Revenge

by Dana Delamar

  A lump formed in Enrico’s throat. Hadn’t he said something similar to Ruggero just a few hours ago? He got up and walked into the other room, then went outside. He closed the door behind him, swallowing great lungfuls of the crisp night air.

  He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t. Dom was already living in a horrible hell, and he, Dom’s best friend, hadn’t recognized it. All these years, Dom had been alone with his grief, his isolation. And Enrico, like everyone else, had assumed he’d recovered because he’d taken another wife and had other children. He’d assumed that Dom’s grief was nothing but a buried memory. But grief, that most human of emotions, had warped him, had destroyed his very humanity. It had left him a shell of a man.

  He heard the door open and recognized the sound of Antonio’s step. He looked over his shoulder, saw the grim expression on Antonio’s face. “What is it?”

  “It has to be done, Don Lucchesi. Can’t you see he’s only sorry for himself?”

  “I know that. But still... he is my brother.”

  “Would Primo or Mario have done this to you?”

  The vehemence in Antonio’s voice surprised him. “You seem more angered by this than I am.”

  “My feelings are not as mixed.” Antonio’s voice softened. “If you cannot be angry on your own behalf, think of the signora and your child. Think of your father.”

  “Enough.” He didn’t need Antonio’s reminders.

  “I’ve said my piece.” Antonio went inside.

  Enrico took a deep breath, then slowly let it out in a visible cloud on the night air. Antonio was right. But could he pull the trigger?

  He had to. He was the capo of the Lucchesi family. It was his duty.

  He spun around and strode inside. Ruggero was still on the couch watching TV. “I need a gun,” Enrico said to him.

  Ruggero pulled out a pair of gloves matching his own and handed them to Enrico, who put them on. Then he took a snub-nosed revolver from his pocket. A cheap throwaway gun, perfect for a job like this.

  Gun in hand, Enrico walked into the kitchen. Tears rolled down Dom’s face. “I beg you. Please don’t do this.”

  Enrico raised the revolver, his sight blurring at the edges from unshed tears. “You were my brother, as much as Primo, as much as Mario. I hate you for making me do this.”

  “Then don’t. Let me leave. I will never bother you again.” Dom paused, his eyes holding Enrico’s. His voice hoarsened. “I swear it on Vanda and Angelo. I swear it.”

  Damn him. Damn Domenico Lucchesi to Hell. Tears threatened to stream down Enrico’s face. He willed his voice to stay steady. “I’ve already learned my lesson about traitors. Mercy doesn’t beget mercy.” His finger tightened on the trigger.

  “Before you do it, may I ask something of you?” Dom’s voice was surprisingly steady.

  Enrico nodded. Dom held his eyes. “I beg you to take the vow of comparaggio with my sons.”

  The lump in Enrico’s throat nearly strangled him. Dom was asking him to be their father in his stead, to take them as his sons and never betray them. He didn’t know what to say.

  “Please Rico.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you are the most honorable man I know. The only one I would entrust them to.” He paused. “Will you do it?”

  “I swear it.” He couldn’t stop a few tears from falling. Damn you, Dom. Damn you. Enrico took a steadying breath, then he squeezed the trigger.

  Dom’s body jerked, crimson blooming across his chest. Enrico took a step forward and put another bullet in him. He swallowed hard, looking at the body. Antonio stepped around him and felt for the pulse under Dom’s jaw. Dom’s open eyes stared at Enrico. “He’s dead,” Antonio said.

  Enrico nodded dumbly, his throat too constricted to speak. He turned and breathed deeply. When Antonio touched him on the forearm, Enrico jerked away. “Leave me.” He was damned. Would God ever forgive him for this?

  He stood alone in the kitchen for a few moments, then set the gun on the table beside Dom. It was done, this most horrible thing, and there was no use grieving it. What other choice had he had? Dom knew the rules, he knew the price he’d pay for treason. They all did.

  And still it cut Enrico to the bone to enforce that price.

  He wiped his eyes, staring up at the ceiling, wondering why God had cursed him this way. “I must deserve it,” he whispered to himself. He waited for an answer, some sign, but he heard nothing other than the inane laugh track from the show Ruggero was watching on TV. Maybe that is a sign in itself.

