“We have footage on the security feed,” Cesco explains.“But there were no plates on the van.”
He hands me his phone after pulling up the footage of an average, black van stopping at the front gate without turning off the road.A tall man in a ball cap climbs out with the box in hand and leaves it on the ground before driving away.
“Nobody talked to him?”I ask, going back to the beginning to watch again.There’s no hope of identifying who he is with the brim of his cap shading his face.Long sleeves hide any tattoos or scars.
“He was gone before anyone could make it out of the gatehouse.”Cesco is grim when he takes his phone back, standing and stretching.“I’m going to call a few friends who know their way around the traffic camera system.I’ll see if we can track the van through them.”
It’s a possibility.But where will it lead us?
I doubt Alessandro would leave himself vulnerable by being in contact with the delivery driver.He’s a fucking genius when it comes to keeping himself safe while sacrificing everybody around him.
“For what it’s worth,” Luca mutters once Cesco has left.“I want extra guards on my house for Emilia’s peace of mind.”
Yes, because at the end of the day, everything revolves around her and has since the second he set eyes on her.“I’m sorry, what does Emilia have to do with this?”I ask, ignoring Papa’s soft groan from his desk.
“I know that’s not a serious question.”My brother stares at me without blinking, coming to a stop in the center of the room after pacing this entire time.His chest heaves with every ragged breath.Am I supposed to be intimidated?“Not when you saw the way he left her.She still wakes up screaming sometimes.”
“She’ll be taken care of,” Papa assures him.He glances toward me before adding, “You should go to her now, Luca.I’m sure she’s shaken up.”
“I think we have everything handled here,” I tell Luca.
His jaw twitches with whatever cutting reply he wishes he could deliver, but knows better than to try.Without a word, he leaves, shoes slapping the floor in a quick rhythm.The sound gradually fades to nothing.
“This is not the time to antagonize each other.”The fatigue in Papa’s voice reminds me of why Luca and I have tried harder lately to get along at least in his presence.
The best I can say is, “It’s an old habit.Sometimes I forget I’m trying to break it.”
“You’re not trying very hard.”He waves a hand the way he always does when he’s finished with a subject.“It isn’t Emilia he’s interested in this time.The card was addressed to you and Sophia.What are you doing about it?”
He has a talent for stopping me in my tracks.“I’m not sure I understand,” I admit as I approach his desk, coming to a stop across from him and resting my palms on the surface.
He seems unsurprised by my response, smirking before he asks, “What are you doing for your family?”
“What have I always done for my family?”I snap.When his eyes widen a little, I can’t fight the impulse to backpedal.“My family is my life.Haven’t I proven that?”
“You’re misunderstanding me.”He lets out a soft groan as he pushes himself up out of his chair and slowly rounds the desk.“I don’t doubt your loyalty to the Santoro name.I have to admit, I had my moments in your younger days when I wondered if you had what it takes to lead us.Then, late one night, I got a frantic phone call from you.”
I remember it too well.The lowest moment of my life.The one person who came to mind when I realized what I did.Fists and clothes covered in the blood of the man who killed the woman I loved.Pulling out my phone with a shaking hand, I begged once the call was picked up.“Papa.I need help.”
“When I found you,” he murmurs, voice going soft like he’s losing himself to the memory, “I told you I would take care of it, and make sure you weren’t tied to anything that happened.And what did you pledge?”
I was so frantic, convinced someone would link me to the crash and its aftermath since dozens of people saw the fight that went down between Monica and me.Knowing someone must have seen me take off after the car, she had climbed into.I had already put together a story in my head where I’d be accused of running them off the road.Tried.Imprisoned.
“I pledged my life to the family,” I reply.I would have promised anything.“You didn’t have to save me from the aftermath of that night.”
“Didn’t have to?”He scoffs.“You are my son.Of course, I had to.Was I supposed to abandon you after you made a mistake?”
Some mistake.Beating a man to death, even if the man was a piece of shit who didn’t deserve to live after crashing his car and killing the most precious thing in the world.I dragged him from behind the wheel and systematically beat him until there was nothing left but pulp where his face used to be.I wanted to keep going and might have, too, if it hadn’t been for Papa showing up and pulling me away from the wreck before I could go back and take out more of my rage and fury on the corpse.
Papa doesn’t wait for me to come up with an answer before he takes me by the shoulders, sighing heavily.“You have lived up to that promise every day since you made it, not that I’m surprised.You’ve always kept your word.You’ve done everything you were told and have been by my side for anything I’ve needed.But now, you have another family to consider.Someone else to protect.What are you going to do for her?”
“I don’t know,” I have to admit with a sinking heart.
“You need to think about it,” he says, squeezing my shoulders before letting his hands drop.“Not only to keep Giorgio happy.She’s your responsibility now too.”
“You don’t need to tell me that.”
“Don’t I?”he asks.I hate when he looks at me the way he is now, like he can see through me.Hethinkshe knows me so well.“Then you had better get back to her.This will have shaken her up.Your mama is, and she didn’t see what was inside that box.”His lip curls in disgust at the thought.I open my mouth, ready to argue, but he cuts me off with a slashing motion of his hand.“Enough.There’s nothing more we can do tonight.Go to your wife.”
