Chapter Thirty-Four

Gino Bracato sat in the chair next to the bed and alternately looked out the window and stared at the still form on the bed, oblivious to the ringing phone and doorbell. His wrinkled clothes smelled of his mistress’s favorite perfume, but he didn’t care about his appearance. Instead, the unmoving chest of his wife Eris mesmerized him.

He’d intended to ship her off to the first rehab center that would take her, but when he’d gotten home he’d found her already gone. No matter how hard he shook or slapped her, Eris hadn’t responded. The large pile of white powder on the nightstand close to where her head had landed explained everything. She had finally found a way to escape him and his family, and he couldn’t follow her.

“Mr. Bracato?” the nanny asked. “Please, sir, I need to see you, if I could.”

“What is it?” He opened the door just a sliver.

“Your father has called so many times and would like to speak to you. He sounded upset. Would Mrs. Bracato like for me to bring the baby in? She likes spending time with him in the mornings.”

“No! My wife’s sick and doesn’t want to be disturbed. Keep my son away from her, and tell the rest of the staff to stay out.”

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry I had to bother you.”

As soon as the nanny left, Giovanni yanked the master suite door open and shoved his way in.

“When I fucking call you, I expect you to pick up the phone and talk to me,” he screamed. Stopping, he stared at the lump on the bed and sneered. “You know what your problem is? You’ve lost control of your house, boy. Your wife should know better than to lounge around after nine o’clock. It’s time for you to start teaching your wife who’s in charge here just like I have at home.”

“She’s dead,” Gino whispered. He buried his face in his hands and tried his best not to cry in front of his father. Despite all their problems, he had loved Eris once and never dreamed their relationship would end like this.

“Fucking shit,” Giovanni said. “What happened?”

“Looks like she snorted enough blow to fry her brain. I was out last night and came in to find her like this. What am I going to do, Papa?”

The slap to the side of Gino’s head almost knocked him off the chair.

“First, you start sounding like the man I raised and not some weak pussy. All we have to do is get rid of her, then report her missing. They can’t find her here, Gino, or you’ll go down for this no matter how it happened.

“Go get cleaned up, because there’s nothing we can do about this now in broad daylight. We have bigger problems, and I need your help.”

“What’s wrong?” Gino stood up and walked away from his father, trying to put some distance between them.

“Your brothers are all missing. I’ve been to all their houses and checked all the places they could be, but no one’s seen them. Stephano and Michael pull shit like this all the time, but Francis knows better than to keep me waiting. We’re meeting with the Luis family this morning, and he was coming with me.” He shook Gino by the shoulders. “When was the last time you saw them?”

Stephano’s late-night call for backup rushed back to Gino with such a vengeance, he slumped down on the end of the bed. If something had happened to his brother, his father would never forgive him for putting a woman before his family. “Yesterday afternoon when we were all together,” he lied. “I didn’t hear from them after that.”

“Take a shower and get dressed,” Giovanni ordered. “And don’t forget to lock the door on the way out. We don’t need anyone wandering in here while we’re gone. Tonight after we find your brothers and get business squared away, we’ll deal with your little problem. At least most of the people who knew your wife knew what a junkie she was. Nobody’ll even miss her.”

Except me, Gino thought, as he looked back at the woman he’d once loved.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14