Elsa
“Marcello!” I shake him, crying, and roll him over. He opens his eyes, appearing disoriented. I collapse back to the mattress, relieved. He takes a drowsy look around and trails a hand across his torso, wiping away the blood.
“It’s nothing, darling. The stitches must have broken,” he says, sitting up with a smile. “I didn’t feel a thing. But we have to get cleaned up. We look like we’ve murdered someone,” he adds with amusement, running his clean hand through his hair.
“It’s not funny,” I snap, and go to the bathroom.
I didn’t need to wait long for him to join me. This time I am the one who washed him, gently stripping off the bloodied patches. When I am finished, I reach for a first-aid kit and apply new ones.
“You need to see a doctor,” I say in a commanding voice.
Marcello shoots me a warm, uncharacteristically submissive look.
“I’ll do whatever you want, but first we need to have breakfast. Your fasting has come to an end,” he says, stepping out of the bathtub and placing a kiss on my forehead.
We order for breakfast and sit on the table in the living area, though we would have loved to have in in bed, but it looks like a blood sacrifice was done on it.
“Where have you been, Marcello? What happened to you?” I ask, when we start eating.
“No, breakfast fast. We shall talk later,” he says. I frown, remembering how serious he always is about me eating. It’s annoying but it’s kinda sweet how much he cares.
“Okay, Marcello. I’ve waited long enough. Talk!” I say, putting my fork down.
Marcello leans against the couch and takes a deep breath.
“Ask away,” he says, pinning me with his icy stare.
“How long have you been in Palermo?” I ask.
“Since yesterday morning.”
“Did you follow me all the way from the bar?”
“Yes.”
“Have your people been following me?”
Marcello crosses his arms on his chest, smiling. “Of course. You didn’t think I’d leave you alone, did you?”
I had known the answer to that question, even if only subconsciously. That feeling of being watched constantly-it hadn’t come out of nowhere.
“How about yesterday? Did you send people to follow me?”
“No. I’ve followed you myself, Elsa. I’ve been to all those places, including your ex-boyfriend’s apartment. I can tell you this: when you got into his car at the club, I was this close to shooting the guy dead.”
Marcello’s gaze is cold and deathly serious. “Let’s clear something up. Either you stop seeing him at all, or I get rid of him.”
I know negotiating won’t get me anywhere, but hundreds of hours of training on how to manipulate people didn’t go to waste-I know how to spin this.
“I’m just surprised you see him as a rival,” I say impassively. “I didn’t think you’d be afraid of any competition. Especially after I what he has done to our relationship, he’s definitely not of any interest to me. Envy is weakness. You only feel it when you know your rival’s worthy. So, at least as good as you, or even better.” I face him and kissed him softly. “I didn’t think you had weaknesses.”
Marcello sits still in silence, playing with his cup of tea.
“You know what, Elsa? You’re right. I can accept an argument if it’s rational. What do you suggest?”
“What do I suggest?” I repeat his words. “Nothing. That part of my life is behind me. I don’t care if Sergio feels otherwise. He can keep pestering me. I don’t care. Besides, just like you, I never forgive disloyalty.”
Marce set down his cup and sent me a discomfited look.
“What about Naples?” I ask, screwing my eyes shut at the thought of the words I had heard weeks ago. “The news said you were dead.”
Marcello stretches out on the sofa, leaning back. He studies me for a while, as if trying to gauge just how much of the truth I’d be able to bear. Finally, he starts talking.
“When I left our hotel room, I went to reception. I wanted to give you some time to make your decision. Crossing the hall, I noticed Carlotta stepping into the car of her brother. I knew that if don Dante was here, something must have happened-”
I interrupt him. “What do you mean, don?”
“Dante is the head of the family in Naples. Western Italy is their turf. After what she said when we met her, and knowing her character, I knew Carlotta was up to no good. I had to leave you. I knew she wasn’t expecting that. And if she wanted to get you by going after me, I needed to mess up her plan. So I got back to the jet and went to Sicily from there. In order to keep appearances up, I ordered one of the women from the staff at plane to join me. Then we went to Naples. I’ve been planning to meet Dante for weeks. We run some businesses together-”
“Wait,” I cut in. “You dated another capo’s sister? You can do that?” I have grown up knowing that is totally off limits.
Marcello laughs and takes a sip of tea.
“Why not? Besides, I thought it a great idea at the time. The potential merger of two major families guaranteed peace for a long time, not to mention total dominance in most of Italy. You see, Elsa, you have it all wrong. The Mafia is like a company. Like every business, mergers and acquisitions play a big part of our activity. The difference is that they’re a bit more brutal than in normal companies. We only resolve to violence when diplomacy fails.”
“All right, but going back to what happened in Naples…” I say.
“Carlotta knew about my meeting with her brother. She was the one who suggested it in the first place back in the spring. I couldn’t refuse only because we weren’t together anymore. Dante would feel disrespected, and I couldn’t have that. So I went to the meeting spot, accompanied by several people who I ordered to stay in the cars. The negotiations didn’t turn out to be as easy as I would have liked. Besides, I knew Dante wasn’t telling me everything. When we decided we wouldn’t be able to reach an agreement, I left the building. Dante followed me, spewing threats and calling me names. Saying that I’ve treated his sister badly and disrespected her, making her abort her unborn child. And then he said the most hated word. Vendetta.” Blood vengeance.
“What?” I exclaimed, shocked.
“That is how it works. If you kill a member of a family or betray them, the entire organization is entitled to hunt you down. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get it across to him that it was a lie. Talking any further would take us nowhere. If not for the place and time of our meeting, it would have played out then and there. But Dante is not stupid. He needed it done as soon as possible. When we drove to the airport, two Range Rovers blocked our way. Dante’s people stepped out. He was there, too. There was a shootout and he died. I think I got him. Then the police arrived and we had to hunker down for a while. Wait until it all blew over. The cars we left were registered to one of my companies. The police only spilled the bare minimum of information, but the damned hacks wrote about the incident anyway, killing me instead of Dante.”
I am breathing loudly, staring at Marcello. Listening to him felt like watching a gangster movie.
“Just so you know, Elsa-there was no pregnancy and no unborn babies. I’m very cautious with those things.”
I freeze, and immediately start counting my calendar in my head. I last had my period at the estate. I was supposed to have another one around this week. but I haven’t yet. I have just delayed by three days, but my period is always on time. That can’t be a threat. It’s only a few days and I had had a shot last month after Marcello had agreed to bring in a doctor since my last shot before he had taken me had expired. There is no way something could have gone wrong. I relax, but promise myself to do a test later just to be sure.
“Is anything the matter?” he asks, cocking his head to the side as if to study my face.
“Nothing,” I shake my shady thoughts off and smile at him. “I was so worried about you, Marcello. I thought you had really died.”
“You already said that, bella. I am sorry for making you worry so much.” Feeling the Sweetness getting too much, I get up from my sit and come to his. Pushing the table away from him, I turn to look at him. He doesn’t stop me or even speak. I think he is also expecting to see what I am going to do.
I sit on his lap, my legs astride him on either side. He chuckles softly before I cover his mouth with mine and start to kiss him, with so much passion, hoping but also afraid of him noticing how much I love him.