Quiet Empire, page 18
“She’s something, isn’t she? She used to amaze me when she worked the bar.” Wyatt sucked on an orange slice he’d snagged from the table next to us. “She’d double the business whenever she’d work. Needless to say, she got her choice of all the best shifts, six days a week.”
“What’s impressive is they’re not even looking at her chest,” Vinni pointed out. “They’re looking in her eyes. That’s talent.”
I secretly smiled inside at my cousin’s comment, but he was right. None of the men took any opportunity to look at her body. They kept their eyes on hers as they talked. They were being respectful of her, and therefore, of me.
“Nice.” I sipped my drink as I thought. “I like these guys. Maybe I can work something out with them.”
“Smart move, boss.” Vinni nodded as he watched Wyatt pop a grape in his mouth.
I snapped a quick photo of Sienna and sent it to Papa.
Elio: Making magic.
Papa: Wave that wand, little lady! Mama and I will meet you after dinner. Looking forward to hearing all about it.
I was pleased Papa had convinced Mama to stay on for the rest of the tour. I knew how much Sienna needed her here. They were both enjoying the girl time. I made a mental note to remember that she would, at least most of the time, be surrounded by men—and, well, Wyatt—so a little estrogen would be needed now and then.
Domenico excused himself from the group and made his way over to where we sat.
“Mr. Capri,” he stood and waited for me to acknowledge him, which I did with a simple nod, “I must say your fiancée is very special.”
“She is.”
“You’re a lucky man.”
“I am.”
“I must admit I wasn’t looking forward to this meeting.”
“I wouldn’t think so.” I pointed to the bench across from me, so he’d sit. “We’ve been very generous in helping with your family’s difficulties. Wouldn’t you agree? Now, I’m sure you won’t mind what I’m requesting in return.”
“You have been.” He nodded. I knew it was hard to swallow his pride. It was hard work to run a syndicate, no matter the size. “Of course, I knew this time would come. I must say I thought this was going to be a very stuffy meeting with the usual rum and cigars. I was expecting sly remarks about my imminent downfall, but I see now you conduct business very differently than those in the past.”
“I’m not in the business to degrade or tear down others where it isn’t necessary. But this merge is happening, and I respect that you came to meet and listen to what I have to say.”
“I don’t want to lose my position overseeing my,” he caught himself, “your Naples ports.”
“I’m not asking for that. I think you do a fine job here, and the idea of moving someone else into the position sounds like more work than I’d like to think about.”
“Happy to hear it.” He glanced over at Sienna and the others. “I think this change will be a good thing.” I could see him relax a little.
“I’m glad you feel that way, Domenico, because I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Oh?” He suddenly tightened up again.
“I know your son has a drug problem,” I lifted my glass to the waiter, indicating I wanted another, “and I know he sent a group of men to attack my dockyard in Tuscany at Mariano’s request.”
His shock was genuine, and I knew I was speaking to a man who had no clue this happened.
“I swear, Mr. Capri, I had no idea.”
“I believe you, but if Pauly steps out of line again, in any way, he’ll meet the same fate as our recently departed Mariano. I have the bikes and chains ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
His throat contracted, and sweat broke out on his forehead. I smiled, knowing I got through to him.
“Understood.” He stood so quickly he knocked a fork, and the loud clatter brought eyes our way. “I should make some calls.”
“That’s a wise idea, Domenico.”
Niccola chuckled and took a seat next to Wyatt just as Vinni emerged from below deck. Everyone took some time to enjoy the rest of the cruise. Sienna soon had everyone together, and even Domenico began to relax a little with her easy conversation. We all sipped some top-shelf rum and kept the conversation away from business for the rest of the trip.
I wanted to be alone with Sienna when we got back to the castle, but she went off looking for some headache tablets, mentioning something about the bright sun. Mama, of course, followed her, concerned as always. I heard Sienna laugh at something she said, and knowing she was in good hands, I headed out back to fill Papa in on the details of the day. I knew he’d appreciate the good news.
