"Stay with me," he whispers roughly, voice raw. "Just… stay."
Chapter Twenty-One
Luca
She is naked and curled up in my arms asleep when I wake up. I press my lips to her hair and I breathe her in.
I say it quietly to the dark room, to her sleeping face, to whatever version of myself has been making catastrophically poor decisions. "I'm not letting you go this time."
I lie there for a while and then I dress quietly and I go to find Renzo. He is in the study with his laptop open and a coffee going cold beside him and he looks up when I come in.
"Vorresti sederti per questo," he says.You might want to sit for this one.
I sit.
He hands me the tablet.
"Hartley the senator started making noise about an hour ago," he says, watching me scroll. "His son is in the ICU with two broken legs and the man is not handling it quietly. He has gone to the press. The story he is pushing is that Nathalie and her father conspired to have James attacked and hospitalized as a way of dissolving the engagement without losing face. The media is pushing back suspecting that Hartley Jr. was having an affair and Keller had him punished this way."
I look at the articles. It hit three major outlets already. The photographs of James and Alana on the pavement are everywhere, which I had anticipated, but the framing around this has been redirected with impressive speed.
Hartley Sr. has not been idle either. He is making hints about a political family attacking his. His son gets publicly humiliated and hospitalized and he needs a villain It also removes any scrutiny from what James was actually involved in.
I keep scrolling.
"There's more," Renzo says. "I guess the cousin gave Keller a description, he knows you are involved in this. He is fighting back."
I look at him.
"Keller has been making calls since this morning." He leans forward. "He's reaching out tole cosche," he says, using the old Sicilian word for the mafia families, "quelli che aspettano."
The ones who are waiting.
"You know the ones. He is hitting up families with political ambitions who have been sitting on the fence about their allegiance, the ones who would benefit from having a man like Keller owe them a favor." He folds his hands on the desk. "He is building a case against you using last night as the foundation. His argument, from what our contacts can piece together, is that you overstepped. That you interfered violently in the affairs of an American family on their own soil."
I set the tablet down.
"Ascoltami," he says.Listen to me."Most ofla famiglia allargata, won't buy that. You have built real loyalty over a long time and people know what you are and what you represent. But Keller has political currency and he knows exactly which of thele coschewant that currency more than they want to stay in your good books." He pauses. "Four, maybe five significant ones. He will go to them and he will make his case and some of them will listen."
"Una guerra fredda," I say quietly.It'll be a cold war.
"Esatto," Renzo says and he adds, "And we would win it, I want to be clear about that. Coming out the other side would solidify your position as Don more permanently than anything else could."
He looks at me steadily. "But it would cost us. Time, resources, energy, and it would test relationships that have taken years tobuild. Also, we cleaned the hotel footage from yesterday both inside and outside. The hotel owner isn't happy with the drama but I offered him some contacts and he is more than happy to shut his establishment down and say nothing to anyone as long as he doesn't have to speak with the police. I have the feeling that neither Hartley nor Keller would want the cops involved."
They wouldn't, it was a public opinion game.
I look at the window.
I caused this. Not with any intention toward her, I put him on a road and the consequences of that decision are spreading outward.
"I'm going to clean this up," I say.
"Lo so."I know.He pauses. "C'è ancora una cosa che voglio dire."
There is one more thing I want to say.
I look at him.
