Page 109 of Mafia Queen
“We’re here now.” She rocks me back and forth, tighter and tighter. “That’s all that matters.”
I hold her at arm’s length, smiling at the sight of her, while the car empties of her sister, Donna’s family. Her husband Angelo, Antonio, Elettra, and Tina.
“Where’s Zio Guglielmo?” I ask.
She doesn’t have to answer as my zio gets out last, carrying his old Berettadei partigianiin a holster like a dare. He greets Santino as my husband comes out the front door to welcome his extended family.
Zia watches with me and shakes her head. “We saw when they took him.” She stops herself and makes the sign of the cross to ward off the devils in her thoughts. “And we heard what they did to his hand.”
Santino pats Zio Guglielmo on the back with a bandaged hand. A few days ago, Dr. Aselli sent his assistant to live up here and continue the work on Santino’s hand. Dr. Aselli is too busy to stay himself. As of yesterday, he is Secondo Vasto’s only doctor. We’ll have to get another.
“It’s going to be all right,” I say.
Santino’s body will heal, and so will our little corner of the world. There is an uneasy peace in the valley below. Our enemies are being rooted out, and loyalties are shifting. But there will be an end to it.
“You’ve been through so much,” Zia Madeline says. “And you look like my beautiful niece, all grown up.”
Santino slides his arm over my shoulder, resting his fingertips on the back of my neck, and gives Zia Madeline a kiss on each cheek.
“She is the queen. My queen.”
The family I brought up has formed a receiving line. We greet and double kiss, hug, and cry. They’re here, and I didn’t even realize how much I needed each of them.
Everything’s on the way back to normal. Thank God.
“So this is the famous Torre Cavallo,” Zia Donna says to my king and me. “It’s beautiful.”
“Thank you.” I greet her with a hug, then see my uncle’s mother. “Welcome, Nonna Angelina.” I take her hand and kiss each papery cheek. The last time I saw her, Santino was shoving me into a car after a walk around the block. “You can stay as long as you want.”
“I knew you’d come to accept it.” She squeezes my hands, and I remember how unfazed she was by my screaming on the day Santino stole me away.
“I accepthim, Nonna.” I pull him close. “But now I have the power to change everything else.”
“And she might,” Santino says.
I look up at my husband, who has utter dominance over me, and who I rule with the same power. The unstoppable force and the immovable object, in harmony.
By some unspoken mutual agreement, we kiss, but we have to break apart, laughing, when Tina rushes in to hug my legs, throwing me off balance for a moment. Elettra follows her sister, and I drape my free arm around them both.
For the first time—holding these girls—I have no doubt that it was all worth it.
Epilogue
VIOLETTA
With my family in Torre Cavallo and our rivals either dead or shifted to our side, I thought we were done, but Santino always knew better. I have a sense of his rhythms now. The way his attention shifts too slowly because a doubt holds him up.
“Tell me,” I say in the dark of night when we’re both supposed to be sleeping. The moonlight glints off his eyes when he opens them, and though his doubts pump the brakes on his reply, they do not stop him.
“Dario Lucari,” he says. “He sent a message today about our deal.”
“He didn’t exactly live up to his end.”
“He only promised to help with Marco.”
“Being an asshole, and trying to steal the crown, puts him in the negative.” I get up on my elbow and lay my hand on Santino’s bare chest. Our men weren’t an abstraction to me any more. They have names and families. “He owes us, and we shouldn’t send him anyone until he pays up.”
“Don’t get drunk with power,Forzetta.” This is not a reprimand or instruction. It’s a warning, and he’s right. For the moment, he knows the rules better than I do. He’s my partner but he’s also my mentor.
