“We are ready to begin,” Alessandro says as he sits down. “As you all know, Don Catalan has declared war on the Sorvino family. He wants Frankie, and he wants him dead.”
“Why?” my father asks, stroking his beard. “Why Frankie?”
“A guy attacked Amelia and Frankie put him in a coma, with some permanent injuries. It turns out it’s Don Catalan’s bastard nephew.”
My father shakes his head. “He’s using that as an excuse to move into our territory. That man has wanted to own New York since he ascended.”
I listen, taking in what they’re saying. My uncles are muttering, but it’s Katya who speaks next, “We’re obviously not handing them Frankie, which means there's going to be bad blood between their family and ours.”
She looks around as though challenging anyone to disagree with her. I see a small smile on Alessandro’s lips; he loves her power plays. She continues, “Frankie needs to lie low, away from New York, until we can figure out what to do with the Don and his soldiers. New York isn’t safe. He has many people here.”
I sit straighter, looking over at Katya. “We shouldn’t run from him. It’ll show him we’re weak.”
Alessandro speaks, “We aren’t going to run. If they bring war to our door, we will fight, but for now, they just want you. So we’re going to hide you away until we can come up with a plan to stop him. This isn’t a request, Francesco.”
When he uses my full name, it means business, and everyone at the table murmurs. I look into Alessandro’s eyes and bow my head in submission, I may be key to the family, but he is the Don. He leads us.
Katya starts speaking again, “It’ll have to be out of state, some affiliate establishments that you can visit and check on in different states. Instead of keeping you in a safe house, which undoubtedly will be traced, we’re going to keep you moving. Not settling in one place for too long will make you hard to trace. Burner phones only, and an untraceable VPN for emails and video calls to us.”
I nod. I’ve done this for other members who’d needed to hide, so it is familiar to me. We don’t take the typical approach to things.
Hiding in safe houses just makes you a sitting duck because Katya is right. They always find out where you are.
Katya’s father stands. “We are happy to have him check in on our establishments for Katya as well,” he says. “That should keep him plenty busy.”
At least I’ll have work to distract me from Amelia’s coldness. I nod to the old man, and Alessandro claps his hands. “It’s decided then. You leave tomorrow morning for Pennsylvania. Do you want us to tell your wife?”
“I can do it,” I say with a frown. “She won’t be happy about it, I’ll bet, but it’s probably best it comes from me.”
Alessandro nods and stands. “Thank you, everyone, for coming. We will meet to discuss what to do about Don Catalan in the future, but for now, our priority is to keep Frankie and Amelia off the radar. That means telling no one of this plan, not even your most trusted guard.”
Everyone murmurs their agreement, and they start to stand, heading for the door. I meet Alessandro’s eyes, is that worry? I don’t have time to find out. He turns and leaves through another door with Katya next to him.
I leave through the main exit into the entrance hallway and then climb the stairs slowly. I reach Amelia’s room and knock. “Amelia? We need to talk.”
“We have nothing to talk about,” she calls back. She clearly thinks I want to talk about us.
“About the plan for our safety,” I say calmly, trying not to let my emotions get the best of me. “You need to pack.”
The door swings open. “Where are we going?”
“On the run, essentially,” I explain. “We’re going to be out of state at least until Alessandro figures out how to deal with Jose.”
She frowns. “How long will we be gone?”
“You know I don’t have the answer for that, Amelia,” I say honestly.
She sighs and looks away before meeting my gaze. “How much should I pack?”
“Don’t overdo it. We’ll be in a standard car that won’t draw attention to us, but you can probably do an overnight bag and one piece of large luggage.”
She nods. “Thank you. When are we leaving?”
“In the morning,” I say. “Although I would prefer to leave tonight since no one would be expecting that.”
Amelia looks behind her. “If I get packed quickly, can we go to Papa’s house? I want to say goodbye because I don’t know when I’ll see him again.”
“Okay,” I say. “That’s probably a good idea, something else they won’t expect from us. Leaving from there, we can jump onto the interstate and head straight for our destination.”