by K. L. Myers
“In here, Dad!” I called back.
Gabriel helped lift my shirt over my head and inspected the dark bruise that had formed on the right side of my abdomen. My dad quickly attended to the cuts and scrapes on my face before handing me a bag of frozen peas to place on my cheek. Once both of them were satisfied that I didn’t have any broken ribs and I’d live another day, the questions began.
I was about to explain everything when once again, the front door opened, and a man dressed in an expensive black suit joined the others around me.
“Francis, what are you doing here?” my dad asked.
“I heard the news, Angelo, and came right away.”
My dad looked at Gabriel, and then at Lorenzo. I could see the unease in their expressions. “News? This just happened, Francis. What is it that you’ve heard?”
“There isn’t anything that happens on my streets that I’m not aware of. You know better than this, Angelo. Now speak, boy.”
Just as I started speaking, the guy in the suit got a call and stepped out of the room. My dad pulled another chair from the table and placed it in front of me before sitting.
“Jefferson, where was Sal when this happened? And why would you and Giovanna go anywhere without him? You know the talk we had a month ago. Nothing has changed.”
“I know, Dad, I know, and I’m sorry. Sal said his boss needed him, and he’d only be gone an hour. He told us not to do anything stupid, but we got hungry, and then Switch called and invited us to meet him for pizza. We never thought going five streets over would be that big of an issue. G said we’d be fine with Switch.”
My dad narrowed his eyes and looked over his shoulder at his two friends. Both Lorenzo and Gabriel nodded their heads.
“That fucker is a dead man,” Gabriel growled.
Just then, the man in the suit entered the room. “What did I miss?”
“Nothing, Francis, Jefferson was just going to tell us what happened.”
There was something about this Francis guy that my dad was not liking. I felt the same vibe bristling off Lorenzo and Gabriel as well. My instinct told me I needed to choose my words wisely before I voiced them.
Chapter Fifteen
Angelo
I listened to Jefferson’s recount of what happened in detail. The minute he described his assailant, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was one Vinnie Brunetti, a soldier for the Mancini family, which meant what was in the black bag was most definitely drugs. What didn’t sit right with me was how Francis was aware already and why he’d made that call to Sal. It had been a little over an hour since the kids were jumped. There was no way Francis could have known unless he was somehow involved. If my suspicions were right, the Vicci family was dabbling in areas that would have Francesco Vicci turning over in his grave, and it wouldn’t be long before the members of the family in Sicily got involved.
“You know what this means, Angelo,” Francis spoke. “It’s time you took your place as my Underboss.”
“I told you, Francis, that was never going to happen.”
“Yet I was there when you made a promise to your father on his deathbed that you would protect the family—our family, not just yours. Your son will soon be twenty, and he can’t even protect himself, let alone Giovanna. By the time you were his age, you were one of your father's most lethal soldiers. This boy is an embarrassment to the Rizzuto name.”
“Don’t you speak about my son that way.” I knew I was bordering on a death sentence. No one spoke to the head of the family that way, but I wasn’t going to let him disrespect Jefferson. I’d worked hard to keep him out of this life, and I’d done a damn good job until today.
“Look at him.” Francis’s eyes roamed over Jefferson. “Did he even try to defend himself? It looks as though he was their doormat.”
“Excuse me,” Lorenzo interrupted, “I think we have bigger issues right now. That’s figuring out who has Giovanna and how to find Gabriel’s piece-of-shit wife.”
“I know who has Giovanna; it’s the Mancini family,” I spoke up. “It’s been nine years, but I’m certain beyond a doubt that my son just described Vinnie Brunetti. Which means your wife, Gabriel, stole drugs from them. But what I’m not sure of is how their drugs are on our streets.” I looked directly at Francis when I spoke the last sentence. If my suspicions were correct, someone struck a deal with the Mancini family, and that someone was Francis. That meant, by now, Vinnie knew who the boy was in the alley with Giovanna, and my family wasn’t safe.
