Page 109 of Urgent Vows
Still, Zia Lora treated me better than her brother did. She taught me to cook. She praised my ability on the piano. She hugged me and often tried to point out my good qualities to Francesco.
A sudden rush of appreciation for her rolls through me. "I know, Zia."
"You need to talk to your husband," Zia Lora says to me appealingly. "He wants to send me and Giovi back to Detroit."
I want to blurt out that Severu isn't going to let Zio Giovi go anywhere, but of course I can't. So, I say, "I think Zio would enjoy that."
"He's no longer capo. It won't be the same. He won't have any standing." Her gaze goes distant. "It was so different when we were first married. He was a big man in Detroit. He ran the clubs, did you know that?"
I shake my head. Zio Giovi talks about his family back in Detroit. His favorite restaurants. But never his time as capo.
"There were parties every weekend." She shakes her head. "Important people came to our clubs. Beautiful people. He had connections everywhere. With the Irish, the Colombians, even the local gangs. Your uncle was good at networking. It all changed though. We didn't have children."
And somehow that translated to Zio Giovi passing his role onto his nephew and moving to Long Island. It had to have been hard for both of them.
"He has no standing here," I remind my aunt. "At least there, he would be a soldier. He would have his family."
He'd given it all up so Zia Lora could keep the Jilani home running and take care of my sister and me. But Francesco wanted it and what he wanted, he got.
Until Severu made sure he didn't.
"A soldier?" Zia asks, shocked. "I did not marry a mere soldier. I married a capo."
This isn't about Zio Giovi at all. It's about Zia Lora andherstanding. Here she is the sister of the former consigliere. Francesco's position gave her clout, and she believes it will continue to do so.
She doesn't know that the capos are aware of how Francesco tried to dupe Severu into marrying me thinking I was Carlotta. But what the capos know, their women will eventually know. They won't learn about how my father really died, but they'll all believe the car accident was the result of his frame of mind after his don discovered his duplicity.
It won't be any time at all before Zia finds herself on the outside of the society she's currently a leading lady in. I pity her, knowing how devastating that will be for her. If her husband turns out to be the rat, her life will be all but over.
If only I could protect her and my uncle, but that is not within my power.
Chapter 35
CATALINA
The long day and the press of people begins to get to me. Aldo takes another call and I text him, telling him I'm going to be in Francesco's office. I'd rather go to my old bedroom, but I'm not up to climbing the steps in my heels.
There. Bodyguard alerted to my plans.
The computer is still on the desk. The room was never messy, so it doesn't look like anything has changed, though I know that Big Sal has emptied the filing cabinets and drawers of the desk. Did he find all the secret compartments?
I sit down and idly press the piece of molding that pops the hidden gun storage in the center down. The Glock is still there along with a silencer.
My conversation with my aunt plays over in my head, adding sympathy to my worry for my uncle. Then something she said takes on additional meaning. Zio Giovi had connections with the Colombians. The Gutierrez Cartel is based out of Colombia.
Nausea climbs up my throat and I lift the lid of the laptop. Pulling up my aunt's social media I search for images she would have posted before coming to Long Island. It takes a long time, but I finally find photos from back then. There are several pictures of my uncle with a man I recognize. He was not then what he is now, but the younger man in those photos is now the head of the Gutierrez Cartel.
Oh, God. I'm really going to throw up.
This is no coincidence. Is it why Severu wants to question Zio Giovi? Did someone remember that he had the connection to the cartel back in Detroit?
"I thought I saw you come in here. I know how you hate crowds,tesorina. You should never have been forced to marry the don."
Looking up at my uncle, my heart hurts under the genuine concern reflected in his caring gaze, his tone first understanding and then angry. I feel the inevitable rushing toward us with the power and destruction of a crazed tiger.
"Zio." It is all I can say.
He notices immediately that I am upset and steps toward me. "Are you alright,tesorina? I did not think you would grieve your father, but you have such a tender heart."
