Revenge (52 page)

She mumbled yes. She was about to close her
eyes again, but she fought to stay conscious. “The baby—will it be
all right?”

Beltrami nodded. “I think so.”

Enrico pulled him aside after Kate’s eyes
closed again. “Is that the truth?”

“Most likely the baby won’t be affected by a
one-time exposure.” Then the doctor added, “She’s strong, Don
Lucchesi, and she’s young. If something does go wrong....” Beltrami
frowned and looked down at the tile beneath their feet. “She can
have another.”

Enrico nodded, but the doctor’s words weren’t
much consolation. He’d suffered through enough miscarriages with
Antonella to know that it was still a death. A death of hope, of
possibility. The baby wasn’t just a maybe, a could be. This child
already existed for both of them. Kate had already been through so
much. Would their relationship survive such a loss?

Ruggero, Claudio, and Santino stayed behind
to clean up—despite the gloves, they wiped down and threw all their
weapons into the woods. Then they gathered up Paolo’s body and
wrapped it in a sheet. Ruggero did his best with some bleach he
found in the kitchen to erase the traces of Paolo’s and the
signora’
s blood, but it was a difficult task. Paolo’s DNA
wasn’t on file with the
polizia
, but the
signora
’s
was, so Ruggero took Carlo’s clothes in case any of her blood had
spilled on them. At the last minute, he thought to take the water
glass, the pitcher, and the ashtray as well.

Dario Andretti sat on the stairs next to
Massimo’s body, waiting for them to leave. He pulled out his mobile
phone at one point, but Ruggero gave him a hard look until he put
it back in his pocket. Regardless of what Enrico had decided,
Ruggero would put a bullet in Dario if need be. They both knew
that.

When they were done, Ruggero walked to the
foot of the stairs. “We’re leaving.”

Dario pulled out his phone. “May I?”

Ruggero nodded. “I haven’t left anything for
the
carabinieri
.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Dario gave him a half
smile. “I’m torching the place.”

With a last glance around, Ruggero left the
house, the scent of bleach and gunpowder burning in his nose.

They tossed the water pitcher, the glass, and
the ashtray into the woods several miles away. Carlo’s clothes they
would burn. And Paolo they would leave in an alley in Milan.
Ruggero regretted that, but it was Paolo’s laxness that got them
into this mess. In a few hours, he would place an anonymous call to
tip off the
polizia
to Paolo’s body. It was the best he
could do for the boy.

Enrico didn’t relax until Beltrami had
x-rayed Kate’s head and hooked her up to machines to monitor her
heart rate and her breathing.

“How is she?”

Beltrami looked at the readout. “Her oxygen
level is a little low, but it’s adequate.” He turned away from Kate
and placed the x-ray on the light box on the wall. “No fracture.
She could have a concussion, so ideally she should be awake, but
with the drug....” He shrugged helplessly. “At least it will make
it easier for her when I put the stitches in.”

The doctor worked quickly, using surgical
glue to close the wound on her face, but he had to use many
stitches on her arm. “I’m afraid she’ll have a scar. I’m no plastic
surgeon.”

“Her face will be fine, though? I’m sure
that’ll be her major concern.”

“The wound on her cheek was small, so there
should be no noticeable scarring.” Beltrami motioned Enrico up onto
a table. “Now let’s take a look at you.”

Enrico shrugged out of his jacket and shirt.
Beltrami prodded his ribs, listened to his lungs, then x-rayed him.
“Will I live?” Enrico joked, as the doctor looked over the
x-ray.

“Sì, but two ribs are cracked. I’ll give you
something for the pain.”

Enrico watched Kate while Beltrami rummaged
through a locked cabinet. She looked so pale, so still. If it
weren’t for the beeping of the monitor and the light rise and fall
of her chest, he’d have thought she was dead. The thought pierced
him—she’d come so close. So very close. It was all his fault for
not acting more decisively. Was he being a fool all over again,
trusting Dario to keep his word?

Passing up the opportunity to crush the
Andretti
cosca
, to absorb all their territory—that certainly
was foolishness of the highest degree. Don Battista would question
his judgment. And many others would see his choice as weak.

And yet—Carlo was Benedetto’s brother.
Showing Dario mercy—surely that would be to Enrico’s advantage
somehow. Or at least he could use that as his excuse.

The simple truth was that he was still, after
all this time, not a killer by choice, but only by necessity. For a
Mafia don, that was a horrible liability.

His thoughts turned to Dom. Antonio had him
under guard in Milan, in one of the safe houses. Enrico closed his
eyes, the knot in his stomach growing larger. How would he ever
face Francesca and the children again? He was their godfather. Dom
was the closest thing he had to a brother, he was almost all the
blood family Enrico had left. Wasn’t there a special place in Hell
for those who committed fratricide?

But what other choice was there? Dom had
plotted with Carlo. Dom had wanted all of them dead, and without
dirtying his hands directly. All so he could “innocently” take over
the
cosca
.