“Take Jefferson home, and increase the security around my house,” I quietly told Lorenzo when I pulled him to the side. “I do not like what I am hearing. This stays between you and me—only take men with you who were loyal to my father and tell them to keep it quiet.”
Lorenzo raised a brow and nodded. “If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, you know this won’t end here.”
“I know.”
Francis waited for Lorenzo to leave before he spoke again. “I’ve got somewhere to be, but I’m am confident you and Gabriel can handle this from here. I want to know everything before you do it. If this is the Mancini family, as you say, we don’t want a war.”
Gabriel picked up a chair and swung it before letting it go, sending it crashing into the wall beside him. “A war is what they will get if they hurt my daughter.”
“I’m sure it won’t come to that, Gabriel. You’ll find your wife and that bag, and your daughter will come home fine. Have faith.”
Finding Gabriel’s wife turned out to be more of a chore than we anticipated. It had been thirty-six hours, and no one had seen her around for weeks. There wasn’t an inch of our territory that we hadn’t turned upside down, and time was running out. That left only two options: she’d left the state, or she was already dead. My money was on the latter, but if that was the case, what was Francis’s end game here?
I was halfway home when I received an incoming call from Lorenzo. “Ange, you need to come home. There’s been a development.”
I hated the way he’d said development. That meant whatever it was, he knew I wouldn’t like it. “I’m almost there. Call Gabriel.”
“Already did. He’s on his way.”
As I pulled into the drive, I noticed Lorenzo surrounded by Nicco, Remi, and Anthony. The only one missing was Gabriel. As I approached, the air began to thicken with the tension and anger each man wore. When I finally reached them, Lorenzo reached out and handed me a piece of paper.
“This was pinned to Giovanna’s shirt.”
“Giovanna?”
“About three and a half hours ago, the men saw a car moving up the street slowly. Remi said he felt something was off. Just as it passed the gate at the front, the back door swung open, and they tossed out Giovanna.”
My heart dropped to the pit of my belly. “Dead or alive?”
“Alive,” Remi spoke. “But barely. If it weren’t for Lillian…”
“Lillian’s here?” I asked
Lorenzo spoke up. “Yes, she and Lincoln arrived thirty minutes ago.”
“Let me guess. Bethany?”
Lorenzo nodded. “She’s been very upset about Jefferson and now with Giovanna.”
I shouldn’t have asked the question; my gut knew the minute Jefferson arrived home, in the shape he was in, my wife was going to call Lillian at some point. This meant that she would, in turn, have confided in Lincoln, which meant they hopped on his jet and headed straight here. That said, he too was probably upstairs with his sister, since there was no hide or hair of him down here.
“I knew she would have been upset enough to call; I just hadn’t expected it to take this long. Honestly, I’d anticipated they would have arrived yesterday. Why didn’t you call me when all this happened?”
“I did, for hours, but both Gabriel’s and your phones kept going to voicemail.”
I’d turned my phone off one time, and that was when we entered the warehouse behind one of the fronts owned by the Mancini family. I knew they used that speci
fic pawnshop as a way to launder money, move drugs, and traffic women. I didn’t want to risk a phone call giving Gabriel and my presence away. When our search came up empty, we had no choice but to take the two in the pawnshop for interrogation. After losing an ear, a couple of fingers, and a bunch of broken bones, it was clear they knew nothing. Once we’d disposed of the bodies, I’d turned my phone back on and climbed in the car.
Glancing down at the paper, I began to read.
I know your secret, and now I know who your son is. Let Gabriel know he owes us one for not killing his daughter. If you don’t show up with the bag and its contents, your family will pay for Gabriel’s. Sleep with one eye open and give my best to Francis.
“Figlio di puttana, ho intenzione di uccidere quella stronza madre.” I wanted to reach out and punch something, anything, but there was nothing around. “I knew it. Francis has his hands in this.”
