Chapter 5 - THE UNCLE WHO WANTED MY THRONE
I did not take Elena and Sofia back to the mansion.
Not after learning someone had attacked it.
We moved them to a Moretti safe house in Westchester known only to Marco and me.
Carlo came too.
That was not my preference.
It was Elena’s.
“He saved us.”
“He is Salvatore’s son.”
“So?”
“So that matters.”
She looked at me.
“I’m Salvatore’s enemy’s maid.”
“You’re not my maid anymore.”
The words left my mouth before I planned them.
Elena blinked.
Sofia sat on the couch hugging Miss Rose so tightly the doll’s head bent sideways.
“What am I?”
Elena asked.
I looked at her.
The honest answer terrified me.
“Family.”
She said nothing.
Carlo cleared his throat.
“Touching. Can we discuss my father trying to overthrow you?”
I stared at him.
“I’m reconsidering letting you live.”
“That sounds more familiar.”
Marco almost smiled.
We moved into the kitchen.
Sofia refused to let Elena leave her sight, so she sat on Elena’s lap.
Carlo explained everything.
Salvatore had been building an internal coalition for almost two years.
Older captains.
Men who believed my policies weakened the organization.
Men who wanted the drug routes reopened.
Protection rackets restored.
Violence used more freely.
“He never thought you’d step aside,” Carlo said.
“He planned to force me.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Create enough failures that the captains lost faith.”
“Colombo.”
“Part of it.”
Carlo looked toward Sofia.
“He thought Elena made you vulnerable.”
I felt her stiffen.
“He was right,” I said.
Elena looked at me.
I continued:
“He was wrong about what vulnerability does.”
Carlo nodded.
“Salvatore told Colombo that taking Elena would push you into war. He expected you to overreact, lose men, maybe lose Red Hook.”
“And Sofia?”
“He claims he never knew Colombo would take her.”
“I don’t care.”
“Neither do I.”
There was something in Carlo’s voice.
Pain.
“This is your father,” Elena said.
Carlo looked at her.
“Yes.”
“You knew?”
“Not everything.”
“Enough?”
He looked away.
That answer was yes.
“How long have you been spying on him?” I asked.
“Eight months.”
“For whom?”
“Myself.”
I laughed.
“Convenient.”
Carlo looked at me.
“I knew something was wrong. Father started meeting old captains without me. Moving money. Talking about succession.”
“Yours.”
“He wanted me to replace you.”
Sofia suddenly spoke.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
She looked at Carlo.
“Dommy boss.”
Marco coughed to hide laughter.
Carlo nodded solemnly.
“Apparently.”
Sofia leaned against Elena.
“Dommy scary boss.”
I looked at her.
She smiled.
“Little scary.”
Even Carlo laughed.
For three seconds, we were almost normal.
Then Marco’s phone buzzed.
His face changed.
“What?”
“Salvatore escaped.”
I stood.
“How?”
“Two guards turned.”
Of course.
“How many?”
“At least six.”
“Where?”
“Unknown.”
Carlo closed his eyes.
“He’ll go to the council.”
“What council?” Elena asked.
“The family captains.”
Carlo looked at me.
“If he convinces enough of them that Dominic’s leadership endangered the organization, they can formally challenge him.”
Elena stared.
“There’s paperwork for mafia coups?”
“No paperwork,” I said.
“Mostly guns.”
She looked unimpressed.
“Wonderful.”
I turned to Carlo.
“How many captains support him?”
“Five openly. Maybe eight privately.”
We had fourteen voting captains.
“Enough.”
“Yes.”
“What happens if they challenge?”
Carlo answered.
“Traditionally? Dominic appears before the captains.”
“And?”
“They vote.”
“And if he loses?” Elena asked.
Silence.
She looked between us.
“What happens?”
I answered.
“I step down.”
Carlo added:
“If he refuses, the new boss orders him killed.”
Elena’s face went white.
“Absolutely not.”
I almost smiled.
“What?”
“You are not attending.”
“It isn’t optional.”
“Yes, it is. Don’t go.”
“Elena.”
“They kidnapped my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“They tried to kill you.”
“Yes.”
“And your response is to walk into a room where half the people might vote to murder you?”
“That’s basically the tradition.”
She stared at Carlo.
“Are all of you insane?”
“Yes,” Marco said.
I looked at him.
“What?”
“She asked.”
Elena stood.
Sofia clung to her.
“No.”
“Elena—”
“No. I just spent a day locked in a room because men like you treat bloodlines like religion.”
Her voice shook.
“Your uncle nearly got my daughter killed because he didn’t think we were family enough.”
I said nothing.
She pointed toward Sofia.
“She is three.”
“I know.”
“She thinks the worst thing that happened today is losing her doll.”
My chest tightened.
“And you are going to walk voluntarily toward another group of men who think they get to decide whether you live?”
“I have to.”
“Why?”
