“Are you married?”
Umberto nodded, “For twenty-one years.”
“That’s a long time,” Matteo said. “Aria must look awfully delicious compared to your old wife.” I stifled a gasp.
Umberto’s hand moved a few inches to the holster around his waist. Everyone saw it. Father watched like a hawk but did not interfere. Umberto cleared his throat. “I have known Aria since she was born. She is a little girl.
“She won’t be a child much longer,” Luca said.
“She will always be a child in my eyes. And I am faithful to my wife.” Umberto looked at Matteo. “If you insult my wife again, I will ask your father for permission to challenge you to a knife fight to defend her honor and I will kill you.”
This would end badly.
Matteo tilted his head. “You could try.” He uncovered his white teeth. “But you couldn’t .”
Luca crossed his arms, then nodded. “I think you’re a good choice, Umberto.” Umberto stepped back, but kept his gaze fixed on Matteo, who ignored him.
Luca’s eyes settled on Raphael and he abandoned whatever civility had cloaked the monster inside him up to that moment. He moved so close to Raphael that my cousin had to tilt his head back to return the gaze. Raphael was trying to maintain an arrogant and confident expression, but he looked like a Chihuahua puppy trying to impress a Bengal tiger. Luca and he might as well have been two different species.
“He is family. Are you really going to accuse him of having an interest in my daughter?”
“I saw the way you were looking at Aria,” Luca said, never taking his eyes off Raphael.
“Like a juicy peach you wanted to pluck,” Matteo intervened, enjoying it all too much.
Raphael’s eyes darted toward my father, looking for help.
“Don’t deny it. I know I want it when I see it. And you want Aria,” Luca growled. Raphael did not deny it. “If I find out you look at her like that again. If I find out that you are in a room alone with her. If I find out you even touch her hand, I will kill you.
Raphael blushed. “You are not a member of the Outfit. No one would tell you anything even if you raped her. I could break her for you.” God, Raphael shut his mouth. Couldn’t he see the murder in Luca’s eyes? “Maybe I’ll film it for you, too.”
Before I could blink, Luca had thrown Raphael to the ground and rammed a knee into his spine, one of my cousin’s arms turned backward. Raphael struggled and cursed, but Luca held him back.
One of his hands gripped Raphael’s wrist while with the other he slipped his hand under his vest, pulling out a knife.
My legs weakened. “Leave now,” I said to Gianna in a whisper. She did not listen.
I looked away, Aria.
But I couldn’t. Father would surely have stopped Luca. But Father had a disgusted expression as he stared at Raphael. Luca’s eyes sought Father’s gaze: Raphael was not his soldier. This was not even his territory. Honor demanded permission from the councilman, and when Father nodded, he lowered the knife and cut off Raphael’s little finger. Screams rang in my ears as my vision went black. I bit my fist to stifle a sound. Gianna didn’t. She emitted a cry that could have woken the dead before she vomited. At least she had turned and aimed away from me.
Her vomit spilled down the steps.
Behind the doors silence reigned. They had been listening to us. I grabbed Gianna’s upper arms as the secret door was ripped open, revealing my father’s furious face. Behind him were Caesar and Romero, both with weapons drawn. When they saw Gianna and me, they put them back in their holsters under their jackets.
Gianna did not cry. She rarely did, but her face was pale and she leaned heavily on me. If I hadn’t had to support her, my own legs would have crumpled. But I had to be strong for her.
“Of course,” hissed her father, frowning at Gianna. “I should have known it was you causing trouble again.” He snatched her away from me and carried her into the living room, raised his hand and slapped her hard across the face.
I took a step in her direction to protect her and my father raised his arm again. I braced myself for the slap, but Luca grabbed my father’s wrist with his left hand. In his right hand he was still clutching the knife with which he had cut Raphael’s finger. The knife and Luca’s hand were covered in blood. My eyes opened wide. Father was the master of the house, the master of us. Luca’s intervention was an insult to my father’s honor.
