“Me? Help you? Why the hell would I help you?”
“A couple of reasons. Firstly, I’m guessing you’re going to want revenge on the man who was responsible for the death of your family. For the record, I want revenge on him too. Luckily for both of us, there is a simple way to achieve our goals.”
He pauses to sit up straight, suddenly looking much taller. I swear his voice is deeper when he continues. “The other reason you’re going to help me is because if you don’t, you will find there are far more unpleasant rooms in this house than this one. Don’t forget you are not here as a willing guest. The surroundings are pleasant at the moment but that is because you have not tested me. I advise you to remember that fact when you think about how to handle this situation.”
“Who are you?” I ask, getting a cold chill down the back of my spine. Those eyes of his, briefly warm a moment ago are back to being the dark dead eyes of a shark.
“No doubt your father mentioned my name in the past,” he says, bowing his head slightly. “Nico Casella at your service. What do you know of me?”
I think of all the things I’ve heard about the Casella famiglia. All the blood they’ve spilled. The massacres. The cruelty. The coldness. The way they crush those weaker than them. So many stories. I open my mouth and all that comes out is, “You’re part of the biggest mafia family in the city. According to my father, you once killed six men with your bare hands.”
“How the rumors spread and take flight.”
“So that’s not true?”
“No, it’s not true. I only killed four.”
I look at him to see if he’s joking but I lose myself in those eyes, like a rabbit in headlights. Is that how he kills people? Traps them in his gaze? “You’re Nico Casella?” I ask. “The Nico Casella?”
“You sound surprised.”
“You’re not anything like I thought you’d be.”
“What were you expecting?”
“My father said you were evil. You don’t look evil.”
“Don’t let appearances deceive you. I am a powerful man and I always get what I want. You are going to help me, Aurora.”
“Rory. Everyone calls me Rory.”
“Your name isn’t important. What is important is that you are a woman who can help me achieve my goal.”
“What goal?”
“We will marry as soon as I can arrange it. Once that is done, we will have a child together.” His cellphone rings in his pocket. “Do not go anywhere,” he says, walking out of the room before he answers it.
I sit stunned for a moment. The man’s insane. That’s the only possible explanation. There can’t be any other reason for him to say what he just said. To think that I, a Moretti, would marry him?
I’m not just a Moretti. I might be the last surviving one. For a Moretti to marry a Casella would be inconceivable. Even in my father’s darkest days, he would never allow such a thing. Our worst enemies. The family that ratted us out to the Feds so they RICOed our assets. The reason our house was crumbling. As if I would marry him.
That’s before I even think about what he did to my family.
Or did he do that? I think to myself. I need to put my grief aside and think rationally. What do I actually know for a fact?
Only that there were explosions and a gunfight. I don’t know that my family is dead. For all I know, this whole thing was a set up for him to get me here. Maybe this is my father’s doing. Who knows?
I must not be thinking straight because I become certain my father has set this up. What better way to make sure I marry someone than to put me in a room with someone who took me hostage. I’m a kidnap victim. I have no choice but to marry Nico Casella. Would he do that?
He has spent time trying to do a deal with them. Then threatening them. Maybe, just maybe, this is the result. I’m to be married off to the man the staff simply call Il Diavolo.
Not fucking likely.
I get to my feet and cross to the door, opening it as quietly as I can. No sign of Nico. Good.
I creep out. There’s no sign of anyone. The corridor is wide and painted burgundy. In much better shape than the peeling wallpaper at ours. Framed paintings line the walls. Scenes of Italian street markets, lakesides, the ocean. One of the Colosseum catches my eye. Somewhere I’ve never been except in my dreams.
I look left, then right. No one around. Can I get out of here without being caught?