“What’s going on?” I ask, concerned about my eldest sister whose husband died after my father ordered his murder after he cheated on her.
“She has her hands full with Natalia,” Romeo says. “She’s getting frustrated living here, and wants to return permanently to Tuscany, but she’s worried about what will happen there.” And they don’t have to tell me what they mean. I know what they do. If we sent Rosa back to Tuscany, we’d have to send a veritable army with her. She might not be safe from her ex’s family. “She’s back there with her bodyguards visiting for now, but left Natalia with us.”
“How is Natalia?” I ask about my littlest niece, my only niece. Rosa’s only daughter turned six years old.
Santo grins. “Perfect.”
Romeo clears his throat. “Anything we need to know about what happened behind bars, brother?”
I shake my head. “No, man. Only thing I want you to know is that I’m recruiting my cellmate to be one of us.” Romeo’s face registers mild surprise, his eyebrows rising. He trusts me. I’ve never recruited anyone to our family before, and he likely knows that if I am now, it’s for good reason.
“Anyone give you shit?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t they? I got it handled, though.”
Romeo grins. “Of course you do.”
We have a lot to catch up on. Romeo instructs Santo to take us to one of our restaurants in the North End. My family owns bakeries and restaurants, among other establishments. God, does it feel good to be back. The tension in my shoulders eases just with the smell of garlic, olive oil, and basil from one of our plants in the back.
“You getting sentimental in your old age, old man?” Mario says, smacking my back. I shrug. Maybe I am.
We feast on scallops, frutti di mare, parmigiana di melanzane, and fresh-baked focaccia bread dipped in olive oil imported from Italy while my brothers fill me in. They tell me everything that’s happened. Who’s gotten married, who’s gotten divorced, who’s had a baby, who’s died. We have a large family from here to Italy.
It isn’t until we’re feasting on tiramisu and drinking espresso that Romeo clears his throat, and everyone goes silent. “I told you I had a surprise for you, Orlando.”
I look at him and hold his gaze a moment. “This isn’t it?”
He shakes his head. “No.” He clears his throat. “Tavi’s arranged marriage fell through.”
Shit, I know where this is going.
“And you know stealing from The Family is a death sentence, unless you have something very, very good to trade.”
“I do.”
There’s a pregnant pause before he continues. “The Regazza father stole from us, brother.”
“And?”
“We accepted his bargain.”
I already know what he’s gonna tell me. I already know where this is going. But I want to hear him say the words. I want him to voice it.
“What’s her name?”
He sighs. “Elise Regazza.”
I’ve known for a very long time that when I marry and what I do with the rest of my life is not my choice, is beyond my control. It’s no matter, I tell myself. Marriage for my family means nothing. A business arrangement, no more, no less.
Romeo clears his throat. “Youngest daughter. She’s gorgeous, brother. Never saw her myself, but Rosa did. Swore she’d be a good fit.”
“What about Mama?”
“What about her?” There’s challenge in his eyes.
“You tell her?”
He shakes his head. “She’ll want a big wedding, big to-do. This needs to happen fast. We need more solidification in our Family after what’s happened in the past year.” He sighs. It isn’t just what happened when I was behind bars but my father’s death as well. “The Family’s weaker now, Orlando.”
I look to Tavi. “What happened to the girl you were going to marry?”
He scowls. “Suicide.”
Jesus.
“Did you know her?” I don’t know why it matters to me.
He shakes his head.
Suicide. Jesus. She could’ve been married to my brother, a good man, one could argue. Mob, yeah, but loyal to the core. He’d have taken good care of her. But she took her own life in the face of marriage to a man she didn’t know.
“When?”
Romeo draws in a breath and lets it out slowly. “Tonight. We’ve arranged for her to meet you in your townhouse, and Father Richard’s ready to preside.” He smiles. “Your welcome home present.”
There’s a reason I was released early. I don’t know what Romeo did to make that happen. Not sure I want to know.
And then it dawns on me. If we need to marry rapidly, we need to replenish our soldiers. “Who, Romeo? Who died?”
He looks at the table. I’m fixated on the way his fingertips steeple.
“Nicolo. Matteo. Marcellus.” His voice cracks. “We almost lost Leo, but he’s in intensive care, and he’s not going down that fucking easily.”
God. God.
Nicolo, Matteo, Marcellus, all cousins.
The food I’ve eaten sits like a rock in my belly. If I’d been there…