Chapter 5
Gerald stared at his wife.
Evelyn did not look away.
For the first time that day, his confidence had somewhere else to go.
“What did you promise him?”
His voice was quieter now.
Evelyn adjusted one bracelet.
“The north warehouses.”
Gerald’s face hardened.
“Those are mine.”
“Not if Valentina removes you.”
He stared.
Evelyn smiled sweetly.
“And not if you replace her.”
Greco laughed under his breath.
Gerald turned toward him.
“You think this is funny?”
“I think marriage has improved since I left Boston.”
Gerald stepped forward.
Valentina lifted one finger.
He stopped.
That irritated him more than the command.
Valentina looked at Evelyn.
“You planned for Gerald to lose too.”
Evelyn shrugged.
“I planned for whoever proved weakest to lose.”
Gerald’s nostrils flared.
“You used my name.”
Evelyn turned toward him.
“You used mine every time you needed respectable invitations.”
Her eyes sharpened.
“Don't suddenly become sentimental because you discovered I can count.”
Gerald’s hands closed.
Valentina watched him absorb the insult.
Then Greco spoke.
“Gerald came to me six months ago.”
Valentina looked over.
Gerald recovered instantly.
“Yes.”
He met her gaze.
“After you refused retaliation for the Harbor Street killing.”
That event still sat heavily in the family.
Two Carbone men shot outside a restaurant.
Valentina chose not to answer immediately because the attack was tied to an internal feud with uncertain blame.
Gerald had called it cowardice.
Now he said it again.
“You buried two men and sent flowers.”
His voice grew colder.
“I wanted blood.”
Valentina’s eyes hardened.
“You wanted the wrong blood.”
“You don't know that.”
“I knew enough not to kill twelve people because you were angry.”
Gerald smiled.
“There.”
He looked at the capos.
“That tone.”
His finger pointed toward Valentina.
“She talks like restraint is courage.”
He spat the next words.
“It’s fear dressed in a good suit.”
Evelyn added:
“And everyone pretends not to see it because Carlo’s ring is on her hand.”
Valentina did not defend herself.
That frustrated them.
Greco watched with interest.
Gerald continued.
“I went to him because this family needed men willing to finish things.”
Valentina asked:
“And Lily?”
Gerald’s expression hardened.
“She made the point.”
“What point?”
“That you'd choose her over everything.”
He smiled.
“We were right.”
Valentina looked at him for a long moment.
Then:
“You thought that was a weakness.”
Gerald laughed.
“It is.”
“No.”
She looked toward Lily.
“It’s the only thing in this garden that isn't negotiable.”
Several capos shifted.
Gerald saw it.
His eyes darkened.
Then Greco said:
“Carlo said something similar once.”
Valentina turned.
Gerald did too.
Greco continued.
“Not about Lily.”
A pause.
“About you.”
Gerald’s confidence snapped into irritation.
“What are you talking about?”
Greco looked at him.
“The night Carlo banished me, he said there was one person in the family no one was ever to use as leverage.”
Valentina’s breath changed.
“Who?”
Greco looked directly at her.
“You.”
Gerald laughed.
“You expect us to believe that?”
Greco’s smile vanished.
“I don't care what you believe.”
Then his eyes moved to Evelyn.
“But she knows.”
Evelyn’s face became completely still.
Gerald turned toward his wife.
“You knew?”
She did not answer.
May you like
Greco’s voice dropped.
“Ask her why.”
