The Mafia Killer’s Wife by Rosa Milano

Twenty-Nine

Ethan

An hour later we're sitting together in the old smoking room. It's one of my favorite places in the house.

I've given her a burner cellphone with only my number in it. "Keep it close," I tell her. "Call me if you're ever in trouble again."

I'm already thinking this is a mistake. Ideas are forming in my head and they add up to an uncomfortable truth. I need her out of here while I deal with Primo's counter-attack.

She's looking at the painting above the fireplace. "He looks like you," she says. "Who is he?"

"My father. Giuseppe. Came over to America from Sicily in 1960. Had that painting commissioned five years later."

"He must be rich. That's some painting."

"Not at first but later, yes, he earned a decent amount."

"Doing what?"

"Come and sit down."

She does as I tell her. She's dressed again, and it's like the shower never happened.

"What happened to Benito's body?" she asks, like it just occurred to her. "Is it still there?"

"Denzil has already taken it."

"Denzil?"

"He's my collector. The study is clean. The car and ladder outside the grounds will be disposed of. It'll be like Benito was never here. The only people who know he's dead are in this house."

"He wasn't alone. There was another guy with him. What if he tells Primo what you did? What happens then?"

"Tony the wire. He's probably caught in a snare and bleeding to death right now."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I laid the traps and I know what I'm doing."

"Will they arrest you?"

"No one knows what I did apart from you, Iris, and Albie."

"And the guy who ran."

"Who is dead."

She pauses, looking around her. "Did you have to kill Benito?"

"You were glad he was dead not so long ago."

"Don't remind me. I feel bad enough about that already."

"We all have choices to make in life," I tell her. "Not all of them are easy."

"What are you telling me? That Benito chose to die?"

"He chose to pick a fight with me. He knows I defend what belongs to me. He chose to come to my house and to not shoot when he had the chance."

"So you are saying he chose to die."

"We all have choices, Amanda. You chose to unlock the window that let him into the house. The consequence of that is that he is got inside and almost hurt you. Now he's dead. Or did he perhaps persuade you to open the window? Make a deal with you?"

"No, nothing like that, I swear."

"You should be grateful I shot him. You don't have to marry me anymore. Our deal is concluded."

"Just like that? You don't want to marry me anymore?"

"I can't marry a woman I do not trust."

"What are you saying? You don't trust me?"

"You're lying to me, Amanda."

"What about?"

"I know you made a deal with Benito, didn't you?"

"I didn't. I really didn't."

"And that's why you need to leave."

"But, I don't get it."

"You are here under duress. You were forced to stay here by me. That is over. I will have Albie drive you back into the city."

I hear the clatter of claws out in the hall. Fitz appears, slinking in to sit at my feet. He looks across at Amanda as she stares back at me. If she's willing to tell me the truth, I'll let her stay.

She needs to admit she gave Benito access to the penthouse. Do that and we might stand a chance. I'm not explaining it to her like she's a child. She knows what I want to hear. She's hoping I will let the matter drop, let her lie to me about the mistake she made, picking the wrong side in this fight.

I'm not that kind.

"Go home," I tell her. "You don't have to marry me. You can go and live your life and see who your father chooses for you next. I just hope he's a better person than Benito."

"But..."

"But what?"

"But I don't want to leave."

"I will not have a liar in my house."

"I'm not lying. I didn't let Benito in."

"How was the window open then? It cannot be opened from the outside."

She realizes, her eyes widening. "I left it open after dinner. It was hot in there."

"Are you saying it was Iris working with him?"

"No, why would you think that?"

"Because if she saw the window open, she would close it."

"She didn't come back into the dining room."

"Bullshit."

"I took the dishes through to her in the kitchen when I was done. She went off to walk the dog after that. I doubt she even went back in there."

"I can check the cameras. See if you're telling the truth. Are you sure you want me to do that?"

"If you don't trust me, then what's the point, Ethan? I am telling you the truth, I swear."

"And you have nothing else to confess to me?"

"No, nothing."

"Nothing about the penthouse?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She can't meet my eyes when she says that.

