Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Maybe you misunderstood him, Luca. He never mentioned Greta. Please don’t overreact.”

Luca kept pacing back and forth in the living room while Valerio and I were having lunch. Luca was too upset to eat.

“You didn’t see his expression. I’m sure he’s been seeing that Falcone girl behind my back all the time!”

“Takes guts to do that,” Valerio said with a cheeky smile. I sent him a warning look. This wasn’t the time to annoy his father, even if I loved his trickster mentality. He reminded me so much of my brother Fabiano. When Valerio had been a young boy, he’d looked so much like him and now that he was seventeen, he was how I imagined Fabiano would have been if our father hadn’t tried to kill him and turned him cold and jaded.

Since the war, I hadn’t seen Fabiano. If Amo had really seen Greta despite the war…

Cheating had always been a touchy subject for me given Luca’s and my past, but I couldn’t be mad at Amo or Greta. I’d seen how much Amo hated his life with Cressida, how it drained him in addition to an already draining work day.

Luca’s phone rang and when he checked the caller ID, his expression darkened. “Antonaci. I have a fucking bad feeling about this.”

I rose from the chair and smoothed my wool dress, needing something to busy my fingers with.

Luca’s dark brows slanted down, and dread settled in my belly. “Slow down.” Luca’s eyes flared with fury. “You better watch your tone. Family or not, I won’t have you raise your voice at me. If you want to keep your tongue, you better choose your words more carefully.”

I moved closer, hoping to catch figments of the conversation but Antonaci had obviously heeded Luca’s warning. “You won’t do anything. If I find out you stir up shit then I’m going to come after you. I’ll talk to Amo. I’m sure Cressida misconstrued his words.”

Luca hung up and his expression was frightful. “Amo told Cressida that he wants a divorce.”

Valerio let out a low whistle.

Relief filled me, followed by shock at my own reaction. I’d never liked Cressida. She’d used Amo for her purposes. I’d always wanted love for Amo but with her it wasn’t possible.

Luca shook his head. “Don’t look so pleased. This is a goddamn debacle. Do you know what the Traditionalists will do if our son divorces his wife?”

“They’ve always been against the changes you implemented. They are stuck in the past.”

“Fuck. I can’t believe he did this. He’s going to take his words back and apologize to Cressida. I don’t care if he has to get drunk to go through with it.”

“He won’t, Luca. If he really met Greta all these months despite the war and if he went to Cressida and asked for a divorce, then he’s made up his mind, and I doubt anything can change it.”

“He’ll change his mind, believe me. I’ll make him. He went too far. I’m still Capo and if he doesn’t get a grip on his rampant hormones, he won’t follow in my footsteps.”

“I’ll go practice my best Capo looks then,” Valerio said with a smirk.

“This isn’t the moment for your fucking jokes!” Luca snarled.

Valerio shrugged and walked out of the living room, leaving me alone with Luca. Valerio had a canny talent to brush off Luca’s outbursts.

I touched Luca’s chest, tilting my head back to look him in the eyes. The rage in them didn’t scare me. It had in the beginning but I knew Luca’s love for me and our children trumped any darkness he harbored. “If you try to force him, we’ll lose him, Luca.”

“Damn right, because I’ll kill him if he doesn’t obey my orders.”

“Don’t say something like that, Luca. Not even in rage. Please.”

Luca cupped my cheeks. “Aria, this could divide the Famiglia for good. We’re at war at three fronts. We’ll be torn apart.”

“Maybe not. If Amo really loves Greta, that could lead to peace with the Camorra.”

“It led to war in the first place.”

“Because you chose war.”

Luca stepped back, his jaw tensing. I could see the conflict in his eyes. “Amo can’t have Greta. He couldn’t have her back then and he can’t have her now. The Falcones won’t ever allow it. I did it for Amo, so he wouldn’t let a crush ruin his life.”

“He was never happy with Cressida.”

“You sound as if their marriage is already over.”

“It is, no matter what you say.”

Amo’s and Valerio’s voices drifted over to us from the lobby.

“We’ll see about that,” Luca growled.

“Luca, please. Just stop and consider Amo’s feelings for a moment. What if he feels for Greta what you feel for me?”

