”
“Ours,” I correct.
“Of course. Of course. I meant ours… a toast. To us and our success.”
DeLuca opens his desk draw and retrieves a bottle of Amaretto and two glasses. As he pours the drinks, I ask, “Do you remember what they looked like — Mom and Bianca — when you went to clean up the bodies?”
