Lucien Delano
His face tightened, a mask that he wore when something terrible had happened, coming over his harsh features.
Proserpina Delano, sitting beside him and attuned to every change in her lover’s moods, was immediately alert, her great brown eyes watching him almost fearfully as his hand paused over the plate.
Then, he was on his feet, his eyes signalling to his best friend and second in command, James Schwartz, who stood up at once, unquestioningly.
The people around the table stared at them in some surprise.
Piers got to his feet too, “Pappa?” he said, a question in his voice and Lucien nodded. April rose to her feet shakily,
“Lucien, is it…what is it?’ he turned to her and gripped her arms.
‘Nothing, woman. Do not fret.’ Over her shoulder, his eyes met his eldest daughter’s steady grey-blue gaze.
‘Look after your Mumma.’ he growled and moving his wife out of his way, he walked out taking swift, decisive steps and crossed the room even before they knew it.
His men fell in step as did Schwartz and Piers. April sank to the chair, her small hand on her throat, eyes wide and glazed with apprehension. Maja’s heart went out to her and unhesitatingly, she rose and went across to the younger woman. Ria, Beatrice and Camille appeared and surrounded Proserpina Delano who was sitting, white-faced and frozen, still staring at the door through which her husband and his companions had left so abruptly.
Minutes later, the sound of powerful car engines driving off at top speed, carried over the night air, over and above the sound of the rain.
Proserpina Delano
I sat for a minute, trying to take stock of what might have happened. Then, I looked around the table, forcing a smile on my face. Maja was beside me, distress writ large on her pretty pixie face. I smiled and said,
‘Please do not stop eating; enjoy the food, a lot of love went into making it.’
Dom and Lou looked at me doubtfully but they carried on eating as did Magnus, Maja’s son who was rather unpleasant. Ria squeezed my shoulder and Tara met my eyes and her lower lip quivered.
I smiled reassuringly as I held Ria’s hand fast.
Maja settled down, her daughter was already reaching for a third helping. The son gave me a look, more of a sneer and continued to eat.
What had driven Lucien out of the house in such haste, I asked myself in anxiety.
And in my gut, I knew it was something to do with Paddy.
*
Claude
He tried to sit up, wanting nothing more than to follow Philippe, who was leaving to search the woods that led to the Delanoresidence. The blonde woman, who had also been interrogated by the Capo and his men had not had much to say. But she had told him about how Paddy often came there to meet a Latino woman; how they always chose a particular table, the one closest to the wall in the corner of the room. Once, when Cindy, the waitress, had gone to take their order, they had been arguing. Paddy had been demanding that she tell him more about the b*stard’s history. But the woman had refused, saying that it involved the man of the church.
The two of them had clammed up when they noticed her but she had not been able to serve their table the following week since she had been unwell. And the last evening, when Paddy had been there, she had noticed the woman handing over something to Paddy.
When she was asked repeatedly about what had been handed over, she could only say that she was too far away to make out but it must have been something very small. No, not a book, not a sheaf of papers, she was certain about that. She knew a transaction of sorts had occurred because Paddy had kept patting his chest, as though making sure that whatever he had been given, was precious and needed to be kept safe.
He had also seemed strangely excited, added the woman.
*
Claude knew that he was safe now; Philippe had left a posse of men to guard him. The medicine he had been given was making him woozy. Still thinking about his brother, Claude fell asleep.
*
Beston
The man who was walking the grid of the furthest point in the woods suddenly gave a shout.
His heart sinking, Beston and his companions crashed through the undergrowth and reached the site.
The remnants, pathetic and sad looking, of Paddy’s beloved bike, were to be seen. Mangled and beyond repair, the bike showed evidence of a head-on collision. Beston stood, hands on his hips, thinking of the shy young man who used to glide out through the gates, giving Beston a small smile at times. He turned to his men urgently; Look around, he commanded and the men silently went about.
*
Maja
She knew that something terrible was happening; the swift departure of the Don from the dining hall, the way the family had immediately gathered around the matriarch, Proserpina Delano was enough to make her figure that one out.
But it was only later, when Tara was going up to bed, holding hands with Maddy, that she heard the real story.
‘My brother, Paddy, said Tara between sniffles. ‘ He is not to be seen.’ She sighed.
Maja looked at her curiously and then, before she could stop herself, she blurted,
” How old is your brother?’
She earned herself a contemptuous look from Magnus who was slouching ahead of them. Tara mumbled, without turning around, her blonde braids on either side of her small, pretty face,
‘He’s my adopted brother. His aunt tried to kill us, but Mumma loves Paddy and she told Pappa to adopt him.’
Maja felt her mouth fall pen. Was the child serious? This was like stuff from a book!
“He’s older than Claude, though,’ Tara went on stiffly, a hint of dislike creeping into her voice at this statement. ‘But I like him. He’s cool. He lets me play my music on his computers sometimes. Besides, he does not tease me.’
Her mind reeling, Maja asked in a faint voice, ‘And…ahem…just who is Claude?’
“He’s my older brother of course. He’s training to be a boxer like my Pappa.’ The last words were spoken with pride. Obviously, she adored her father.
As they moved along the corridor where the bracket lamps had been lit Maja trailed behind admiring the paintings and the framed photographs. The pictures of some monasteries kept appearing and reappearing in many of the frames.
She shook her head. This family could tell a story that would make for a great TV show!
And then she reflected later on as she lay on the soft, downy mattress preparing to sleep with only the gentle snores of her daughter breaking the silence: All the Delano children looked exactly like their father. The same grey-blue eyes the blonde hair. But the girls had softer features like their mother, while the boys with their square chins, resembled their father all over again. And every one of them had inherited her dimples Maja thought drowsily.
She sighed and turned around. She knew that Proserpina Delano was still downstairs. When Maja had offered to stay behind to keep April company, the offer had been politely but firmly rejected.
Taking Maja’s hands in her own, April had urged her to go to bed.
“You have had a long day,’ she smiled’ I shall wait for Lucien to get back.’
Maja had hesitated but the determination steely and firm shining in the younger woman’s eyes made her aware that there was no way anyone could force Proserpina Delano to do something that she did not want to do.