Luca walked past me without another word and I rushed after him into the lobby where Amo and Valerio were still chatting. The difference between the brothers always amazed me. Amo was like Luca, in character and appearance, which made them butt heads so often, but it also gave me hope for this confrontation. Valerio was a potent mix of Fabiano and Matteo.

Luca didn’t slow as he stalked toward Amo who didn’t back down, not even when Luca grabbed his throat and shoved him against the wall. I tensed, my heart jerking hard in my chest.

“Luca!”

Valerio touched Luca’s arm. “Dad—”

“You stay out of this!”

Amo gave his brother a tight smile. “It’s okay.”

His voice was raspy from lack of air.

“Luca,” I said more firmly.

“You’ll go back to Cressida right this moment and apologize.”

Amo chuckled despite his skin turning increasingly red. “I won’t, and nothing you do will convince me. I’m going to divorce her and then marry Greta.”

The way he said ‘Greta’—gentle, loving, protective—told me all I needed to know. Vitiello men had high walls around their hearts but once they fell for a woman, they fell hard, and Amo was utterly in love with Greta.

Luca shoved him against the wall again. I couldn’t watch anymore. I grabbed Luca’s arm but neither Luca nor Amo paid me any attention.

“You know the punishment for betrayal and for disobedience.”

“If you think I should die for loving someone as much as you love Mom, then go ahead and try to kill me, Dad.”

Try to kill me. I could see that Amo was willing to fight Luca over this. Amo had always respected his father too much to fight back, but Greta meant too much to him. I could see my family falling apart right before my eyes and I couldn’t bear it.

Luca released Amo and took a step back. “You know full well that I would never kill you even if it would be the right thing to do!”

Amo rubbed his throat. I moved in front of him and touched the red skin. I swallowed hard. I knew this world was harsh. I knew Luca had to make sure Amo was ready for the tasks ahead but this was a lot to stomach for me as a mother.

“I’ll follow my heart, Dad. You can accept it or not, but the outcome will be the same. Greta will be my wife.”

“Once you kill Remo and Nevio and all the other crazy fuckers?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

Amo couldn’t be serious. I didn’t know Greta well but she’d seemed to have a good relationship with her family. I couldn’t imagine her forgiving him if he hurt them.

“I suppose then I can start preparing Valerio for the position as Capo?”

Luca crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Amo shrugged but I knew him. I knew how much he wanted to become Capo like his father, and I knew how proud Luca had always been that Amo would take over one day. What was happening here was breaking my heart.

“I don’t want to be Capo,” Valerio said, no humor in his tone for once. I gave him a smile. “I never wanted that. It’s Amo’s job.”

“One son doesn’t want a position thousands of soldiers would kill for and the other doesn’t respect that it takes sacrifice to become Capo.”

“I’m willing to sacrifice a lot for the Famiglia and this family, Dad. I’ll be a good Capo like you, but have you ever considered that you are a good Capo because Mom has your back? You have her by your side when the carnage and bullshit get too much. Without her, where would you be today?”

Luca looked at me and tears welled in my eyes. “I’d be in a very dark place and probably a worse Capo than my father had been.”

I didn’t believe that. Luca had always been better than his father, but it meant a lot that he thought I had helped him be a good Capo.

“I need Greta by my side to be Capo. I love her. I always admired what you and Mom have, but I never thought I could have it because it’s so fucking rare in our world.”

Luca regarded Amo with narrowed eyes. “And you think you have it with Greta?”

“I know it.”

I walked over to Luca and linked our hands. He gave me a tired look before he turned to Amo once more. “This will cause a major scandal, fuck, possibly a revolt. We’ll have to spill blood to shut up Antonaci’s supporters. Lots of blood if we can’t bribe him into silence somehow, which I doubt.”

“I’m willing to spill as much blood as it takes.”

Luca released a long breath. “If you think she’s worth it—”

“She is.”

“Then I stand by your side and spill as much blood as it takes. I’ve spilled blood for far less.”

I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore and Valerio wrapped his arms around my neck from behind, his chin on top of my head. “Blood spill, in time for Christmas. What a jolly message. Born in Blood, Sworn in Blood indeed.”

I choked on a laugh and slapped his hand. The prospect of a major conflict within the Famiglia terrified me but at the same time I knew it was unavoidable to give Amo the happiness he deserved, which was all I wanted for him. If blood was the price that we all had to pay, then so be it.