Revenge (54 page)

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.

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.”

He took her hand and placed it over the bulge
at his crotch. She could feel his hardness through the layers of
blankets and sheets, and she ran her fingers along its length.
“Does that answer your question?” He kissed and nipped at her
neck.

“More than adequately,” she teased.

He flipped her on her back and started to
push up her negligee, kissing her throat, when he suddenly stopped
and looked her in the eyes. The expression on his face was strange,
almost angry. “What is it?”

“I do not know if I should say this.” He
evaded her eyes.

“What’s bothering you?”

He sighed. “This whole time, other than our
first night together, I have been walking on eggshells with you,
coaxing you.”

“I hadn’t realized.” She stroked his hair.
“Is there something I can do?”

He nodded, his face reddening. “I had not
wanted to mention it, but I have felt a little… frustrated. I have
not asked for what I want.”

She’d been so selfish, so wrapped up in her
own head. Pulling him down to her, she kissed him on the lips. “I’m
sorry. I hadn’t considered how you felt at all.”