She crumpled, hollow eyes roving, as if searching for an answer.
He couldn’t muster any mercy for her, knowing what she was.
Ravenna’s face was fixed in a rictus of disgust. Slowly, deliberately, she moved forward, crouched in front of Ines’s chair, and gripped her bony hands.
“Gaetano had a good heart,” she murmured. “You remember how sweet he could be? How he used to sing himself to sleep?”
“He was his mamma’s little boy,” Ines agreed, her face twisting. A tear worked down her wrinkled cheek. “Oh, how could they give a mother such grief!”
“He deserves peace,” Ravenna said. “You can give him that peace now. You need to tell us: What were you doing for Errichiello?”
—
“Azzo worked for Luca. That’s how we met,” Ines told them. “I wasirresistible—that’s what he called me:irresistible. Couldn’t keep his hands off me. Of course, the pregnancy changed that for a while—Luca likes his women slim. After Azzo died, I thought Luca would be pleased to be a father. But he was different than other men…he didn’t have the same inclinations, I suppose. Never wanted to see the baby…never let me talk about it.”
“Gaetano was Luca’s son?” Ravenna asked.
Ines held her head up. Proud.
“He acknowledged him, too,” she said. “When the boy was ten, he said, ‘You may as well bring him in and let me take a look.’ After that, he let me bring Gaetano to work.”
“What sort of work were you doing for Errichiello?” Valerio asked.
“He didn’t keep me around out of pity, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she snapped. “You should know that he isn’t that type of man. He’s very…efficient. He knew I was talented. He needed me.”
“What did you do for him?” Valerio pressed.
“The girls could get…restless. I kept them calm—let them know what was best for them.”
She leaned forward.
“The modeling agency was my idea,” she said. “In the beginning, I found them. But then they started coming to me, you know? Begging to be part of it. A good business. Everybody gets what they want.”
“Tell us about Paride Silvestri,” Valerio said. “How were he and Errichiello connected?”
“Oh, the girls were for Paride,” she said. “At first, he only needed a few—but then he found other men with his preferences—and we needed more.”
“How many?”
She smiled. “I need my cigarettes, Capo. Would you hand them to me?”
After she lit another cigarette, she said, “How many men are in your police station? How many men do you think you know? Good family men? Show me a good family man and I’ll show you what he really is—what he really likes.”
Without intending it, Valerio’s mind went to his friends—the good-hearted Dario, and the tall and solemn Maurizio.
“Have you never wanted a young sweet thing, Capo? I could find you a perfect little cherry.”
She laughed at whatever she saw in his expression.
“And what did Gaetano do for Errichiello and Silvestri?” Ravenna asked.
“When he was little, the girls liked to take care of him. Play with him. But when he got older, Luca didn’t like having him around. Luca doesn’t like needy things. But I said to Luca, ‘You’ll never find a more loyal man. Give him an assignment.’ ”
“And did he?”
“Luca put him with his couriers. Gave him a motorbike. But the other boys didn’t like him. So Luca put him to work in the warehouses—but Gaetano could make mistakes. So, I made him get his driver’s license.”
“Was that all he was doing for Errichiello? Driving?”