“I do not doubt you, Ange. It seemed odd when he showed up at Gabriel’s house, but what does he have to gain?”
“Me. Francis has been asking for some time for me to come back, and I keep denying him. This is his way of forcing my hand.”
With all the wheels turning in my head and my anger and fear running at high speed, I hadn’t heard Gabriel arrive until he spoke.”
“I would have to agree. Francis never liked that you keep denying him the ability to have you as his number one. He’s commented on it more than one time in conversations with me. You were the strength behind your father, which made the Vicci family feared. With your father gone, and you nowhere in sight, other families stopped being afraid of the power the Vicci family once held.”
Gabriel turned to Lorenzo. “Where is my daughter?”
Chapter Sixteen
Jefferson
When the front door opened and Gabriel and my dad walked in, I hoped things were going to be alright. Dad would fix everything. Aunt Lillian said he’d make everything and everybody go away.
“Where’s my daughter?” Gabriel asked me.
“With Aunt Lillian upstairs in the spare bedroom next to mine.”
Gabriel squeezed my shoulder. “Jefferson, this wasn’t your fault; there wasn’t anything you could have done that would have changed the outcome.” He looked me straight in the eye “You do understand that, right?”
I nodded in agreement, but it didn’t matter what my brain did or didn’t believe—my heart was having none of it. I’d seen what those men did to Giovanna. Her beautiful face was barely recognizable. They’d done a number on her, and rage was burning inside me. All the minutes, hours, and months in the gym and at the range hadn’t prepared me for anything—it seemed I wasn’t able to protect myself or her. But it all ends here. I want retribution, I crave blood, and with or without my dad's help, I’m going to get it.
Gabriel hung his head as he sat on the edge of the bed. His whispers were barely audible to my family who stood in the hall talking, but I heard him clearly when he told Giovanna he was going to kill anyone who had a hand in hurting her.
“And I’m going to help you,” I stated, startling Gabriel.
“I didn’t know anyone else was in here,” he said as he raised his head to look at me. “You will not get involved, do you hear me?”
“Why? Because I’m not a man?” I snapped back.
“No. One, because your father will have my head if you step one inch out of this house, and two, because this isn’t your fight.” Gabriel lifted a hand and placed it on my forearm. “I know what you are feeling, Jefferson, but you don’t understand what is going on is much bigger than what you understand it is, boy. This is family business, something you have no clue how to handle.”
I pulled my arm from his grip. “I’m not going to just sit here and watch Giovanna suffer.”
“That is exactly what you are going to do,” my dad exclaimed.
I turned to find my mom and dad, Aunt Lillian and Uncle Linc had all entered the room. Lorenzo and Mrs. Vicci also stood behind my family. “Dad, you don’t understand.” He raised his hand, swiping it through the air.
“Abbastanza.” My dad's stern warning was loud and clear. “We do not need to have this conversation in this room. Giovanna needs rest, not bickering. We will move this conversation to my study and give her some peace and quiet.”
Gabriel kissed the top of G’s head and proceeded to follow everyone, but not me. I hung back, taking a seat beside her. Reaching for G’s hand, I felt her squeeze mine as I laced my fingers with hers. “I promise you, G, I will make sure our parents make good on their promise, or I’ll kill whoever did this myself.”
My girl's words were barely audible, but I lowered my ear closer to her lips. “No, let them do this. Stay with me, please.”
I entered my dad’s study in time to hear Aunt Lillian say, “They know.”
“Know what, and who is they?” my mother inquired.
“I’m not sure who it is, but whoever it is now knows that Peanut is Angelo’s son,” my Uncle Linc spoke.
My dad’s chest puffed out as he took a deep breath and then let out a heavy sigh. “I tried so hard to keep Jefferson out of this lifestyle. I’d hoped that stepping back and away from the family would keep him safe. But I should have known better.” Dad smashed his fists against his desk “Francis wanted me to serve under him when he took over for my father. He’d said as much that day on the tarmac, and I denied him. In fact, over the years, I’ve denied his request numerous times.” None of this was making sense to me. The man in the suit at Gabriel’s was named Francis. He was the dick who’d ridiculed me. “So, Dad, you’re saying that guy at Gabriel’s did this to G?”
