And I love the utter shock in her face.And that tiny hint of softness in her eyes that tells me how much she liked hearing that.
I’m not lying.It’s the complete truth.And the sooner she accepts that, the sooner I’ll finally be a happy man.For once in my life.
Chapter29
MATTEO
Ferro stoodat the door to his study as I brought Goldie back.Didn’t say anything, just stared at us with his black eyes and somehow managed to suck up all the air in the room.
I stayed in our room just long enough to put on a fresh suit.Then I locked her in.Didn’t even kiss her goodbye.Didn’t tell her I’ll be back soon.I wanted to.But she said less and less as we neared the house and just stared out the window silently while I changed clothes.I’ll have plenty of time to deal with that later, after I speak with Ferro.And see what my newest betrayal of her family bought me.
Ferro’s not alone in his study when I join him.A Russian on a laptop is with him, and another watching his back.Lorenzo, Ferro’s second, is also here.All the porch doors are open wide, fresh air streaming in and doing a good job fighting the smoke.Though Ferro is doing his best to make sure the smoke wins, sucking on yet another cigar.
“Do you need me?”I ask him when I enter the room.
He moves his lips in what could be a sneer or a grin.I’m not sure which it is.
“That number you sent me is proving to be quite a boon,” he said.“They’ve almost got it traced.”
“It is definitely in New Jersey somewhere,” the guy on the laptop says as Lorenzo offers me a bottle of club soda.
I could go for something stronger, but after how close I came to losing Goldie last night, when I drank too much, I don’t think that’s a good idea.So I take the club soda and drink about half the bottle, welcoming the painful scratching in my throat and the bitterness.
It’s nothing compared to the bitterness of knowing we’re so close to catching the rest of Goldie’s family.
“So they could be hiding right under our noses,” I say.“So to speak.”
Ferro shrugs and goes to stand behind the Russian.I follow, but all I see on the screen is a bunch of white numbers and letters on a black background.It’s not telling me shit.
“New Jersey’s still a big place,” Ferro says, and the Russian gives him an annoyed look over his shoulder.
Ferro lays his hand on his shoulder and squeezes.“But Igor here will make it real small for us, real soon.Right, Igor?”
“I’ll find the place where the phone last pinged,” Igor says and starts to frantically type something.More nonsensical white numbers and letters it looks like to me.
“What about Rafaelle?Has he talked yet?”I ask.
Ferro shakes his head and takes a long drag of his cigar.“He’s been passed out since you last saw him, more or less,” he says and walks over to one of the porch doors.I follow.“But I’ve had a doctor brought so he’s pumped full of antibiotics now.I’d rather just let him die, but too many are advising I better keep him alive.He knows a lot of secrets apparently.”
I step out onto the porch and drink the rest of my club soda with the hot sun on my face.
“But is he ever gonna tell you those secrets?”
Ferro grins meanly.“I think we’ll find his weakness eventually.Your cousin, Nico, seems to think it could be my wife’s twin sister.And I have you to thank for showing me that women can be useful.So after we find her in New Jersey, I think I’ll have her brought here.Raff is very good at handling his own pain.Let’s see how well he does with hers.”
I suppose I should be grateful he isn’t suggesting we torture Goldie to get Raff talking.But it’s not much of a consolation that he isn’t.So much for my grand plans of saving at least Goldie’s mother and sister… a fool’s lie, I should’ve recognized it as such immediately.I probably did.But I wanted to believe the lie.
“I wouldn’t even be pushing so hard for this, but the Codellis are really getting on my nerves.They’re the only family still opposing me.Everyone else has fallen in line.”
Somehow, I think he’s mostly angry at his wife, Chiara.She’s probably still fighting him as hard as she did in the beginning.
“And I’m sure Codelli has gathered up everyone else that we haven’t been able to find and subdue into submission,” Ferro goes on.“Because all of them are nowhere to be found either.”
“How many is that?”I ask.
He shrugs.“At least ten, with their entourage, of course.Mostly consiglieres and lieutenants.Not that many and not that important.But if they all band together, they can raise enough men against us to be a problem.I think that’s what’s happening.It’s the reason why I haven’t moved into the city yet to fully take over.I don’t want to get killed before I even get started ruling New York.That would be depressing.”
He grins at me as he says it.
