Page 58 of Mafia Queen
A man cannot turn his back on a woman, because when he turns around to see her again, she may be gone.
A man cannot bring a woman into his business, because when the net drops on him, she will get caught in it.
But a man cannot keep a woman in a cage and love her at the same time.
Scanning the rifles and semiautomatics, the sawed-off shotguns and long-barreled weapons, I accept there isn’t a right answer.
No. There was another option that solved everything, but I refused it.
She asked me to get in the car and drive far away with her. Away from the safety of what’s known into the arms of what’s not. I could have stayed by her side and protected her without being a target. We could have walked away, but I was too much of a coward to do it before the fire of vengeance was lit under her.
Now I’m stuck with two bad choices. The one I’ve made and that has failed me too many times—to separate from her and trust she’ll stay safe.
Or the one Emilio made that got his wife killed—to bring her into business so she’d stay by his side.
Neither works.
Violetta needs to bring her aunt and uncle up here. They’re not safe, and she won’t rest until they are. But they won’t come unless someone they trust goes to get them, and using force might get one of them killed.
So she goes to get them, or I do, or both of us.
“Hey, uh, Re Santino?” Armando’s voice comes from the stairwell that drops from the side yard. The armory was built as a root cellar and is separate from the rest of the basement.
“Mm?”
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Reaching to the crates below the gun racks, I pull out a more powerful weapon than what I usually carry. A .45 ACP revolver. I spin the cylinder.
“Si.” I don’t like this gun. It’s a prop.
I choose a stark black Glock 20 and wait for Armando to get to the point. He doesn’t start right away. He’s nervous. He’s going to ask me for something. I slide a magazine into the well.
“I figure,” he starts, then clears his throat. “It’s an assumption, but I figure you want me to stay here while you all go to the quarry tonight.”
“Si.” I try to put the gun in the holster I have. It doesn’t fit.
“I want to say, I feel responsible for what happened.”
“I told you it wasn’t your fault.” I search a drawer for a different holster. “You did what I told you.”
“Right. I know. But…there’s a thing you don’t know about, and it’s weighing on me.”
“Spit the toad then.” The new holster fits. Good. At least one thing is going right.
“Okay, so. Me and Gia.” Another throat clear. A cough. Maybe he really is choking on a toad.
“You want the Heimlich maneuver? Celia knows how.”
He waves me away and settles his breath. “I know you’re not happy about my thing with Gia.”
He’s making a big understatement. The only reason he’s still in my presence is that I need him, and I still trust him as long as his heart’s not involved.
“How long were you going behind my back, Mando?” I shoulder the holster and adjust it.
“Since Christmas.”
That’s about eight months of sneaking around, but if I’m honest with myself…they were bad at it. In the back of my mind, I suspected something was happening.
