“It’s not clear what is happening yet, but my guess would be it’s a fight for power. It always is.”
“Over the oil?”
“Yes, and,” he stumbled, “territory.”
“Territory? What, is your family the mafia?” I dripped with sarcasm.
His gaze dropped to mine, and I felt my stomach roll. Suddenly, a flash of memories came roaring back, and everything clicked into place. The unexplained absences, the smell of gasoline, the secret whispering in the next room, and the list went on and on. How could I have been so blind? I knew they had their hands in some dark places, but never could I have imagined that I had fallen in love with a member of the Mafia.
“Can we leave now?” His jaw ticked his discomfort, and at this point I knew I couldn’t blame him.
I turned on my heel, and we made our way toward Vinni.
“Good to see you, boss.” Vinni addressed Elio as I shrugged off the drenched cloak and wrapped my frozen arms around my midsection.
“Vinni, heat,” Elio ordered and removed his jacket, tossing it on top of the cloak. He angled the vent toward me as I slipped into a memory that insisted on taking over my head.
“You’re muddy.” I pushed him away when he came in for a kiss. “Elio!” I shrieked as he picked me up and slammed his lips to mine. When I came up for air, he was grinning like a fool. “You’re in a good mood.”
“I am.”
“And why is that?”
“Two reasons. One, I finally beat someone at their own game, and two, which is the most important, I came home to you.”
I had to bite my lip from grinning. He was always such a gentleman, making sure I knew I was the most important person in his life. He made me feel like I was worthy to be there in his home with all his love.
“And who did you defeat, my love?” I wrapped my arms around his neck, matching his excitement.
“A villain from the north.”
“How mysterious.” I kissed him again, feeding my habit, but when I pulled back, I found blood on my hand. “Oh, my God, Elio, you’re bleeding!”
“My buddy hurt himself. It’s nothing.” He shook it off. “But I do need to check in with my father.”
“Let me check you over.”
“I promise, I’m fine.”
“All right, then.” I hesitated and stepped back to watch him jog inside. He appeared fine. Once he was out of sight, I looked down at my bloody hand as it glistened in the sun and tried to push aside my confusion.
“Sienna.” Elio made me jump. “Sienna!”
“Yeah?”
“I know your head is probably elsewhere, but you will hear me on this one thing. It is very important. I know you probably learned a little about the mafia when you worked at the dockyard, particularly as we later took it over.”
I blinked at him, trying to concentrate as the memory I had been caught in fizzled out.
“Please, Sienna, I feel you should know this.” He turned to face me to show he was serious, and I forced myself to take in what he was saying. “Piero is the boss, I’m the underboss, Francesco is theconsigliere. Each syndicate has the same hierarchy. Right now, that’s all you really need to know, but the ranks are very important. Okay?”
“All right,” I whispered as his words sank in.
“Let’s get some rest, and we can talk later.” I knew he could see my exhaustion, and his eyes softened.
“Yes, I think we really should.” I felt incredibly drained.
“Your place, boss?” Vinni asked through the open partition.