Chapter 6
Serafina did not sleep.
At sunrise she went to Leo’s room.
Her son was already awake.
He looked at her face.
“Are you mad?”
“Not at you.”
“At Uncle Nolan?”
Serafina sat beside the window.
“Yes.”
Leo waited.
Children were often more comfortable with honest anger than adults were.
“Will you hurt him?”
Serafina looked at her hands.
Yesterday those hands had struck Nolan.
Victor too.
She could still feel the impact.
“I already did.”
Leo watched her.
“Again?”
A long silence.
“No.”
The answer surprised both of them.
Serafina leaned forward.
“I’m going to find out what he did first.”
Leo nodded.
Then whispered:
“He said Dad’s name.”
Serafina went still.
“When?”
“When he pushed me down.”
“What did he say?”
Leo’s breathing became shallow.
Serafina waited without moving closer.
Finally:
“He said, ‘Your father should’ve taught this family to stay buried.’”
Serafina’s eyes sharpened.
“Nolan said that?”
Leo nodded.
Then Mia appeared in the doorway.
“He said something to me too.”
Serafina turned.
Mia twisted the edge of her cardigan between her fingers.
“At Grandpa Victor’s birthday.”
Three months earlier.
Victor had been drinking.
Mia wandered behind the terrace to find Leo.
She heard Victor arguing with Nolan.
Victor said:
“Lorenzo nearly destroyed us once. I won't let his widow finish it.”
Mia had not understood.
She remembered because Victor’s voice scared her.
Serafina felt the room narrow.
Her children had been hearing pieces of a war she did not know existed.
Downstairs, Victor had already made his next move.
He called an emergency family council.
His position:
Serafina’s financial credentials appeared throughout questionable transfers.
Her children had been involved in a violent confrontation.
She had assaulted a senior family member and an associate in front of guests.
Her judgment, he argued, was compromised.
Three older members sided with him.
Two capos remained neutral.
For the first time since the garden, Serafina’s control weakened.
Victor looked across the council table.
His confidence had returned.
“You wanted everyone to know who holds power?”
He opened his hands.
“Now count.”
Serafina did.
Seven behind her.
Five behind Victor.
Two undecided.
Then one of Serafina’s seven stood.
Salvatore Greco.
A man she had trusted for fifteen years.
May you like
He walked across the room.
And took a seat beside Victor.
