“Why didn’t Victor kill you?”
“Because he’s a sick fuck?” I tried to make light of it, but a sob caught in my throat.
The buzz of a cell-phone message interrupted, and Dominic reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone, his gaze on me.
“You were engaged to Angus Scava’s son, James?”
I nodded. “When he died, Victor came into the picture. He was next in line, since Mr. Scava didn’t have any other kids.”
“Mr. Scava? You say that with some tenderness, Gia. Scava is not a nice man.”
“He was always kind to me.”
Dominic shook his head as if what I said were unbelievable.
“How can you be so sure he didn’t order this?” He gestured around the room.
“No. No way. James loved me, and he loved James. He wouldn’t do this to me.”
“You’re a fool.”
“You have no heart, no soul. I wouldn’t expect you to understand love like that, a father’s love.”
Dominic recoiled as if I’d stabbed him with a knife. It took him a moment to recover.
“Love is changeable. Disposable. It’s not everlasting, not in our world. Only a fool believes in happily-ever-after, Gia.”
He turned his attention to his phone then. His face changed. Confusion and then alarm crossed over his features as he read the message.
“I’m going to kill him. I’m going to put a bullet in Victor Scava’s head,” I said.
He looked at me, his forehead creased, eyes dark. Then, without a word, he walked out the door and locked me inside, leaving me once again in this dark, dank room, confused but also, somehow, hopeful.
Mateo’s body had been found. It had been left where it could be found. And its discovery had rattled my jailor.
9
DOMINIC
Rumor has it one of Roman’s men killed Castellano. Franco’s pissed. He’d sworn to protect the Castellano kids or some shit. Can you believe it?
I had to read Isabella’s message twice to understand. To remember.
Mateo’s father had worked for Franco. He’d taken a bullet for him. He’d died saving Franco’s life. I remembered now. I’d heard it later, heard him talking to Roman about it, about taking care of the Castellano family. Making sure everyone knew they were under his protection.
And Roman had Mateo Castellano killed? Why in hell would he have branded him? Why advertise that? Franco would fucking kill him. It made zero sense. If what Gia told me was true, did that mean he’d had his hands in human trafficking? Did the Benedetti family now sell women on the black market?
I took a seat at the kitchen table and pulled up Salvatore’s number. It was time. Hell, it was past time.
I hit Send and listened to it ring. It took everything I had to not hit the End button this time. And when he picked up, his voice so familiar even after all these years, it took me a minute toreply. It took me that minute to get my heart to stop pounding, to get my voice working.
“Salvatore,” I said and waited.
Silence on his end now. Then: “Dominic? Is that you?”
Hearing his voice, fuck, it brought back so many memories. So many emotions. “It’s me,” I said flatly.
“Jesus!”
