CHAPTER 14
At the hospital, Kate refused to be separated from Enrico, insisting they be examined in the same room. Enrico tolerated the doctor’s exam—the x-ray of his head, the photographing and cataloguing of his injuries—without protest. But his stomach churned during Kate’s entire exam. Though she barely reacted when the doctor photographed the marks on her face and when he took samples from under her fingernails, she flinched when he asked if he could inspect the rest of her body. With tears in her eyes, she nodded, and Enrico gritted his teeth as the doctor scrutinized the bite mark on her breast, swabbing it for Vince’s saliva, as he parted her legs and studied the bruising on her inner thighs. But the exam and collection of evidence was necessary to keep her out of prison. For anything less, he would have spared her the intrusion.
The doctor, a balding middle-aged man with a kind face, photographed the bite and the bruises, draping her with a sheet when possible to preserve her modesty. When he finished, he removed his glasses, closed his eyes, and rubbed the bridge of his nose while asking his next question. “Signora, were you violated?”
Enrico held his breath until she shook her head. “No. It was damn close though.”
The doctor replaced his glasses and smiled, patting her arm. “Are there any other injuries?” When Kate said no, the doctor wrote her a prescription for Valium, then left them alone.
No matter how careful the doctor had been, how gentle, how respectful, the exam had continued Kate’s violation. Enrico had never felt more helpless. He’d been able to do nothing other than hold her hand and dry her tears with his fingertips. After he helped her dress, she leaned against him for a moment and whispered, “Thank you.” Her gratitude made his eyes burn and his throat ache. He hadn’t kept her safe. He’d broken his promise.
When they returned home, he helped her into a warm bath. Then he turned to go, to give her privacy at last, but she grabbed his wrist, her hand wet and slick on his skin. “I don’t want to be alone right now.”
He sat down on the closed lid of the toilet. “I’ll stay.” She soaped her arms while he watched. “Do you want help?”
She shook her head, not looking at him. After a moment, she said, “What was going on with you and Fuente?”
A tingle of adrenaline shivered through him. He’d thought she would shut down, but she’d kept her head. It was admirable, and a bit frightening. “Fuente wants help getting a promotion. I am friends with Major Alfonso, who heads the Milan branch.”
“Will you help him?”
“I would be stupid not to.” She studied him with steady eyes. What was she thinking?
“Were you bribing him?”
Enrico raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t expected the question, but he should have. Kate was far from dumb. “A man can be bribed only if he wants to be.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He smiled. She should have been a prosecutor. “The answer is no.”
“The two of you were keeping something from me.”
Enrico looked at the floor tiles. “Just the details of how my family was killed.”
“Why? Was it really so horrific?”
Enrico fixed her with his stare, his anger hot and sudden. Words poured out of him. “Was it horrific? My mother, my brothers, they were slaughtered like animals. Mario was only eleven. It was his birthday. They shot him over and over as he tried to crawl away.”
Kate gasped, tears glittering in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Enrico.” She reached for him, but he ignored her hand. After a moment, she let it fall to the edge of the tub.
He couldn’t stop talking. “Andretti’s men left them lying in the street. Carlo took advantage of my father’s trust. He murdered them, women and children. He violated our codes—” He froze, his veins icing up.
“Our codes?” Kate asked.
“I mean as Calabrians. Women and children are not to be killed in disputes of any kind.”
She lowered her arms and sank down in the water until just her head was visible. Her eyes never left him. “Vince wasn’t lying, was he? And Fuente knows it too.”
Panic roared through him. It took all he had to hide it from her. “Vincenzo was lying.”
“Why would Fuente think you would help him get a promotion?”
“The police are underpaid. If you have money, they always try to get something from you.”
“I thought you said you didn’t bribe him.”
“Which is the truth. He extorted a promise from me.”
“Semantics.”
“I beg to differ. I offered him nothing. He made a demand, and I agreed to it.”
“Why?”
“I prefer to keep out of the papers. The less attention I attract, the better.”
Kate crossed her arms. “I told you I hated lies.”
He took a deep breath and let it out. “And I don’t like telling them.” He unbuttoned and rolled up one of his shirt cuffs. “But sometimes honesty is more trouble than it is worth.”
Kate’s mouth dropped open. “How can you say that?”
She was far more difficult to evade than he would have ever guessed. “It’s been a long day and I need a drink. Would you like something?”
