CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO – MILA
Marrying the mob does not guarantee a happily ever after. Our lives don’t have a storybook ending, although I have tried to pretend that we have had that for the last year and a half. Since I murdered Colombo, it’s been relatively quiet around us.
Papa DeLuca and the boys have been on approximately three trips to America to deal with the backlash of Colombo’s murder. On the first two occasions, Alessandro didn’t accompany them. On their last trip there to oversee their operations and to ensure there were no lingering issues surrounding the murder, Alessandro finally returned.
I thought that I could rest easy until the phone call this morning. I saw the worry in Alessandro’s eyes. My man always assures me that he has everything under control, and his confidence shows that. This time was different, though. Despite his words of assurance, he looked spooked, which spooked me.
I haven’t been back to sleep since he left. I’ve tried to gather what I could from Bones, but he’s not giving up anything. He’s as quiet as a church mouse on the subject and keeps telling me to return to bed.
“Hey, Sabrina,” I greet the moment the sun comes up.
“Mila! How are you?” she greets, and I can hear the worry in her tone.
We haven’t seen one another in the last month and usually have lunch weekly. Sabrina returned to the states to visit family and just came back last week.
“Worried,” I admit.
“I know. Bones left early this morning after he got a phone call and said he was headed your way.”
“Did he say anything else? What the phone call was about, or who it came from?”
“Niente.”
“Damnit!”
“He rolled out of bed, hopped in his clothes, and headed out the door. I only had enough time to ask where he was going.”
“Not why?”
She sighs. “Mila, one day, you’ll learn.”
“Learn what, Brina?”
“That you don’t ask them about business. They’ll never discuss family business with you no matter how much they love you. And I know Ales loves you fiercely.”
“I hate not knowing,” I groan.
“I know you do, as do I, but they do it to protect us. It may seem unfair at the time, and yes, we go out of our minds with worry, but it’s the right thing to do in the end.”
“Well, you don’t need to worry because your husband is here at the house with the kids and me.”
“Really?”
I can hear the relief in her voice.
“Yes, my husband is the only one out on some godforsaken mission and has been gone since the butt crack of dawn.”
“Honey, I know what you’re going through. We’ve been married for ten years, and it’s always the same. I’m sure Alessandro is okay.”
“I don’t know. I also want to believe that, but that call came in a little after four this morning. It’s already eight, and I haven’t heard a word. I didn’t call him because I didn’t want to stress him, but I texted.”
“He hasn’t responded?”
“No. Not yet.”
“If it makes you feel better, why don’t I come over, and we can have some coffee and prepare a big breakfast.”
“Would you do that, honey?”