Chapter Twenty-Six The Boss

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX THE BOSS

I heard him before I saw him – the hardwood floors rumbled as he glided into my eye line, his hands barely touching the wheels to make them move. He turned with a series of expert flicks and then he was facing me. His frame was narrow, but not hunched as I’d remembered; he was dressed in black pants and a crisp black button-up shirt that pulled across his shoulders. The occasion? My doom.

He shifted his left leg so that it stretched out towards me, grazing the floor. Releasing his hands from the wheels, he entwined his fingers in his lap. The first time I saw him, he was behind a table, coaxing the emotion from his absentee subjects and showing me a different world with his pencils. Now he was watching me through that delicate azure gaze, his lips set in a hard line.

‘You wanted to see me?’ That musical voice. I struggled to believe it could be the commanding force of an entire fleet of assassins.

‘Valentino,’ I said, my voice surprisingly steady. I spoke like I had known him for years, but his expression didn’t break. It was unreadable. ‘Please tell me this isn’t true.’

He shifted in his wheelchair, pulling himself up, and he was taller all of a sudden, his shoulders broader than before. I realized I had been a fool to think him weak. ‘What isn’t true?’ he asked.

‘You’re the boss of this whole thing?’ I said.

He raised his jet-black brows. ‘By “thing” do you mean family?’

‘Yes.’

‘Is it so hard to believe?’ he countered.

I leant forward, like I was trying to pierce the invisible wall between us. ‘Yes. It is hard to believe.’

He tapped the right wheel of his chair with his finger. ‘Because of this?’ There was a hint of bitterness in his response.

‘No. Because you seemed so… empathetic before.’

‘I am empathetic,’ he replied. ‘It’s one of my more prevalent traits.’

‘But you kill people.’ My voice was wavering.

Again he tapped his chair by way of explanation. ‘I order kills.’

‘That’s not much better.’

‘It is a necessary evil for a greater good,’ he answered evenly. ‘It is what it is.’

‘Are you really going to kill me?’ My voice cracked and a string of tears slid down my cheek on to my neck, dampening it uncomfortably. Still I kept my chin up. If nothing else, I would be brave.

Valentino was slow to respond. He shifted his gaze out the window. ‘Yes.’

‘Even if Jack shows up?’ I couldn’t believe what I was asking; I shouldn’t have even entertained the possibility of anyone’s life being forfeited for mine, but it turns out my survival instincts were crueller than I was.

Valentino turned back to me. He smiled, just a little. ‘Even then.’

I opened my mouth to speak, but a strangled cry escaped instead. Shaking, I buried my head in my bound hands and wept hard, trying to get it all out at once. I had to pull it together, to try and find a way out of this, but my shoulders were convulsing and my breathing was coming in thick gasps.

‘If you would allow me to explain,’ he said. I wouldn’t look at him, but his tone was entirely unaffected by my emotional meltdown. ‘I don’t want to be anything other than fair in this role that was given to me. I try to be as logical as I can when making decisions about life and death.’

‘But you’re not fair,’ I sobbed. ‘None of this is fair. I’m not a drug dealer! I’m just a girl!’

‘A Gracewell girl. And a loose end, I’m afraid.’

He let me cry in silence, and he didn’t speak again until I finally lifted my head.

‘Jack’s debt is owed because of his prolific drug activity and the destructive, far-reaching effects it has had. That much is plain to see. But your father’s debt to us is owed because of what he did to my father.’

‘Your father was trying to kill him!’ I shouted. I was shaking so bad I felt like I was going to combust. ‘Of course he defended himself! The whole thing was an accident. Even Felice admits my father didn’t do anything on purpose!’

‘How do you know?’ The impassive nature of Valentino’s response caught me off guard. For a laughable moment I found myself feeling foolish for reacting so violently, when he could have had this conversation the same way he would have talked if he were ordering a pizza for dinner.

‘What do you mean?’ The words quivered in my throat.

‘How do you know your father was innocent?’ he asked, studying my reaction. ‘How do you know your uncle didn’t confide in him? That he wasn’t prepared to do the unthinkable to defend his family?’

‘Because…’ I faltered.

Valentino narrowed his eyes, and I felt colder all of a sudden.

‘Because my father would never hurt someone deliberately,’ I said with renewed confidence. I wasn’t sure of much, but I was sure of that. ‘He’s not capable of such a thing.’

‘Did you think your uncle was capable of masterminding an entire drug cartel before today?’

I hesitated.

‘Did you think I was capable of overseeing a dynasty of assassins before the moment in which we now find ourselves?’

