“Keep trying. There has to be a way to get through to Luca Vitiello. I’m sure.”
Mother nodded. “Perhaps. I sent his wife a letter. I hear she’s kind. She might be our last chance.”
“Don’t give up. We’ll figure something out,” I said firmly, trying to convey with my eyes that I was working on a plan.
Mother’s brows drew together but she didn’t ask what I meant. She was a clever woman. We had to be careful what we said aloud.
She pointed at the sandwiches piled up on the étagère. “I made them myself. Something to keep me busy. And I miss cooking for all of you.”
I grabbed a salmon sandwich and took a bite, then smiled. “It’s delicious.”
Mother leaned back in her chair and watched me eat another sandwich. I swallowed the last bite, then asked, “I’ve been wondering, why did you even leave New York and your family? You were part of the leading family after all. You could have led a great life there.”
Mother looked tired. “I was. But my brother was the Capo and he was as bad as Falcone. Of course, back then I didn’t know how badly Falcone ruled in Las Vegas or perhaps I would have stayed in New York.” Then she smiled sadly and shook her head. “Though I was head over heels in love with your father and would have followed him anywhere.”
I touched her hand. “How did you two even meet if Father was one of Falcone’s men? New York and Las Vegas hated each other back then too, didn’t they?”
Mother nodded. “Oh yes, they did. But Falcone had only just been made boss and his father still had some say in the city. And the old man wanted to try to make peace with New York, so they sent your father because he always knew how to be diplomatic. Falcone would have ruined everything if he’d tried to do the negotiations himself.”
“But they didn’t make a peace treaty, did they?”
“No. Salvatore and Falcone were too alike. They both wanted to have the last say, so nothing came of your father’s visit in New York.”
“You two fell in love.”
“Yes, yes. In the three weeks that he was in town, he completely captured my heart. I begged my parents to let me marry him but of course they refused and Salvatore was furious that I’d even suggested such a horrible thing. He chose someone else for me, but I wanted nobody but Brando and so your Father took me with him, and told Salvatore that he’d done it as revenge for the insults Salvatore had said about Falcone. I’m not sure if Falcone believed the story but he was happy to taunt Salvatore like that, and so your father and I married two days after we’d left New York. The party was the story in every newspaper in Las Vegas and beyond, and from that point on any kind of peace was out of the question. So Falcone got exactly what he wanted, and so did your father and I. It seemed like the perfect solution at the time.”
“Do you think the head of the Familia, that Luca, would allow us to stay in New York?” I asked in a bare whisper.
Mother touched my cheek. “I don’t know. I only saw him and his brother once when they were small boys.”
“You visited them, but I thought that was forbidden?”
“Oh, it was. But Salvatore’s wife and I really liked each other. I always felt sorry for her because she had to marry my sadistic brother. And once, when I was pregnant with you, I was in Aspen at the same time as Salvatore’s wife. She was there with the kids and so we met in secret. We’d been talking on the phone regularly but that was the first time we met since I’d run off. It was wonderful. And the boys were real cuties, though it was unmistakable that my brother was their father. They were too controlled and serious for boys that young. Especially Luca gave me the chills sometimes.”
“Perhaps he will remember you soon and help us. It’s our best chance.”
“It is,” she agreed, then her expression turned almost frightened. “Do you know where they took your father’s body? I can’t bear the thought that Falcone gave him to his dogs as food. It breaks my heart. He doesn’t deserve that.”
I patted her arm. “Growl told me that someone buried Father in the desert. They didn’t feed him to the dogs.”
Mother’s shoulders sagged in relief.
But suddenly I wondered if Growl had told me the truth. There was no way I could know. I had to trust his word.
When we heard Growl’s car pull up in the driveway, Mother pulled me against her body and whispered in my ear, “You are such a good girl. I don’t know how I deserve you. Be strong, sweetheart. Don’t let that monster break you.”