Page 27 of The Strength Of A Woman

People are passionate about committing crimes, or they wouldn’t do it.

Now that Cosimo has just dropped this on me, I take a closer look at this possibility.

The Gallos killing Everett York to create an opening for me as husband number three is far-fetched. Not out of the question, but far-fetched.

Criminals may be crafty and good planners, but they lack the sophistication of a seasoned chess master.

But I may be wrong.

Still, it’s too crazy an idea to even think about it.

I’m still lurking in the shadows, collecting clues while trying to connect Giorgio Gallo to Stefano Varela.

I’m still struggling to understand how much of a shared interest they had in bringing me down and making me a member of the Gallo family.

Including Everett’s death in this story is quite a stretch, adding even more depth and darkness to it.

Everett York, like Joseph O’Connor, her first husband, has never been a made man. He was just another man Bianca Gallo had desired.

He had social status and was wealthy enough to provide some legitimacy to her family’s illegal activities.

No one knows how much of a role Giorgio or Sylvia Gallo had played in introducing him to their daughter.

I’d guess none.

Except for a few instances, they didn’t seem that interested in who she was hooking up with.

That’s why it’s so hard to believe that they suddenly went to such great lengths to control her life and the men she married.

Was my marriage to her the result of a big shift in their tactics?

It sure was.

But having someone else removed so I could be part of the family, only for them to end up distrusting me?

Yeah, that doesn’t make much sense to me.

Plus, Bianca’s first husband hadn’t suffered the same fate.He’s still alive, from what I know, although no one has seen him in years.

So that may be outdated information, too.

We like to take the trash out in this business, and the Gallos excel at it. They’re experts, I might say.

As much as Bianca may have pretended to be an airhead at times, she abided by one of the pivotal rules in this life of crime.

Never talk about the past or the missing people.

Her first husband is not missing per se.

The last time anyone had heard of him, he was doing business in Sao Paolo, keeping a low profile.

He must have his reasons.

That’s why I’m baffled that they let him live.

He looks like someone who runs away from his past, and his reasons must be serious enough to make them want to kill him.

He’s alive, though, according to my sources.