I looked away from him, but he didn’t relent.

‘Did you think, the first time he kissed you, that Nic was capable of drowning a man in his own bathtub?’

‘Stop,’ I pleaded, feeling an overwhelming urge to vomit. ‘Just stop.’

‘Masks,’ said Valentino. ‘Look what happens when we take them off.’

‘It’s horrible.’ I buried my face in my hands again so he wouldn’t have the satisfaction of watching his words burn right through me.

‘Absolute chaos,’ he reminded me calmly, like he had not just annihilated my family’s reputation. ‘Since it is principally my decision, I think when we have apprehended your uncle at the warehouse, the correct course of action is to settle your father’s blood debt, once and for all.’

I lifted my head again, feeling dizzy and nauseous. ‘So you’re going to use me to lure him out and then kill me anyway?’

Valentino shrugged. ‘It is the best plan.’

I thought of my mother and Millie and had to choke back another sob. My mother wouldn’t survive this, she was barely hanging on as it was. And Millie – she had given up entire friendships to stick by me after my dad went to prison. She didn’t have anyone else, not any more. We only had each other.

When Valentino spoke again his voice was clinical, though the musical edge endured, lilting his words as they stung. ‘Nic won’t come for you, Sophie. He doesn’t know about any of this.’

I didn’t say anything. I just sat there, feeling the hollowness inside me yawn.

‘Do you want a handkerchief?’ He pulled a silken red square from the pocket of his shirt. His initials were monogrammed in black thread in the corner.

I ignored the gesture. ‘I thought you liked me. I thought we understood each other.’

‘I do like you.’ He tucked the handkerchief back in place, unaffected by my refusal. ‘If the circumstances were different, I think we’d be friends.’

‘But you’re all set to kill me?’

He spoke matter-of-factly. ‘The reason I was appointed to this position by my father was because I have always been adept at keeping my personal feelings separate from the Falcone mission. I have the ability to compartmentalize.’

‘Congratulations,’ I spat.

‘I’m not sure what Nic told you about me.’ His left leg twitched against his right in a sudden spasm. ‘But Luca and I were appointed together, did you know that? Two bosses. It was a decision that was unheard of in underworld circles, but for our family it made sense. We have done everything together since before birth, each of us a half of one whole. I would remain cool and collected, making the decisions from afar, and he would ensure they were carried out effectively. That was the idea of it. Together we would be the perfect boss: fair and efficient. Removed and yet completely involved.’

‘But he’s not the boss. He’s the underboss,’ I argued pointlessly.

If Valentino was surprised by my knowledge of their infrastructure, he didn’t show it. ‘That’s right.’ He smiled, revealing a glimpse of his teeth. ‘He deferred to me entirely shortly after our father’s death. He stepped back from his part in this role.’

‘Why?’ I gaped. If any of the five brothers fit the definition of a mob boss, it was Luca. Or so I’d have thought.

Valentino raised his hands, gesturing at the room and everything it encompassed: me, him, a black leather couch, my impending death. ‘Perhaps because of this. These kinds of manoeuvres are particularly difficult to stomach.’ He paused for a moment, ruminating on something. ‘Or,’ he ventured, ‘perhaps he felt like he owed me.’ He casually fanned his fingers towards his injured leg, but his face flashed with something else. ‘In any case, Luca and I had always worked together in perfect harmony, until this situation came upon us. Of course, I argue with Nic all the time, so it’s no surprise we’ve had to keep him out of this, but this is the first time in my life that I have ever disagreed with my twin brother over anything. And the fact that it’s about the fate of a Gracewell girl he doesn’t even know is truly beyond me.’

I felt an unexpected heave in my chest.

‘But I’m the boss,’ Valentino surmised, the lyrical lilt of his voice veiling the bluntness of his statement. I got the sense he didn’t want the flicker of hope inside me growing any stronger.

‘So the final decision rests with you,’ I realized.

‘It does,’ he said solemnly. ‘And Luca will respect that.’

And just like that, the flicker died.

‘Have you heard from my uncle?’ I wished I could call Jack and tell him not to bother coming for me. If they were going to kill me anyway, the whole thing would be a trap.

‘It’s difficult to persuade a drug baron, who is selfish by nature, to trade his life for another’s, even if that other is someone very dear to him. But I’m sure when he sees our video of you, he will understand the true gravity of the situation.’

‘What video?’

Valentino dipped his head, turning from me. ‘Be brave for Calvino or he will go harder on you.’

He left, and I was alone again.