Dominic (Benedetti Brothers 2)

I had to read Isabella’s message twice to understand. To remember.

Mateo’s father had worked for Franco. He’d taken a bullet for him. He’d died saving Franco’s life. I remembered now. I’d heard it later, heard him talking to Roman about it, about taking care of the Castellano family. Making sure everyone knew they were under his protection.

And Roman had Mateo Castellano killed? Why in hell would he have branded him? Why advertise that? Franco would fucking kill him. It made zero sense. If what Gia told me was true, did that mean he’d had his hands in human trafficking? Did the Benedetti family now sell women on the black market?

I took a seat at the kitchen table and pulled up Salvatore’s number. It was time. Hell, it was past time.

I hit Send and listened to it ring. It took everything I had to not hit the End button this time. And when he picked up, his voice so familiar even after all these years, it took me a minute to reply. It took me that minute to get my heart to stop pounding, to get my voice working.

“Salvatore,” I said and waited.

Silence on his end now. Then: “Dominic? Is that you?”

Hearing his voice, fuck, it brought back so many memories. So many emotions. “It’s me,” I said flatly.

“Jesus!”

If ever I could say I heard the sound of relief, now would be the time. As if he gave a shit.

“Where the fuck have you been? I’ve been looking for you for seven fucking years.”

“I’m here. I’m fine.” I paused. “How are you?” It was polite to ask, and I needed to be polite. I needed information.

“Fine. Good.”

“I heard you have two brats running around and a third on the way.”

“You’ve been keeping tabs?”

“Yeah.”

“Two little girls. A boy due in six weeks.” He paused. “They should meet their uncle sometime.”

“Nah.” Fuck. I stood, gritting my teeth. “Better this way.”

“Better for whom?”

I ignored his question.

“And Effie?” he asked.

“Better for her too.”

“No, not fucking better. Where are you? Are you okay?”

I hated the tone of his voice. The authenticity in what he said.

“I’m around, and I’m okay. I needed to go figure out who the hell I was.”

“You’re my fucking brother, that’s who you are.”

“Not so simple.”

“I thought you were dead,” Salvatore said.

“After what happened, I wanted to be.” A long silence followed. The words I’m sorry may have fit here nicely. I’m sorry for almost killing you. Hell, they might even be true, but I couldn’t go there. I hated the Benedetti family. I hated all of them. And that had to include Salvatore.

Quiet.

“I heard they found a body. Mateo Castellano. Did Roman order the killing?”

Salvatore sighed. “I think it’s pretty obvious, don’t you?”

“I thought the Castellano family was under Franco’s protection.”

“Me too. Father’s pissed. Not sure how Roman will survive this.”

Snakes always slithered out just when you thought you had them cornered. But this time, I was sure it wasn’t Roman. “He’s not being set up?”

“I don’t know. I talked to him, but I can’t be sure.”

“Do you know any details?”

“I don’t care about the details. That’s why I’m here, in Florida, out of that life. Keeping my family out of that life. I’ve already been brought in for questioning twice, and I’ll tell you what I told them. Roman and I talk twice a year. I called him about this for my own peace of mind. He claims it wasn’t him.”

“Do you believe him?”

He sighed and took a moment to answer. “Look, I’m not involved anymore. Period. And now I’m telling you that neither are you. Best thing you did was getting the hell away from our father.”

“Your father.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you should count your lucky fucking stars.”

“It was a brutal killing.”

“I know you and Mateo were friends once, but you can’t get involved. You can’t get back into it. Let Franco handle it.”

Salvatore always had this way of beating you over the head with shit, especially if he thought he was doing it for your own good. That hadn’t changed, apparently.

“I’m not really out of it, Salvatore.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Mateo has a sister.”

“Who disappeared a few days after he did, and who’s probably dead.”

“No, she’s not.”

“Shit, Dominic. What are you talking about?”

“Look, I just needed to know if Roman ordered the killing. Is he covering his ass now that the body’s been found? Because that opens up a whole other can of worms.”

“What can?” he asked tightly.

I knew he was waiting for me to fill in the blanks. I wondered if he knew I hadn’t talked to Roman in over five years. And how did I tell him how I knew Gia Castellano was alive and that I had her here?

“I know for a fact it was Victor Scava who put the bullet in Mateo Castellano’s head,” I said.