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I ask them, “Did you miss her for anything else? Did she come tuck you in after she’d seen to your dad?”
Alessio pulls a face, “Come on. Fuck off.”Did she?I was joking, but now I wonder. I keep my face straight and don’t look at the others. Alessio responded too quickly to that. I can feel Carlo and Bruno both keeping reaction from their faces, too.
I say, “Alright.” No matter. I press on. “So when Jago got wind of the Don arranging for Adrianna Bagniola to be kidnapped, she put two and two together and she brought her little revolver down to the dining room.”
Alessio says, quietly, “But she said that you killed him.”
I say, “Your father must have thought I would be a soft target for him to pin the raid on.”
Carlo smiles, “I don’t know why anyone would think that about you.”
I tell them, “Well, when it didn’t work, he got into a rage. Had Jago bring me into his study and he tried to fuck me.”
“What?” Alessio’s laugh is dry and thin. “My dad? He tried to seduce you? Well, the old dog.”
“No, Alessio. He didn’t try to seduce me. He attacked me and he tried to rape me.”
His mouth tightens and his head turns, “No…”
“He bent me over his desk and he held me down.”
Bruno’s voice is gentle. “You fought him off?”
I nod, not wanting to hand around too many of the details. “That was when he threw me out of the house and had me banished.”
Carlo says, “He told us that itwasbecause of the raid.”
“But what does this have to do with Mrs. Jago shooting Dad?” Alessio asks, “Are you telling me now that she didn’t do that?”
“Oh, no. She shot him.” I hold Alessio’s gaze. This is going to be hard.“But she didn’t kill him. She gave him what they call a life-changing injury, but it didn’t finish him off. He could have died in the ambulance. He might have died in hospital. Or, it’s possible he could have survived. I have no idea. If he lived, he would probably have been severely debilitated.”
“So,” there’s a harsh sarcasm in Alessio’s tone, “are you saying it was a mercy killing?”
“No, Alessio. Not unless you mean I finished him off as a mercy to myself, so I wouldn’t have to go on knowing that somewhere, the low-life asshole who tried to force his mangy cock into me was still breathing clean air and enjoying his food.”
Carlo says, “And that’s when you took over the family.”
“I’m just telling you what happened. No more secrets. Only you can decide what you want to do about it.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
We stay camped out on theLady Giusiand take advantage of the mobility. Every night, we moor on the water, in the middle of a deserted bay or a cove. that way we all feel like we’re at least going to be safe and secure.
I only wish there was a way we could bring Mikey out with us.
Still, I’m getting pretty pally with Sister Tharpe. I’m even on first name terms with her. She recognizes my voice and she says, “Well, hi there, Lucia,” then she tells me how Mikey is doing. There’s not much to report, but at least there are no signs of deterioration.
“This kind of a condition can go some weeks while the patient is healing themselves. There really is not too much to worry about at this point, Lucia. Trust me, if there’s anything you need to know, I’ll be sure to keep you informed.”
“Thank you, Rosetta.” And I tell her how much I appreciate her care and compassion, and her taking the time. After that she always gives me a much more detailed report about Diabolo’s activities and condition.
The next days, all four of us are on the hunt.
Carlo is working the screens and the phones, doing the same thing Bruno is doing with shoe leather and pressing flesh.
They’re both out looking for traces. All of our business is on ice, and we’ve got everybody looking out for what the next move against us is going to be. What direction the next shocks are going to take.
Alessio is stocking up supplies and keeping contractors as happy as it’s possible to keep them, given that we are involved in almost no billable trade right now.
