Chapter 39CANDI

Chapter 39

CANDI

His hand on my arm to make sure I don't trip again, Derian and I jog back to the house I escaped from.

"This is not necessary." I tug on my arm a little.

He doesn't let go. "I already fucked up once today protecting you. Nothing else is happening to you on my watch."

"Unless you gave Nina the drugged wine, it wasn't your screw up," I pant.

My cardio capacity is high, but after the last few hours, even I'm getting a little breathless from running again. I'm not slowing down though.

Angelo is at the end of this little jaunt, so that is where I want to be.

"I should have known about the secret egress point in the office." Derian sounds like he's walking in the park, not running through a dark forest.

"Pretty sure no one knew about it if you didn't."

Breaking out of the trees, we're confronted with a yard full of activity. Light blazes from every window in the house and men wearing skull masks carry bodies between them.

"Is everyone on our side okay?" I ask, feeling guilty I hadn't sooner.

Derian slows to a walk. "No injuries were reported." Then he asks, "All safe boss?"

And I know he's not talking to me. First, I'm not his boss. Second, he's wearing some kind of hands-free communicator because he's been having a conversation with Angelo and the others since we separated from them earlier.

"I thought he already said it was safe to come." That's the impression I got from the one side of the conversation I could hear, anyway.

Derian shrugs. "Just double checking."

I frown. If Derian is this overprotective, what is Angelo going to be like now that I've been kidnapped from under their noses?

He must've got an affirmative because he leads me through the house. An overturned chair near a pool of blood catches my eye. Wincing, I take in the other signs of violence. One of the windows in the great room has a bullet hole with spiderweb cracks all around it. There's another pool of blood near the fireplace.

The table the men were playing cards at earlier is littered with debris from some kind of altercation.

We reach the doorway to the room I saw the older man in earlier and my focus zeroes in on what I can see through it.

The first thing I see is the man passed out on the carpet. With his head at that weird angle, he might be dead. Probability is high.

There are two unmasked men in the room, Severu and Miceli De Luca. OMG. The freakin' godfather and Genovese don are here? Their sweat matted hair indicates they were two of the men wearing skull masks in the forest.

Wow. Just wow. Angelo had them on his Death crew?

Even two men so high up in the mafia can't hold my attention though. It's too caught by the man wearing a familiar skull mask.

Angelo.

The second I see him, the stress thrumming through my body goes down about a hundred levels and I take my first full breath since parting from him in the forest.

Huh, maybe it wasn't the cardio after all.

"I'll go help with cleanup," Derian tells his boss.

Angelo jerks his head in a single affirmative.

Derian leaves but I can't stop looking at Angelo long enough to tell him goodbye, or even thank you. Later. I'll do that later. Right now, I just want to soak in being near my beloved.

Harsh laughter from my left grates on my eardrums and I turn my head to see Queen Bitch.

Her expression is filled with condescending pity. "Look at the two of you. It's ridiculous."

"I don't know what you think is ridiculous, much less why you're laughing. Maybe it escaped your notice, but your husband is lying dead on the floor."

If that were Angelo, I sure as heck would not be laughing.

"You are here because of my callous son and that is laughable. That we thought we could use you as leverage and that you so clearly think he has feelings for you. He has no feelings ," she sneers. "Tonight proves he has no honor or loyalty either."

Anger at her absolute lack of knowledge of her own son bursts out of me. "The only thing tonight proves is that it's a miracle he's turned out to be such a decent person considering the gene pool he swam out of."

"You think telling me my son is not like me is an insult? It's not. That you consider him a decent person is even more laughable than my deluded belief he cared enough about your safety to be swayed by your loss."

"Uh, is it just me, or haven't you noticed that I'm safe and your men are dead?" Deluded is right.

Perla crosses her legs, leans back on the couch and waives her hand dismissively. "That's mafia politics. He could have gotten you killed as easily as saved you with his so-called rescue attempt."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Angelo knows what he's doing and he would never have put me at risk.

Angelo's black glove covered hands fist at his sides. "Our egress would have happened differently if you hadn't escaped."

He doesn't look at his mother, just at me.

I smile. "Don't think for a second I'm listening to the Wicked Witch of the West over there. Her passport lists Delulu Land as her country of origin because she doesn't live anywhere near reality."

"Good one," Miceli-freakin'-De Luca says admiringly.

"You're a stupid little girl who will learn she trusted the wrong man too late," Perla gibes.

Yeah. No. I will never regret trusting Angelo. "That sounds more like you regretting your choices than an omen for my future."

Despite her attempt to look casual and unconcerned, Perla's hands have a fine tremor and her eyes reflect her own bitter disappointment. Whatever happened in here shook the arrogance I noticed earlier to the very core.

"The only thing I regret," I add, "is that I can't hate you because you gave birth to the most amazing man I know." I turn my smile to Angelo. "The man I love."

Is this a weird moment to tell him I love him? Maybe, but if this whole kidnapping debacle taught me anything, it's that there's no way of knowing what tomorrow will bring.

That wine could have been poisoned, not drugged. There are no guarantees in life, so I'm not waiting around for my feelings to make sense based on society's timeline. And if I want to say I love him in a room full of people that he deserves to have know that? Well, that's okay too.

