Anna bit her lip. “I feel so bad for Sofia. I’d be terrified if someone hurt Leonas.” I touched her head.
“Will they hurt Serafina badly?”
For Anna ‘they’ were a general concept, some shapeless enemy who wanted to hurt us. She didn’t know it was the Camorra or what they stood for. She couldn’t imagine the horrors that might await Serafina at the hands of those monsters. How long would those fears remain shapeless concepts for my daughter?
Anna fell asleep eventually and I slipped out of her room. I didn’t want to sleep, worried about letting down my guards without Dante near. I crept down the corridor toward the bedroom where Ines and Sofia were. I knocked gently.
“Come in,” I heard Ines’ raspy voice.
I stepped inside. Sofia was huddled in a blanket on an armchair, staring blankly down at a book while Ines peered out of the window which gave her a view of the driveway.
Waiting for her husband and son to bring her daughter back to her.
The room oozed anguish. Sofia briefly glanced up but didn’t smile.
I stopped beside Ines, following her gaze toward the lit driveway. Several guards walked the perimeter with machine guns.
“I don’t think any form of torture can be worse than this,” she whispered. I regarded her profile. Even tear-stained, with messy hair and in jeans Ines carried the famous Cavallaro pride with ease. It was something I’d always admired. “It feels as if someone’s burning my heart. Just thinking of what Serafina is going through…” Her voice died and I could see her struggle to keep her composure.
She finally looked at me. “This war must end, Val. It must end now. Too many people have paid with their lives already and now it’s my daughter’s life on the line. I won’t stand back. Tell Dante to make a peace treaty with the Famiglia and the Camorra. Let there be peace before it’s too late. There’s enough money to be made for each famiglia.”
“After what Luca and Remo did, Dante won’t have peace with them. It’s a matter of pride.”
“Pride.” Ines leaned her forehead against the window. “We must give them what they want. We must save Fina. We must.”
“Ines—”
“Can you please leave?”
I took a step back. “Of course.” Sofia lowered her gaze to her book, avoiding my eyes. I turned and left the room. For a moment, I braced myself against the wall outside the room. With every act of violence on either side, peace was more unlikely.
I headed downstairs into the big communal space where several guards were playing poker with Leonas. It was a strange sight, my young son perching on his chair, with all the armed, muscled men around him. His expression was focused and determined as he scanned his cards. The men were drinking coffee or Coke, and Leonas, too, had a glass of the sugary concoction in front of him. I usually didn’t allow our children to drink it except for New Year’s or their birthday but today wasn’t the time for rules.
Enzo’s brown eyes slid to me and he got up. The rest of the men were about to do the same but I quickly raised my palm to stop them.
“Please continue. I can’t sleep. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“You aren’t,” Enzo said. He sank back down and gave the other men a sign to continue. “You can join us if you want.”
That earned him a few surprised looks from the other guards.
Leonas snorted. “Mom can’t play poker. She’s a woman.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Excuse me?” I strode over to the table. “I’m a good poker player. I used to manage a Casino.”
The men exchanged amused glances as Leonas’ eyes widened. “You did?”
“Yes. Are you playing Texas Hold ’em?” It was the only form of poker I was good at.
“Yes, we are,” a young man right beside me said. It took me a second to recognize him as Enzo’s son. They had the same maroon hair and light brown eyes. Only his name wouldn’t come to my mind.
“Would you mind if I join you to show my son that a woman can play poker too?”
Chuckles sounded.
Enzo’s son pushed back his chair and stood, towering over me. “You can have my chair. I’m going to grab some food.” He was a handsome man in his early twentieth with dimples that probably got him plenty of attention from the ladies. Dante had mentioned him before because he worked as a second Enforcer with Arturo. He was the moderate butcher from the two of them. Finally, his name clicked.
“Thank you, Santino.”
He inclined his head then turned and strode away. A look of pride lay in Enzo’s face. I sank down. “What are the limits?”
“Ten and twenty.”
I realized I didn’t have my wallet with me. In the confusion of the day, I wasn’t even sure where it was. “Someone will have to lend me some money.”
An older man across from me took out a wad of cash and gave me half of it. “I offer fair interest rates.”
I chuckled.
“I negotiated them with him,” Leonas said proudly.
I narrowed my eyes. “Hmm. Very well.” Considering that Leonas didn’t know percentage calculation yet, I doubted the rates were fair. “I’ll let Dante check the details of our arrangement later.”
The men bellowed.
“Let’s say we forget about the interest rates,” he said with a wink. Considering he was my father’s age, I knew it was the typical soldier humor, and I actually preferred it to the stiff reverence I often received.
Leonas beamed at me as we began to play. I could see that a weight had lifted off his shoulders. He was still young, younger than Anna and for him, it was easier to get past the seriousness of the situation.
I allowed myself to be distracted by the game and Leonas’ eagerness to prove his worth.
My eyes prickled with tiredness when the front door opened in the early morning. I jumped to my feet and so did everyone else. Dante, Pietro, Danilo and Samuel stepped in, looking exhausted, ruffled and subdued. The rising sun illuminated their forlorn faces almost mockingly.
Leonas darted toward them and hugged Dante’s middle. “Did you catch the bad guys?”
One look at Dante’s face told me they hadn’t. They didn’t know where Serafina was. My heart clenched tightly considering what this would do to Ines.
“No, we didn’t,” Dante said quietly.
“But you will catch the bad guys soon?”
The bad guys. My eyes took in the four men in the lobby with their guns, jaded eyes, and scarred bodies. I wondered if little boys in the Camorra asked their dads the same question when they spoke about us? Would Luca’s son ask his father that question when he talked about Dante? Bad was always a matter of perspective.
Yet, one thing was certain, the Falcones were the worst. Even in our world.
Danilo shook his head with a harsh expression and stalked past us toward the liquor cabinet, pouring himself a generous amount of a dark liquid. “Why the fuck are you gambling in a situation like this?” he snarled at the soldiers. The men lowered their heads.
Steps pounded upstairs. Ines followed by Sofia stormed down the staircase. Sofia didn’t stop and barreled straight into Pietro who hugged her tightly. Ines froze halfway down once she caught a look at the men’s expressions.