“Where have you been all these years?” Betto fired at me without so much as a greeting.
“Not here, that’s for certain,” I said, deadpan, and heard Ugo clear his throat as a warning not to push them too far. I couldn’t help it. Who asked that only ten seconds after meeting me? It was, after all, a long story and not one I was willing to jump into without a lot of thought.
“Perhaps that should wait for another time, Betto.” Nonna steered me away from them, and we stopped at another group of people.
I wasn’t sure how many people I met, but there wasn’t one name that stuck with me. Colors and sounds were a blur, and by the time I was shown to my room, I was utterly exhausted.
“Is it always like that?” I asked Ugo, who stayed behind after one of the staff made sure my bed was turned down.
“Oh, just wait.” He moved about my room, opening and closing jewelry boxes, little cabinets, and closets. “This place will wear you down to a nub, and when you don’t think you can take it anymore, the real fun begins.”
“Such as?” I yawned kicked off my shoes.
“You may wear the ring and have their blood, so they can’t deny you being here, but they will be watching your every move, making sure you are who you say you are. Believe me, they know all about you and Elio, and they’ll pump you for as much information as possible without you even realizing it.”
“I’m ready for all of that.”
“Right,” he rubbed his head, leaning against the desk, “but that’s just that part.”
“What does that mean?”
“Want me to be blunt?”
“Yes.”
“The three men you met tonight, the elders.”
“The ones with the matching names?”
“Yes, them.” He sighed. “They are my grandfather’s brothers, my uncles. They and Nonna are like the counselors, the hierarchy. What they say goes, and those three will protect you.”
“You think Nonna would hurt me?”
“I don’t trust anyone here not to hurt you, Sienna. Your return will flip the family upside down. You must watch out for everyone. This house is steeped in money, power, and greed.”
“I can do that. I’m pretty good at looking out for myself.”
“Good, because you’re a female wearing a ring meant for a male. No syndicate like the Coppolas wants a female ruler. It’s a man’s world, and in their eyes, it can’t happen.”
“Nonna Rosa isn’t a man, but she certainly seems to hold a lot of the power here.”
“Yes and no. Yes, but only because her husband was the Don. She outlived him, so she is considered one of the elders. The elders hold a tremendous amount of power in the family because they’ve been here the longest. Nonna can’t make a move on her own without the uncles’ agreement. However, she’s very smart and has found ways to work around them at times. Still, because she is a woman, she could never take over completely, and it is always a frustration for her. Unless, of course, she was a woman who had that.” He pointed to my ring. “So, what do you do when your gender gets in the way of your evil plan?” He lifted his brows and made a questionable face.
“You bring in someone you can control?” I guessed.
“Right. Enter Stefano. He is male and he is a Coppola, so she needs him to be head of the family, but mostly because he’s stupid and easy for her to manipulate.”
“But wouldn’t he be the next in line to take the seat, anyway?”
“Bloodline, yes, but if the uncles got wind of how reckless and bold he really is, especially the things he’s pulling with the Capris, they’d remove him and appoint someone else. It’s why Nonna keeps him away from the uncles as much as possible. Don’t get me wrong, the elders want nothing more than to see Piero burned at the stake so they could get what’s his.”
“I know Piero has more land than the Coppolas.”
“It’s not just about the amount of land, it’s also that they have very rich soil and grow the best grapes in all of Italy. They also have some of the best ports in the county. Not to mention their contacts in America and other countries. Piero and Elio have done an extremely good job of absorbing territory. They also keep out of the media, which is smart, and most of all, they are charming. People really like them, and they do a lot for their community.”
I closed my eyes, missing Elio. We had a long road ahead of us. I wished we could just leave and be alone to live together in peace.
“Stefano’s father died of cancer, right?”