  Quickly crossing himself, he swore to do penance. He’d look after Dom’s family, he’d make sure they wanted for nothing. He’d take the vow of comparaggio. And he’d take Dom’s sons into the cosca, if that’s what they wanted.

  Which reminded him—he had a job to do. He was the capo, and he needed to attend to business. He walked out to the living room. The men looked up at him. “Ruggero, please accompany me outside.”

  Ruggero followed him out the door. “What is it, Don Lucchesi?”

  Enrico clasped his hands behind his back. He’d thought about this earlier, almost mentioned it in the car, but he’d decided to wait until it was official. But now it was time. “I need a new capo di società. One I can trust without reservation. You are such a man.”

  Ruggero smiled and inclined his head. “I’m pleased you think so. But my place is at your side, guarding you.” He put his hands in his pockets. “Besides, you need a man with a head for business.”

  “Unfortunately, I can’t wait to find such a person.”

  Ruggero raised an eyebrow. “With respect, capo, perhaps you can’t see it.” Ruggero motioned with his head toward the safe house. “The man you need is in there.”

  “Antonio?”

  Ruggero nodded. “He’s no longer a boy.”

  Enrico mulled it over. Yes, Antonio was a young man now. A smart loyal man with a generous heart. A man whose love he could never doubt. That was the most important thing in the end. Hadn’t Dom just proven that?

  He left Ruggero and found Antonio in the kitchen wiping the gun down, just in case. “We need to talk.”

  Antonio nodded. His eyes met and held Enrico’s. “If you’re angry with me, remember that my first duty is to protect you. And I’ve done so.”

  Ruggero was right. Nothing of the boy lingered in Antonio’s face, in the hardness of his eyes, in the set of his jaw. “I need to replace Dom. Will you consider taking over?”

  Antonio’s brow furrowed. “You’re offering me capo di società?”

  Enrico nodded. It felt right, good, to be making this choice. To acknowledge how important Antonio was to him. “I would be honored to have you by my side.”

  Antonio grinned. “I accept.” Then his face grew somber. “Did you mean what you said to Don Domenico? Mercy doesn’t beget mercy?”

  Enrico shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I know anything anymore.” He paused. “I never thought the day would come when I’d have to kill my own blood.” He looked up, holding Antonio’s eyes with his. “Are you certain you want this?”

  “I am. I’ve seen the worst tonight. But it had to be done.”

  Enrico leaned forward, clasping Antonio in a loose embrace. He kissed both his cheeks. “Antonio Legato, you are now capo di società of the Lucchesi cosca. Do you swear fealty to me as your capo and to this cosca, above all others?”

  “Sì.” Antonio returned the embrace and kissed Enrico on both cheeks, then he dropped to one knee and kissed the signet ring on Enrico’s right hand, the ring emblazoned with the Lucchesi crest. “I swear it.”

  Enrico looked at Ruggero, noticing him in the doorway. “You’re the witness.” He looked back at Antonio. “Tomorrow we assemble the underbosses and spread the word.” He clapped Antonio on the back. “There may be opposition, but I’ll make clear my feelings on the matter.” He looked down at Dom’s lifeless body. “I don’t want to be forced to kill my godsons. No one must know of Dom’s betrayal or the
price he paid for it. I’ll swear Kate to secrecy. We four must be the only ones to ever know.”

  “What about Dario?” Antonio asked.

  Enrico shrugged. “He’s unlikely to speak of it.”

  Ruggero’s lips tightened into a thin line. “I hate loose ends.”

  “As do I. But we must take the risk.” He turned to Antonio. “You know what to do with the body. Leave it where it’ll be found soon.”

  Ruggero coughed to get attention. “What about Tommaso? Certainly Paolo mentioned what he saw when Dom took Kate.”

  “I’ll speak to him. If he knows, he’ll swear to me.”

  Ruggero still looked troubled. “What?” Enrico asked.

  “You’re missing an opportunity to remind the men about loyalty. To remind them what happens to traitors.”

