Page 22 of A Vendetta That Ruins

Anna’s hand surrounds mine. “Breathe, Vincenzo. Inhale with me.” The soft sound of her voice is all I can hear. “Breathe.” I inhale a deep breath and it’s the inhalation of energy that gives me exactly what I need to see my family through.

I hold onto Anna’s hand and Lanah’s. “Ma is going to make it. There’s no one fucking tougher on this earth, you got me?” I’m not worried about Nicolo but Gianni, Agosto and Lanah, they are going to be devastated if the worst happens to Ma. It seems like hours and I’m about ready to get out my Glock and put it to the fucking surgeon’s head when Anna points to the door.

The surgeon in a blue scrub suit looks tired as he walks into the waiting room. “I’m sorry you’ve had such a rough night, but your mom, she’s had a rough one too. She had another complication, but she’s come through it just fine. Her vitals are now far better than they’ve been since this ordeal started and I can tell you with confidence that I believe she’s going to make the climb to the other side. Keep praying for your ma, and I do believe that she’s going to be okay.”

Lanah jumps in the air. “Yeah!! Thank you so much,” she gushes as Nicolo’s arm settles around her shoulders and relief shines in all of my brothers’ eyes. My eyes meet Anna’s, and her soft gentle eyes also reflect relief. But this family is counting on me to keep them safe, all of them. Even when they’re lying in a hospital bed unable to do it for themselves. “Take me to her now.”

The surgeon’s mouth opens but I don’t give him a chance to give me some bullshit story about her being under anesthesia or some other crap. I want to see that she’s breathing and hasn’t been carted out some back door right under our fucking noses and I want to see it right the fuck now.

“Follow me sir.”

Maybe it’s lack of sleep or pure paranoia but something feels fucking off. I turn to Anna. “I’ll be back soon. Stay with the family. Nicolo, keep the family safe. I’m taking Saint with me.”

Saint’s eyebrows raise as I walk out with the doctor.

“With me.”

We both follow the surgeon down the hall, Saint about two steps behind me, keeping my back protected from enemies that may come in from behind. The surgeon stops at a large sliding glass door with a big clinical looking sink outside of it. “You’ll need to scrub your hands before entering, sir.”

I do as I’m asked and keep my eyes scanning the small area as Saint scrubs up after me. The surgeon waves a badge under the electronic eye that lets him into the area and we pass by curtained off areas, nine in all because I recall signing the approval, until we reach the tenth one where my ma lays, resting just like the surgeon said, sleeping like the angel that she is.

Her hand is cold to the touch as I reach her side and take it. “Why the oxygen?”

“Very normal in this sort of procedure. She’s already being weaned back to room air. It won’t be long and she’ll be breathing completely on her own. Since you’re in the room already we can get you a chair?”

“No, I just wanted to make sure she was okay, and that she was breathing. I’ve done that, so we’ll see ourselves out. Let me know when she wakes up. Her family is eager to see her.”

I will do that, sir,” he says, and Saint and I make our way out of the room and back down the hall to the waiting area. “Thanks for being here.”

“You bet, boss. I’m glad she’s okay. Everyone in the field is.”

“Thanks.”

My cell beeps as I join the family who are standing around the brew station. I pound out a message with the only code that my driver will use to get Pa back here and into the compound, along with a quick update on Ma.

I didn’t plan it this way, but all of the family is here at the same time, and there’s no time like the present. I know Pa wanted to tell the others himself but as their boss for the last couple years, I feel responsible to tell them at least why I didn’t let them know in my own words.

I gesture to a table in the corner, designed for family conferences and the like. Well, this is a family conference I never envisioned having in the corner of the waiting room when we were designing it. “Ma is relaxing. Still sleeping like a baby. Let’s sit. There’s something else I need to tell you.”

Nervous men sitting around the table is something I’m very familiar with but not with my own family, yet the same atmosphere and energy permeates the room. “I’ll make this short and quick. All the shit that went down with Pa a while ago? The gunfight while he was in Italy, the transport of his body home, the funeral, everything, it was staged. Pa is alive and he’s on his way here right now.”

Gianni’s eyes narrow across the table from me. “The fuck? All this time, he’s been alive?”

I nod. “I’m going to let him explain his rationale for asking me to keep that confidence, but I want you to know that it wasn’t easy to do, but I made a promise to him. What I can tell you is he once told me that if any of the siblings found out and let it slip to Ma that she would move heaven and earth to find him and may have ended up getting herself killed in the process.”

Nicolo doesn’t look surprised and he’s wearing that couldn’t give two fucks look that tells me he’s covering up his real feelings whether he’d ever admit it or not. Agosto spins a plastic lid from the last soda he drank in circles on the table and doesn’t look at anyone. Lanah looks at me, puts both her hands on the table and pushes herself up and walks over to me. She puts her arm around me from behind. “We’re all sorry you had to carry so much burden for the family all this time and walk around with a secret like that. I’m sure it wasn’t easy. I love you,” she says softly.

Nicolo nods, and then Gianni and finally Agosto. Emotion makes it difficult to talk without getting choked up. “It was harder than you think. Guess shit like that comes with the fucking job.”

“Where was he?”

I shake my head. “Not sure.” He knows I’m lying, I can tell, but no one can ever know where he was because if anyone of us gets caught someday by the enemy, that place has to continue to be safe for the other family members who may need the safe haven one day.

Anna turns and then touches my hand. “I think he’s here.”

21

Anna