Angelo makes a strangled sound.

Miceli says, "Aww. Róise owes me a BJ because I told her you two would be an item by Halloween. She thought Christmas."

They've been talking about me and Angelo becoming a couple? That's a little creepy considering I didn't know we were in a relationship, but also cool. Mostly cool. Knowing his family is aware of me makes this thing between me and Angelo feel more solid.

Like my I love you means something real to him like it does to me.

"Róise doesn't realize how fast the men in our family fall for their women," Severu says. "Because you were a little slow on the uptake. You let months pass between your first meeting and signing the marriage contract."

"At least I didn't get engaged to her sister," Miceli shoots back. "Don't tell me Catalina had a single clue you loved her in the beginning."

"Hell, I didn't have a clue." Severu's eyes warm, like he's remembering something.

This moment hits an epic level of surreal as I witness the Godfather of the Cosa Nostra and his little brother, the Don of the Genovese, ribbing each other.

"Angelo knew he loved me from the first night he saw me," I say with wonder.

Maybe for men like this, who live life so intensely, that love at first sight thing isn't such a stretch.

"Looks like you got the smart one in the family," Miceli quips.

"Love? He doesn't know the meaning of the word," Perla snipes.

Grr. This woman is getting on my last nerve.

I smile at her, oh so sweetly. "Again, it sounds like you're doing some self-reflection there. The only person I see in this room with a defective ability to love is you."

"How dare yo—"

"Whatever your plans were for Angelo," I say, cutting her off. I am so done interacting with her, but I have one last thing to say to her. "Understand this: if you ever try to hurt him again, I will hunt you down and I will stab you through your cold heart. Then I'll twist the blade until it's as damaged as your sense of morality."

Miceli whistles. "Damn, Candi's got some backbone."

Ignoring the compliment, even though it makes me preen a little on the inside, I turn and face Angelo. "So, everything's okay now?"

"Yes."

"Did you get hurt?" Wanting to run to him and hold on tight, I can't help taking a single step closer.

I force myself to stop though. There's something off about Angelo. Why isn't he crossing the distance between us?

Scoffing sounds come from the mafia elite peanut gallery.

But Angelo just shakes his head.

What is it with him staying over there giving off that don't-touch-me vibe? Doesn't he realize how I crave his arms around me? Mom always says, start as you mean to go on and I mean to have a good relationship with Angelo.

His book is right about one thing for sure. Open communication is key to a good relationship.

"I need you to hold me right now." I lay it out there for him. No dressing it up, or trying to hedge to protect my pride.

He takes a step forward and then back again. His fists bang against the side of his hips. "I'm covered in blood. I'm Death right now."

"Remember, you told me you're always Death? And I told you I know that. Do you think seeing the evidence with my own eyes makes it different for me? It doesn't, beloved. Not even a little." And if that puts my moral compass in grayscale, I can live with it.

"She's right." He indicates Perla with his chin.

"Pretty sure she's not." I have a hard time believing Perla is right about anything, but especially anything to do with her son.

"I am a monster."

Severu grunts. "Aren't we all?"

"I'm not disgusted by you or scared of you. You're my beloved, monster tendencies and all." I smile a little. "Besides, isn't this the time of year for monsters to find love?"

Tomorrow night is Halloween and I'm going to make sure it's the best one my monster has ever experienced.

Angelo peels his gloves off and shoves them in one of the pockets of his cargo pants. Then he reaches for me. I don't wait for any more of an invitation and rush forward, throwing myself against him. Wrapping my arms around him, I press my cheek to his chest over his heart.

Hearing the steady, thump-thump-thump, I soak in the safety I find there.

The tangy scent of copper tells me his black clothes are probably soaked in blood and it's no doubt getting on my clothes right now too. I don't care.

Angelo holds me tight, rocking me side to side and whispers a bunch of Italian, I don't understand, but I know what the words mean . They mean he loves me.

He cares about me. He can't live without me.

He's going to stalk me forever.

Okay, I'm not sure about the last one, but the rest rolls off him in heady waves that wrap around my heart.

"That's our cue to leave you two lovebirds alone," one of the two De Luca brothers says. "We'll put men on this rat to make sure she goes straight to the airport without passing go and right back to Sicily, never to darken our shores again."

That's definitely Miceli, but I don't look to see if I'm right. I'm too busy soaking up the comfort of Angelo's arms around me.

There's a scuffle and Perla yells, "Take your hands off me!"

"The passenger helicopter will land in the street in front of the house in thirty minutes to take you and Candi back to Long Island." That bossy tone must be Severu.

And then there's silence and I sigh happily. We're alone. Finally.

Except for the dead body.

"So, that's your stepfather?" I mumble against Angelo's chest.

"My mother's husband. Yes."

"Did you kill him?" I'm trying to figure out what has Angelo so reticent about touching me right now.

Yes, he's holding me, but there's an unfamiliar tension in his body, like he's holding part of himself back from me.

"No. That was Severu's right as both the godfather and the person Barone was conspiring to murder."

"Sounds like he deserved what he got."

