Chapter 33: When She Unravels: Chapter 33

I spend the rest of the day ensuring all of the new security measures Napoletano recommended are put in place. Since Ras is gone, Jax—one of his tech guys—has taken over getting all of the extra cameras and software set up, and he tells me he should be finished with everything within the next twenty-four hours.

“There’s a connection problem by the pool,” he says. “We need to get an extender for the signal, but it should be an easy fix.”

“Get it first thing you can.”

“You got it, boss.”

The night that follows is restless. Vale twists and turns in my arms, and I wish she’d talk to me, but I get the sense she wants to be alone with her thoughts.

I wonder what she’s thinking about right now—Lazaro being alive? Her sister’s engagement? Or maybe she’s coming to terms with who her father really is and the things he’s willing to do.

It seems like she was far more sheltered from his dealings than a typical Casalese woman. For nearly a decade, my mother managed the finances of the clan. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t much my father kept from her. He’d come home for dinner, we’d sit down at the table, and he’d talk about his day to all of us, even the children. Mari was too young to understand, but I ate up every word out of his mouth. I loved hearing about the feuds and the scuffles, all of which ended in him victorious.

I like to think I inherited my steady temperament from him. In his stories, my father was always calm and calculated, even when he was dealing with traitors. My father was a brutal don, feared by his enemies, but he wouldn’t have done what Sal and Garzolo tried to do to Martina.

I notice Vale’s breathing has grown deeper. She’s finally asleep. I pull her closer, inhale the scent of her hair, and soon, my own consciousness begins to slip.

A loud ping makes my eyes snap open. It takes me a moment to push past the veil of sleep. How long was I out for?

My palm curls around the phone, and I lift it up to my face. It’s a text message from Gemma. I open it and find two words.

.

I frown at the letters.

Even though I loathe to do it, I nudge Vale awake and show her the message. Maybe she can help interpret what the fuck it’s supposed to mean.

She squints at the screen. “That’s all she sent?”

“Yes. Does your father deal in counterfeits?”

“Not as far as I know…” She moves her jaw in thought. “Wait, the Riccis do.”

The family Garzolo is at war with? How do counterfeits connect to the deal with Sal?

I sit up and run my hand through my hair. The Casalese clan controls a massive amount of counterfeit factories in the area around Naples. We supply the entirety of Europe with goods that are impossible to distinguish from the real thing, and that’s because the luxury houses use our factories for the production of their authentic merchandise as well. The only difference between what they sell in their glittering stores and what we sell on the black market is the price. It’s the dark underside of the fashion industry few people know about.

What’s Garzolo’s angle? Was he trying to undercut his rival’s business by flooding the New York market with his own merchandise? Was he trying to get his supply from Sal?

Shit, that could be it.

The phone begins to ring.

Valentina sits up and pulls the sheet up to her chest. “Who is it?”

I eye the caller ID and hand her the phone. “It’s Gemma.”

Her eyes grow wide. She picks up and puts it on speaker. “Gem? How did it go?”

“Hello, Valentina.”

Vale’s jaw slams shut. I don’t need to ask to know who the gravelly voice belongs to.

“What possessed you to do this, daughter?”

Stefano Garzolo has caught on to what we were trying to do, which means I need to calibrate my approach.

“Papà,” Vale breathes. “Where’s Gemma?”

“Your sister is in her room, under guard. She’s unlikely to be leaving it any time soon after the trick you two pulled.”

Vale brings her hand to her mouth.

I make a gesture at her to stay quiet. “Garzolo, I suppose we might as well jump to introductions. My name is Damiano De Rossi, and I have your daughter in my possession.”

There’s a pause on the other end of the line, and I can tell whatever Stefano Garzolo was expecting, it wasn’t this.

“Your don told me that when your sister returned to you, she returned alone.”

“He lies, especially to people who fail to do his bidding.” I need to sow doubt and do it fast. Garzolo is in trouble on his home turf. That’s his main problem. If I can position myself as his chance to solve it, I’ll get what I want out of him.

“I presume it’s all in the open now,” he says.

“It wasn’t hard to figure out who hired you once Valentina told me her side of the story.”

He huffs a laugh laced with disappointment. “Of course she did. I bet it didn’t even take much. Do you have children, De Rossi?”

“No.”

“You will one day. I pray yours don’t disappoint you like mine do.”

His words send a spike of anger through me. No wonder Vale didn’t want to go back to this. She pulls the sheet to her chest, her knuckles turning white while her cheeks redden. I steady her by placing my palm on her thigh.

“So what now, De Rossi? I take it you’re not a forgiving man.”

He wants to know if I’m going to make a move on Sal. Once I confirm it, this conversation will only have two possible outcomes. Garzolo will come to my side, or he will rat me out as soon as we hang up the phone.

