"Your men are entirely too susceptible to bribery," Katya says. Then, as if she realizes her words might trigger a securityreview and unpleasant consequences for my men, she adds quickly, "Lukas helped me organize it. I just gave some of the men a thank you for helping arrange things."
"What sort of a thank you?"
"Scotch." She shoots me an apologetic look. "A twenty-five year old Bowmore single malt. Are you mad at me?"
I shake my head.
"Are you mad at them for helping me?"
"Of course not. My men know the difference between a wife arranging a birthday surprise and someone plotting to blow the place up."
Katya stares at me for a moment longer, as if checking I'm really not angry. Then she smiles. "So, do you want to go see the new car?"
"Yes, I do."
As I get up and follow her through the house, I smile at the way she skips ahead of me. She greets everyone warmly as we pass through the kitchen and hurries into the garage ahead of me.
"Ta-da!" She flings her arms wide as she presents the car to me.
Even a prestige sports car hasn't escaped the indignity of being covered in balloons. She has them attached to the wing mirrors and door handles.
"Do you like it?" she asks, coming to stand by my side.
"I love it." The car is a DBS 770 in a vibrant blue that I know is a custom color.
"Happy birthday, Gabriele."
Katya pushes onto her tiptoes and kisses my cheek. I admire the car for a moment. It's the sort of gift a woman might buy her wealthy husband but the gifts I left on the dining table are what a woman buys for her man. Those are the ones that are precious to me. They symbolize all that's good about Katya. She has amaterialist side, that's true, but underneath it she's the most thoughtful person I know.
I don't tell her how much I appreciate her. But I reach out to take her hand and for a long time I don't let go.
SIXTEEN
Gabriele
I hearhim as I walk toward the dining room and have to pause outside the door to compose myself. It's been at least two years since I saw him but his voice is unmistakable.
The way he speaks, as if he's sharing something private the rest of the world isn't meant to hear, tells me Katya is in there too. He always uses that tone in the presence of beautiful women like her.
My wife, no doubt, thinks he's flirting but he's actually conducting a subtle interrogation. He's perfected a dozen techniques for extracting information, some more brutal than others. With my wife, he's opted for charm.
Where is she from? Ah, St. Petersburg. He's heard it's beautiful. What do her parents do? Oh, they're Bratva, how thrilling. How is she enjoying Rome? Oh dear, she's on lockdown. Is she upset about that? No? How nice, she'ssounderstanding.
He's subtly probing her. If he gets around to asking her bra size, I'll punch him in the face.
"Adriano," I greet him drily as I walk into the room.
My cousin looks up and smiles. It's the Volante grin, broad and unapologetic. That smile has got members of my family into and out of trouble in equal measure over the years.
There's no denying Adriano is one of us. He has the same shade of dark brown hair, the distinctive blue eyes. He carries the same air of recklessness my younger brother does. In Lorenzo it's almost endearing but with Adriano there's something far more dangerous.
I flash a look at Lukas who's leaning against the windowsill, a cup of coffee in hand. He shrugs, knowing why I'm wondering why he didn't warn me Adriano was here.
The last time a relative tried to drop in unannounced, I had him turned away. Lorenzo appeared at the gate one day, completely out of the blue, demanding entry. He didn't get it. I wasn't ready for what would undoubtedly be an intense conversation about my duties to the family. I knew he'd take me to task about the years I'd kept my distance.
If he was in Rome, it was probably to visit my mother, who lived in a villa ten kilometers from the city. She wanted to see me.
Both of my brothers made me painfully aware of that, and I couldn't stand another guilt trip. No matter how much it hurt her that I stayed away, it would have been worse if she'd seen me in person. She'd suffered so much in life and I refused to add to her pain.