"Then it's time for you to leave. Go home. I don't want you here any longer."

The words are hard to say but they are for her own good. I need her to leave for long enough for me to deal with Primo. I know he's out there. Sooner or later he'll find out what happened to Benito. He'll know his son was coming for me and then he vanished.

I can't have her around when Primo works it out. If he thinks I have any attachment to her, he'll kill her. If I keep her here and he comes with higher numbers, she's in trouble. The only safe place in the house is the panic room. How long could she stay in there? I'm only one man, after all.

I've looked at it from all angles. I could ask the Don for help but he won't want to send a crew out to me. That'll be a clear sign to the other families that he's trying to whack Primo. He needs some distance from me to be able to maintain plausible deniability.

This way, I kill Primo and the Don's good with Amanda being in my life or Primo kills me and Amanda walks away. She's a civilian as long as she's not connected to me. Even Primo Mancini would shy away from killing a civilian. Look what happened last time he did it. He barely escaped with his life, having to cede a huge amount of territory to the Gianni famiglia for what he did to my mother.

It's simple enough. I get her to leave. Primo comes for me sooner or later. I know it'll take him at least a few days to prepare his troops. I can set the house up so it's one big time bomb, deal with them all when they come. Primo won't stay away. He'll want to see my body for himself.

I could always get to wherever he's leading things, take him out while the rest of his men are hunting for me. Cut the head off the hydra and the body dies. They'll have no one to work for with Primo and Benito gone.

I press the button on the wall beside me. "What are you doing?" Mandy asks.

"I want you gone," I tell her. She still looks confused so I decide to make sure she goes, telling her the first lie I've told her since we met. "I only wanted to fuck you," I tell her. "That's all. I got what I wanted so now you can go."

Her face crumples. I want to run over and tell her that's a lie, tell her I want her more than ever. I'm falling for her but now is not the time to do anything about it. Once Primo is dead, I can work things out with her but for now I need her to be able to tell the Mancini's that I hate her, that I want nothing to do with her. Best way to do that is to make her believe it.

Albie appears in the doorway. "Take her back to her parents," I tell him. "Make sure she stays there."

Albie nods as Amanda gets to her feet. She takes one look at me and scowls. "Benito was right," she says. "You are an heartless bastard." She walks out after Albie.

She's no idea I'm doing this for her own good. If she stays here the risk is too great. I need to prepare the house for a siege. I have a lot to do and if I'm going to live long enough to explain to her why I said that, I need her gone fast. I can get her to confess about the penthouse later, when this is all over. I can take my time, enjoy getting the truth out of her. Later. For now, she just needs to be gone from here.

Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt to see her go, knowing she hates me right now. I can fix this later. For now, I need to deal with the priority in my life. Work not pleasure.

I watch out of the window as she climbs into the car's passenger seat. Albie's already got her suitcase and is loading it into the trunk. I want to run out there and tell her to stay but that might mean signing her death warrant.

I don't know if I'll survive the next few days. I can't watch her the whole time and I need to think. Maybe I'm better off doing what I do best, taking the battle to Primo. I could catch him at home while he's still planning. That might work better. I could make it look like a random hit, nothing to do with me. That way the Gianni famiglia is in the clear. It won't look like revenge for what Primo did to my parents.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea. I'll rig the house just in case, but my instincts tell me to whack him before he gets chance to make a move. He'll be reeling from Benito's death. Grief will make him stupid. He won't be watching out for me. He'll think I'm hiding here.

I can get close. Take him out.

Once that's done, I'll get her back. I'll say sorry for what I said. We'll get married and I'll spend the rest of my life making up for what I just said to her. Not yet though. First, I need to prepare for the upcoming battle.

Albie drives the car away, and I get a sudden feeling I've made a terrible mistake. What if Primo kills her?

I wipe the idea from my mind. He wouldn't kill another civilian. Not after last time. We have a code of honor in the families. Break it and the wrath of the Capo dei Capi falls upon your entire outfit. He killed my mother, and he almost lost his entire empire because of it. He won't risk that again.

I miss Mandy already, but I can't let that color my thoughts. I've got work to do.