  “I’ll tell them about Trucco. And that will provide a good reason for the choice of Antonio as Dom’s replacement.”

  “Who’ll replace Trucco?” Antonio asked.

  Enrico shook his head. “I’ll act as contabile until I find a suitable replacement.”

  “It is done then,” Ruggero said, his voice soft.

  A smile creased Enrico’s face and he put a hand on each of their shoulders. “And we all survived. I wasn’t sure we would.”

  Antonio looked at Enrico, his face shining with admiration. “I never doubted you, Don Lucchesi.”

  Enrico chuckled. “Then you are the only one.” He caught sight of Dom again, slumped in the chair, his open eyes staring, blood dripping down his chest. Enrico’s grin faded. He could have been in Dom’s place, would have been if Dom’s plan had succeeded. And yet….

  Enrico stepped away from the two men and bent down. He reached out and closed Dom’s eyelids. It was the decent thing to do. It was the last decent thing Enrico could ever do for him.

  CHAPTER 38

  After the monitors confirmed that Kate’s breathing was normal, Dottor Beltrami released her, and Enrico and Ruggero took her home.

  Kate and Enrico were finally in bed, freshly showered and curled around each other, when she said, her voice soft, “Tell me about the judge and his family.”

  “To prove my innocence, I have to confess to something else.”

  She raised her head, one hand pressed against her chest. She wasn’t going to like this, was she? “What happened?”

  He sighed. “It is a sad story. And I am not proud of it.”

  She held his eyes. “I need to know the truth, no matter how ugly.”

  “If you insist.” He sat up and settled against the pillow behind his back. “One of my men, Sergio Grantini, thought he could play both sides. He started working for Carlo as well. When Carlo and I both came up for indictment before Judge Dinelli, Carlo saw his chance to escape the charges and put me in jail.”

  “How does Sergio fit in?”

  “Sergio’s gun—with his prints on it—would be used to kill the judge and planted at the scene. Sergio would ask for immunity in return for testifying against me. He would say I ordered the hit.”

  “How did you find out about this?”

  “Sergio started driving a car he could not possibly afford, so Ruggero had him tailed. When he learned Sergio was meeting with Carlo, we questioned him. He confessed it all. In exchange, he asked for mercy for his family.”

  “What about Dom’s family? You’re not—”

  “Of course not! They are my family too.” He hissed in frustration. “I considered letting him go tonight. That is how much of a monster I am.”

  Kate stroked his bare shoulder. “I’m sorry. It’s just…” She shook her head. “You live such a different life. I’m still getting used to it.”

  He crossed his arms. “I wish you had more faith in me. I am not Carlo.”

  Kate’s eyes pricked with tears. “I know.” She kissed his cheek. “I do know it.”

  He let out a breath, then put an arm around her, pulling her close. But her mind wouldn’t shut off. “Where is Sergio buried?”

  “He is at the bottom of the lake, weighted down. I am sure there is nothing but bones now.”

  She glared at him. “You say that so cavalierly.”

  “Was I supposed to go to jail for something I did not do? He betrayed me.” He took a breath, then his voice lost all traces of anger. “Dom accused me of being softhearted when I spared Sergio’s family. And perhaps I was. But they were innocents.”

  She held his gaze. He was still holding something back. “It occurs to me you benefit otherwise by keeping them alive.”

  “What?” he asked, startled.

  “As long as they’re alive, it looks like Sergio has run off. That he wasn’t executed as a traitor.”

  “That was part of my thinking.” He eyed her. “Maybe Dom was right. Maybe you were working for Carlo.” The lightness in his voice told her he was joking.

  “I’m not an idiot.”

  “Far from it. The way your mind works, it is as if you were born to do this.”

  Kate didn’t want to agree, but she couldn’t argue. “What if Sergio’s boy discovers what you’ve done?”

  Enrico shrugged. “He will have the right to vendetta. But only Ruggero, you, and I know what happened, now that Dom is dead.”

  “Surely, someone else knows. Who tailed Sergio? Your men aren’t stupid.”

  “But they are well-paid.”

