Page 43 of Marcello

Hey, man – you got any cocaine?

No, you idiot, don’t come right out and SAY it.

Hey, man – you got anything good?

NO –

Federica said something that jarred me out of my drug-buying daydreams.

I looked over at her. “What was that?”

“I said,” she muttered, irritated that she had to repeat herself, “I shouldn’t have gone through your stuff.”

She paused, then added, “…I’m sorry.”

This was actually a really big moment.

It was the first time she’d ever apologized to me for anything.

In fact, it was the first time I’d ever heard her apologize to anyone.

It must’ve taken her a lot to get to that point.

Looking back, I should have acknowledged it.

I should’ve been all lovey-dovey to encourage her to do more in the future.

But I was preoccupied with something much worse than our fight, so I didn’t exactly react like I should have.

“Oh,” I said. “Uh… thank you.”

She frowned, like she was both surprised and a little pissed off. “That’s it? ‘Thank you’?!”

“What do you want me to say?” I asked defensively.

“I don’t know – I thought you’d be a lot madder.”

“No, I’m… it’s fine. Whatever.”

Getting your family threatened by a gangster had a way of putting other shit in perspective.

“Well,” she said, “as long as you’re fine with it, I’d like to know more about the people in the picture. And the money.”

I wasn’t that fine with it.

What was I gonna say?

I know you really hate the Camorra, but I’ve got to infiltrate them because a mob boss in Florence threatened my family, the people in the picture. That’s why I’ve got all that money – because the mobster gave it to me.

I wasn’t exactly sure I could trust Federica when it came to the Camorra. Not after her fight them or forget about them speech that day at the shrine.

I figured she would pester me endlessly to report Fausto to the cops –

Or worse, go to the cops herself and tell them what she knew.

That could fuck up everything.

So I made a choice: