Page 115 of Urgent Vows
A marriage between my brother and his niece that will result in children that carry both our family's blood legacies.
His men and mine are working together to scour the city and eradicate the Gutierrez Cartel from our streets.
Three weeks later, we've killed the last cartel infiltrator.
But it's not enough for me or Shaughnessy. I contact Don Russo and tell him if he retires in favor of his son, that I will help them regain their businesses and territory now in the bratva hands.
Shaughnessy negotiates an alliance between the Cosa Nostra in Detroit and the Irish mob that got double crossed by the bratva. The Gutierrez Cartel will lose their allies in Detroit.
We have plans to go after the port cities they took over territory in too. Shaughnessy's mob and my family have been doing business in this country for over a hundred years. We have contacts and allies the cartel can't match. When we are done with them, they won't have business in any territory we have influence or allies.
The Gutierrez Cartel will never threaten my territory or my family again.
I spend more time at home after the hunt, while we put our other plans into motion. I notice that Catalina waits until my mother leaves the main floor to play the piano. It's often late and probably accounts for her lack of sleep. She's going to bed much later than I thought she was.
I tell Mamma that I want my wife to get more rest and she needs to go back to her floor after dinner. I'm surprised when my mother does not argue, but she's worried about Catalina too.
That first night, Catalina's eyes widen in surprise when Mamma doesn't join us in the living room. She does not go directly to the piano though, so I tell her I have work to do in the office. There is always work to do.
Minutes later when I hear the haunting notes of the piano echoing down the hall and through the open door of the study, I nod with satisfaction.
A few days later, the music no longer sounds like a funeral dirge, even if sometimes it starts that way. Catalina has begun playing songs that are more upbeat. She's working through her grief.
The next morning at breakfast she asks about Carlotta. "Is Carlotta living with Zia Lora at the mansion?" My wife's pretty lips twist in a half-frown. "I should have asked before."
"No, you shouldn't." I hate that she feels like the weight of both her family and mine are on her shoulders.
Carrying that burden is my job.
"I'm surprised neither of them have called me, to tell you the truth."
"Carlotta does not have a cell phone and your aunt has a new one to go with her new life in Italy."
Surprise flickers in Catalina's eyes. "Zia Lora moved to Italy?"
"She needed a fresh start." And I needed her out of New York.
"Life here wasn't going to be easy for her. Thank you for arranging that."
"My pleasure."
"Why doesn't Carlotta have a phone?"
"I don't trust her."
"What's she going to do, call the FEDs?" Catalina jokes.
But I don't smile. "It's a possibility. She took your father's death hard."
"That doesn't mean she'd turn snitch."
"If it gets her what she wants?"
Catalina sighs. "I don't want to believe it, but maybe. What are you going to do with her?"
"I'll have her brought to dinner tonight so we can talk about that."
The smile my wife gives me is small, but genuine. "I'd like that, thank you."