  “It wasn’t enough for Sergio.”

  “It should have been.”

  Kate sighed and scrubbed her hands through her hair. “How can you stand it? You can never trust anyone.”

  When he didn’t answer, she looked at him. He had the oddest expression on his face. “What?” she asked softly.

  “That is why I need you, Kate. I need someone I can trust unequivocally.”

  She held his eyes. “So do I.”

  Neither one said anything for a while, then she said, “There’s something I still don’t understand. How does Sergio’s death prove you didn’t order the hit?”

  “Because he was dead before it happened.”

  “So how did Carlo have the gun?”

  “The plan was never for Sergio to participate. Carlo did not want to chance Sergio getting killed if the judge’s guards got lucky. He needed Sergio to testify. But there was one thing wrong with Carlo’s plan. My men and Carlo’s always wear gloves, and they wipe the guns before dropping them. No one is so sloppy they leave fingerprints.”

  Kate nodded. “Yes, that’s an obvious flaw.”

  “But not to a man like Fuente. Even though it is clearly a frame, he will never admit it.”

  Fuente. It still came back to him. Was there any way to get him to see Rico’s side? “Tell me, what would you have done about the judge if Carlo hadn’t intervened?”

  “The judge was an inconvenient person,” Enrico admitted. “Very inconvenient. Immune to bribes and other sorts of pressures.”

  “What pressures?”

  Enrico pursed his lips. “Threats. He was not afraid to die.”

  “So what would you have done?”

  “Kidnapping. His son. No man can resist once the threat to his family is real.” He squeezed her shoulder. “The boy would not have been harmed.”

  Kate shook her head. “It’s still a terrible thing to do.”

  “Not when there is no other reasonable alternative.”

  “How about leaving the ‘Ndrangheta?”

  She still didn’t understand. After all this time… would she ever? He sighed. “It is unthinkable. And inescapable. As long as I live, I am a threat. Think of all I know. The ‘Ndrangheta cannot—and will not—let me walk away. Ever. I can never leave this life. All I can do is live it according to my terms, my code. And try to impress that code upon my men and my successor. That is all I can hope for.”

  “You make it sound almost honorable.”

  “I am not afraid to face God. I’ve confessed my sins; I have atoned. My conscience is clear.”

  “The first commandment doesn’t have
an escape clause.”

  “I have never killed a civilian. I have never killed unnecessarily.” He motioned around him, indicating the house and its furnishings. “And God has rewarded me for what I have done.”

  Kate was appalled. “You think God had a hand in this?”

  “He punishes the wicked and rewards the just.”

  “Beware the righteous man,” she whispered.

  He touched her cheek. “I did not say I was innocent. I have sinned. Many times. I’ve broken the first commandment. But God knows why I have done so.”

  Kate smiled. Enrico was perhaps the first person of her acquaintance who used the phrase “God knows why” and meant it literally. His belief comforted her. It meant he had limits on his behavior, some complicated system of checks and balances she might never understand. But she trusted that the system existed, that his code existed.

  “Do you trust me?” he asked. She nodded, and he tilted her chin up to look in her eyes. “Do you understand?” She felt he was asking for absolution.

  Her mouth was so dry her voice cracked when she answered. “I think I do.”

  His face relaxed, and his gaze fell to her lips for a second, then he looked into her eyes again. “Do you still love me?”

  Kate’s chest constricted. “How could you ever doubt it?”

  “Well, you did throw yourself into the clutches of a suspected traitor to get away from me.”

  She smiled. “Can I blame it on the pregnancy hormones?”

  “I have heard they can make one a bit excitable.”

  She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thanks for trusting me with this.” Her lips brushed his in a feathery touch that sent a thrill of electricity through her.

  “I don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t love me.” He pulled her onto his lap. “I’d be lost.” Then he kissed her, his tongue invading her mouth when she parted her lips.

  “Rico,” she murmured when he let her breathe. It was the only word she could think of.

  He kissed down her throat. Then he paused. “Is it too soon?”

  She shook her head and laughed. “Never for this. But are you up to it? I’ve at least had a nap.”