Umberto drew the knife, and Dad was holding the gun. Matteo, Romero, and Cesare had drawn their weapons. Raphael was huddled on the floor, bent over his hand, his whimpers the only sound in the room. Had there ever been a red engagement?
“I meant no disrespect,” Luca said calmly, as if the war between New York and Chicago was not about to break out. “But Aria is no longer your responsibility. You lost the right to punish her when you made her my girlfriend. Now it’s my turn to take care of her.”
My father looked at the ring on my finger, then tilted his head. Luke let go of his wrist, and the other men in the room relaxed slightly, but did not rest their weapons. “It’s true.” He stepped back and nodded to me. “Then would you like the honor of giving her some sense?”
Luca’s hard gaze landed on me and I stopped breathing. “She didn’t disobey me.”
My father’s lips thinned. “You’re right. But the way I see it, Aria will live under my roof until marriage, and since honor forbids me to raise my hand against her, I will have to find another way to make her obey me. He glared at Gianna and struck her a second time. “For every mistake you make, Aria, your sister will accept the punishment for you.”
I clenched my lips, tears stinging my eyes. I didn’t look at either Luca or Papa until I found a way to hide my hatred from them.
“Umberto, take Gianna and Aria to their rooms and make sure they stay there.” Umberto sheathed his knife and motioned for us to follow him. I walked past my father, dragging Gianna with me, who had her head bowed. She stiffened as we walked over the blood on the wooden floor and the severed finger lying abandoned there. My eyes shifted to Raphael holding the wound to stop the bleeding. His hands, his shirt, and his pants were covered in blood. Gianna vomited as if she was going to throw up again.
“No,” I said firmly. “Look at me.”
She looked away from the blood and met my gaze. There were tears in her eyes and her lower lip had a cut from which blood was dripping onto her chin and nightgown. My hand on hers tightened. I am here for you. Our closed eyes seemed his only anchor as Umberto led us out of the room.
“Foreboding women,” my father said in a mocking tone. “They can’t even stand the sight of a little blood.” I could practically feel Luca’s eyes drilling into my back before the door closed. Gianna wiped her bleeding lip as we ran after Umberto through the hallway and up the stairs. “I hate him,” she murmured. “I hate all of them.”
“Shh.” I didn’t want him to talk like that in front of Umberto. He took care of us, but he was my father’s soldier through and through.
He stopped me when I wanted to follow Gianna to her room. I didn’t want her to be alone tonight. Nor did I want to be alone. “You heard what your father said.”
I cast a glance at Umberto. “I have to help Gianna with her lip.”
Umberto shook his head. “It’s nothing. You two in the same room always portend trouble. Do you think it’s wise to irritate your father again tonight?” Umberto closed Gianna’s door and gently pushed me in the direction of my room next to his.
I intervened, then turned to him. “A room full of grown men watch a man beat a defenseless girl, this is the famous courage of made men.”
“Your future husband stopped your father.”
“For hitting me, not Gianna.”
Umberto smiled as if I were a stupid child. “Luca might rule New York, but this is Chicago and your father is Councilman.”
“You admire Luca,” I said incredulously. “You saw him cut off Raphael’s finger and you admire him.”
“Your cousin is lucky that The Vice didn’t cut off something else. Luca did what any man would do.”
Perhaps every man in our world.
Umberto stroked my head as if I were an adorable kitten. “Go to sleep.”
“Will you guard my door all night to make sure I don’t sneak out again?” I said defiantly.
“Better get used to it. Now that Luca has put a ring on your finger, he’ll make sure you’re always guarded.
I slammed the door. Guarded. Even from a distance Luca would be watching my life. I thought my life would go on as before until marriage, but how could he do that when everyone knew what the ring on my finger meant? Raphael’s little finger was a signal, a warning. Luca had made his demands on me, and he would enforce them in cold blood.
I did not turn off the lights that night, afraid the darkness would bring back images of blood and severed limbs. They came anyway.