I was awakened by a loud crack of thunder then a flash of lightning that lit up the whole room like fireworks in the night sky. The power flickered and then went out, and I was left in a dark room high up in the castle. As my imagination soared, I immediately reached out and swept a hand across the bed, only to feel a cool, empty spot where I’d hoped Elio would be. I wasn’t sure if he’d even come to bed yet. After Andrea and I had a talk, I’d taken a couple painkillers and gone to bed early. I needed to close my eyes. I knew he needed time with Piero, so I told Andrea to let him know to come to bed when he was done. I wasn’t sure of the time, so I just lay there and enjoyed the coziness of the blankets and let myself drift.
Rain began to tap the stones of the windowsill, and I rolled over to listen. It sounded like pearls dropping on a marble floor, then every few seconds the rain music would go to a higher or lower pitch depending on where it hit the stones. It was quite pretty, and I was glad I’d cracked the window a little when I went to bed.
Suddenly, the wind picked up and the white sheers billowed out and began to blow around violently. We were so close to the ocean I could smell the salt in the air as I climbed over the bed to shut the window. I looked outside as another giant bolt of lightning lit up the stormy sky. I was mesmerized by how mad the sea looked as the waves crashed against the rocks that protected the castle walls from their destructive force. As each wave hit, a massive explosion of white spray and foam would fly high into the air in wild shapes. Sea art.
My phone lit up the corner of the room, and I raced over to grab it.
Wyatt: It’s lost, Sienna, I can’t believe I lost it! Can you see me from your window?
I raced back to the window, wondering what in the world he was talking about.
When the next bolt of lightning came, I saw a figure below on the roof moving about as though looking for something. I squinted to see, and sure enough, it was Wyatt.
“Wyatt!” I cupped my mouth and screamed into the wicked wind. “Wyatt!”
I realized it would be impossible for him to hear me. I sent off a quick text.
Sienna: What are you doing? Are you crazy!
He suddenly turned, looked like he was talking to someone, then flung backward, losing his footing.
“Wyatt! No!” I wasted no time and raced out the door, using my phone like a flashlight. I tore down the stairs to the next floor and out onto a private patio. “Wyatt!” I screamed, but my voice was immediately carried away on the wild wind.
I searched the roof below me but was blinded by the rain. It was huge and flat, and the few chairs and tables scattered around told me people must use it from time to time. Surely, it was safe enough to walk around on. A wave of recklessness came over me. I couldn’t lose my best friend. I hooked my leg over the edge, hoisted myself up and over and dropped down the few feet to the roof below. I landed gracefully, to my surprise, and quickly tested out just how slippery the rain-soaked stones were. My knees wobbled at the thought of not having any safety rails along the edge. I wasn’t a fan of heights, and my heart pounded. I extended my arms in front of me and calculated exactly how much room I had to work with before I came too close to the edge. Taking a deep breath, I moved along the uneven roof, aware that my bare feet had nothing to grip. My nightgown was slicked to my body, and my hair was heavy and drenched. I shivered in cold and fear in my desperate search to find Wyatt. Where had he gone?
Lightning lit my way as I moved along the castle walls. The clouds rolled in waves and seemed to fold under as they met the sea below, its angry roar mixed with the sound that erupted from the sky. I felt the vibration in the stone under my feet as it sent a warning that this was no place for me.
I felt it before I saw it. It was as if someone took an icy finger and drew it up my spine to warn me. I wasn’t alone. Slowly, in the heart of the storm, I turned to find Greta Capri standing in front of me. For a moment, I wondered if I’d imagined it, but then I saw her rosary beads dangling from her neck. They swung in the wind as she bent slightly to clear her wet dress away from her legs, and I knew she was real. The knife in her hand glinted in the light.
As my lips parted, the wind changed direction, and the air was forced back in my mouth. It forced me to swallow back my scream.
