“Yes, we are,” a young man right beside me said. It took me a second to recognize him as Enzo’s son. They had the same maroon hair and light brown eyes. Only his name wouldn’t come to my mind.
“Would you mind if I join you to show my son that a woman can play poker too?”
Chuckles sounded.
Enzo’s son pushed back his chair and stood, towering over me. “You can have my chair. I’m going to grab some food.” He was a handsome man in his early twentieth with dimples that probably got him plenty of attention from the ladies. Dante had mentioned him before because he worked as a second Enforcer with Arturo. He was the moderate butcher from the two of them. Finally, his name clicked.
“Thank you, Santino.”
He inclined his head then turned and strode away. A look of pride lay in Enzo’s face. I sank down. “What are the limits?”
“Ten and twenty.”
I realized I didn’t have my wallet with me. In the confusion of the day, I wasn’t even sure where it was. “Someone will have to lend me some money.”
An older man across from me took out a wad of cash and gave me half of it. “I offer fair interest rates.”
I chuckled.
“I negotiated them with him,” Leonas said proudly.
I narrowed my eyes. “Hmm. Very well.” Considering that Leonas didn’t know percentage calculation yet, I doubted the rates were fair. “I’ll let Dante check the details of our arrangement later.”
The men bellowed.
“Let’s say we forget about the interest rates,” he said with a wink. Considering he was my father’s age, I knew it was the typical soldier humor, and I actually preferred it to the stiff reverence I often received.
Leonas beamed at me as we began to play. I could see that a weight had lifted off his shoulders. He was still young, younger than Anna and for him, it was easier to get past the seriousness of the situation.
I allowed myself to be distracted by the game and Leonas’ eagerness to prove his worth.
My eyes prickled with tiredness when the front door opened in the early morning. I jumped to my feet and so did everyone else. Dante, Pietro, Danilo and Samuel stepped in, looking exhausted, ruffled and subdued. The rising sun illuminated their forlorn faces almost mockingly.
Leonas darted toward them and hugged Dante’s middle. “Did you catch the bad guys?”
One look at Dante’s face told me they hadn’t. They didn’t know where Serafina was. My heart clenched tightly considering what this would do to Ines.
“No, we didn’t,” Dante said quietly.
“But you will catch the bad guys soon?”
The bad guys. My eyes took in the four men in the lobby with their guns, jaded eyes, and scarred bodies. I wondered if little boys in the Camorra asked their dads the same question when they spoke about us? Would Luca’s son ask his father that question when he talked about Dante? Bad was always a matter of perspective.
Yet, one thing was certain, the Falcones were the worst. Even in our world.
Danilo shook his head with a harsh expression and stalked past us toward the liquor cabinet, pouring himself a generous amount of a dark liquid. “Why the fuck are you gambling in a situation like this?” he snarled at the soldiers. The men lowered their heads.
Steps pounded upstairs. Ines followed by Sofia stormed down the staircase. Sofia didn’t stop and barreled straight into Pietro who hugged her tightly. Ines froze halfway down once she caught a look at the men’s expressions.
“No,” she whispered. “No.” She clutched the banister and slowly sank down. “No!”
Sofia lifted her head, looking at Ines then at Pietro and Samuel. Her young face fell. Samuel staggered toward his mother and pulled her to her feet. She clutched him desperately and sobbed.
The guards disappeared into other parts of the house to give us privacy and to escape Danilo’s open wrath.
My eyes met Dante’s but his expression was a mask of control. It must be bad if he acted like that.
Glass smashed.
I jumped then realized Danilo had flung his glass against the wall. He gripped the edge of the table tightly, rage burning on his face.
Dante cleared his throat but nothing penetrated Danilo’s fog of despair.
Pietro led Sofia upstairs while Samuel helped Ines. I approached Dante, touching his shoulder. He gave me a strained smile. It made me ache all over. “I’ll bring Leonas to bed and then check on Anna. Why don’t you go ahead and catch some sleep?”
I nodded, even though I didn’t feel tired in the slightest.
Dante headed up the stairs with Leonas.
I slanted a look at Danilo who was still bent over the table and considered going to him to offer him words of assurance but he appeared like a man who preferred to deal with his sorrow alone. He straightened and noticed me. “This isn’t the wedding night I imagined.” The words rang with despair and fury alike. He was a man fighting for composure. I wasn’t sure what to tell him and I had a feeling he didn’t want me to say anything. Suddenly, his expression smoothed. He strode toward me. “Tell Dante, I’ll head out to my family’s mansion. I’ll be back tomorrow morning to continue our search.”
He didn’t wait for my reply, just left, even leaving the door ajar. I closed it then leaned against it, trying to hold on to my composure. I pushed off the door and went upstairs. The hallway was dark except for the light squeezing out under the door to our bedroom. I opened it.
Dante sat on the edge of the bed, his arms propped up on his thighs, looking a little stunned and… guilty.
I stopped beside him and touched his shoulder. “This isn’t your fault.”
Dante shook his head, his mask slipping back into place. I hated that he felt the need to do so but it also told me that his inner turmoil was so strong that he wanted to protect me from it. “I’m Capo. This is my territory and it’s my duty to protect my people, my family. Serafina should have been safe.”
“Nobody could have foreseen this, not even you. It’s dishonorable to attack a wedding. Remo Falcone plays by his own rules.”
“He’ll try to force me into his game,” Dante said quietly, but an undercurrent of fury swung in his voice.
“What do you think does he want with Serafina?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I’m not sure about his motives.”
He was lying and that was more of an answer than his actual words. Good God, the rumors of the Camorra sent a chill over every woman’s back. “You’ll save her in time.”
Dante pushed to his feet, his eyes almost wild. “Will I? In time for what? It could be too late as we speak. For all we know, Serafina’s defiled body has already been dropped off so we’ll find it. Do you even realize what kind of horrors Remo Falcone is capable of, Val?”
I stared, my heart beating in my throat.
He gripped my arms in a too hard grasp. His anger wasn’t directed at me but Good Lord, it hit me like a hurricane, leaving me disoriented and shaken. “I am a monster, but even I haven’t done half the depraved acts the Falcones are capable of. Remo revels in torture as if it was his fucking drug of choice. And his crazy brother is a psychopath in the true sense of the word. He doesn’t feel anything. He can cut you up and have a pleasant conversation with you while he does it. He could maul women and children without a spike in his fucking pulse rate. Serafina is at the mercy of men like that, Val.”