“I’m here,” Alessandro replied.
“Hey, Sandro,” Marco greeted.
Alessandro chuckled. “What’s up, brother?”
“This is pretty cool. I don’t think I’ve ever done a three-way call before. Modern technology, eh?” Marco said.
Alessandro’s chuckle developed into a full laugh. “People have been doing this since calls required operators, Marco.”
“Oh.” Marco snickered. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. It’s not new.” Alessandro sighed. “Anyway, I called to check on you, Gabe, not explain seventies tech to Marco. How’s it going?”
“Not bad.”
Alessandro groaned. “I can tell you’re lying, and I’m not even looking at you.”
I thought of Luca and Molly and that final, unfrayed strand. “You know. Luca’s beyond stressed. This is all falling down on him. I’m trying to do my part, but you know me.”
“That’s no excuse,” Marco hissed. “You’re a Varasso. You seriously gonna let Luca take all this shit on himself because you’re a little soft?”
That was closer to the Marco I was used to. I looked away from the car speakers nervously as if Marco was peering at me through them. “I’m not…I’m trying.”
“Lay off him, Marco. What right do we have to criticize him when we packed up our shit and left?” Alessandro jumped to my defense, just like always.
“Hey, fuck you. I had to go. I didn’t have a choice.”
“Bullshit. You rolled the dice with Kelly. I’m not saying it was a bad gamble to make. I’m just saying there was a point where you knew what you were into, and you kept on anyway.” He grumbled. “Besides. You’re not in witness protection anymore. If it was so against your will, why don’t you go back home and help out?”
“I could say the same about you,” Marco spat back. “You’re not even in WPP. You’re just shacked up.”
I didn’t want them to be arguing, especially not in a way that made Alessandro feel like he’d made the wrong choice by leaving the life. “Guys.”
“Willow won’t go near this shit, and you know that. The only reason we’re together right now is because I left.”
“Yeah, join the fucking club. You think Kelly was just gung-ho to join the mob lifestyle? She’s not Molly.”
“I think Luca and Molly might split up.” The words rushed out like liquid from an overflowing glass. They weren’t necessarily true, and they weren’t necessarily false, but it did bring silence between Alessandro and Marco.
“What makes you think that?” Marco asked.
“All the extra weight. I mean, Marco, you weren’t there, but Sandro, you saw what happened when Luca flipped out about Willow last year. It’s that, times ten. Most of the time, they’re good, but when they aren’t…I just feel like they’re gonna break soon.” I was already spinning a web that I wasn’t sure how to not get myself stuck in to later be devoured. “I thought it’d be nice if they could take a family vacation or something. Just get away from all this shit.”
“That’s brilliant, Gabe!” There was electric excitement to Alessandro’s voice that I didn’t like. “I can come home for a bit. Not permanently, but for a couple weeks. I can help you keep things afloat while Luca’s gone.”
“Um.” I was wavering. Alessandro was already so beyond himself. “I don’t know if that’s a great idea.”
Alessandro laughed again, but that time it wasn’t light or friendly. It was dark and slightly sadistic. “You don’t think you can run shit, do you?”
“Sandro,” Marco warned. It was weird for him to be the one looking out for me.
“No, come on. Gabe knows that I think highly of him. This just isn’t his world. You’re not going back to do it, Marco. That leaves me.”
The silence between us was thick, and though I couldn’t see him, I knew Marco’s gears were turning in search of a rebuttal as well. That neither he nor I said anything was indicative of the fact that neither of us had found one.
“Um, it might not be so bad, Sandro. I’ll keep you posted on what I’m thinking, okay?” I had to change directions as quickly and as smoothly as possible.
Luca and Molly needed something to keep their relationship intact, but I couldn’t drag Alessandro back into the thick of the business, either. I’d have to figure something out, but I needed more time to do it than the ten minutes I had left before my yoga session.