I sighed. “I don’t know Adamo Falcone.”
“Does he deserve to be tortured?” Sofia asked curiously.
Ines shrugged. “Fina didn’t deserve to suffer either.”
Anna looked at me for answers. I wasn’t sure what to say. Sofia and she were twelve, and they suffered the consequences of Remo’s actions as well. Both were homeschooled, shielded from the outside world, their golden cages more restraining than mine had ever been as a young girl.
Steps rang out and Santino appeared, dragging a struggling Leonas after himself.
“What’s going on?”
“I heard noises from the weaponry, found him stuffing his pockets with guns as if he was gearing up for war,” Santino said with a curl of his lip, releasing Leonas who sent him a glower.
Santino had taken over as Anna’s bodyguard this summer. Dante had been wary of having a former Enforcer close to our daughter but eventually he’d considered him the best option to guarantee Anna’s safety when he wasn’t around.
“Leonas, what is that all about?”
Leonas shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pants. I narrowed my eyes at him. “I just wanted to help Dad deal with the Falcone bastard.”
“Language,” I said sharply. “And how did you want to do that?”
Again that stubborn shrug. “Take a cab to the safehouse and help them torture him.”
I stared down at my little son, my almost nine-year-old, trying to understand what had happened. This war had taken his innocence too quickly, being surrounded by men thirsting for vengeance and blood. “You won’t ever touch a gun without permission again. Understood?”
Leonas’ eyes widened marginally at my tone. I’d never raised my voice like that against him before. He nodded eventually.
“Thank you, Santino,” I said. He nodded then turned on his heel and left. He’d return to his guard post until we left the house.
Anna rolled her eyes. “You’re an idiot. Do you really think Daddy would have allowed you to stay?”
“He knows I can handle stuff unlike you.”
Anna crossed her arms over her chest. It was a constant argument between the two that Leonas went to school while Anna had to stay home. Sofia nudged her and whispered something in her ear. They got up and hurried away.
I sighed, glancing down at Nevio who squirmed in my hold. Ines sank down on the sofa with a sleeping Greta, looking tired.
“When will we return to Chicago?” Leonas asked.
“Soon,” I said. I put Nevio down on the floor and bent down to be at eye level with Leonas. “Please don’t talk like that in front of your sister and Sofia again. I don’t want any of you to think about what Dad does in his job.”
Leonas tilted his head curiously. “Mom, I’ll be Capo,” he said with absolute certainty and as if that settled the matter.
I smiled wistfully. “I know but until you are initiated you are only my little boy.”
He scrunched up his face as I pulled him against me and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Mom,” he protested. When I didn’t release him, overcome with emotions, he eventually softened and hugged me. For some reason it felt as if he was consoling me.
Dante
Valentina was already in bed when I returned home that night. My body still hummed with adrenaline from the torture and sweet satisfaction that Remo would hand himself over tomorrow.
I’d dreamed about this day since the moment Remo had kidnapped Serafina. Vengeance was close now.
After checking on Anna and Leonas, I slipped into bed with Val. She turned around and moved closer. Despite our argument today, I felt the same need to hold her against my body. I pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“And?”
“Remo agreed to exchange himself for his brother.” Even I could hear the grim triumph in my voice.
“He must know you’ll torture and kill him brutally but still he hands himself over for his brother?” I could hear the confusion in Val’s sleep-heavy voice. “I thought he didn’t care for anyone.”
“He does for his brothers,” I said neutrally. Val had a tendency to try to see things from two sides, to see beyond someone’s faults, but with Remo, this was pointless.
“You’ll enjoy it, won’t you?”
I wasn’t like some of my men who hungered for the thrill of torturing others, but with Remo I’d enjoy every second of his agony. I brushed my nose along Val’s throat. I didn’t reply, because Val wanted to hear something else. My calm, controlled exterior often let her forget my less than civil nature, the depravity I kept hidden from her and our children and would always do. “Remo won’t receive mercy from either of us.”
Pietro, Samuel, and Danilo were just as eager for bloodshed as me. We’d bring Remo to his knees together, would relish in his demise, and once he was dismembered and purged from this world, we’d figure out a way to leave the burden of his actions behind, to move on.
* * *
I drove the car to the meeting point, Danilo beside me. Pietro and Samuel sat on either side of Adamo who hunched forward, breathing heavily.
When I parked the car, he looked up and his eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. Those damn dark Falcone eyes. Only fifteen but he looked like he couldn’t care less if I put a bullet in his head or not.
“Time to exchange you for your fucking brother,” Samuel said, voice tight with eagerness.
“You don’t know anything about Remo if you think he’ll give you what you want,” Adamo muttered.
“And what do we want, Falcone?” Danilo growled.
“Break him. But my brother is unbreakable. You should have kept torturing me. That would have been more fun.”
I pushed open the door. “I don’t have time for this nonsense, boy. Your brother is going to break. They all do.”
Remo, Nino, and a third man, probably another Falcone brother, waited beside a car. Samuel hoisted Adamo out of the backseat and dragged him toward Danilo, Pietro, and me.
Remo’s expression hardened. No sign of his previous triumph or taunting. I gave Samuel a sign and he shoved Adamo toward his brothers. Adamo fell to his knees, holding his broken arm against his body. The way he looked up at Remo revealed a bond that didn’t make sense to me, not from what I knew of the Falcones. Remo touched his brother’s head in a way I sometimes touched Leonas then they linked arms.
Samuel stepped forward and punched Remo’s face, then kicked him in the groin before he smashed his gun against his temple. Remo passed out with that fucking twisted smile on his face. I motioned at a few soldiers. They rushed forward and grabbed Remo then carried him over to a car where they shoved him into a trunk.
The Falcones were already in their car but Nino looked at me with pure calculation.
I got back into the car and we headed back to the safehouse where we’d dismember Remo over the next two days.
Samuel let out a disbelieving laugh and clapped Pietro’s shoulder who gave a tense smile. Danilo leaned back with a deep sigh.
“We got him,” Samuel said. “We really got him. Fuck. I can’t believe we can tear the fucker apart.”
“I get the honor of cutting his dick off,” Danilo said.
“We agreed on that, yes.” Danilo still hadn’t gotten over Serafina, or that Remo had dishonored her. His reign over Indianapolis had become more rigorous and brutal than that of his father had ever been, but he was effective and loyal, so I let him do what he felt necessary, even if it was fueled by his unrestrained fury. Maybe after Remo’s death, he’d be able to move on. Maybe we all could.