The Woman from the Past (Grassi Framily)

I was just a little overwhelmed by it, I guess.

“Yeah, I mean, like I said… there is a lot of money. And no one but me knows exactly how much. So I can take a little bit off the top to pay for the problem solving. And then maybe enough for a month or two of rent to help my brothers and me get by.”

“I’m sure, with all your research, you know by now that the Family, if such a thing exists, doesn’t outsource those kinds of services.”

“Well, maybe the Family, who I absolutely know exists, might be willing to help me out since they were the ones who got me in this situation to begin with.”

I mean, sure, I hadn’t planned on being with Cody forever. Actually, I probably would have come to my senses in less than half a year if he’d been allowed to live. But regardless, his being alive was all it would have taken to keep me out of this horrible situation.

Would Cody have been upset if or when I broke up with him? Sure. But he wouldn’t have trapped me in his apartment and kept me his prisoner. He wouldn’t have forced my brothers to work for him, so I couldn’t leave because I’d fear for their safety.

Cody was a kind of so-so boyfriend. But he wasn’t evil. Not like his brother.

So, if Massimo had never killed Cody, all of this never would have happened.

I mean, I wasn’t naive enough to think that the mafia would take responsibility for what they’d done, that they would feel guilty about what had happened to some woman they’d never met. But I thought the money might be motivation enough.

That was what the mafia was known for, right? Making money. Illegal money.

What was more illegal than killing someone?

“Okay. Thanks for bringing this to my attention,” Massimo said, suddenly rising from his chair, and rebuttoning his suit jacket.

“That’s it? I came all this way for nothing?” I asked, feeling irrational tears start to sting at my eyes.

I couldn’t cry, damnit.

I’d cried enough over the years.

I wasn’t going to give the man who caused all my problems the satisfaction of seeing me break down.

Even as I blinked back the tears that had formed in my eyes, though, I could tell that it was too late. He’d already seen them there.

“I didn’t say that,” he told me, choosing his words carefully. “You’ve given me a lot to think about. I obviously can’t tell you what you want to hear. At least not right now,” he added as my shoulders began to slump.

“But… but I have to leave. Pretty much right now,” I said.

“If I need to get in contact with you, I will,” he told me as he made his way toward the door, a silent demand for me to follow.

What choice did I have but to do just that?

“I, ah, well, thanks for the wine, I guess,” I said, unable even to make eye contact as I moved past him toward the door, all traces of hope disappearing, making me feel deflated entirely.

“Cammie,” he called, making me turn back, my gaze lifting despite the sting of tears I felt there again.

Whatever he was about to say, though, he seemed to think better of it.

“Don’t forget the vitamins,” he said instead, making me give him a quick nod, because that was all I could manage, before turning and shuffling off.

Back to him, I went ahead and let the tears fall.

Who would know they existed except for me?

I was such an idiot.

Why had I wasted so much of my time on a pipe dream?

No high-up member of the mafia was going to help out little old me. Not even if he’d caused all my problems to begin with.

I was on my own.

Which only meant that I had to come up with a new plan.

I just had no freaking idea what that could be.