"One word from my husband, and the favors your Family could land would set you up for life!"
I watched her ugly little display in silence, and a thought rose unbidden. Twenty years ago, when she'd forced my mother to surrender her place as the lawful wife of the Falcone house, had she worn this same face?
"Sorry. An alliance with the Falcone Family doesn't interest me."
I pressed the buzzer beneath the lip of my desk. "Send up two of my soldiers."
They came quickly, men who moved without sound, and pinned Camilla Russo where she stood. Her eyes went wide. She'd probably never imagined that anyone, given who she was, would actually dare lay a hand on her.
Without warning, the door to my study slammed open again. A tall, lanky boy came charging in, somewhere in his early twenties, dressed like he'd never had to earn the clothes on his back. He jabbed a finger right in my face and started cursing.
"Who the hell do you think you are, putting your hands on my mother? Say the word, and I'll have my father bury this trash little outfit of yours by morning!"
I looked at his young, hot-blooded face, and the line of his brow and eyes, identical to Don Falcone's. Another image flashed before me. That rainy night twenty years ago, when I lost two family members at once. The mother who loved me most, and my unborn baby brother.
If that child had lived, he'd be about this age now.
"This is your son?" There was a faint, barely perceptible tremor in my voice.
"Of course. Lorenzo Falcone, my son with the Don."
I stared hard at the two of them, and then I smiled. "Good."
I rose to my feet and looked at Lorenzo. I turned my mother's thin gold ring once around my finger. "Go back and tell your father. I'd love to see how he plans to deal with me."
The two of them were hauled out, the soldiers' hands closing on their arms without a word wasted. I sat down, picked up the glass of water that had gone stone cold, and drained it in one go.
I knew this was only the beginning.
After they were gone, I gave my consigliere another task. "Pull together everything you can find on Lorenzo Falcone. The more detailed, the better."
A file arrived not long after. Lorenzo Falcone, twenty-one, a college senior, currently placed as an associate at the city TV network.
What a coincidence. The network the Falcones used to launder their name through the territory's papers and broadcasts.
I looked over the file, hesitated for a long while, and finally made the call. It was answered almost at once.
"Adriana? What's got you calling at this hour? Didn't you say you were buried today?"
Hearing Dante Caruso's voice, I fell silent for a few seconds. He was my man, and the Capo who held the strings on every broadcast and printed line that reached this city. I didn't want to drag him into this. But this was something only he could do.
"Do you have an associate over there named Lorenzo Falcone?"
He answered fast. "Yeah. Word is he's the Don's only son and heir. How do you know him?"
I hesitated, then finally asked. "I don't want to see him around. Can you have him cast out?"
Dante went quiet for a beat on the other end. He knew me. He knew I was never one to ask for things without reason.
"Adriana, what happened?"
"It's nothing." I didn't want him to know about my past, so I only said softly, "I don't like the Falcones."
He didn't press. He just answered, clean and simple. "Okay. I'll take care of it."
I let out a breath, and a wave of gratitude welled up in me.
"I'll come by the network to collect you tonight."
After work, I drove to the city TV network. The moment I stepped out of the car, I saw Lorenzo blocked by two of the network's enforcers, still spewing filth from his mouth.
"On what grounds are you casting me out? Because I cursed a few people during work? Let me tell you, my father is Don Falcone. Cross me and you're crossing the whole Falcone Family!"
A man stood beside him, trying to reason with him, his face full of helplessness.
