Oooh, I wanted to say, but didn’t. “You embarrassed me!” I shouted. “No one, not evenBruno, has ever made me feel that small.” I started to pace in a circle, making circles with my wedding ring around my finger. “I’m no better than those people who serve you, and they’re afraid to look at me now! They’re behaving like I’msomeone. When I’m not. I’m not—” I flung my arm out. “I’m not you. And that asshole Bruno? You basically told him what he did hurt me!”
“It did.”
“So? He didn’t know that! Not until tonight!”
“As yourcapo,” he snapped at me, “I protect you. If anyone touches one of the girls at The Club, there are consequences.”
I’m not one of your employees; I’m your wife!I wanted to shout. But a second later I realized how wrong that was to think, much less share. It was a lie. He was mycapo. I even had it engraved on the ring around his finger to prove it.
He continued, not missing a beat. “Most people know better, but the ones who don’t catch on quick enough. You’remywife. Your flesh, blood, and bone belong to me, and so do your feelings. Someone hurts you. They hurt me.Capisci? I hunt for you only. And always remember this, Mariposa. ‘It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.’ Peoplewillfear you. Why? They see me standing behind you. I don’t cower. I don’t fucking bend. I kneel for no mere man on this earth.”
I looked away from him for a second. My eyes caught the tattoo on his hand. All that he had just said suddenly made sense—why he had gotten the permanent mark on his body.I don’t cower. I don’t fucking bend. I kneel for no mere man on this earth.That was my husband. All of him. He had never done anything to make me believe otherwise.
“They all know who you’re married to now,” I whispered.A girl from the streets. A girl who has nothing to offer, only take.No one knew about this arrangement, so from the outside, it looked one-sided.
“Mariposa,” he said. “That’s who I married. The girl who had a drink on the menu before she showed up at the door.”
“You named the drink after me before we were married?”
“It was the first item on the menu. I didn’t name any of the others.”
“Why?”
“A reminder.”
Again, I couldn’t read the look on his face. He was still pissed off, but some of the ice had melted. When I couldn’t hold his stare any longer, I turned from him, staring into the window of the sport’s bar. My eyes narrowed on a strip of news playing at the bottom of a screen.
Breaking News.
A picture flashed on the screen.
Quillon Zamboni found dead.
Strangled.
In the end,hecouldn’t breathe.
Neither could I.
Capo’s hand touched my shoulder, and I looked up at him. He removed my hand from my face. It was covering my mouth.
Peoplewillfear you. Why? They see me standing behind you.
My husband was the big bad wolf, snarling at anyone who came too close.I hunt for you only.
I swallowed hard, feeling like my throat was closing up, but the air around me moved, entering my lungs. “Capo.” His name came out solid, though I felt anything but.“Do you know a guy named Merv?”
“Knew. Briefly.” This time he looked away, at the screen, no expression on his face. “I should have told you. Vera II is actually Vera I. She was a welcome-home gift. Those plants. They seem to have roots made of steel.”
I took a deep, deep breath, sighed it out, and then, with a trembling hand, slipped mine into his steady one.
14
Mariposa
New York had become a battleground I’d survived for too long. Every sound was a war cry. Every season gave reason to run and hide, some unknown element coming at me. Every smell was bloodied. Every sight was someone fighting to live.
Italy,Italia, was the promised land after the long and grueling fight.