“Well, not him personally, son, but I’m afraid he is behind all of this, and it’s all starting to make sense. I’d made it all too clear to him that the only thing that would bring me back would be the need to protect my family. And now, here I am, needing to protect what is mine.”
I was still a little confused by all of this. “So, you’re saying the dude in the suit who I met is the one who called Sal away and had Switch meet us at Giuseppe’s? That’s his end game? You as his right hand.”
Everyone stood silently looking at my dad, but it was Mrs. Vicci who spoke up first. “If this was all part of a setup, Angelo, and the Mancini family is involved, I’d venture to say his hands are dirty when it comes to the drugs as well.”
There was an intense stare-off between my father and Lillian's mom that felt like forever before she spoke again. “You know what you have to do. I’m sorry, Angelo. I know you never wanted to be placed in this position, but I see no other way of ending this.”
Everyone in the room looked at each other and then back to my dad. My mom was the first to speak up. “What position? What are you two not saying?”
Aunt Lillian wore a smug look on her face as she spoke. “Angelo has a secret, one he thinks only my mom knows. I hate to break his bubble, but my father shared it with me before he passed. Go ahead, Angelo, tell everyone.”
Chapter Seventeen
Angelo
I had a secret, one that would change the Vicci family dynamics for years to come. A bit of information that my father instilled on me the day before he died. Something that had I’d known when I was younger would have caused me to look at my future much differently.
“You knew, all this time, and you didn’t say a word to me?” I questioned Lillian. My gut twisted at knowing she’d known for years, and we’d never discussed it. I’d never said a word because I didn’t want her to feel as dirty as I had for our indiscretions when she was in college.
“It wasn’t my secret to tell, Ange, I’m sorry.”
Heads turned back and forth, looking between Lillian and myself as if they were watching a tennis match. Everyone was waiting for the big secret. “Lillian and I are cousins,” I said. My fellow brothers' mouths all dropped in shock.
“How is that possible?” Bethany asked.
“My father, Anthony, was the half-brother of Francesco. They grew
up together with different mothers but the same father.”
“How can that be? That is one sin you never commit,” Lorenzo spoke up.
“Our grandfathers were best friends,” Lillian spoke. “Our bloodlines have been friends for centuries in Sicily. When Angelo’s grandfather was murdered, my grandfather stepped in to help the family.” Lillian paused for a moment.
It was my turn to finish off the story. “My father told me that Lillian's grandfather had always been in love with my grandmother and was going to one day propose, but my grandfather asked first, and she said yes. So, once he was dead, in a moment of weakness and comfort, they did the unthinkable, and just over nine months later, my father was born. They did their best to keep it a secret because Lillian’s grandmother was pregnant at the time as well. Not too long after Lillian's father Francesco was born, making them half-brothers.”
“So, Aunt Lillian is actually my second cousin?” Jefferson asked, confused.
“She’s both, Jefferson, and as you can see, it makes this very messy, which is why the families kept it a secret. Only a few members of the Sicilian family knew at the time, and to this day, only a select few still know.”
“Merde,” Gabriel exclaimed, “You should have succeeded your father, but you didn’t.”
“I chose not to, Gabriel. My life is with Bethany, Peanut, and now Serafina. But if Francis is involved with Mancini running drugs through our neighborhoods,”—I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer for guidance—“I may not have a choice after the family in Sicily finds out.”
Isabella found her voice once again. “It’s time you took a trip to Sicily, Ange, and I suggest you bring your boy with you. Your cousins will no doubt want to meet him.”
“Now is not a time for a trip, Isabella. They’re going to have to settle for a call. I’ll need some privacy, please.”
