The meal was amazing.
For the aperitivo, olives and almonds from the estate’s orchards with a glass of sweet prosecco.
The antipasti was a charcuterie plate of prosciutto and salami with creamy cheeses from a nearby farm.
The first main course was a seafood pasta with a buttery cream sauce and truffles, paired with an amazing white wine.
Next were lamb chops with a delicate mint sauce, accompanied by roasted vegetables. The red wine we drank came from the Rosolinis’ own vineyards, and it burst with flavors – hints of lavender, raspberry, and chocolate.
There was an entire course of cheese and sun-ripened fruits: sliced apricots, plums, and pears.
And finally, a sinfully delicious tiramisu to cap it all off.
And the conversation!
Adriano and his brothers told us all sorts of funny stories about their hijinks growing up on the estate.
The pranks they played on each other and their long-suffering servants…
And the time they’d decided to hunt a wild boar when Adriano was 11 years old.
The story ended with all the boys up in a tree as the boar paced beneath them. They were up there until nightfall, when their parents realized they were missing and sent out a search party to find them.
“But they shot the boar and we had it for dinner a week later,” Adriano said.
“Even though you crapped your pants when it was chasing you,” Massimo snorted.
“HEY!” Adriano shouted. “Maybe I should tell them about the time you went swimming naked when you were five years old and that snapping turtle – ”
“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!” Massimo talked over him. “They don’t want to hear about that.”
“Yes we do!” I laughed.
It was an evening of laughter, amazing food, and excellent company.
And then…
…everything shifted.
Niccolo cleared his throat. “Alessandra, if you would, please take Bianca and her mother to the parlor. There’s something we need to discuss with Signor Lettieri.”
I saw the shadow that passed over both my parents’ faces – and my father’s, in particular.
“Of course,” Alessandra said as she stood up.
I didn’t move, though.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Just some details about the situation in Florence,” Niccolo said casually.
“I was in Florence with Adriano. I’d like to hear about the situation.”
“It’s just business, that’s all. If you would?” Niccolo said with a smile and gestured towards Alessandra.
I looked over at Adriano, who was sitting next to me.
He just watched me neutrally, as though waiting to see what I would do next – but he didn’t urge me one way or the other.
I hadn’t told my parents the details of what had happened.
They didn’t know I’d been shot at…
And they didn’t know how close I’d come to dying.
So I kept my words vague…
But I knew Niccolo understood exactly what I meant.
“I was there at the hotel,” I said. “I gave Adriano the information that led to my father. After everything I’ve been through, I think I deserve to be in the room.”
Niccolo seemed a little taken aback.
Adriano suppressed a smile…
And across the table, I saw Alessandra give me an approving nod.
Niccolo looked at his don.
“…she can stay,” Dario said. “She’s earned her place.”
Pride swelled inside my chest –
And I felt Adriano’s hand squeeze mine under the table as though to say, Well done.
“I’ll take Signora Lettieri into the parlor,” Alessandra said breezily. “Please join us when you’re done, and we’ll all have an after-dinner drink… though don’t blame us if we start without you.”
My mother looked at my father, who nodded reassuringly, and followed Alessandra out of the room.
“Alright,” Niccolo said as soon as they were gone. “We need to move in the next 24 hours if we want to get Mezzasalma.”
“What’s the plan?” Dario asked.
Niccolo gestured to my father. “Mezzasalma wants Signor Lettieri… so I propose we use him as bait. To draw Mezzasalma out into the open.”
My father went pale.
I knew that he believed the other shoe had just dropped…
That the Rosolinis were no better than the Agrellas.
They would use him as a pawn in their game –
And after they’d saved his life and kept his wife safe, who was he to say ‘no’?
So I decided to say it for him.
But the second I spoke, Adriano did, too.
“No – ”
“No.”
We both looked at each other – and I smiled gratefully at him.
“What do you mean, ‘no’?” Niccolo said coldly. Not to me, but to his brother.
“Respectfully,” Adriano said in a calm voice, “I’d like to suggest an alternative plan.”
Niccolo glanced at Dario, then looked back at Adriano. “I’m listening.”
“Let me go back to Florence and draw Mezzasalma out into the open.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
“I’ll find out where his men are, and I’ll kill them one by one,” Adriano said. “I’ll leave a message on the bodies: ‘We need to talk.’”
“That’s very serial killer-ish of you,” Niccolo said drily.
“It’ll get his attention.”
“Yes, but not in the way you want. Mezzasalma’s not going to talk to you. He’ll simply send ALL his men go after you and either catch you and torture you, or shoot you down like a mad dog. No… we need bait.” Niccolo pointed to my father. “And there he is.”
“I want to keep Signor Lettieri safe,” Adriano said, his voice notching up a bit.
“As do we all, but he’s in danger no matter where he is. We can fight the battle in Florence, or we can fight it here on our front steps – but make no mistake, the battle will be fought, one way or another. Any notion that he’s safe here, while Mezzasalma is out there looking for him, is an illusion.”
“Respectfully,” Adriano said, sounding more and more stressed out, “we need to figure out another way.”
“I’ll do it,” I said.
Every eye at the table suddenly looked at me.
“No,” my father said frantically –
And at the same time, Adriano said, “NO.”
