Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“But why allow him to feed me such poison?”
“Have I not taught you boys that every move has a counter and should always have a purpose? When we ring this bell, it will sound around the world and you, my boy, needed to have a taste of the blood in the water, you needed to see the man for who he is, and I needed him to get comfortable. You, make him comfortable.”
I run my hand through my hair. It’s clear there’s an enormous picture here I’m not getting a full view of.
Marone.
Chapter 28
Welcomes & Realities
Dario
Two weeks later…
“You did well, my boy,” Nonno croons as we enter his study in his Catania home.
“You think it went well?”
“It all went as planned.”
I take in the room, remembering this place from when I was a small boy. Not much has changed, it still smells of cigars and Nonno’s cologne.
However, I do notice the frames on the bookshelves. I don’t know if it’s because I’m taller or because they were recently placed there. For some reason, I don’t recall ever seeing them before. I glance at a few of the pictures. A smile comes to my lips as I notice one of me and my brothers.
“The meeting was shorter than I was expecting.”
Nonno laughs. “They had to go for their naps.”
“I wasn’t expecting them all to be so old.”
“Ha,” Nonno gives a full belly laugh. “You speak as if I’m not an old man. You boys are the ones who keep me young.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just you’ve always been so vibrant. I don’t see you as old. Those guys are one breath from meeting Jesus. You still chase after Bella, and I hope someday soon you’ll be able to chase after a little one of my own.”
“I can’t wait for it. Carleen will make an excellent mother.”
“Carleen?”
He gives me a pointed look. “You have been in love with her since you were a little boy. I saw it the first time I saw you two together. Your mother loved her. She had hoped you two would grow to be more.”
“Really? With this thing of ours? How would that be possible?”
“You confuse me with that room of old men we just left behind. I didn’t always see things the way I do now, but things change, people change.”
“How so?”
“Come, come, sit with me and have a drink and a cigar.” He waves me to get the drinks and smokes while he moves for the wingback chairs in front of the fireplace and takes a seat.
Someone from the staff must have started the fire that was going before our arrival. This big place can have a chill to it at night. I move to the bar and pour us both a drink. Handing Nonno a glass, I grab two cigars from his cigar box.
“Thanks. You’re a good boy, Dario. You know that?”
“I try.”
“You’ve always been a good boy. When you were little, you were observant and smart. A lot like your mother.”
“Ma was the best.” I nod and light my cigar.
“My little girl. The reason I am the man I am. You know, I was a hard man once. Ruthless, they called me. Then I met your nonna. I fell in love at first sight, she made me a better man. She was a beautiful woman. La mia bellezza. I married her right away, after a year, she was expecting with your mama. We planned to have a houseful of children, but we were older and your nonna didn’t make it through the childbirth.
“I couldn’t bring myself to marry another. It was me and my Ava, my little bambina. I raised your mother on my own. Taught her everything I knew.”
“How did she end up in America?”
“Your mother, she was strong willed. When she became a teenager, it was America this and America that. I was growing older and wanted her to see the world, gain some knowledge, prepare her a bit more for this thing of ours.
“Wait, hold on. What are you trying to say, Nonno?”
“I named your mother my successor. She was the Donna of the Di Lorenzo family. This…it’s an acceptable thing here, especially in Naples—rare, but acceptable, there have been others.
“Ava was a strong one. She surrounded herself with all the right people. However, someone wanted her out of the way, with my failing health at the time, they saw an opening and started to remove her circle.”
“Why do I feel like I’m missing a big piece here?”
“Ah, because you are. The real reason you are here has yet to be revealed. Just know when the time is right, I will be at your wedding to our little friend, Carleen. Things are changing all around us, nipote. The old ways of thinking and doing things are turning on their heads. Your mama changed a lot of the things I thought. It’s a good thing she did because the storm that’s coming will eat the weak minded and unyielding.”