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“He met with my parents a few times when I was little. That’s what my dad told me to call him.” Hailey rubbed her forehead. “The only reason I remember is because he came around again after my parents left… left the Familia. Unlike my grandfather, he wasn’t angry. He brought his kids. Angelo was about my age, I think, and Lucrezia a few years younger.”

“That lines up with what we know.” Don DiNardo sighed. “Do you remember anything in particular about him? Anything that could help us know what to expect from him?”

Hailey shook her head again, spreading her hands wide. “Not really. I’m sorry. The only thing I remember is that he brought me a doll that last time. He seemed kind. And he wasn’t very involved with anything my grandfather did.”

Don Dinardo looked at me. “Have you ever heard his name?”

I shook my head emphatically.

The don sighed.

“I was hoping for a bit more,” he admitted, as he looked back at Hailey. She stared at him helplessly, like she felt bad that she didn’t know anything else. “You remember him as being kind, but apparently he poisoned the vast majority of Don Bianco’s men during his ascent to the head of the family.”

“Oh my goodness…” Hailey clapped her hands over her mouth. “How awful!” She shook her head. “Not that my grandfather’s men were… but still. I cannot imagine Uncle Dante doing that.”

Oh.

Well.

That had actually been me.

I bit my lip to keep from saying anything.

If this new Don Bianco was going to be blamed for it, that was far safer for me than admitting what I’d done. Besides, I felt like Tomas’ family was just starting to trust me. And they had let me take over the conservatory.

I certainly didn’t want them looking too closely at the plants that had been installed in the northwest corner of the room.

They might think that if I was willing to poison an entire mafia family once, I might be willing to do it again.

They wouldn’t be wrong, either.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Tomas

When Ivy wasn’t in the conservatory, she was in the small storage room that had been converted into a stillroom, just for her. It was right next to the conservatory, and I’d cleared it out for her when she said she wanted a place to dry her herbs and plants and mix things.

In addition to the tinctures she’d made to help Clara’s nausea, she’d also done up a light sleeping potion for Aunt Serena, and something for a nasty cough that one of the maid’s sons had. How she knew what to do, I had no idea, but it seemed to make her as happy as the other ladies and their charities. At least it kept her occupied, and it didn’t seem like she was interested in running.

I hadn’t had a good reason to spank her in a few days, which was a bit disappointing, but on the other hand I figured good behavior was a good sign. She did need to learn that she couldn’t just spend all her time in the conservatory. And every night, she still called me Daddy while she was full of my cock.

I couldn’t get enough of her. It was probably a good thing that I had my own duties and she had something to entertain her, because otherwise we’d never leave the bedroom.

Today, though, the new Don Bianco was coming, with some of his men. The house was in an uproar getting ready—not just to host, but also to protect ourselves. Everyone except Ivy and her gardeners, who seemed unbothered by the visit. I couldn’t decide if it was an act or not.

Watching her digging in the dirt, I waited until she’d finished patting it in place around the new arrival to her garden, a look of satisfaction on her face before I ambled out of the shadows and over to where she was bent over the garden bed.

“It’s time, little flower.”

Ivy sighed, reached up to brush a lock of hair out of her face, and smeared some dirt across her face as she did so.

“Do I have to?” Her tone was almost whining, the way it often became when it was time for her to stop gardening. “It’s not as though they really need me for anything.”

“That’s not true.”

Don DiNardo had asked her to come specifically in case she recognized anyone. Whatever she could tell him about any singular person would be more information than we had right now. Even if she didn’t see anyone familiar, that would be something – since she’d seen most of Don Bianco’s men at one point or another while she’d been with him.

She huffed.