The Mafia Killer’s Wife by Rosa Milano

Thirty-Four

Amanda

There's no way out of the panic room. I should know. I've tried everything. From pulling half my fingernails off gripping the edge of the door and yanking backwards to mashing the keypad next to it, nothing is working.

"You can't keep me in here," I tell Iris for about the twentieth time. "He's going to kill my dad. Don't you even care?"

She just looks impassively back at me. "He knows what he's doing."

I can't get anything else out of her no matter how hard I try. I beg her to type in the code to let me out but she keeps saying she doesn't know it. I think about threatening her but she looks a lot stronger than me so I doubt that would go well.

The interior of the panic room is well equipped. There's a sofa, a couple of armchairs, even a TV. Iris is on the sofa, flicking through the channels. "Might as well get comfortable," she says. "We could be in here for a while."

She reaches down the side of the sofa and lifts up a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. "Drink?" she asks.

I slump into the armchair next to me. "I doubt you've any ice to go with that," I reply.

"Way ahead of you."

She reaches down again and brings up an ice cube tray filled and ready to go. "Where did you get that?" I ask.

"This place is set up so you could survive in here for a while. Pantry underneath down that trapdoor and next to my seat is the conveniently placed freezing device set up just for drinks."

She passes me a glass three quarters full of liquor. I take a sip. "Hang on, if I get hammered, where do I pee?"

"Behind that screen," she says, nodding toward the corner of the room. There's a kind of Victorian dressing screen with oriental swirls and dragons in red on a black background. "Thought of everything," I say, taking another slug of the drink.

She smiles at me. "If Ethan does shoot your father, it will be because he deserves it."

"That's supposed to make me feel better?"

"It's not meant to be anything. It's just a fact. He's never shot anyone who didn't deserve it."

"Bullshit. He's an enforcer for the Gianni famiglia. He shoots whoever they tell him to shoot."

"Who told you that?"

I shrug. "My father. That's what enforcers do, right? They kill people."

"Maybe that's how Mancini does it but Ethan is nothing like that."

"What is he like? I hardly know a thing about him."

"He's a good person, believe it or not."

"He's out there right now shooting people."

"I haven't heard a shot yet, have you?"

"That's not the point." I drain my glass, and she takes it from me, pouring out another measure. "How can he possibly be a good person?"

"Because I've known a lot of assholes in my life, and he isn't one of them. He's refused a lot of contracts in his time when they haven't sat right with him. Turned down a lot of money too."

Hearing her say money raises my eyebrows. "Just how rich is he?"

"Enough to do plenty of good with his cash."

"Like what?"

"Funds half the orphans in the city, keeps them out of trouble so they don't end up in the business like him."

"You're kidding?"

"He'd never tell anyone out loud, but I've worked here a long time. Heard a lot of things. He's done a ton of good with his money, Amanda. Taken the Gianni money gladly and used it for good things. Not like some wiseguys, burning through it at the track and bankrupt before you can sneeze. Say, can you keep a secret?"

"I guess."

"When Mancini had his parents killed, it was Don Gianni that took him in, gave him a job. Started him out as a gopher until the night of the meatballs."

She sees the way I'm looking at her and she frowns back at me. "You don't know about that?"

I shake my head. "You're yanking my chain, right?"

"Nope. It's not a nice story."

"Now I have to know!"

"All right. Don Gianni was at his favorite restaurant. Mancini had not long whacked Ethan's mom when she turned him down. Don Gianni was there for a talk with Don Mancini about to resolve it all. Wanted to discuss things despite Ethan's rage at the loss of his mother. Mancini never showed. Instead, two of his wiseguys burst out of the kitchen while Ethan and his pop were talking to Gianni about revenge."

She takes a sip from her glass before carrying on. "These two guys come out and they think they can shoot Gianni and make a run for it but Ethan acts like something out of a superhero movie. They get one shot off and it hits Ethan's pop. Ethan manages to disarm the two of them and is about to kill them when Gianni sits them down and tells them the meatballs are great here. Makes them order them and tells the chef to bring him a long knife. Takes it and slices the balls off the two wiseguys.

"Makes them eat them right in front of him. Tells them that's what Mancini has coming to him if he ever tries to shoot a Gianni again. Mancini went to the commission for justice but they backed up Gianni. Told him he was lucky not to be whacked for taking out a civilian.

"Ethan's mom had nothing to do with this life but Primo took a shine to her, wanted her for himself. Shot her when she turned him down and started his own downfall. He lost more than half his territory after that little escapade. Peace has been kept for years since then."

"Until now."

She points at me. "Benito got his peepers on you and Ethan got his angel halo on his head and tried to protect you and look where we all end up, in a right mess."

"Oh, God," I groan. "This is all my fault. I should have just married Benito and then none of this bullshit would have happened."

"That's not my point. My point is that Ethan is a good person. If your father dies, it'll be because of him, not because of anyone else. Ethan will try his best to let him live and you know why, right?"

"Why?"

"Because he cares about you, Amanda Davis."