There are too many unanswered questions for me to allow this explanation to slide. Flora was there, but if she were drugged too, she wouldn’t remember much. The question of trust lingers. She’s never been as rebellious as her sister Cosima. She spent much of her teenage years wrapped up in an entirely inappropriate first marriage.
Itishard to imagine she would put her status in the family at risk considering what happened to Angela and Cosima so recently. Even now, her story adds up because she stayed closeto family when it comes down to it. But still, the unanswered questions and the behavior pattern are all too common with my family.
“What happened then? Who did this to us?” I ask her. Flora stares back at me blankly with an uncanny emptiness that scares the crap out of me more than I would like to admit. Geralynn interjects with a soft voice, as if she were calming a stable of riled up horses before a thunder storm.
“We can find out together,” Geralynn says. “Instead of shooting at each other.”
“I don’t mind if he shoots her,” Renzo mutters, earning a seething side-eye from Geralynn, who seems far too morally pure to have ended up with an unnerving creature like my cousin.
Considering Renzo’s comment, I can’t blame Geralynn for the insinuation that we’re violent thugs only capable of solving our problems with weapons. I still find the implication resentful. Flora’s withdrawn stature doesn’t change, but my willingness to believe her budges slightly.
If she’s lying, I’ll work it out eventually. For now, I’m glad that I don’t have the problem of tracking her down on my hands, when I already want to spend the next few weeks tracking down Aricia.
“I have to go to work tonight,” I remind them. “Flora. Come with me. You’re still under my protection. I’ll talk to Michael about everything and you can help me with the accounting after we close.”
Flora gives a wary glance at Geralynn, doubtful that she can trust me. I have no interest in hurting my sister unless she blatantly lies to me and wastes my time in my serious quest for answers.
“Finally,” Renzo sighs with genuine relief that he could have expressed privately. “I hated having a house guest.”
Flora rolls her eyes in annoyance, which at least her and I agree on when it comes to Renzo. Geralynn doesn’t consider the matter resolved.
“Promise you won’t hurt her,” Geralynn says with earnestness that puts her closeness to our family on display. She knows how dangerous Italians can get…
“I promise. Butshewill promise not to rest until we find out who really did this.”
“It was that woman!” Flora says. “If you really think about it, there’s something suspicious about her attraction to you. I’m serious.”
“It’s not a viable theory.”
She was a criminal defense attorney. Aricia… How hard can it be to track her down?
Renzo clears his throat, clearly eager to clear everything up and get on with his life.
“It sounds like you both have an agreement and should probably get going, right? I’ll show you the door.”
“I know where the door is.”
“Perfect,” Renzo says, grinning. But then both our phones ring at the same time, which can only mean family business. My eyes meet my cousin’s and then we grab our cellphones.Fuck.
It’s a text message from Luigi – my first cousin and the official next in line for the Taviani mafia family in Buffalo, a position he earned after his father passed.
Luigi: Urgent – Gino arrested. I need a criminal defense attorney.
Renzo: Racketeering??? Should we destroy phones?
Luigi: No. Yes.
Luigi: Someone outside of the family.
Outside the family?Why?What happened? Whatever happened, this situation is fucked beyond belief.
Luigi: Manslaughter. Criminal possession. We’ll talk tomorrow.
Me: I can find the attorney.
Luigi: Tomorrow. Michael’s. 9 p.m. Come prepared.
Chapter Nine
