“The doctor left supplies.”
“Okay, I need somewhere…not here.” Her fingers were gentle against my chest. “Can you move without pulling anything else loose? I’m going to have you use your shirt to hold things in place until I can see better.” She turned away from me. “Loppa, are you okay to pick him up?”
“Yes, Signora Valentini.”
“On three.”
We ended up in our suite. Allie checked the wound, cleaned the area and checked for damage. She chose to add what she referred to as a “zipper” to close the end that had torn open.
As she worked, my grandfather peered over her shoulder. His eyes met mine. The corner of his mouth curved upward. Then he shocked the hell out of me. “Signora Allie, would you like to learn a language that witch and her soon-to-be-dead cousin will never know?”
Allie paused. “Depends. Is he going to stay alive long enough for me to get the first lesson?”
Don Manca laughed long and hard at that. “With your help, I’m certain he will. First lesson, I am, Aiaiu. Grandfather. When you are around family, this family, you will call me that. ‘Nonno’ if there are people who aren’t in this circle, sì?” He paused as Allie blushed. When he spoke again, he raised his voice. “That includes nosy fathers who stand behind doorways.”
My father stepped into the open. “How is he doing?”
“No thanks to you, he lives,” Don Manca said.
“I was trying to stop the animosity between our families.” Father fired back.
Allie nervously packed the kit she’d disassembled for my care. I caught her hand so she wouldn’t flee. “Wait. Please?”
Grandfather continued berating my father. “By selling him like a cow? Now he’s hunted because you meddled.”
“Aiaiu,” I cautioned him to speak kinder to my father. Logistically, it had been a sound tactic. But he should have asked me before making arrangements. “Allie, I need to speak to them about things you shouldn’t know. It is for your safety that I can’t include you. I promise I will not talk around you, or about you.”
She nodded, but tugged her hand away. Its loss left me wanting.
I quickly laid out the problems I’d found. “Adelmo turned down an offer of money to bail him out. He wanted his operation in the States only and wished for his family to leave him out of the global issues. But his father was not in agreement. His stipulation was for Dianora to marry someone from one of the leading families. Then she could manage her assets through proxy if she wanted, but not as an heir to the company.
“Adelmo thought his father was right to marry her into another family to protect her share. I don’t think she or her father knows that. But also, I don’t think either of them know their father is making bad decisions for both of them.
“I spoke with Edward in Las Vegas. Father, you remember him, the real estate investor you were so keen to work with last year?”
“I remember.”
“He gave me information that Don Conti has sold five family estates in the last year. His bank in Cyprus owes over 120 million in fines. The noose is tightening on him.”
Don Manca’s face turned grim. “When was this fine?”
“September of last year,” I said.
“That’s eight of our compatriot’s targeted.” He fixed his gaze on my father. “And you? Any nooses?”
“None. I know the laws.”
“Let’s hope you know the laws,” Grandfather sniped back.
My father’s tone sharpened. “If you and your family weren’t always killing everyone, I wouldn’t be in the crosshairs at all. If anyone has a noose around their neck, it is you.”
Grandfather frowned. “He still blames me for your mother’s death.”
The tendons in Father’s neck tightened and stood out, but otherwise, he remained calm. “I know you didn’t plant that bomb. But your enemies did.”
“And you court them. Dangle my grandson out as bait for them to devour whole.”
I quickly switched back to English. “Enough! I’ve said my part.” I studied my wife who had moved to the far side of the room to study the wallpaper. “Allie, I am so grateful you’re with me. Very grateful.”
