He stood and Anna dragged him out of the kitchen.
I rounded the table. The look in Dante’s eyes scared me. “What is it?”
“Remo made his first demand,” he said in a deadly voice that told me he was fighting for control. He rose and peered down at me. “He wants Minneapolis.”
I huffed. “That’s ridiculous. You would never give him part of your territory, much less one of the most important cities!”
Dante smiled darkly. “Oh, he knows. He fucking knows.” He glared down at this phone. “He’s mocking me. He doesn’t want this game to be over now so he demands the impossible.”
I touched his shoulders. “Will you tell Pietro and Samuel?”
Dante looked into my eyes as if he hoped to find the answer to all his questions there. I wished I had them, wished I could help him. Everyone looked at him for answers, for actions, for salvation. It was a good thing his father was already crippled by dementia no matter how cruel that made me sound. But that man would have only made things worse.
“I have to. Serafina is their responsibility before she’s mine. They deserve to know, even if it’ll complicate things for me.”
“You think Pietro and Samuel would agree to Remo’s demand?” I asked surprised.
Dante raked his fingers through my hair. “They’d do anything to save Serafina.” He smiled as if he understood them only too well. Naturally I would give Remo every last inch of Outfit territory if Anna’s or Leonas’ life was on the line. I’d give him anything, absolutely anything to protect my children. But men had been brought up to always consider the Outfit first. Duty and honor came before anything else. Losing your territory and with it your honor was the worst imaginable fate in our world. Yet, looking into Dante’s eyes, I wondered if he’d hand everything over to Remo if Anna was in his hands, and I was fairly sure he would ultimately.
* * *
Anna and Sofia went into the garden to sit on the swing while Leonas slinked about the house. For him, this was hard because he didn’t even have his friends to play. Anna had Sofia and they managed to distract each other on occasion. Leonas had to play alone most of the time.
Dante took Pietro and Samuel aside shortly after we arrived at the mansion and told them about Remo’s demand while I sat on the patio with Ines, drinking coffee. She didn’t know about Remo’s text yet, and I wondered if I should tell her. Dante and Pietro kept many details from her for her protection, but imagining I were in her stead, I would have wanted to know every detail about my daughter’s situation.
Ines glanced my way. I must have watched her for a while. “There’s news that Dante doesn’t want to share with me, isn’t there?”
Anna and Sofia huddled close beside each other on the wide swing, talking. Girls were meant to be protected from all evil in our world, but often our world brought true evil down upon them. Bibiana had suffered in her first marriage and only now found happiness with Dario and her children. Serafina now suffered for the sins of men. “Remo made a ridiculous demand in exchange for Serafina’s freedom. It’s a fluke.”
Ines set her coffee cup down on the table. “What did he want?”
“Pietro’s territory.”
Ines turned her head away, lost in thought for a moment. “He can have it.”
I leaned over. “Ines, he knows Dante won’t ever give him part of his territory. Handing over an important city to the enemy would endanger everyone.”
“You mean it would endanger your children,” she said fiercely.
I sat back, surprised by the venom in her voice and eyes.
Ines bit her lip. “I’m sorry. This was uncalled for. I—” She swallowed and pressed her hand over her eyes. “I feel so helpless. I always told my children I’d keep the monsters at bay. And here my daughter is in the hands of a monster and I’m sitting here having coffee, unable to help her, to protect her.”
Tears prickled in my eyes. “Nobody could have foreseen something like this.”
Ines smiled bitterly. “I don’t know. Things have been escalating more and more. There’s so much hatred between the famiglias. How will all of this end?”
Peace was even less an option after what Remo had done. Dante would rather make another peace treaty with Luca than ever agree to a truce with the Camorra.
“Do we even have any options? The Camorra and the Famiglia work together. They’re against us.”
I didn’t say anything. Things looked bad for us. Luca wouldn’t work with Dante, not after the photo incident and not when it meant having the Camorra as his enemy. Who else was there? The Corsican Union in Canada, but they kept to themselves. We didn’t share the same cultural or linguistic background. They didn’t trust us and had little to gain from a cooperation. They wouldn’t risk a conflict with the Camorra and the Famiglia. And the Bratva? The Pakhan in Chicago who ruled over most of the Bratva in the Midwest had some sort of non-aggression pact with Remo Falcone.
Ines let out a choked sound. “It’s even worse than I think, isn’t it?”
“No,” I said firmly. “The Outfit has gone through crisis before and we’ve always come out of it because we stood together. Remo is trying to drive a wedge between us, which is why he asked for Pietro’s city. He wants to sow dissent in our family, but we won’t let him. We won’t allow him to destroy our bond because Serafina will need a strong family when she returns.”
Ines smiled weakly. “Dante’s right. You’d be a great Consigliere.”
It was easy giving advice when you didn’t have to suffer the backlash. I could give Dante my opinion because ultimately he was the one who’d be judged for it. He had to carry the weight of responsibility.
Sensing that Ines wanted to be alone, I went in search of Leonas to tell him we’d have all dinner together. Danilo would be there as well. He’d decided to commute between Indianapolis and Minneapolis as often as possible. For someone as young as him, he had to carry plenty of responsibility. A sick father, a disabled sister, ruling over Indianapolis, and now saving his fiancée.
“Leonas!” I called.
“He’s with me,” Dante said from a room down the corridor I’d never paid much attention to. The moment I stepped inside, I froze. It was weaponry. That explained the barred windows and heavy door. Knives, machine guns, and pistols lined the shelves.
Dante sat on a chair and Leonas stood beside him. In front of them on the table was a gun. It was in its separate pieces and Dante showed Leonas how to put it back together. Then he explained how to unlock the safety, aim and shoot. Leonas listened with a look of utmost concentration. Dante handed the gun to our son and my heart stopped. He was only seven. He was too young for this.
“Dante—” My voice shook.
Dante looked up. “It’s not loaded.”
I swallowed. “Can I have a word with you?”
Dante held out his hand and Leonas handed the gun back to him with a proud smile. Dante ruffled his head then stood. “Now go to the dining room.”
Leonas rushed out, grinning as if this had been the most fun game. I closed the door for privacy.
“He’s too young,” I whispered harshly.