"Yes. I-I get it."
"Then go on in and lock up tight."
As soon as I enter the room and lock the door behind me, I lean against it, letting out a shaky breath. Usually my room is a refuge, but today it feels like a prison.
I pace the floor.
I wait.
I check the time.
The clock ticks too loudly in the silence, and I'm too far away from the salon to even hear if there's shouting.
Or worse—a gunshot.
CHAPTER 31
RAFFI
Donnie Russo is loungingin another one of the east wing rooms with two of my men keeping a close eye on him. He looks up as I enter, hatred spinning across his face.
"Time to face the music," I say, grabbing him by the arm and steering him toward the door.
"Easy there, DeLuca," he chuckles. "What's with the rough treatment?"
"Chops Lollo's dead," I tell him shortly. "And what do you know, his corpse was stuffed into a secret passage leading right out of your room."
He stops short. "Lollo's dead?"
"You missed the headline, Russo," I say, dragging him on. "You're the prime suspect."
"I didn't kill that asshole!" he protests. "Your own damn guards were watching me every?—"
"Shut up and walk," I growl, my patience wearing thin.
But he's right. My men have been watching him the whole time, and anyway, where the hell would he have gotten the gun? I don't know how he pulled off this killing—but right now, I guess it's not my concern. Like Sandro says, this is for the Bernardis to work out among themselves.
The grand salon is buzzing as we enter, the news of Chops' murder already well-known. AJ Bernardi, Gino Bernardi, and their various faction members fall into silence at the sight of Russo. I push Russo into the middle of the room, where he stands blinking.
Confused.
"Let us begin," Sandro says, no niceties or anything. "Russo, you stand accused of the murders of Chops Lollo and Tony Clemenza."
"What the fuck—" Russo begins, but Sandro goes on in a steady litany, outlining the evidence against him. The missing knife from the kitchen, to which Russo had access, and how it was found sticking out of Clemenza's chest. The fact that he and Chops had a run-in, and then Chops was killed in the secret passageway leading from his room to Chops' quarters.
The room is dead silent by the end, until Sandro says, "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"Yeah, I didn't fucking do it!" Russo explodes. "I never touched them! AJ—" He turns to his Boss. "—come on, tell them this is bullshit."
But AJ hesitates, which gives Gino Bernardi time to chime in instead. "AJ, you've shamed our whole Family! You not only killed our father but violated the sanctity of guestship and theparley rules. I call for you to step down as head of the Bernardi Family. Russo would only act under your orders!"
Someone sure wrote out a nice speech for him. One look at Roxy Rochford, whose lips are moving along with Gino's, tells me who it was. And as on-the-nose as it is, it still seems effective. Doubt is creeping into the eyes of the gathered men on AJ's side of the room. This accusation has the potential to tear their loyalties apart even further.
And unmoored men are dangerous men. So I take out my gun, just in case. And I stand a little closer to Sandro, whose eyes meet mine, and he makes no signal to back up.
"I didn't do anything," Russo says, imploring AJ with outstretched hands. "Boss, tell them."
AJ's face contorts with indignant fury as his men begin to mutter among themselves. "If Russo killed anyone, he was acting on his own," he protests, not even looking at the accused, but at Sandro. "I gave no orders. Why would I want Clemenza dead? And why the fuck would I wanna whack Chops Lollo?"
