16. One and the Same

SIXTEEN

One and the Same

JULIAN

I t's cool to see Alessio with Nico at the dinner table, with Alessio trying to get him to eat his peas. I can see that the gene that holds the stubborn streak belonging to his father has been passed down to his son. It's hilarious to watch Alessio trying to reason with a toddler.

"No, no, no," Nico repeats, shaking his head and clamping his mouth shut. Alessio puts down his spoon and looks up to the heavens. He sighs, and I hear Josie giggle, sitting next to him.

"The big, bad Mafia capo has met his match," she teases.

With anyone else, Alessio would have slit their throat and cut out their tongue, but Josie is his soul mate. Instead, he feigns a menacing gaze that instantly turns into a smirk with a promise for later that I have no doubt will only make Josie happy.

"You can do better?" Alessio taunts.

"Oh no, you don't. I feed him breakfast and lunch and most dinners. Tonight's your turn," she counters with a laugh.

"I can try," Milana offers.

"Be my guest." Alessio gladly gives in. Milana takes Nico out of his high chair and onto her lap, while Alessio places the bowl and spoon in front of her.

Milana starts to sing a song that makes no sense at all in a hushed whisper, and each time she pauses, Nico giggles and shouts, "More." She puts a few peas in his mouth and starts all over again. She doesn't get all the way through the bowl, but some is better than none, and Josie is thrilled.

"Well, look at that. Thank you, Milana. I've been introducing new foods, and he's being so fussy," she says, coming over and picking him up off Milana's lap. Josie snuggles her boy, making him laugh. "My little lovebug. You're a good boy for Milana." She turns to Alessio. "He needs a change." She lifts her head to the rest of us. "I'll be right back. Milana, could you serve the dessert and coffee?"

"I'll help clear these dishes," Valentina offers. Milana is already up and moving toward the kitchen.

Alessio keeps glancing down at his phone. "It's coming up on seven o'clock, and we've heard nothing. His meeting is supposed to be at eight," he huffs.

"There's still time, and what choice do we have? Angelo's our only connection at the moment," Niccolo says.

"You know how much I hate unsettled business. We have two problems. One being whether I can trust my underboss and what else is being fucked up that I'm not aware of. And the second being, who the hell is this Antonio character?" he grumbles.

"I think I can help with your second problem," we hear as footsteps grow closer. Davide appears at the doorway with Tomasso. "I finally hit on an Antonio Saverino. He's dead. But he was a soldier for La Famiglia . He died three weeks ago. His record is sealed, and it would take me longer than it would for you to make a call to Marco Moretti to find out how he died. Although, the timing is around the same time Julian was taken and this whole thing started. I found a recent passport picture since this guy was supposed to be in New York and found this picture instead." Davide slaps the photo down on the table.

"Holy shit!" I exclaim. "Anton Stanovic."

"One and the same," Davide confirms.

"The man has a sick sense of humor, taking on a man's identity with the same initials and even a similar name," Tomasso says.

"It still bears asking why your father is involved with him. Even if he thinks he's from La Famiglia, this is not acceptable," Alessio states.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Angelo is obviously very disoriented lately. There could be an explanation. He's many things, but he'd never betray the family," I say. Tomasso looks at me with grateful eyes, but remains silent.

Milana appears holding a tray with several plates of her dessert on it, with Valentina right behind her with the coffee.

"Is this a bad time?" Milana asks, stopping in her tracks.

"Not at all," Alessio says. He asks Davide and Tomasso to join us. "We might as well enjoy the coffee until we get a call."

We enjoy the coffee, and we inhale the cake Milana made. Alessio has two slices, and I saw Josie cut another slice and put it away for him for later. The rest is devoured, with nothing left but crumbs. Milana is smiling from ear to ear, and I'm so very proud of her.

Unfortunately, the mood grows dark at the sound of Alessio's phone ringing. Alessio snaps it up at the first ring, and after a moment of listening, he says, "Stay on him. We're coming." He hangs up, pushes his chair back noisily, and barks, "He's on the move. Let's go."