Page 108 of Mafia King
“Fine,” she says in the growl of a woman agreeing with a clenched jaw.
“Listen,” I say, “you lose sometimes. When we get back, they’ll be married and we’ll fix it. I promise.”
“Stay there and meet him,” she says. “It works without me. I was just there to distract them. My job was to make them think it wasn’t you getting in the way. It’s messier, but all we need to do is make sure they’re not married before you get back with that stupid fucking thing.”
She’s right. Her job was to keep the unwilling bride distracted while I trapped the groom long enough to change everything.
“All right,” I say. “Tell Armando to stay with you.”
“Thank you!” She makes a kissing noise into the phone and hangs up.
This should be a victory. I should see the road clearing in front of me, but something is wrong.
It’s not that Damiano didn’t ask me about last night’s conversation with Marco or Violetta’s announcement. Word must have gotten to him. I have a song and dance ready to go, but he only texted back that he’d come.
He’s getting married today, and he thinks he’s coming here for a renewed blessing. A gift. A smooth path.
He can’t know what we’re planning. Armando doesn’t even know.
And yet… something is wrong.
Something is very, very wrong.
Ten minutes later, a text from the airport terminal comes in. It’s a bill they always send when a flight plan is complete, and in this case, the plane carrying Gia and Paola landed half an hour ago.
29
VIOLETTA
I hang up with Santino and shake my head. They say women are the dramatic ones.
Not that the day’s activities aren’t exciting and theatrical, with high stakes and the prospect of victory for me, someone I care about, and an entire community of people. All that’s true, but the execution on my side’s pretty simple. All I have to do is say stuff. And all Santino has to do is close a door. All we have to do is get to the lawyer’s office in time to get some artifact that’s going to save the world because Santino believes it will.
Then it’ll be okay. But in the meantime, Gia needs me. She’s going to get off that plane terrified and it’s my job to make sure she knows I’m on her side.
Armando approaches, and I wave.
“Santino says to let me go. He says you know what you have to do?”
He nods. “I got it.”
Armando opens the passenger side door of Marco and Anette’s Buick.
“Hey!” I say to Marco, who’s driving alone. “I hear it’s just us?”
“Just us.” Armando closes the door, and Marco heads for the open gate off the property. “Tavie has his aunt Anette.”
The gate clacks closed behind us, and I look back with a string of doubt that maybe I should have listened to Santino.
Too late now.
Marco and I chat about the weather, the traffic, the innocuous events of my party the night before, but the person I’m pretending to be has something on her mind.
“I just wanted to say…” I stop and clear my throat. “I’m really sorry about what I said last night. I didn’t know it was insulting to you, but Santino said it put both of you in a bad position.”
“It’s okay.”
“I know you can make decisions for Gia and I’m sorry I questioned that. I think she’ll be really happy, and I’ve decided I’m going to help her.”