But I ignored them both and focused on Niccolo. “If they see my father, they’ll kill him. They’re not going to waste time – they’ll just shoot him. But they’ll think of me as a bargaining chip. They won’t try to kill me. They’ll want to keep me alive to force my father to give himself up.”
Niccolo raised his eyebrows and leaned his head to the side. “That’s a good point.”
“Plus, if it’s the man that I saw in the modeling agency – ”
“What man?” Niccolo asked.
In all the hubbub, I’d forgotten I hadn’t told them about the man with cruel eyes.
“She saw some guy visiting Bautiste Agrella several hours before the hotel,” Adriano explained.
After I answered all of Niccolo’s questions, he said, “So you may be the only one who’s ever laid eyes on Mezzasalma.”
“Yes.”
“That’s an even better reason to have you be the bait.”
“NO,” Adriano said forcefully. “We don’t even know if it was Mezzasalma she saw!”
Niccolo was about to respond when my father spoke up. “I’ll do it – just leave my daughter out of it.”
“No, Papa,” I said quietly. “You know I’m right.”
Tears were in his eyes as he shook his head. “Paperotta – ”
“I’m sorry, but you’ve gotten yourself in way too deep. And you don’t get to make my choices for me anymore. Not after all the bad ones you made my entire life.”
I saw the hurt on his face, and it killed me –
But I wasn’t going to put him in a situation where there was a good chance he might die.
At least I stood a chance, no matter how much Papa disliked it.
Unfortunately, the only way to shut him up was to remind him of how he’d failed me in the past.
No matter how much it hurt to see his reaction.
It worked, though.
He just sat there with an ashamed look on his face and didn’t say anything more.
But Adriano wasn’t finished.
“No,” he said. “I’m not going to put you in danger again – ”
“I was in danger every second in Florence, but you kept me safe. And you’re going to be right there with me again, protecting me.”
“But – ”
I squeezed his hand under the table.
“Ride or die… right?” I whispered.
Adriano looked totally taken aback –
And then he didn’t say anything else, either.
“It’s not going to be just the two of you,” Niccolo said. “Our entire organization will be backing you up. We’ll need to fortify the house here to guard against an attack, but that’ll be fairly small. We’ll send every available man along with you.”
“You shouldn’t just order them,” Adriano said. “This has to be something they volunteer for – ”
“Then let me be the first,” Massimo said. “I’m in.”
As soon as Massimo said that, I swear Adriano looked like he was getting choked up.
“Me, too,” Lars said with a smile.
“I’m in,” Valentino added.
“So am I,” Roberto said.
“NO,” Niccolo snapped, “we’re not sending the accountant in with the soldiers!”
“Hey – ” Roberto protested, his feelings hurt.
“I’ll go,” Dario said.
“NO YOU WON’T!” Niccolo shouted as he slapped the table. “You don’t put the king on the front line of the chessboard! You can have a gun and guard the Lettieris, but you’re NOT going to Florence!”
“Fine,” Dario sighed.
Niccolo glared at Dario like What the hell are you thinking?!
Then he turned back to Adriano.
“Here’s the thing: once you draw Mezzasalma out into the open, you can’t let him know that we have Bianca’s father – and you can’t let him realize we already know about Rome, Venice, and the rest. Otherwise the jig is up.”
“But you’ve already made a bunch of phone calls to their consiglieres,” Adriano protested. “If Mezzasalma is in contact with them, isn’t it going to be obvious we know?”
“No, because I covered my tracks. I called every consigliere in all of Italy. Obviously the Genoans are with us, because Alessandra is their granddaughter – but the others are up in the air. Some are neutral, some didn’t believe me, some said they believed me… but it was only Rome, Venice, Sicily, Naples, and Milan that wouldn’t talk to me at all. So don’t tip off Mezzasalma that WE know why they won’t talk to me.”
“Alright.”
“I have one condition to being part of the plan,” I said.
Niccolo raised an eyebrow. “Which is?”
“Whatever happens… you agree to keep my parents safe. For the rest of their lives, if need be.”
Niccolo gave me a tiny smile that I interpreted as respect. “Don Rosolini?”
“Done,” Dario said. “I swear it upon my family and my future children’s lives.”
“Then I’m all in,” I said.
“Don Rosolini,” my father said hoarsely, “please, I’m begging you – ”
“Your daughter is correct, Signor Lettieri,” Dario replied evenly. “Her plan is the best by far. And you should not reject the sacrifice she’s willing to make on your behalf.”
“Sir, no father should ever have to bury his own child,” Papa said, tears streaming down his cheeks.
And at that moment, my heart broke.
“I agree,” Dario said quietly. “And I never want to bury my brother… but he is willing to take the chance alongside her. So we should both respect their wishes.”
My father had nothing to say to that.
“Well,” Niccolo said, “I realize that this is not exactly the happiest note to end on, but I suggest we join Alessandra and Signora Lettieri in the parlor. Dario and I will speak with Adriano and Bianca in the morning after I give some more thought to the plan. For now, let’s try to forget tomorrow and just enjoy tonight.”
“I need to speak to my daughter first,” my father said.
“That is your right,” Niccolo replied.
“And then I need to speak to her, too,” Adriano said darkly.
“I don’t know if it’s your right, but have at it,” Niccolo said. “And now, let’s go join the ladies before they begin to think we’re up to no good.”
