A second later, the two reaching for something inside of their jackets put their hands up. The one holding me dropped his hands.
I looked behind, and Corrado stood between a few of his men. He was eyeing the three around me. Just looking at them—it was cold enough to make goosebumps appear on my skin.
“I meant no disrespect, Don Capitani,” the man said. “I didn’t realize the woman was with you.”
“My wife,” he said.
All three of the men’s faces paled.
The tension seemed to grow with every second that stretched. People were no longer moving toward the bathroom, but trying to go in the other direction. Corrado looked at Nunzio. Nunzio nodded in the direction of the bathroom. He wanted me to move. He rarely spoke a word to me.
“Come on, Alcina,” Mari said, taking me by the arm.
After we were done in the bathroom, we promised to keep in touch, because it seemed we both knew my night was over.
The three men were gone after we stepped out. Mari kissed my cheeks, so did Keely, and then they went in a different direction. It was the same direction Corrado was facing.
I turned to look, but like a ghost whose shadow moved along a dark wall, whoever he was staring at was gone—a second after Mari and Keely disappeared behind a door leading to the second level of The Club.
25
Alcina
New York was changing. Leaves were starting to turn different shades from the weather turning crisper—a palette of dull browns, vibrant reds, and yellows that were a throwback to summer.
I was changing, too.
I turned my eyes from the window of the car and looked down at my stomach, tracing the small round bump. From the side, it looked bigger than it did from the front. At my last appointment, the doctor told me that the baby was the size of a lime, and that everything lookedbene.
Everything did not feel fine, except for the happiness I felt whenever I thought about the baby, about our future—because I was looking ahead to a different time. A time when things would be different.
After the night at The Club, something in my husband’s eyes changed.
I had never seen it before. It was as if he had gotten an idea tattooed in his head, and he could not separate from it, like he couldn’t separate from his scorpions.
The man he was searching for was the one who had given him the tattoo.
I knew even if he found him, it would not bring back what he lost, or cure the world of anything. Corrado would never be satisfied until he accepted what had happened.
He tried to deny it was about the man killing his father. He said it was about men having respect, and I was sure some of that was true, but the man had spared his little sister. How could he not spare him? It went deeper, and he did not want to face it.
“Rispetto,” I muttered.
If Corrado was anything, he was a man of great honor and respect. He gave it, and he demanded it in return.
That night in The Club had changed more than his obsession with finding the man who had played a role in changing his life.
The morning after, I had walked into the kitchen first, preparing to have breakfast with Corrado before he left for the day. Martina was there spending time with hisnonna.
She usually cursed me. This time she called me agoomah.What we calledcummarein Italian, which sounded likegoomah.A mistress. She started to laugh, but it faded when Corrado walked in right as she said it.
“Jealousy is a bitch,” I said to her. “And so are you.” It was the first time I’d ever responded to her low remarks. Anna told me I needed to put her in her place, or she would never stop. It was the first time she had ever disrespected me in front of Corrado, and that seemed even worse.
“At least I don’t act like a tramp,” she said.
I opened my mouth to speak, but Corrado cleared his throat. “Get out,” he said to her. “Get out and never step foot in my home again. If you disrespect my wife, you disrespect me.”
Martina looked at Teresa. She turned her face away. Martina started to cry, but she took her purse and left.
