Sergio nods, then grins. “I absolutely would not have. But now you’ve forced my hand, haven’t you?”
Dario blows out a breath, and shakes his head. “You left me no choice, brother.”
Sergio’s face is an unreadable mask as Romeo enters the war room followed by Mario, Santo, Orlando, Tavi, and Mario’s wife Gloria.
“Timeo and Ricco can’t be here, but they want to be conferenced in,” Sergio says. I feel my body tighten. Timeo and Ricco are my other brothers, though Timeo has always been close with me, and Ricco is so preoccupied with his own family he’s never given me shit about things like Sergio.
“Fair,” Romeo says with a nod. “Since what Vivia will tell us impacts all of us.” Romeo turns to me. “Is that right?”
I nod.
Romeo pulls out an enormous tablet and flicks a few buttons. “Here,” he says to Sergio. “But before you call them, I want you to promise us that there will be no violence. No violence against one another again, Sergio. You’re in my territory now. Are we clear?”
Sergio nods. “If what Dario tells us about Vivia is true, I have no need.” He speaks with the conviction of a cold-blooded killer. I hate that he’s assumed the worst of me. I want to be right again with him. Even though we’ve never been close, the chasm between us makes me ache inside.
He calls Timeo and Ricco, who are sitting together somewhere in Italy. I can tell by the vivid landscape behind them, the vineyard and walkway my family frequented when I was a child.
Timeo’s brows rise when he sees me. Ricco waves. “Vivia. You’re there, and you’re in one piece. I can only assume what we thought about you isn’t true, then?”
I give him a forced smile. “Right. I’m glad at least one of you has the good sense to make that assumption, but I thank you just the same.”
Timeo chokes on his sip of wine and Sergio goes rigid in front of the tablet. Dario chuckles softly beside me.
Timeo leans in, his eyes earnest. “Are you alright, Vivia?” His voice hardens. “Did anyone hurt you?”
“I’m alright,” I tell him. “And yes, many people have hurt me.” I look involuntarily at Sergio who doesn’t flinch or even blink.
Timeo’s jaw tightens. “Give us their names, little sister.”
I clear my throat. “Unless I’m mistaken, Timeo, that’s why we’re all here tonight. But I will say for the record that after my initial… questioning, Dario believed me. He kept me safe and protected me and made sure that no one hurt us.”
Orlando smiles. Romeo nods. My brothers listen intently.
“We’ll remember that, Dario,” Timeo says to him. Dario responds by draping a casual arm over my shoulders, and my heart squeezes at the silent declaration.
I’m shaking. I have so much to tell them I hardly know where to begin, but I know that the truth starts here, with me, that I owe it to them. That none of this gets any better until the truth is out.
I clear my throat. “I’m going to start at the beginning.”
Dario squeezes my shoulder. Mario opens up a tablet and turns to a fresh page, as if taking notes. His monitors blink and buzz behind him as he prepares to do his job. Orlando sits up straighter. Tavi’s eyes are straight on me, as are Santo’s.
“Several months ago, I had an affair with Gray Mullet. I did it behind your backs. I blackmailed and bribed my bodyguards so they wouldn’t rat me out.”
“Names,” Sergio grinds out. “Timeo, find their names.”
“Already on it,” Mario says. “Both were recently killed.”
My heart tightens. I didn’t know that. I have to continue.
“I didn’t know that Gray was involved with a fledgling group, headed by José Sanchez of Columbia. I found this out two days ago by digging through transactions they made with Gray. They aren’t organized yet. They’ve pulled members together, united as forces in the Columbian Army. They began as a quasi-military group but have gone on to form a rough mob of sorts. They want a foothold here in New England.”
“Okay, so… no offense or anything, Vivia?” Timeo says gently. “But you’re… a mafia princess. Where did you get all that information? How did you find this out?”
I swallow the lump in my throat and force my voice to stay strong. “I had to. Dario put his life on the line for me. You all gave me up for dead. The only reason I left Dario to go find out what I needed to know was because it was so important for me to clear my name.” I sigh before I draw in another deep breath. “And come back to Dario. So I left, and when I left, I thought about what Gray had access to. My phone. A bank account. So, I had to do whatever investigation I could with the limited time and resources I had.”
I pull out a notebook and a cell phone. “I hacked into Gray’s bank account and traced payments made from his account. I emptied my bank account and used cash to bribe people at the wharf. They were happy to talk for money. I cut off my hair and tried to keep my identity secret, which didn’t prove to be that hard. ” My voice wobbles. “The first payment hit his account the day after we had our first date.”
“You went back to the wharf where they took you,” Gloria says quietly, as if in awe of my boldness. I’m not surprised at all. No one’s ever given me much credit for anything.