When he put it that way…yes, I could understand why Donato felt it was important. Though Luca wasn’t around, he had eyes in every corner and crevice. Nothing slipped past him. When he was gone, he was still here. I knew something about that. All those years he was behind bars, his presence was never too far. Even alive, the man had a ghost.
“Tell me,” I said, pushing the Ray-Bans further up my nose. “What is he going to do to Brando and Romeo?”
Three men with guns strapped across their chests strode toward us, chatting amongst themselves. All three made eye contact with Donato and Nino, each man giving a nod of recognition, but none of them would look directly at me, or even acknowledge Mia.
Fear was what I felt when they got close.
They were probably afraid of what the “boss” would do if a conversation sprung up, or their gazes lingered too long on what he considered his.
Brando had the same mentality when he first started employing his own men. But the tone it set was too cold, our house no longer a home but a place of strict business. I started learning the men’s names and basic things about them. We weren’t sitting around smoking stogies every night over whiskey, but it lent the situation a friendlier feel.
Who wants to live as a prisoner in their own castle?
Brando didn’t care for it all that much, but he relented for my sake. But I knew as well as Donato that none of that would be going on here.
Donato waited until the soldiers were long gone before he decided to speak.
“He will punish them all,” he said. “It was not only your husband and Romeo that disobeyed. It was the group. Depending on how he is feeling today, we will see later the punishment. Unless your husband decides to challenge him.”
That stopped me dead in my tracks. “Would he?”
“For the right reasons.” Donato shrugged in his designer suit. “I suppose he would. As of now, he has not.”
“How do you know?”
He grinned at me. “I would be called.”
I gave him a look—spill it.
“Shall we find a spot to sit first?”
“That bad?”
“It is a nice day. Mia should enjoy the weather while she still can. Before long the air will be too cold.”
Donato directed me to a spot that took full advantage of the sun. The air was still crisp, but with the sun out full force, it helped settle the score.
Mia adored being outside, and since she decided to start walking, she loved to run through leaves. Plop down in them too. After the bike incident, though, she kept close to me, sitting down with her book, every so often picking up a leaf and showing it to me.
Donato leaned against a tree, watching us, while Nino made a few rounds.
“I haven’t forgotten.” I tickled Mia’s nose with a leaf but aimed the comment at Donato.
“Eaf!” Her voice rose high. “Illy eaf!”
Donato grinned. “What did our Mia say?”
I smiled. “Silly leaf.”
“Illy leaf,” she said again, sticking it in my face, attempting to mimic what I had done to her. Instead, she ended up sticking the dried blunt point in my eye, making me blink furiously. She came in and kissed my eye. “Boo boo.Iss. Amma.Iss.”
“Such a sweet baby,” I said, pulling her closer to me. “I love you so, so much, my sweet girl.” I smothered her with kisses until she pushed from me, going back to her leaves and books.
“If your husband decides to challenge the current head, I would be called upon.”
“For support?” I looked up at him.
Donato was as good looking as any of the Fausti men. He had a mature look about him, salt and pepper hair in a buzz cut, and a build that was solid. I was pretty sure that if he had a running start, he could hit one of these trees and knock it over. His hands were even more deadly.
