Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Did she say this to you?”
“It hurts her to see how much love you give to Aurelia when she barely gets your attention herself. And to be frank, it hurts me too. Because I’m a grown man who’s settled down with my own family, and I don’t need that support. But she needs it more than ever. She hasn’t been able to get back on her feet because she hasn’t had the support even to try.”
“How is that my fault—”
“It’s not, Ma. But I know if Aurelia woke up one morning and took off, you’d be there every day. You wouldn’t want me to hire a nanny because you’d insist my child should be raised by family, not hired help. I know emotions and perspectives and resentments are complicated and layered, and I’m just bringing it to your attention. Because I know how much love is in your heart, and I know how much family means to you . . . and you’ve just lost your way with Beatrice.”
She tightened her arms over her chest, and her eyes flicked away, absorbing everything I said in a long stretch of silence. “The second she brought him home, I told her I didn’t like him.”
“I know.”
“I warned her this would happen.”
“I remember,” I said simply. “I didn’t like him either.”
“Told her so many times, and she married him anyway.”
I nodded in agreement.
“I’m surprised they lasted as long as they did.”
“Beatrice was young when she got married. She probably needed to grow up a little bit before she was mentally prepared for what she was getting into. But I also think she wanted to have a family because of how important family is to all of us. She wanted to settle down. She wanted a traditional life. She just chose the wrong guy, and it’s not right to punish her for that, Ma.”
She still wouldn’t look at me, her eyes directed elsewhere, sitting in the heaviness of the subject.
“She made a mistake—and you made a mistake.”
Her eyes flicked back to me.
“It’s time to let that go and move on.”
“So you think I should talk to Beatrice about all of this?” she asked quietly.
“I think you should talk to her exactly the way you would talk to me. Don’t be distant. Don’t keep her at arm’s length. She’s an adult, but she needs her mother right now.”
She nodded before she gently rubbed her arm, looking elsewhere for a while as she considered everything I said.
It wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have. I didn’t want to risk our relationship, but I felt like I had to stick out my neck for my sister. My mother listened to me differently than she did to other people, so I knew I was the one who would make her see what she’d been unaware of. She was a good person and a loving mother—she’d just become blinded by her own trauma.
After a long stretch of silence, she looked at me again. “How have you been?”
I knew she wasn’t asking about my general life with Aurelia or the wedding or the pregnancy. She was asking about the event that had brought me back to Taormina in exile. “I have good days . . . and bad days.”
She gave a slight nod in understanding.
“A friend of mine came by last week.” An old friend—or a former friend—I didn’t know anymore. “Said things are bad and I’m a coward for staying here. President Barsetti came by and said the same.”
“Things are bad, Con.”
My eyes narrowed on her face.
“I watch the news in the morning when I do the books at home.” She didn’t share what she’d seen, like she didn’t want me to know.
I continued to bury my head in the sand, and that did make me feel like a coward. “He told me if I set foot in Rome, he wouldn’t just kill Aurelia . . . but my entire family. And trust me when I tell you he’d do it and enjoy every second of it.”
She took a slow breath when she realized the extent of his threat.
“If I could take him out before he figures out I’m there, then it’s done. But if I fail or he knows I’m coming . . . you’re all dead. He outsmarted me once, and that’s been traumatic for me. So I’ll never be arrogant enough to assume I can outsmart him again. My risk tolerance is different now that I have a woman and a child to think about.”
She nodded in understanding. “You said you can’t set foot in Rome, but he never said anything about Florence.”
I stared at her.
“He wouldn’t expect you to go to his original territory. He probably wouldn’t see that coming. And I know you’re still close to Tommaso and Cosa Nostra. We could always go to Palermo and live under their protection.”