Inferno (Page 63)
- Page 1
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
I couldn’t really understand it either.
‘None of this makes sense,’ he mused. ‘Not for those Marino cowards.’
I had forgotten about Donata’s final words – Fidelitate Coniuncti – and I stumbled over them as I relayed her message to me. Luca arched an eyebrow and Felice muttered, ‘Interesting.’
‘Is it a threat?’ I asked. ‘What does it mean?’ I couldn’t spell it well enough to google it. I could barely say it.
‘It’s Latin,’ said Luca, uneasily. ‘It’s not a threat.’
Felice pulled out his phone, consigliere duties overriding his desire to question me further. ‘I’ll assemble everyone. Should be an hour, perhaps less. I’ll speak with Valentino,’ he added, directing the last part at Luca. ‘He’ll find this most strange indeed …’
‘He’s paranoid,’ Luca answered. ‘There’s nothing in this.’
‘I wouldn’t be so sure.’ Felice disappeared, his footsteps echoing down a distant corridor.
‘What was that about?’ I said.
Luca batted the question away. ‘Don’t worry about it.’
Nic was the only Falcone brother not frowning. He was relaxed, shoulders squared – a soldier, ready for whatever was coming. ‘I’m glad you came to us, Sophie,’ he said earnestly. His voice took on that low tone, like he was closing the space between me and him until it was just the two of us. ‘It’s not right what she’s doing. But she won’t be alive for much longer. We’ll make sure you’re kept out of all this, I promise.’
Dom had joined us by then. ‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Nic.’ He rolled back on his heels. ‘The Council will decide.’
‘I know that,’ I said, addressing Dom and trying to keep the venom from my voice. ‘I know this is kind of a long shot. I didn’t think there would be so much ceremony involved … I just …’ I turned with hopeful eyes to Luca. ‘When you told me yesterday that I could come to your family if I was ever in trouble, I didn’t think I’d ever have to take you up on it. But Donata terrifies me, and I’m sick of taking chances with my safety.’ I added, ‘I’m taking your advice. I’m being smart. I recognize I can’t get out of this on my own.’
Luca had a hand over his mouth and was smoothing his fingers along his jaw, thinking.
‘Yesterday?’ said Nic. ‘What was yesterday?’
‘We ran into each other at Stateville,’ I answered quickly, seeing that Luca wasn’t feeling so inclined. His mind was elsewhere. ‘He gave me a ride home.’
Why did I feel like I was justifying myself? Why did I feel like there was anything to hide?
Nic frowned. ‘You didn’t think to mention that to me at any point, Luca?’
Dom and Gino exchanged a glance. ‘Uh-oh,’ droned Dom, grinning. ‘Looks like Sophie and Luca had a prison date without Nic …’
‘Shut up,’ I hissed.
‘Calmati.’ Luca came back to himself and clapped Nic on his back. ‘Don’t read into it, brother. It was nothing.’
‘Yeah. It was nothing,’ I added, hardening the words.
Nic squared his jaw. He was staring at Luca like he might want to set him on fire, and I felt the tension in the room soar. Only Dom was finding it funny. An hour. I would have to wait an hour for this Council, whatever it was. And I would have to do it under this stupid cloud of testosterone.
I went to the bathroom to splash some water on my face and update Millie. I felt calmer, better, focused. I just had to stay alive and keep the people I loved close by until it was all finished – until Donata was dead. I tried not to dwell on the possibility that the Falcones might slip up – that their counter-plan, whatever it turned out to be, might not work, that Jack would rally in anger and still come for me. I tried not to think about Sanctuary being denied to me, about my mother and me having to face all of this alone.
When I made my way back to the foyer, everyone had scattered. I followed the hallway on the right, tracing the rumblings coming from the belly of the house. Halfway along the corridor, I pushed a door open, following the shouting. The room was huge, with an array of gaming equipment inside – dartboards, punching bags, a foosball table, a pool table and a stereo system. There were couches and beanbag chairs around the walls, and three large diamond-crossed windows looked out on to the swelling storm.
In the middle of the room, Dom and Nic were running circles around each other. Felice and Luca were leaning against the wall, watching them with the casual interest of passing spectators, and Gino was reclining in a beanbag chair, eyes half-closed.
‘What’s going on?’ I asked Luca, just as Nic flipped Dom flat on his back. There was a heavy thump and Nic’s triumphant laughter split the room apart.
Luca indicated the little muddle of testosterone. ‘Relatively safe conflict management in a house of assassins,’ he explained. ‘Whenever we have an argument, we take it to the sparring room. When there’s a winner, it’s over.’
‘What were they arguing about?’
Luca didn’t answer me.
‘Dom has a loose mouth,’ supplied Felice. ‘And you’re an easy target.’
‘Oh,’ I said. Asshole.
Dom was back on his feet. He took a swing at Nic. Nic blocked his head with his hands and Dom used his distraction to swipe his foot across Nic’s legs, almost toppling him off balance.
- Page 1
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159