“The man standing in front of you.The oneyou’retouching. He’s supposed to be six feet under. His throat slashed.”
“Did you do that to him?” I was surprised by the amount of venom in my voice aimed at this man that I didn’t know but hated on principal.
Bobby shook his head, but his eyes never leftCapo’s. I wasn’t sure if he was sizing up my husband, afraid that he was going to pounce, or was still in shock at seeing him. “Nah, that wasn’t me, girl. I had no hand in his murder. At one time, we were close.”
Capo laughed, but it was low. “Is that the lies we’re telling these days, Bobby?”
Bobby shivered at the sound ofCapo’s voice, and then he raised both of his hands. “I swear on my Ma’s head, Vittorio. I heard things, ya know? But that stood between Arturo and Achille. We all suspected, but you know how it is. What’s done is done. We can’t go against the boss, man. Achille admitted it to a few of us a few years ago—it was implied that our fate would be yours if we didn’t do what we were told without question.”
Capo grinned, andIshivered this time. “You should’ve never come looking for me, Bobby. You should’ve stayed within the protection of the pack you callfamiglia.”
Before I could even take a breath,Capo charged him, slamming his head against the wall. The scariest part was that it all took under a second and he hardly made a sound. When Bobby went down, Capo took him by the shirt collar and started dragging him toward the storage room.
“Mariposa.” Capo’s voice was cut-throat. “Move.”
It took me a second to focus, but once I did, I hustled to keep up. Once we were outside, he picked Bobby up and flung him over his shoulder.
“You can’t kill him!”
“Consider him dead.”
“But he didn’t do it, Capo! He’s innocent.”
“You stand by and watch, I consider you guiltier than the one who uses the knife. He’s a fucking poltroon. And his wife talks too much.”
“The second reason is not good enough!” Besides, I didn’t know what apoltroonwas—maybe a coward?
“It’s a bonus. Maybe she’ll shut her mouth for five seconds, long enough to shed a fake tear.”
We made the side of the building, going straight for the car parked directly in front of Mamma’s.
“Someone might see!” I hissed.
“I’m dead. Let them try to find me.”
As soon asCapoopened the doors, two cars came to a stop right next to our car.
“Get in, Mariposa!Adesso!”
I flung myself in, right as bullets pinged against the exterior of the car. I covered my stomach, afraid that one might penetrate the bulletproof layer.
Capo was inside the car a second later. He put the car in gear and peeled out, swiping the side of one of the cars as he sped off. The cars that had stopped in front of the restaurant blocked the flow of traffic. Horns blared.
“Where’s Bobby?” I asked, breathless.
“He ended up being valuable in the end.”
“What?”
“He took those bullets for me. We’ll call it payback for not telling me that I was going to get my throat cut and then standing by and watching.”
“Fair enough.” I held tight to the seatbelt. “Was that them? The Scarpones?”
“Yeah, but not Arturo or Achille. Young guys. Back up for Bobby.” He checked his mirror. “Hold on.”
To what?I almost screamed but didn’t. He weaved in and out of traffic, not even caring if there was only a breath of air between our car and the one in front or behindus.
“Did they see you?”