“Giving yourself time to think, I see. Are you trying to distract me?”
He smiled. Ah, she was a hard one. What a woman. “Yes, I am.”
“I’m not a fool, Enrico.”
“I never said you were.”
“Treating me like one says it just the same.” He felt her gaze on him as he fiddled with a button on his shirt.
He looked her square in the eye. “There are certain… realities of my situation that I would prefer to tell you about in my own time. When you are ready to hear them.”
“You mean when I have such feelings for you that I can’t overlook them? I already made that mistake once. I won’t make it again.”
“I am not like Vincenzo.”
“No. You’re worse.” Her voice thickened.
A wave of heat tore through his body. “Why?”
“You’re kind to me, and thoughtful, and… and if I can’t accept what you’re hiding from me….” She dissolved into tears. “It’s just not fair of you.”
The heat in him dissipated. “I promise I am nothing like him.”
“How do I know that?”
He leaned forward and took her wrists, tugging her upwards in the bath, baring her chest. He traced his fingers over the bite mark on her left breast. “I would never do this to you.” He touched her jaw, tracing the bruise there. “Or this.” He looked pointedly at her belly beneath the water. “And I would never take something from you that you did not want to give.” He cleared his throat, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. “I resent your comparing me to him.”
She blinked away her tears and took a deep breath. “You’re lying to me about something. Just like he did.”
“Can you trust me, for a while longer?”
“I don’t have much choice, do I? Fuente has my passport.”
“I owe the man.” Enrico smiled, hoping to coax one from her.
She sighed and sat back, looking down at the soap bubbles that covered her. “Even if I could go, Carlo is waiting to pounce on me.”
“For once, I suppose I have something to thank Carlo for.”
Kate studied him. “You do care about me.”
“I do,” he said, warmth welling up in his chest. Yes, she was difficult. But he liked it. He liked her. He liked sparring with her, he liked that she didn’t take him at face value. He liked everything about her, even when she was impossible.
“I cannot imagine going back to the life I was leading before this happened. To the dead spot after Antonella. My life will lose all color again if you leave, Kate.” He extended his hand and she took it. “I know it has been horrible for you, but it will get better. I promise you that.”
She smiled at him. “It hasn’t all been horrible.” She squeezed his hand and yawned. “I desperately need some sleep. What time is it?”
He pulled his mobile phone from his pocket and looked at it. “Almost seven in the morning.” He set the phone on the counter. “Here, let me help you.” He reached for the washcloth in her hand.
She kept it from his grasp, her grin fading. “No. Not yet.” She stared at the bathwater.
His throat constricted. It was a good thing Vincenzo Andretti was already dead. Because he wouldn’t have been able to resist strangling him with his bare hands.
After Enrico got Kate bundled up in bed with the Valium the doctor had prescribed, he summoned Ruggero to his study. He wanted nothing more than to focus on Kate for the next few days to the exclusion of all else, but their safety was paramount. And that meant finding the traitor—and figuring out who they could trust—as soon as possible.
As much as he hated to do it, Enrico armed himself for the meeting, his Glock in hand under his desk. Just in case.
Dawn was approaching, a faint yellowy orange on the horizon, the plants of the garden slowly taking shape in the growing light. He felt so damn weary. It wasn’t just the loss of sleep. It was the accumulation of all the years of his existence, of the constant struggle against enemies without and within the ’Ndrangheta. The never-ending vigilance of his life—guarding so many secrets, telling so many lies. And beyond that, making so many decisions that meant life and death, misery or happiness, for so many people. The weight of it all threatened to crush him.
But today, more than the responsibility wearied him. He’d been betrayed from within, by someone he trusted, maybe even someone he loved. If he had no one to rely on, no one to trust, how could he possibly go on? How could he survive? How could he ever keep Kate safe?
After a tap on the open door, Ruggero walked in.
“Close the door.” He didn’t invite Ruggero to sit. He said nothing, waiting for Ruggero to break the silence.
Finally the guard said, “I assume you want to know how this happened.”
“And I’d like to know where Antonio was. Is.” Enrico listened to Ruggero’s explanation—the drugged dogs, the access by master code of the side gate and rear terrace, all timed to avoid the guards. “What about Antonio?”
“He met a girl. We were in for the night; it seemed safe to let him go.”
“Are you sure that’s what he was doing? Only four of us have the master code—you, me, Dom, and Antonio.”
