“Then he should learn how to say it without calling me a murderer,” I replied, and got in the car and started the engine.
The last thing I saw was Giancarlo in the rearview mirror, staring at me sadly as I drove away.
71
Emilia
Iwas terrified.
Giorgio sped away from his parents’ house, his eyes fixed on the road, his skin clammy with sweat. He looked sick and feverish.
Gravel popped beneath our tires.
When he turned onto the main road, he gunned the engine.
At 90 miles per hour, I couldn’t take any more.
“Giorgio,” I said.
He kept accelerating.
95…
100…
“Giorgio, slow down!” I cried out.
105…
“GIORGIO!” I screamed.
That seemed to bring him back to his senses.
He still stared straight ahead, but he slowed down to the speed limit.
“Giorgio,talkto me,” I pleaded.
He drove for another half mile, staring straight ahead…
And then he pulled off onto the shoulder and parked the car.
He didn’t look at me as he spoke.
“Lorenzo was my best friend growing up. We used to play soldier out in the woods when we were kids. When we were teenagers, we would sneak out at night with girls… steal bottles of wine from our parents… and stay out drinking till three in the morning.
“But there was nothing to do around here after high school. You could work at a vineyard, like my father and brothers do… which is what I did. I worked there till I was 23.
“Or you could work on a farm… or at a hotel… or a restaurant or tourist shop. Maybe, if you were lucky, you could find work in town at a printer’s or a bank.
“The vineyard was all I thought I’d ever get out of life. My father’s worked there for thirty years… and that’s all my brothers are ever going to do. That’s allIwas going to do.
“But Lorenzo had dreams. He wanted to do somethingbig.He didn’t know what, but he knew he didn’t want to be stuck outhere.
“He moved to Florence three years ago. He didn’t have much luck… until he heard about a job working security for a family out in Tuscany. Two weeks after he started, he called me up and told me about it.
“I knew what they did. I knew who they were. But I didn’t want to die out here, living the same fucking life my father did, and my grandfather, and my great-grandfather. I wanted something different. So I started working for the Rosolinis.
“It was hard. It was really,reallyhard. One of my bosses – Lars – he pushed us.Hard. Trained us to be soldiers. There were some days I didn’t think I could hack it – but I did. I got throughit. And I became one of the family’s best men. It was difficult – but that was why I liked it.