“Because if I don’t, Salvatore wins.”
“Let him have the stupid empire.”
Silence.
Even Sofia looked at her.
I stared.
“You mean that.”
“Yes.”
“You know what would happen if Salvatore controlled the Morettis?”
“I don’t care.”
“You would.”
I stepped closer.
“Drugs return to neighborhoods we pushed them from. Trafficking resumes. Men who currently follow rules stop following them.”
She looked at me.
“I can’t pretend what I built is clean.”
My voice lowered.
“But I can keep it from becoming worse.”
Her anger softened slightly.
“And that matters?”
“Yes.”
“To you?”
“It does now.”
Sofia reached toward me.
“Up.”
I lifted her.
She immediately placed Miss Rose against my chest.
“Dolly safe.”
I looked at Elena.
“This is why I go.”
She understood.
Not power.
Protection.
If Salvatore won, there would be no safe corner.
No safe house.
No promise he would leave Elena or Sofia alone.
Elena swallowed.
“Then I’m going too.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“You said family.”
“I did.”
“Then stop deciding family means people who obey you.”
Marco looked away.
Carlo suddenly became fascinated with the floor.
I glared.
Elena crossed her arms.
“You don’t get to call me family only when it’s emotionally convenient.”
Damn woman.
“What exactly do you think you’ll do at a captain’s council?”
“Tell the truth.”
“They don’t care.”
“Then they can tell me that to my face.”
I laughed once.
“This is not a PTA meeting.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“It’s worse.”
I wanted to argue.
Instead, Sofia patted my cheek.
“Don’t yell Mama.”
“I’m not yelling.”
“You face yell.”
Marco turned away completely.
I sighed.
Elena almost smiled.
The council was called for midnight at an old social club in Brooklyn.
Fourteen captains.
Salvatore.
Carlo.
Marco.
Me.
And, against every instinct I possessed, Elena.
Sofia stayed with Marco’s wife under heavy guard.
Before we left, she hugged my neck.
“Come back.”
“I will.”
“Promise?”
I looked at Elena.
Then Sofia.
“Promise.”
The social club smelled of cigars and old wood.
Salvatore stood at the far end of the table.
He smiled when Elena entered.
“There she is.”
I moved toward him.
Elena caught my arm.
“No.”
She walked forward herself.
Salvatore looked amused.
“You’ve caused quite a problem.”
Elena stared.
“No.”
Her voice was calm.
“You did.”
The captains watched.
Salvatore laughed.
“You think this woman belongs here?”
Elena turned toward the table.
“I don’t.”
That surprised them.
“I clean houses.”
Several men shifted.
“I changed bedsheets. Scrubbed floors. Washed dishes.”
She looked at me.
“Then my daughter met Dominic.”
I remained silent.
“She wasn’t afraid of him.”
A captain muttered:
“Kids are stupid.”
Elena looked at him.
“Sometimes.”
A few men laughed.
She continued.
“But she saw something all of you apparently missed.”
Salvatore’s smile vanished.
“She saw that a man can be feared and still choose kindness.”
Silence.
“Salvatore thinks that made Dominic weak.”
She turned toward him.
“I think it made him harder to control.”
Carlo smiled faintly.
Elena continued:
“You let Vincent Colombo kidnap me.”
Salvatore’s face tightened.
“You gave him enough information to find us.”
“I never told him to take the child.”
“You knew men like him don’t respect rules.”
No answer.
“That means either you’re lying or stupid.”
Several captains looked shocked.
Marco coughed.
Salvatore stepped forward.
“You forget yourself.”
“No.”
Elena held his stare.
“You forgot what family means.”
The room went silent.
Then one captain slowly stood.
Angelo Russo.
Seventy-four.
Old-school.
I expected him to condemn her.
Instead, he looked at Salvatore.
“My granddaughter is four.”
Salvatore frowned.
“What?”
“If I give a rival information that leads him to her…”
Angelo’s expression hardened.
“I’m responsible.”
One vote shifted.
Then another.
And another.
Salvatore saw it happening.
He reached inside his jacket.
Carlo shouted:
“DON’T!”
Salvatore drew a gun.
Not at me.
At Elena.
I moved.
The shot fired.
Pain exploded through my shoulder.
I hit the floor.
Elena screamed.
Marco fired.
Salvatore’s gun flew from his hand.
Carlo tackled his father.
Chaos erupted.
I looked down.
Blood spread across my shirt.
Elena dropped beside me.
“Dominic!”
“I’m fine.”
“You’ve been shot!”
“I noticed.”
She pressed both hands against the wound.
Salvatore struggled across the room.
Carlo pinned him.
His father stared at him.
“You choose them over me?”
Carlo’s face broke.
“No.”
He looked toward Sofia’s mother.
Then me.
“I choose what you should have taught me.”
Salvatore went still.
May you like
Carlo whispered:
“Family.”
