I go to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Rafa—”
He knocks my hand off. “Do you fucking know?” he snaps, his tone biting. Like he, too, is raging.
“Why don’t you tell me since it seems like you know.”
He shakes his head. “They’re divided, Stefan. The family. Right down the middle. Well, almost.”
He means the supporting families, cousins from different regions of Sicily. My uncle in Rome, he’s the only one I trust fully. “That’s nothing new. It’s been that way since Antonio’s betrayal.”
“Some don’t believe you have the right to rule.”
“Is your father leading that thinking?” I shouldn’t do it, I know. I shouldn’t bait him. I can’t talk to him now. Like this. I need him sober.
He smirks, swallows more whiskey. “It should have been Antonio.”
“Antonio’s dead.”
“He’s also a traitor yet you buried his body beside the man he betrayed.”
“And you know why he betrayed him. You’re one of the few who does.”
“In our family, conscience isn’t a redeeming quality. The opposite.” He picks up the bottle and drinks straight from it.
Rafa and I are the only two who know why Antonio betrayed our father. Although maybe that’s not true anymore. Would the cousins have supported my father if they knew why he partnered with Marchese? If they knew that he was adding flesh trade to the family’s resume?
Rafa’s right about conscience. Antonio had too much of it. He found out about the deal. Knew my father’s role in it. He tried to stop him, but it was too late. The women had been supplied. In the container already. On their way.
Knowing my brother, no way he could stomach being part of that. Allowing it to happen at all. That’s when he went to the feds. That’s when he was taken into protective custody and my father arrested. I guess he thought he could save those women and girls.
But they didn’t have anything on Marchese because Marchese got rid of the container.
This is what Gabriela doesn’t know. What I don’t want her to know about her father.
He had it dropped off the ship. A phone call was all it took, and the captain did as he was told and dropped the container and those people vanished. No evidence. No bodies. No crime. Just a container at the bottom of the ocean.
Unless my father talked. Unless he shared his evidence.
So Marchese took care of that.
He didn’t do a thorough enough job searching for the evidence though and it’s in my possession now. It’s what got him to hand over his daughter. Funny what hearing yourself give the order to kill a dozen women and girls sounds like when it’s played back.
But I didn’t find it before he found Antonio. And he took care of him too. No loose ends. I do understand that.
“Tell me what you did, Rafa,” I ask, forcing myself into the present.
He looks at me and I hate what I see in his eyes.
“You know what I think?” he asks, avoiding my question, stumbling when he takes a step away. With the bottle in his unsteady hand, he points a finger at me. “I personally think you should rule. But it’s not up to me. I’m like her. A fucking pawn. That’s why I helped her. That’s why I hid her brother when she asked me to. And now I’m here to warn you because that’s how fucked up I am.”
“Warn me about what?”
He drinks the last of the bottle. “Antonio wasn’t like us. He wasn’t ruthless. And it got him killed. If you want to survive in our world, you have to be ruthless. You can’t have any weakness. You should send her away. It’s best for her and you know it.”
“Warn me about what?” I double back.
He looks at me, scrubs his face with both hands. “I’m tired, man.”
I go to him, take him by the shoulders. “Warn me about what, Rafa?”
He studies me, and I think for a moment maybe I’m mistaken. Maybe he’s not as drunk as I thought.
“I’m a traitor too, Stefan. Can’t seem to make up my fucking mind which side I’m on.”
I grit my teeth, give him a shake. “Rafa. Warn me about what?”
He shoves my arms away, sits down on the sofa, lays his head back. “The other families.” He stares up at the ceiling. “You were right about my father. And I helped him.”
I watch him, hear him.
He sets his elbows on his knees and leans into his hands, rubs his face.
“Helped him how?”
“Gabriela. The kidnapping. They would have raped—”
“I will kill you!” I roar, tugging him to his feet.
“You should,” he says. He doesn’t fight me. Puts up no resistance at all. And when I release him, he falls back onto the couch.
“I never wanted her hurt. You should let her go before they decide.”
“Before who decides what?” I’m losing my patience.
He stands, shakes his head, shoves past me to the door. “I shouldn’t be here.”
I stop him, shove him into the wall. “Before. Who. Decides. What?”
“It’s too late, Stefan. I came too late. Decided too fucking late. Don’t you see? They’re meeting now. My father has their support. He called for a vote.”
Rage.
“Where?”
“They’ll kill you if you go. You should take Gabriela. Take what you can. Disappear.”
“I’m not a fucking coward and I have no plan to disappear. Are they meeting in Taormina?”
He shakes his head. “Catania. At the warehouse.”
I look at him, shake my head, let him go and open the door. “Lucas!”
Lucas is at the door a moment later. “Get men together. We’re going to Catania.”
“Now?”
“Fucking now.” I turn to Rafa. “My cousin will be staying here until I return.”
With a signal, two soldiers enter the study as I walk out.
“Stefan!” Rafa calls out.
I don’t stop. I don’t look back.
“They’ll kill you if you walk in there. Don’t be fucking stupid.”
I stop, walk back into the study to find the two soldiers restraining Rafa. Without a moment’s hesitation, I draw my arm back and punch him across the jaw.
“Thanks for the warning,” I say, feeling the sting of the hit as I watch his split lip bleed. “We’ll talk when I’m back. I’ll decide how you die then.”
31
Gabriela
“Stefan?” I call out from the top of the stairs. The soldier Lucas assigned to keep me in my room unhands me on Stefan’s signal and I run down the stairs. “What’s happening? Where’s Rafa?”
He takes my arms and studies me for a long moment. “I need to go to Catania.”
“Now? It’s late.”
“Did you talk to your brother?”
I shake my head. “He was asleep, but I talked to Melanie. They’re fine. Safe. In a house upstate.”
“Good. Go pack what you need. You’ll go to them. Tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“I’ll make some calls on my way to Taormina and Paulo will be in touch with you soon.”