Luciano raises his hands defensively. “Hey, you’re the one who told me to bring her with me. I had my target maced and was loading her into the backseat when Rosa began fighting me. She leaped on my back and pummeled me, shouting the whole time. Wasn’t pleasant. I had to let the target go because Rosa was drawing too much attention. Don’t worry, the car was jacked. No plates to trace back to us. Just like the car we used in Palermo.”
I nod distractedly. “Where’s Rosa now?”
“I don’t know, as soon as we got home she took off again on her Vespa. Said she needed to clear her head.”
I lean back and rest my head against the couch. “Now what the fuck am I supposed to do?”
Luciano shrugs. “Trade the Amato daughter to the Rizzos, as per the original plan.”
“I’m not fucking trading her to the Rizzos,” I tell my brother.
“You have to,” Luciano says. “They were the highest bidder.”
“Good, we’ll rob them blind when they show up to pay,” I tell him. “And give them nothing in return.”
My brother glares at me. “You think they won’t find out we’re the ones who screwed them over? Look, I know you’ve been fucking her, and truthfully, I don’t care, like I told you earlier. We always knew you wanted her as your personal plaything… you’ve whined about her for the past eight years. Just don’t betray the rest of us… don’t give up everything you’ve worked for… because you’ve grown fond of somefiga.” Pussy.
When I hear those words, as usual all I want to do is pounce on Luciano and beat the living hell out of him. I control myself. He’s my brother, after all.
“Don’t call her ‘somefiga,’ or a plaything,” I tell him. “Ever. Again.”
Luciano rubs his face. “I would have never thought… you, Massimo. You, of all people. Enrico, I could see it. Maybe even Roberto, but never you. Betraying your own brothers, and your sister, like this. For some… for a woman, of all things. I never thought I’d see the day.”
“I haven’t betrayed you,” I tell him. “Any of you. The kidnapping was my idea. So it’s mine to call off.”
“It became ours when you shared it with us,” Luciano states. “And when we risked our lives to enact your plan. The ransom money is due to us.”
“And you’ll have your ransom money,” I assure him. “After we rob the Rizzos. But we’re—not—fucking—giving—her—to—them.”
Luciano stares at me for a long moment. “Look, bro, I know you can’t see it now, but she’s playing you. She has no feelings for you. She just wants you to let her go so she can go running back to her father. And if we don’t kill him—which you wanted to do as well, I should remind you—if we don’t kill him, he’ll probably patch things up with the Rizzos and she’ll end up marrying The Cleaver anyway. Free of charge. We might as well profit from it. Think of what we can do with nine million Euros?”
I cross my arms. “I don’t care what we can do. I wouldn’t care if it was ninety million! I’m not giving her to the Rizzos.”
“What would Matteo think if he knew you were putting some woman before the rest of us?” Luciano asks.
My brother knows how to make it sting. I flinch as he says those words. I don’t have an answer for him.
Sensing the advantage, Luciano continues: “Do you really want to let down our baby brother by not building the racetrack Matteo always dreamed of? We’re doing this as much for him, as ourselves. That track will be Matteo’s legacy. And we’ll use the funds from this operation to build it.” When I still don’t answer, he shakes his head. “Don’t you see? This girl, Giovanni’s daughter, she’s been playing you like a fiddle, and you sang to her seductive tune. I think you need some time away from her. I’ll take over her management for the rest of the evening, okay? You need some time away from her so you can think clearly. With your mind, I mean, rather than your cock.”
I’m about to protest, but he does have a point. When I’m with Angela, my mind is mostly clouded by desire. If I spend some time away from her I’ll be able to think clearly like he says, and come up with a proper plan for tomorrow. It’s all been so vague in my head up until now, just outlines of ideas, nothing solid. It’s obvious she distracts me. If I go back to her room, I’ll end up fucking her all night, and in the morning I’ll be in the same state as I am now, having no idea what I’m going to do to protect her.
It’s also obvious to me that I can’t rely on my brother to get me out of this. I trusted him to kidnap someone else for me, and he failed. Though truthfully, mostly I just wanted to have him out of the house for the day so I could spend time with Angela.
I wonder if he’s right though. Maybe shewasplaying me? Well, I guess I’ll find out after I return her to her father.
“Okay,” I tell Luciano. “You can take care of her for the night.”
He seems taken aback. “Just like that? You’re not going to fight me anymore? All right, then.”
He starts to get up but I rest a hand on his arm. “Be nice to her, okay?”
“Of course,” my brother tells me. “I’ll treat her like I did all those years ago. Like a family friend. She doesn’t know who I am, does she?”
I shake my head. “She only knows about me, and Rosa.”
“Fuck,” he hisses. “I didn’t know she knew about Rosa, too.”
“We had a little accident on the beach,” I reply. “I assumed Rosa told you.”
