There are some nods and mumbles, but each member offers their hand for Jack to shake before he, too, kisses my ring and makes his oath.
“Now, as for my brother,” I continue. This could prove more difficult.
Julian remains standing at the door, hands on hips as he grins around the room. He’s delighted at their consternation. I wonder again how wise this really is—but perhaps he’ll rise to the occasion.
The truth is, I think I’ll be forced to eliminate my brother sooner than I’d like. But until then…
“Julian is my father’s son, and he was one of my father’s most trusted confidants.”
Only Lombardo has the stones to speak up. “Whatever you decide, Don Castellani, we’ll accept. But perhaps Julian would benefit from working with one of the crews—under Rizzo, for example—”
Silvano Rizzo clearly hates that idea, but he doesn’t need to argue against it, because Julian is already talking.
“Oh, I’m not a team player at all,” he says. “And I’d be extremely bored, besides. No, I think Don Castellani has the right idea.”
“You will welcome my brother as warmly as you have welcomed me,” I tell the old men, and surprisingly, they do. After they’ve each shaken Julian’s hand, Julian bends to kiss my ring and make his vows—and gives me a wink as he stands back up.
“My brother has an announcement he’d like to make,” I say, “regarding a special request that I’ve granted him.”
He bows his head to me before turning to the group. “In addition to the work I’ll be doing for Don Castellani, I also plan to investigate the murder of my mother, Caroline Castellani, the late Don’s most beloved wife.”
There’s dead silence in the study.
When Julian first raised this with me, I thought it was a fool’s errand. Caroline Castellani drowned herself, as far as I’m concerned. It was what my father believed, what everyone else in the Family seemed to believe also.
But there’s an edge in the room now that makes me wonder.
“Investigate?” DiPietro says. “What do you mean,investigate?”
“Exactly what I say,” Julian says, with his most angelic smile. “I intend to find the person who killed her, and pay them back in kind. With an extra decade’s worth of interest, of course.”
Jack catches my eye and gives a small shake of the head. He doesn’t like it. Unfortunately for him, I’ll be relying on him to dig out and provide intel to Julian. I hope this unwelcome surprise doesn’t prompt his departure from Los Angeles after all—he’s only just informed me that Miller has agreed to stay in the city.
But that’s a worry for another day. I look around the room, at the closed-off faces and downturned eyes. “I’m sure no one here can have any objections to Julian’s vendetta,” I say, “because I know that no man here would have had a hand in killing his mother. We’re loyal to each other in this Family. Aren’t we?”
It takes a moment, but the response comes from them all, an overlapping chorus.
Yes, Don Castellani.
* * *
When I return home to the penthouse that night, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude to see Teddy lying there on the sofa, laptop resting on his chest as he types sleepily at the keyboard. He sits up as soon as he sees me, giving a brilliant smile, and my heart contracts again at his loveliness.
“Let’s get pizza tonight,” he says as he closes the laptop, and runs over to throw his arms around me. “My treat. In fact, we can fly it in from Italy, if you like. Membership just rolled over for the month, so I’ve got a lot of free cash.” He grins up into my face, and then kisses me. “I missed you,” he says shyly.
“I’ve missed you every second of this day, and I haven’t stopped thinking about you,tesoro mio,” I tell him back, kissing him much more thoroughly. “We can get pizza, but we need to have a chat aboutCute Crimsfirst.”
“But you said…” He frowns, then shrugs. “I’ll shut it down if you want me to, Alessandro, but I thought you said—”
“I did.” I’ve asked Teddy to keepCute Crimsrunning, as long as he takes down the most damaging posts about the Castellanis. It’s a useful source of information—and, more importantly, misinformation. There’s no doubt that the Feds are still watching the site, which means it’s a good tool for spreading confusion.
“I’ve had a request from Don Morelli,” I say. “That’s all. He has asked if you would remove the photographs of him and his husband. He prefers to keep a low profile.”
Teddy pulls a face. “I mean, sure, I’ll do it. There’ll be a lot of bitching about it, though. But, hey, what are they gonna do? I’m Site God. Any other instructions?”
“Only one,” I tell him. “Take off all your clothes, go into the bedroom, and wait for me.”
* * *
