I don’t want to trust anyone but he’s making it impossible. He clearly has more experience with criminals than I’ll ever possess. I need his help especially with Lirim’s ugly mug on the horizon if I don’t marry Marchello. Like, there’s no choice, of course I’m going to choose the handsome young guy who will eventually break my heart.
Besnik’s warnings are beginning to make sense. I’m relieved he was telling the truth about me being in danger, but now I’m concerned for his safety too.
“Looks to me like your dad had a side business set up and he was in charge of laundering money through corporations. See this?” He points to the initials BC. “That’s bitcoin. He deposited money in their ATMs and put it in the bitcoin wallets and abracadabra, it’s clean money.”
I have no words. I’m tapped out. I can’t believe the man I adored and respected hid all this from me.
“No doubt, they are looking for this book. Maybe your father was skimming, maybe he wasn’t. I don’t know but we need to hand this over to Besnik, along with the head of the mafia because we can’t trust anyone else, or it will be our necks. I’ll have to consult Dante and we’ll handle it.”
“Okay.” I’m beginning to feel queasy. “I’m not sure we can totally trust them. Anyone with this information can clean out the Albanian’s accounts. So, doesn’t that mean we could have. . . lots of people out for blood? If we get caught by some thugs, I’m telling you now, I don’t have a good poker face.”
“We’ll have to make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, won’t we? I believe you are innocent, and so does Besnik and he is your saving grace because he is going to sell your innocence to the head guy. Besnik’s name means loyalty and I think your dad gave him the powers he did because he trusted him to keep you safe. I also believe he loves you more than anything.”
“Okay.” I believe Marchello. However, I can’t help but wonder who else knows about the book and how many other people are out for blood in order to find it first. I’m no one, my life has no value to anyone but I’m smart enough to know a ruthless person looking for their meal ticket isn’t going to blink an eye snuffing me out to get it, if they know I have it. And obviously I’m the most likely person to have it. And I do.
I’m not liking the fact that we hold the holy grail of cryptocurrency to a notoriously bloody band of organized criminals. And right now, our rival is holding my book.
I put my hand out for the book, he lays it in my palm and then he hands over the money which I shove in my coat pocket before I run to the bathroom and puke.
After I clean up and have a second to think, I put the book in a zipper pocket inside my purse and the money in a cosmetic travel bag. It will have to do for now. I have to keep it hidden until we’re married. Who knows how many millions is in the cyber money and I’d only be one more whacked body for the Micheli family, who built their family just like everyone else in Italy.
Busting heads, blowing up shit and screwing each other over as the bodies pile up when times are really bad. It’s been a long time since that happened, and I hope I don’t see it replay on my account.
Fuck.
I can’t wait to get rid of this damn book, but it’s the bargaining chip for our safety. We have time, but it’s running out as someone almost found it today and I’m sure Marchello has a safe around here somewhere.
My survival is this book and gaining protection from either of our families, but I’ll wager my odds are better with a change of scenery.
And how could Papa have hidden this from me all this time? I know it was to protect me but my goodness, the man lived a life that now makes a good book of riddles.
Ihastily throw clothes in Papa’s suitcase, and we load the limo. The driver waited for us, sensing it was the right thing to do and Marchello tips him handsomely for his service. If I’ve learned anything from this sordid affair it’s that it pays to always have cash on hand because you never know when you’ll need it.
Money does talk, I only wish the money I found could tell me where it’s from and why my Papa had it.
It makes sense to live with Marchello on many levels. One, his place is more secure than my condo and I will be safer. But I need to keep the black book safe on me until we’re married because we’re in this together.
And two, it’s the next step for my new life and that’s what was on my mind when I locked the door to my childhood home and, with it, the bad memories.
I’m ready for the next chapter and rationalize that living with my new fiancé will keep up the façade. Plus, there will be no more lonely nights with an old movie and reading a book until I fall asleep alone. I’m sure Marchello will keep me occupied.
He’s full of secrets as he takes a phone call and walks out of the room. He comes back to tell me tonight is Sunday and we have a family dinner at his mother’s. My life has turned into a rollercoaster.
I’m used to a quiet life, spent mostly alone. But this marriage will bring with it a ready-made family. I’m on the way to meet this family as he drives us in his Ferrari, a car that, by the way, screamsdrug dealer.
For some girls, this would be exciting and . . .normal. But I’m making blunders and there will surely be more because this whole couple thing is unexpected. I’m used to making decisions on the fly and without having to consult with a partner. For example, I made plans with Mila tonight and had to cancel so I could go to his family dinner. Mila was supportive and understanding.
From what Marchello has shared, his mother acts like the Queen of England and only husbands and wives and their children are invited to family dinners. The few exceptions are her closest friends and some guy named Riccardo, whoever that is.
I hold on to the oh-shit-handle as he takes a hairpin turn too fast and my butt slides in the seat. I smooth an expensive dress Marchello had delivered to his condo for the occasion. I’ve had no time to shop and happily accepted.
“You look beautiful,” Marchello says, as he helps me out of the car in a semi-rural part of Tuscany.
“I’m not,” I reply but I let him slip his hand in mine as we walk towards the family’s large villa.
“You are. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself all the time.”
“Now that I do know,” I chuckle.