Ruggero frowned. “I’m certain of Antonio.”
“Someone gave Andretti the master code. Is it possible it was anyone besides the four of us?”
Ruggero shrugged. “You pay him well, but someone could get to Strasser. And we haven’t been meticulous about shielding when entering the code. Someone may have learned it.”
“Do you think that likely?”
“I do not see an obvious suspect.” Ruggero looked at him steadily.
“You don’t?” Enrico asked, his voice sharp.
The guard’s brow furrowed. “Don Lucchesi, I’m not sure what you’re implying.”
Enrico’s heart was pumping fast; he could feel the pulse in his fingers where they gripped the gun. His hand tightened, and he angled the gun at Ruggero’s knees. “Those lapses on your part. I’m not sure they were mistakes.”
For the first time in their long acquaintance, Ruggero looked at Enrico with anger on his face.
“Don’t I pay you enough?”
Ruggero reddened. “The Velas, we are an honorable family. I took a vow to you, to this cosca, and I am no oath breaker. Money does not motivate me.”
“Then what does?”
Ruggero’s already low voice deepened. “I am a man of honor. My reputation is all I have. I am not a man who will ever be don. I do not want to be don. I live to serve the don. That is my job, that is who I am. That is all I will ever be.”
Enrico started to speak, but Ruggero held up a hand. “I have something more to say. My father and I followed your family from Calabria. We left everything behind. My father died protecting yours. When do you think I last saw my cousins, my sister?”
The switch of subjects baffled Enrico. “I don’t know.”
“Fifteen years ago, not since becoming your personal guard.”
“You haven’t asked for time off.”
“My point is this: I’ve given my life over to yours. Perhaps I have already died for you.”
“Is this what’s been bothering you?”
Ruggero clasped his hands behind his back and looked at the carpet. “Indirectly.”
Enrico felt himself relax, even as guilt overwhelmed him. It had never occurred to him that Ruggero might wish to visit his family. “Then you’ll have a vacation as soon as this is over.”
“The situation is more… dire than that.”
Enrico raised a brow. “How so?”
“My sister’s husband is dying, and she wants me to come visit.”
Damn. Why did the bad times always multiply? “Who do you trust to take your place?”
“No one. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”
“Be reasonable. What about Antonio?”
“Antonio is too green, and you are in severe danger. My sister is not.”
“I don’t want you to make a choice you can’t live with.”
Ruggero’s voice was crisp, a rebuke. “I will keep my vows: the ’Ndrangheta and my don above all else.”
Enrico studied his guard, seeing the resolve on his face. He would not be a fool to put his trust in this man. “I apologize for insulting you with my doubts.” He brought the Glock out from under the desk and set it on top. Ruggero’s eyes followed the gun, but he didn’t look surprised to see it. “And I apologize for not treating you as a person with a life outside your job.”
Ruggero nodded, the anger leaving his face. “It would be foolish not to question me. And I cannot expect the don to attend to my needs. That’s my responsibility.”
“It’s mine. You aren’t a machine, Ruggero.” His voice softened on this last statement.
Ruggero took a chair in front of Enrico’s desk. “I would like to think I am.” He scrubbed his hand across his jaw, his fingers rasping against his early morning stubble. “I’ve failed to keep you safe. Again. The Andrettis are getting too close. It worries me.”
Enrico’s pulse sped up again. Ruggero, worried? Unprecedented. “Someone inside is working against me. Vincenzo admitted it. But who?”
“Between the falcon and now this, there are only three possibilities: me, Antonio, or your cousin. If you have eliminated Antonio and me as suspects, only Don Domenico is left.”
His stomach flipped over. He didn’t want to believe it. Dom. The person he loved and trusted most.
And then another possibility occurred to him. Who hated him more than anyone, aside from Carlo?
Franco Trucco. Fiammetta’s father.
It wouldn’t be hard for Trucco to learn what he needed to assist the Andrettis. Dom had warned him. He’d made a mistake showering Trucco with money, setting up scholarships for his remaining children, paying off the extensive renovations to his house. All the money in the world would never be enough. It would never bring Fiammetta back. It would never quiet the anger in Franco Trucco’s heart. Or the guilt in Enrico’s.
“What about Franco?”
“It’s possible, though more difficult for him.”
“But it is possible.”
Ruggero nodded. “You want him watched?”
“I do.”