Then with a horrific battle cry, I saw him emerge from the shadows. Abramo stood tall in his suit, looking just as terrifying as the day I met him. I knew then I wouldn’t have a chance.
“I can’t let this happen,” Greta called to me. “He’s blinded by you.”
I shook my head, trying to understand how we got here. How they got here.
“I need to keep our bloodline clean.” Rain flew from her weathered lips. “You’re a cancer that must be stopped.”
“I love him.” It slipped from my lips, then I shared my secret with her and watched as each word sank painfully in.
“It’s not enough,” she screamed, and looked like a nightmare hag as the wind and rain swirled around her. “You’ll never be enough for him.”
Abramo started to walk toward me, and I held up my hands as if to ward him off and moved in the only direction open to me, toward the edge of the roof. My heart pounded, as I knew I didn’t have far to go. A wave crashed below, and the smell of the salty air shot up my nose. I whirled around, arms flapping like a bird to keep my balance in the wind. Abramo was now on one side of me and Greta just a few feet away.
“You think your loyalty will save you, but it won’t. You’re nothing if you’re not Capri blood. She has to die!” Greta screamed again.
Abramo looked between the two of us, his face a mask, and I knew that was it. A million thoughts bombarded my head. I was going to be swallowed by the sea, and Elio would never know what happened or who was behind my disappearance. Or worse, would he think I couldn’t handle this life and had left him?
Suddenly, Abramo leapt forward and shoved Greta off the side of the roof. It all happened so quickly that I stood there stunned, unsure of what I’d just witnessed. His chest heaved as he looked over the edge, and then he slowly turned back to me.
“She said the same thing to Pauly Milani before she killed him this morning.”
I blinked at him in slow motion, trying to process everything, but it was too much to take in.
“My days were numbered. I’m not a Capri.” He ran a hand over his face to clear the rain.
“Please, Abramo, give me the truth.” I hoped he saw it was time I knew. “How did she know who I was, before everyone else knew?”
He looked up at the sky and let the rain run down his face as if contemplating his answer. Then he turned and took a few steps toward me. It took everything in me not to take a few steps back. Instead, I fisted my hands and pressed them to my sides and rooted myself in place.
“Greta was always suspicious of Francesco.” His eyes were black, and he spoke slowly. “She had him followed and discovered that his longtime girlfriend, Elenora, was about to marry Theodore Coppola. She left him alone for a while.” He looked around as if checking that we were still alone on the rooftop. “But after you and Elenora disappeared years later, Greta wondered if Francesco had anything to do with it. I was sent there to find him, to watch him. On a few occasions, I noticed he’d visit the Di Vaio house. Then one day, after a particularly long visit, he stopped going altogether. I dug harder and discovered he was hiding you there. It didn’t take me long to backtrack and connect the dots that you were Theo’s daughter and Elenora had gone into hiding. You don’t just disappear unless there’s a reason, and Theo had a reputation of beating on his women. I didn’t say anything to her until Elio started bringing you around. You were just a child.” He cleared his throat, and it was the first time I’d ever seen Abramo display any kind of emotion. “I had no choice but to share what I found when she asked. But I didn’t know she’d—” His face hardened then; he was done with the storytelling. He took a few steps back then and looked at me with a strange expression. “You have more blood around you than you think, Sienna,” he shouted then turned and jumped to join Greta in death.
I looked over the edge and covered my mouth as I saw him hit a rock, spin, and disappear into the ocean.
My foot crunched on something, and I looked down to see a strand of Nonna Greta’s rosary beads caught in a crevice. I hooked them with my finger and held them up in the wind. I squinted to see the marks left by her fingers. Years of manipulation and control pressed into grooves. All her hidden secrets were scored into those beads. How could something so holy hold such cruelty and deceit? A deep chill raced through me along with a fleeting thought that I should return them to Piero. Perhaps they would bring him some mild comfort. But the truth was they belonged with Greta. It was time for her to answer for all her sins, and I wasn’t about to have her skip a single one. I flung those dreaded things out over the edge as far and as hard as I could. I hoped they’d find her beneath the sea and tangle themselves around her neck to ensure she might have a most painful death.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I let out a cry, not for them, but for myself. How did I keep managing to cheat death? How much longer could I keep that up? How many people were out to kill me? What did he mean? I emptied my lungs then stepped carefully away from the edge and over to the stone wall and leaned back to feel it solid behind my back. The rain washed away my tears and—Wyatt!