Enrico burned at the betrayal. Never would he
have done the same to Dom. Never. Dom tried to justify what he’d
done, he tried to claim he was doing it for everyone’s good. Though
Enrico would have liked to dismiss that notion outright, there was
some truth to it. He hadn’t been the best steward of the
cosca
’s interests. He’d let his heart rule instead of his
head. In a way, he had forced Dom’s hand.

But he couldn’t live with any other course;
he couldn’t have walked away and abandoned Kate to the Andrettis.
Somehow, he was going to have to make up for what he’d done. Though
there’d be no bringing Paolo back. That price would always be with
him. Just like the ghosts of Fiammetta, Veronica, and Franco. Soon
Dom would join that list. The people he’d irrevocably wronged.

One of Kate’s monitors began to beep
frantically, catapulting him out of his thoughts. He jumped off the
table and rushed to her bedside. Beltrami was already there.

“What’s wrong? I thought everything was
okay.”

“Her heart is racing.” Beltrami stared at the
monitors, watching the readout. Kate started thrashing, then she
came awake with a gasp and sat up. “Let go of me!” she yelled.

Enrico touched her arm. “It’s okay, Kate.
It’s all over.”

“It is?” She looked at him in disbelief.

He pulled up a chair and took her hand. “Tell
me what happened.”

Kate recounted what she could remember,
including Dom’s betrayal. “He said I was a fool to doubt you. And
when the guy who wants you dead defends you, how could I not
believe it?”

Enrico’s chest grew tight. He asked Beltrami
to leave the room before speaking. “
Cara
, I could never kill
you.” He smiled. “This is going to sound horrible, but that has
been the problem all along. I could not tell you who I was, I could
not let you go, and I could not kill you if you could not accept
me. I have never been faced with so many bad choices.”

Kate looked at his somber face and she
cracked a smile. “I never imagined that
not
wanting to kill
me would be a problem.”

Enrico started to laugh. He shook his head.
“I lead some life, yes?”

“And now, so do I.” She squeezed his
hand.

Enrico’s heart sped up. “What are you
saying?”

She held his gaze, her eyes tender. “Don
Lucchesi, will you do me the great honor of being my husband?”

She wanted to be his wife after all, after
all the lies he’d told, after everything that had happened. “I
shall.” He kissed her, making the touch of his lips soft,
lingering. Then he kissed her cheek and stroked her injured temple,
his fingers lightly passing over the lump beneath the skin. She
nuzzled into his hand.

“What are you going to do about Dom?” she
asked.

“I know what I
have
to do. I know what
he tried to do to us, what he did to my father. And yet....” He
looked down at their joined hands. “Since Primo and Mario were
killed, Dom has been my brother.”

Kate was silent for a moment, then she said,
“Has
he
treated
you
like a brother?”

Enrico couldn’t look at her. “Let’s not talk
about him anymore.”

“I will support whatever decision you make.”
Her voice was soft. “But don’t forget why I’m lying here.”

He burned with shame at the reminder. “I
won’t.” He had to call Antonio soon. He could just give the order,
but he wasn’t going to do that. He would let Dom say his piece
first. It was the least he could do. He turned to her. “You do
realize what you’re urging me to do?”

She nodded, her face somber. “I never thought
I’d feel like this, but I understand now. You don’t live in the
same world I grew up in. You never have.”

Sadness overwhelmed him. “I regret that our
child will grow up this way.”

“At least our baby will have two devoted
parents. That’s more than many children have.”

He smiled and kissed her cheek. “You’ve
gotten much better at consoling me.”

She laughed. “I had nowhere to go but
up.”

Enrico nodded. He should’ve been happy. But
Dom was a weight hanging over him.

He got up and wandered around the room,
stretching his back and belatedly remembering his ribs, physically
unable to remain in one spot.

Kate must have guessed at his discomfort
because she said, “
Mio caro
, you can go. I’m fine.”

Enrico called Beltrami back in. “When can she
leave?”

“I’m going to watch her until the drug wears
off, then I’ll send her home.”

“See?” Kate said. “I’ll be in good
hands.”

Enrico walked over to Kate’s bedside. “You’re
sure?”

“Go on.” She shooed him away. “You’ll drive
me crazy if you stay.”

He kissed her on the forehead, then planted a
quick kiss on her belly. He turned to Beltrami. “Call me if
anything happens.”

Enrico found Tommaso in the car out front. He
instructed him to go inside and sit with Kate. “Guard her with your
life. If anything happens to her, yours won’t be worth living.” His
voice was sharp.

Tommaso nodded his grizzled head. “
Sì
,
capo
.”

Enrico took a breath, then patted the guard’s
shoulder. “
Scusa
, I’m—”

Tommaso cut him off with a smile. “We’re all
on edge,
signore
. It’s been a hard night.”

Enrico watched the guard walk inside, then he
called Ruggero to pick him up. He snapped the phone shut and
waited. He still didn’t know if he could do it. He might have to
ask Ruggero to step in. A good
capo
would never do such a
thing. But he wasn’t a good
capo
. He had just proven that in
abundance.