I hold out my hand, the Castellani ring a dull lump on my finger. “You are to say nothing. You understand?”
Wilson’s eyes widen when they land on the ring, but he nods.
“Show me. Show me that you understand.”
He crosses the floor in small, reluctant steps, and bends down to press his lips against the ring. “Don Castellani,” he murmurs.
When he stands up, a sharp crack sounding from his old bones, I take him by the shoulders. He’s still terrified, and terror makes for loose tongues. “You served my father faithfully. I will not forget that service. You have nothing to fear from me.”
For the first time, I see a flicker of something other than dread in his face. “I served Don Castellani,” he croaks. “And now…now I serve you.”
Unexpected admiration for the old man makes me squeeze his shoulders. “Loyalty and duty,” I say. “My father would approve.”
For the first time, his eyes water. This is not what I want. I have no time to waste on sentiment.
“Not a word to anyone,” I warn him.
“Of course not, sir. But—may I ask...”
“Julian,” I tell him, because it’s the easy answer.
He nods, sad, accepting. “Your father sent for him this morning. I suppose…” He trails off, putting a hand over his mouth.
“I’ve put Julian down below for now. Do not go down there until or unless I give you permission, and see that none of the day-staff does, either.” Another nod. “I will take care of…this.” My eyes stray back to my father’s body and I let go of Wilson’s shoulders. “Go about your business until I have need of you.”
He’s quick to head for the door, though he pauses there and turns back before opening it. “Don Castellani—the dinner tonight—it may be wise to postpone it?”
Cazzo!The dinner for the senior administration. I’d forgotten.
I stare unseeingly at the body as I turn it over in my mind. This murder cannot be covered up internally, not for long. Easy enough to pay off the authorities and have them look the other way, but the Family…
“No,” I tell Wilson. “Let them come. I will make the announcement then.”
Make the announcement, and make them swear their loyalty to me.
The new Don.
CHAPTER2
SANDRO
I dress with care tonight,taking longer in the mirror than I normally do. Since the day my face was half-carved away, I avoid mirrors generally, but tonight will be different. Tonight is my ascension, after all, and I must look the part. The dinner suit is immaculate, perfectly pressed. My shirt is blindingly white, my shoes so polished that they reflect the surrounds.
There’s not much I can do about my face. I avoid looking at it as much as I can, but when my gaze meets my own in the mirror, I have a sudden, unwilling flashback of my father, of the moment I came back into consciousness after that terrible night.
Perhaps it would have been kinder to let you die, Alessandro.
Papa didn’t mean to be cruel—for once. He was furious, grieving, wracked with all the emotions that came to me later, but at that moment I was cocooned in a morphine cloud.
Only later did I begin to think it myself, after all the failed plastic surgeries.
I turn from the mirror and go into the living area of my rooms at Redwood Manor. Jacopo, hat still on his head, is not happy to have been summoned again today, and full of questions that he dare not ask in front of Wilson, who has escorted him up.
“How long?” I ask Wilson.
“The guests will begin arriving in thirty minutes, sir.”
“Show them into the grand salon as usual.”