“What about Don Domenico and Antonio?”
Enrico blew out a breath. “It’s got to be Trucco.”
Ruggero leaned forward. His voice was soft. “He has a most compelling motive, I agree. But he’s not the only one.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you die, childless, who stands to profit most?”
A chill washed through him. Dom. He’d inherit everything and his branch of the family would take over the cosca. “It cannot be. His blood is my blood.”
“We must consider every possibility.”
“And Antonio?”
Ruggero rubbed his chin with his fingertips. “He’s smart. And ambitious. I think he’d like to be don someday. But he looks to you as a father. I don’t think him likely. However, he is an outsider.”
Enrico smiled. “Anyone who’s not Calabrian is an outsider to you.”
“That doesn’t make it any less true. There’s a reason we choose only our own.” He paused. “There’s another possibility.”
Another? “Who?”
“Signora Andretti.”
Waves of heat and cold flashed through him. “No.”
“She held a gun on you several hours ago. If I hadn’t been there….”
Enrico shook his head. “Her husband tried to kill her. She was upset.”
“The whole thing could have been an act.”
“But she killed him.”
“She could have seen an opportunity.”
“For what?”
Ruggero shrugged. “To be more than a mid-level man’s wife. To be yours. Maybe even to bear you a child, then kill you and run the family in your stead.”
“Few women have ever headed a family.”
“But it’s happened.” Ruggero paused. “She certainly knows how to handle a gun.”
That detail did bother him. It was highly unusual for the women of his acquaintance.
“And Americans are ambitious. The women are practically men. And just as ruthless.”
“I don’t think Kate is that kind of woman.” But she’d hardly missed a beat, had she?
“She didn’t have to kill her husband. She could’ve left that to us.”
“It was too risky. Andretti almost got the gun back.”
Ruggero shrugged. “Still, the timing’s suspicious. She’s here for less than two days, and we have a security breach. I don’t want to overlook her.”
“I think you’re looking too hard.”
“And I think you’re in love.” The words were gentle, but the message was clear. When it came to Kate, he was blind.
He’d be stupid to ignore Ruggero. The guard was a man of few words, but those he spoke were always worth heeding. “All right.” He looked steadily at the man. “I want them all watched. I’m counting on you to solve this.”
“I will not fail you.”
“I trust that you won’t.” Enrico was about to say more when his mobile phone buzzed. He glanced at the display. “It’s Dom. I need to take this.”
Ruggero bowed and then left the study. Enrico waited for the door to close before answering. “What the hell happened?” Dom yelled when he heard Enrico’s voice.
“Vincenzo Andretti broke into my house. He tried to kill me and Kate. But she shot him.”
“Were you hurt?”
“Just some bruises, a mild concussion.”
“You could have been killed. And all over a woman. I told you this would come to no good.”
“At least he’s dead.”
Dom laughed without mirth. “You say that like it’s a good thing.”
“It is. He beat her and tried to rape her in front of me. He was not fit to live.”
“He was also an Andretti. Or have you forgotten?”
Enrico sighed. “I’ll figure something out.”
“The hell you will. This is going to cost. Immensely. And you will have to marry Delfina, as soon as possible, supposing Carlo and Dario still agree to that.”
“I will figure something else out.”
“Are you unable to hear me? There is no other solution. It’s marriage or it’s war.”
Enrico’s pulse quickened. “Then it’s war. I cannot marry her.”
Silence hung thick between them for several moments, then Dom said, “You’re forcing me to call for an election.”
His adrenaline ratcheted up, sending Enrico’s whole body into overdrive, his heart threatening to jump out of his chest. “Am I?”
“I have no other choice.”
Ruggero’s words came back with force. If you die, childless, who stands to profit most? Maybe this was Dom’s way of forcing the issue without having to kill Enrico. It was clever. And he’d just played into Dom’s hands if that was the case. “You don’t want to do that.”
“What else do you expect me to do? If I stand by and let you destroy this family, it’s not just your head that’s forfeit. Mine is too.”
Damn it. Maybe this wasn’t about Dom wanting to take over. Maybe this was about Dom protecting himself, protecting the family. Protecting Enrico. “There’s got to be another way.”
“I can’t think of one.” Dom paused. “Shall I speak to Carlo and Dario, to see if the offer is still on the table?”
Enrico damned himself as he nodded and hissed out the one word that meant the end to all his hopes. “Yes.”