As I turned to run, I jumped as the lights flickered back on along the castle walls, and I saw a dark figure standing not far from me. He stood out stark against the rain-streaked wall. The Finder stood there with a gun in his hand. He gave me a sad smile and a nod, and in that moment, I knew he was there for me. Had he been watching over me, ready to step in if needed?
I didn’t know why I shared my secret with him, but I did. My hand went to my stomach and rubbed a small circle. I fought the urge to break down and cry again. It wasn’t just about me and Elio anymore. It was about us.
I took a few shaky steps toward him, incredibly happy he’d been a witness to what happened. When we were shoulder to shoulder, I cleared my throat of pain.
“Name your price. I want to know what Abramo meant by the blood comment.” My teeth chattered as I spoke.
“No payment necessary, Miss Sienna.” He gave me a nod. “I’ll get right on it. The door Greta used is that way.” He pointed but made no move to go with me.
My mind flew back to Wyatt. I had to find him. But first I needed Elio. I followed the wall until I found the door she and Abramo must have used.
Once inside, I was swallowed up in a hug from a very upset Elio.
“Oh, thank God!” He squeezed me tight then held me at arm’s length. “One of the house staff said they saw someone fall past their window, and when I went to check on you, you weren’t there. And—”
“Where were you?” Wyatt came racing up the stairs with a towel over his shoulders and blood dripping down his arm. He threw the towel around my shoulders, and Elio led us downstairs and into a den with heavenly heat pouring from a fireplace.
I stepped out of Elio’s hold and wiped my face with the towel as I tried to keep up with what was coming at me. Before I had a chance to speak, Niccola and Piero burst through the door with Andrea hard on their heels.
“What’s going on? What happened?” Andrea yelled with a death grip on her robe. “I heard a scream.”
“It was Margo who screamed,” Niccola told her. “She saw someone fall past her window.”
“What?” Andrea shook her head as she looked at me.
My eyes were on Wyatt. “How did you get here? What happened to you?”
Suddenly, everyone was talking at once, and I put my hands over my ears and turned away from them and took a deep breath. It all came back in a flood. How was I going to tell them? What did it mean that Greta was gone? I decided to start from the beginning so I could make sense of everything, too.
“I saw Wyatt outside in the storm, and he fell. Wyatt, what were you were looking for?”
“How did you know?” He looked at me oddly. “Did you see me out there?”
“Yes, I saw you, and I got your text, and I saw you slip.”
“But I never texted you.” He held up his hands to show me his phone wasn’t on him. “I left it in the kitchen to charge.”
“Yes, you did. You texted me that you lost something. Then I saw you slip, and I panicked and ran…wow, okay.” It hit me then. Just like with Mariano, I’d been tricked into doing something by someone using a phone. I held up my hand to them.
“Sienna,” Elio wrapped a blanket around me and studied my face, “what just happened?”
“I,” I stumbled, “was out there looking for Wyatt when… Oh, my, there’s so much to tell. So much has happened.” I shivered.
“You’re cold!” Andrea admonished. “Are you all right?” She looked at me in concern. “Elio, she must—"
Elio instantly began to throw out orders. “Let’s let her get changed. She’s shivering. Mama, would you arrange a space and some drinks for us? Niccola and Vinni, check on Margo and the rest of the staff. Let them know everything is okay, and then meet us in the…” He looked at Andrea.
“The living room,” she replied as she squeezed my arm and hurried out.
“Wyatt, you have some explaining to do as well, so let’s all meet in twenty minutes in the living room, and you both can tell us everything that happened.”