"He deserved death for taking you," Angelo grinds out. "I killed the men who kidnapped you. "

"Were there a lot of them?" I ask.

"Sixteen men earned their death participating in your kidnapping and the conspiracy to murder our godfather." Angelo takes a deep breath and lets it out in a gust. "I killed six of them, including the man who guarded your room and the man who made my mother feel safe by guarding hers."

"You don't want her feeling safe?"

"She doesn't deserve to after making you afraid. I'll make sure she doesn't ever feel completely safe again for the rest of her miserable life."

"And will that be a very long life?" Maybe he's upset because she has to die.

Angelo shrugs.

"But you're not planning to kill her?" I press. "Miceli said she's going back to Sicily soon."

"Tomorrow. She has a job to do."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Administer her father's final dose of poison."

"She agreed to do that?" I ask, shocked. "Isn't that signing her own death warrant?"

"She's unaware of what she's about to do."

I lean back so I can see Angelo's gorgeous face, only to remember he's still wearing the mask.

He goes to take it off, but I stay his hand. "Will you wear it for me again? It's really kind of sexy. I thought it was a huge turn on at the club. You would've gotten lucky that night if you hadn't been so sure I was drugged."

"I thought you didn't know it was me. I couldn't believe you would take another man to the backroom, and you being drugged was the only explanation I could think of."

"Well, you were right about that, at least. I would never have taken another man back there. I would never have entered the VIP area for another man either. But Angelo, I always know it's you." I lift my hand to help him remove the mask. "Even when you're wearing this."

Together, we pull it off of him.

Hair plastered with sweat to his forehead and temples and his mouth is set in a firm line, he's as much Death as he is with the mask on.

But his eyes are filled with emotion. For me.

I touch his cheek. "Explain about your mom poisoning your grandfather."

"My uncle, Don Caruso, sent a New York cheesecake from his favorite bakery to my grandfather once a month."

"Okay…" Not sure where he's going with this, but I don't interrupt.

"My mother purchased the dessert to take back to her father in celebration after Severu was dead. Now she'll give it to him as an apology for her failure."

"You sound pretty sure of yourself."

"My mother might not know anything about the real me, but I know everything there is to know about her and my grandfather."

"Knowledge is power," I quip.

"Exactly."

Then it clicks. "Somehow, you poisoned the cheesecake. But what if someone else eats some?"

I'm not going to mourn the men who died today, but the thought of someone innocent sharing in the evil godfather's fate upsets me.

"Don't worry, mia amate ." It's Angelo's turn to brush his hand down my cheek. "My grandfather is an abjectly selfish man. No one is allowed to have even the tiniest slice."

"Sounds excessive and also hard to predict. How would he know?"

"Trust me, he would. Don Messino had a cook killed ten years ago who was discovered eating a tiny slice shaved off the cake. She wanted to duplicate the recipe."

"And he had her killed for it?" Appalled isn't a big enough word for how I feel.

Angelo nods. "In front of his men and other staff as a lesson."

"So, for real, no one is going to eat that cake but him." I'm glad.

"Exactly."

"What's in it?"

"Thallium. It's a tried-and-true method for poisoning someone without detection."

"Can't they find it in an autopsy?"

"There won't be one. Without unquestionable cause, there is no justification for disturbing the corpse of a dead godfather with something like that."

"You really think no one will suspect?" I worry.

"My grandfather has been suffering from gastric and intestinal trouble for years. His doctors tried to tell him he's allergic to tomatoes, but he refuses to believe them and continues to eat sauces made with them daily."

"Is that why you chose thallium to begin with?"

"That and the fact it is colorless, odorless and tasteless when mixed with food. When he starts showing gastrointestinal distress about eight hours after eating the first slice of cheesecake, it will be chalked up to the same complaint."

"Really? It's that easy?"

"We've been administering low doses of thallium in his food for the past three months which have been steadily increasing his gastric problem, but without raising suspicion with his doctors."

"You said your mom would be administering the fatal dose. How does that work?" I ask.

"Don Messino will be dead within seven days of eating the second slice of cake. Eating more will only make his reaction more acute."

"You're so sure he'll eat two pieces?" Though from the sound of him, Don Messino doesn't give up what he likes to eat for the sake of a stomachache.

"Yes."

"What happens when he dies?"

"My uncle takes over as godfather."

"Won't he cause trouble for Severu too?" I worry.

I don't want anyone coming for Angelo again.

"No. He wants to take the mafia in Sicily and Southern Italy into the twenty-first century. He wouldn't do anything to hasten his father's death, but he'll be relieved by it. He's already let Severu know that when he becomes godfather, he'll honor the old alliances."

The sound of a helicopter landing outside cuts off what I was going to say next.

"Time to go home."

"Good, I'm ready to see the back of this place."

"It won't be here to see tomorrow. The cleanup team will burn it to the ground."

"That's one way to destroy evidence."

Angelo keeps his arm around my shoulder as we head to the front door. "It's also a good way to get a message across. The owners of this property allowed Barone its use. If they were unwitting accomplices, losing the house will be their punishment."

"And if they're not?"

"Then Death will pay them a visit."