“Yes, but what if she needs me?”
“She’ll let you or Ugo know if she needs you.” He smiled. “I can’t wait to see that family fall. I’ll bask in the rubble when she takes them down.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, feeling so burned out on things I couldn’t control. “So, let’s see, we have no notebook, Anna and Mariano have slipped through our fingers, my girl is playing double agent in the enemy’s house, the mole you flushed out of Nonna’s house never made it home, and Nonna has me being watched by an old colleague of mine.”
Papa leaned forward and rubbed the back of his neck while he thought.
“I agree the waters are murky right now, but everything needs to continue to run as normal. Any change, and they’ll suspect something. Behind the scenes, I know we’ve had to pull back and pivot our original plan in order to help out Sienna with this new one. But, son, it’s a good plan, and we haven’t had a move this big, ever.”
“When should we tell Mama?” He made a face, and I knew she already knew. “And?”
“She isn’t happy that Sienna is there, but she has confidence in her. She also knows you wouldn’t dream of letting Sienna go after this thing is done.”
“Smart woman.”
“You have no idea.” He chuckled to himself, and I only hoped that someday my marriage would be like theirs. “Let that jealousy curse in from time to time,figlio. It will keep you on your toes and won’t let you take her for granted.”
Francesco wormed his way into my thoughts, and I asked a question that had been on my mind for some time now.
“Do we know what Elenora and Francesco’s plan was after she gave him Sienna to hide?” Papa slid his finger over the spine of her journal. I knew he had been reading it.
“I don’t think they really had a plan other than to get Sienna out of there. Francesco alluded to some growing problems within the Coppola house and how Theo was getting more physical. I think it was only a matter of time before something would have happened.”
“Hmm, okay.” I thought about how frightening it must have been living under that roof and what it must be like now.
“However, I don’t think Francesco had any idea Elenora was going to be basically absent from Sienna’s life. He did mention that she wasn’t very maternal and would even go silent for years on him.”
“Begs you to wonder just what she was up to.”
“I wondered the same thing.” He leaned back. “She was running from something, but Francesco never knew exactly what. He tried to help, but she’d never share any more than just a simple ‘I can’t tell you.’ Apparently, when she returned here and located Sienna, she was more than a little angry. Francesco assumed it was because of who we were. The Capris. And I do think he’s right in that, but my gut tells me there’s more.”
“Mine does, too.”
“I guess time will bring the truth.”
I nodded and tried to relax, and then eyed the journal again.
“Find anything?”
“Just a young girl looking for answers at a time when she really needed them.”
He went behind the bar to wash out his glass while I stared at the notebook with an idea. Papa left, and I stretched out on the couch, needing to rest my head for a bit.
* * *
I hadn’t meant to sleep through the night, and morning came way too quickly. I stretched my sore neck and hurried to get ready for the day.
I parked in my reserved spot right next to a shade tree and opened the door to my office building. Niccola and Vinni had met me at the dockyard early that morning so we could go over the tapes from the last two weeks. It had been quiet, and our guess was that Stefano and his rats had a certain guest at their house who was now monopolizing their concentration. I had to quickly push away the thought of Sienna living there.
“Mr. Capri.” My receptionist, Sofia, struggled to get her heels back on as she hobbled over to greet me. “Your ten o’clock cancelled, I’m afraid, sir, but your meeting with Smith and Lodge is still a go this afternoon. Also, ah…”
She struggled to keep up with me, but I didn’t break stride, as I needed to get behind closed doors to settle my head. I was concerned that the Coppolas might try another distraction while they dealt with Sienna. I opened the door and stopped short when I saw who sat like royalty on my very expensive lambskin couch.
“Mrs. Violetta is here,” she said, and I shot Elenora and Oscar an annoyed look. “I’m sorry. They didn’t want to wait in the conference room.”
“It’s fine,” I grunted over my shoulder and waited for her to leave before I approached my desk. “I’d say this is a lovely surprise, but we both know I’d be lying,” I said in a dismissive tone.
“We need to have a chat.” She didn’t get up to greet me. That was one of the problems with Elenora. She lacked respect for me but demanded it for herself.