What’s life if not a series of calculated risks?

“I’m not,” I tell him.

The man on the other end of the line lets out a sigh. “And what do you plan to do with my daughter?”

“That depends on how this conversation goes.” I look at Vale. When she mouths , I nod and ask, “What are you going to do with Gemma?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Papà, please don’t punish her,” Vale begs.

“Enough of that Papà crap,” he snaps. “You’ve lost your right to call me that after you abandoned your family. Now, let’s cut right to it. What do you want, De Rossi?”

My eyes beg Vale to trust me. I can see she’s on the verge of freaking out. Once I have a deal with Garzolo, we’ll be able to do more for Gemma. Finally, she gives a barely perceptible nod.

“I want to give you an opportunity to right the wrongs leveled against my family,” I say. “Sal will never work with you again after your failure, but I might.”

“You’re a capo on an island. Rich but isolated. You don’t have anything I want besides my daughter,” Garzolo says, his voice harsher than before.

“I won’t be on this island for much longer,” I tell him. This is where I need to bluff. “Everything’s already in motion.”

“You want to take over.”

“I take over. It’s my birthright, and my duty. Sal’s running the clan into the ground, and people are noticing. They see me as the natural contender, which is why he wanted to take Martina to keep me in line. The money I make on Ibiza makes up more than fifty percent of the clan’s revenue. Without me, he’s nothing.”

The implication is clear. Once I’m the don, I’ll be able to make whatever counterfeit deal he was interested in from Sal.

“How do I know this isn’t just some fantasy?” he demands. “What makes you think you’ll succeed?”

I’ll succeed if Garzolo agrees to give me his cocaine, but I can’t tell him that. He can’t know how much leverage he has. “Sal’s made a lot of enemies in the last few years. The families are unhappy and ready for a change. You know as well as me that all great empires fall from within. Let me be clear, I don’t need you, Garzolo. Once I become the don, I’ll be even less forgiving. We have a debt between us. One way or another, it will be paid.”

He exhales a sigh. “What kind of payment are you looking for?”

I brace my elbows on my knees. “A short-term supply of cocaine. I’ll pay you a fifteen percent markup if you can get the product to Ibiza.”

There’s a lengthy pause. Vale places her hand on my back while her father thinks.

“Done, but under the condition that we sign the deal the Messeros and I were negotiating with Sal.”

Relief cascades through me. “I’ll have to look at it, unless you want to bring me up to speed now.”

“The Riccis have grown too powerful here in New York. The Messeros and I have partnered together to take them down a notch and reestablish our dominance. The Riccis’ main supplier of counterfeits in China is no longer operational. It’s been taken over by the Triad. So they went to Sal.”

Ah, it’s all starting to become clear. “And you tried to get Sal to agree to work with you instead.”

“We almost had our deal signed. Sal’s last condition was the business with your sister. When we didn’t deliver, he was furious. He exposed our plans to the Riccis. The tensions are high. It’s urgent we get it done.”

“Understood. It will be my top priority after the dust settles.”

“Good. When are you sending back my daughter?”

I meet Vale’s gaze. “She’s staying with me.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Valentina is mine.”

“She’s a married woman. Her husband wants her back.”

“Her husband is never going to see her again.”

The silence stretches.

“Lazaro left for Spain a few days after she disappeared,” Garzolo says finally. “We tracked her to Spain. He’s been searching ever since. When you told me your name earlier on the call, I messaged him to tell him Valentina is in Ibiza. He’s on his way.”

Valentina lets out a gasp.

“Call him off,” I grind out.

Her father sighs. “That’s not going to be possible. In our clan, not even the don can interfere within a marriage.”

I squeeze the phone harder with my hand. “Good. I’ve been wanting to have a few words with him.”

“The business with your sister was ill conceived,” Garzolo says. “I understand if you want to get your revenge.”

As if I need his permission to kill Lazaro. He makes no mention of what that scumbag did to Valentina. He hasn’t even asked how she is the entire time we’ve been speaking.

“You’re fine with him dead?” Valentina suddenly asks. “I thought he was your loyal soldier.”

“He was.”

“You gave me to him.”

“As a reward for his prior good work, not his recent failure.”

She scoffs and gives a shake of her head. “He’s no longer useful to you.”

“No.”

A tear travels down her cheek, and I wish I were able to reach into the phone and shake some fucking sense into the man. He still hasn’t attempted an apology.

Sadly, I doubt he ever will.

“Goodbye, Father.” Valentina hangs up the phone. “Lazaro’s coming here,” she says.

I meet her worried gaze. “He won’t leave alive, Vale.”

That’s a promise I intend to keep.