Alessandro
It shouldn’t have shocked me that Anthony Carducci showed, but it did. We knew he was mixed up in the odd web woven with the Costas, and even if there were still unanswered questions, we had every reason to suspect that Anthony would have a vested interest, at least in Denise.
On impulse, my gun turned on Anthony, but neither he nor the men at his sides seemed phased. He grinned. “It’s been some time, Alessandro. Last we spoke, you threatened me.”
I thought back on my meeting with Anthony Carducci, back before the Binachis kidnapped all of our wives and tied us up to torture us in front of them. Things were at their worst with Willow, and I’d snuck off to Philadelphia after hearing from Gabriel and Marco that things weren’t going great with just Gabriel and Luca. Gabriel had evidently flubbed a chance to get Anthony Carducci aligned with us to stand against the Binachis, and they still hadn’t dug anything up after what had happened between the Binachis and Marco.
The conversation started out innocently enough. I tried to apologize for Gabriel’s behavior and tell him that Gabriel just wasn’t cut out for the life he’d been dragged into, but Anthony seemed wildly unsympathetic.
That’s when it all clicked into place.
Anthony pissed me off when he told me that he was surprised Gabriel hadn’t turned on us yet. It didn’t make sense to me at the time, and I just thought it was a comment on the life that Marco and I had chosen, but it wasn’t. He was speaking from experience. The Costa children embedded in different mob families eventually came to turn on their families and pledge allegiance to Illiana. He was shocked Gabriel hadn’t done it yet.
My gut reaction was to ask a question, or several. Maybe Anthony could fill in the gaps. But I locked eyes with Willow, and she shook her head. Knowing the truth about how all four families were connected was the only card we had left up our sleeve, and it wasn’t time to play it. Not just yet.
“Now listen, I’m willing to forgive you for that little misstep. Things don’t have to turn ugly between us here, but I’ll be taking these two into custody,” Anthony explained. “The Binachi children have their own debt to settle with me.”
I got the sense that things were even more convoluted than we had anticipated. We may never have answers about how twisted things between the Binachis, Carduccis, and Costas were. Our only concern was getting the Varassos out of it.
Luca nodded at Gabriel, who kept his gun set on Denise, while Luca turned around to face Anthony. “Sorry, Anthony, but we can’t do that.” He glared over one shoulder at Dario. “That one was partially responsible for killing my father, had my wife and sisters-in-law kidnapped, and tortured my brothers.” He glared over the other shoulder at Denise. “And that one tried to kill my sister-in-law and shot my wife.” He looked back at Anthony. “You’re a respected man in this world, and you know as well as I do that I’m not about to let them just walk out of here.” He took quick glances at the men at Anthony’s sides. “And either way you shave it, you’re short-handed. Even if you have more men outside, which I’m guessing you do, the three of you won’t make it out.”
Anthony let out a snarling laugh. “Are you threatening me? You’re as dumb as your brother.”
“It’s not a threat. I’m stating a fact,” Luca responded. “That’s not what I want. Even if we take you out, you’ll get a few of ours, as well. In truth, it doesn’t end well for anyone. Maybe except for the Binachi children, who we agree are the only ones who shouldn’t walk out of here alive.”
Anthony’s grin faded some as he considered Luca’s words. “You’re not as dumb as you look, Luca Varasso.”
Luca flashed an evil grin. “I’ve been told that before.”
“You’re certainly smarter than that jackass,”Anthony said, flicking his head toward Dario “who didn’t even realize that his father set yours up and started a war that had no business being started.”
“What are you talking about?” Dario barked.
Anthony scoffed. “Skimming money off the top? Angelo Varasso? What need would he have for your family’s money?” His eyes flicked to Denise briefly. “His plan to eliminate a silent threat went belly up, then you had to run around like dogs chasing tails trying to clean it up.”
“You helped,” Luca growled.
“I did. I had an understanding with Donovan, and though I wanted out, it was a little too soon.” He smirked. “One useless Varasso and one hotheaded one made that decision more than easy for me.”
My free hand balled into a fist. I was tempted to pull the trigger on the gun in my hand, but I knew how dumb that would be. It was a battle between the darkness in me—the Angelo in me—and the light that my family gave me. I thought of the life we could have and abstained. At least we had confirmation that our father didn’t steal from the Binachis. Inside of each of us, we knew that it wasn’t like him, but if anything, it only fueled our anger. Regardless that none of us would be in front of a life devoid of the all-consuming fires of this world if he hadn’t died, he was still our dad, and we couldn’t just swallow that he’d died for nothing.
“Well, then you should understand,” Luca continued, “why we can’t just let Dario go. Our dad should still be here.”
“Your dad had more than one bounty on his head. If it hadn’t been the Binachis, it would have been someone soon.” He sighed. “It’s like you said. This can either go badly for everyone, or you can leave these two to me and be on your way with your beautiful wives. A new home in Maine, I hear? It should be nice.”
Willow rigidified next to me. I looked over, and I could see her brain fast calculating something. She looked over at Stacy, and her jaw dropped. Stacy looked back at her, confused, and Willow just quietly muttered, “She saved his life.” She looked over at me. “It was a setup.” She was quiet enough that no one could hear what she was saying but me.
She stepped in between me and Anthony Carducci, and my heart sank. To him, she said, “I get it now. You’re not a puppet. You’re the puppet-master.”
Anthony Carducci laughed. “Look at this puppy, trying to play with the big dogs. How cute.”
Willow glared up at him, unafraid. “This puppy will clean you out.” She stepped even closer to Anthony, and the scene from the hedge maze came rushing back to me. I couldn’t watch someone nearly kill Willow again. I wanted to yank her back, but I feared what that might do, so I powerlessly watched her crane her head up and somehow make the nearly foot-tall height difference between her and Anthony Carducci seem not so big. “How about we make a deal?”
Anthony laughed again, though this time, less amused and more menacing. “Oh, and what, little girl, do you think you have to offer me?”
“My silence,” she replied simply. “I imagine Illiana doesn’t know that you’ve tracked down her children.” The smile wiped off Anthony’s face in an instant. His eyes shot over to Denise, and Denise ducked her head and gave a shallow nod. His gaze came back to Willow, and Willow smiled. “I’ll take that as a no.”