No Escape by Julie Moffett

 

Chapter Thirty-Three

 

Slash

 

“Oh, no,” Lexi said. “What did you do?”

“To say we were shocked to see each other would be an understatement,” Stefan said. “I might have yelped in surprise.”

“You screamed,” I verified. “I heard it all the way up in the church loft.”

Stefan narrowed his eyes at me but didn’t deny it. “After the initial shock wore off, Father Rainaldi asked me what I was doing outside the church holding the church’s precious Virgin Mary statue. I debated telling him the story, but I decided to cover for Gio, who still had many years of service to the church ahead of him. So, I told the father I’d lost a bet and had to perform a task assigned by the winner. The winner charged me with stealing the Virgin Mary from the altar. Naturally, he was shocked and dismayed by my behavior. He took the statue from me, looked it over carefully. When saw it hadn’t been damaged by its adventure, he offered me a deal.”

“A deal?” Lexi asked. “What kind of deal?”

Stefan leaned back against the veranda railing, running his fingers through his hair. “He asked if Mama and Oscar knew what I’d done. When I said no, Father Rainaldi said that in recognition of my family’s longtime service to the church, and because no harm was done to the statue, if I confessed my sinful ways and performed all the required penance, he’d keep my transgressions private and not tell my family…for the time being. I didn’t exactly understand what that meant, but what option did I have? By this time, we’d all become a part of this unfortunate incident. So, of course, I agreed, and Father Rainaldi took my confession right there. I spent over two hours in the church with him that day, and just so you know, the penance lasted the entirety of my university holiday. I had to do many other duties around the church.”

Gio put a hand on Stefan’s shoulder. “I appreciate that you took the punishment in my place.”

“And yet you failed to assist me with my penance,” Stefan said wryly.

“I didn’t want to tip off the father that more of us were involved.”

“So, Stefan took the fall for Gio,” Lexi said. “What happened after that?”

“Well, Romeo and Gio were waiting for me in the bushes outside the church when I finished my initial confession,” Stefan replied. “Romeo had heard the whole thing, and after he’d climbed back down, he told Gio what had happened. Then they waited for me.”

“I was furious at Gio and embarrassed for Stefan,” I broke in. “But I understood why Stefan took the fall for Gio. I would have done the same thing. In the end, I couldn’t believe Stefan got off so easy and Father Rainaldi had agreed not to tell Mama what happened.”

“I did not get off easy,” Stefan corrected me. “I lost my entire holiday, but it was worth it because Mama didn’t suspect a thing, and she thought I was an angel for working so hard in the church during my time off.”

“Si, bonus points with Mama,” Gio agreed. “Worth its weight in gold.”

“I guess I didn’t get off as cleanly as I’d believed,” Stefan said.

“What do you think Mama knows?” Gio asked. “You don’t think she suspects me of anything, do you?”

“She doesn’t know anything,” I interjected. “But she’ll want to know why Father Rainaldi told her that odd bit of information, Stefan. She’s been waiting a long time, Stefan, and wants to hear what you have to say.”

“I already confessed,” Stefan groused. “And did my penance, too. Why do I have to do it again?”

“Because you promised Father Rainaldi,” I pointed out. “He said he wouldn’t tell Mama…at that time. Maybe this is just his way of getting you to come clean with her after you’d grown up. He probably assumed since you were the oldest, you’d get married first, and he wanted you to go into your union with a clean heart. I don’t see any way around it, Stefan. You’re going to have to tell her.”

“Tell her what?” Stefan said in frustration. “That I lied to the priest to cover for Gio? Or do I repeat the lie I told Father Rainaldi and take the blame once again for Gio?”

“You should tell the truth,” I said. “That’s the point of this confession.”

“No!” Gio exploded. “I don’t agree with any of this. Why does Stefan have to tell her anything? Father Rainaldi is dead, Stefan already did his penance, and we swore in blood we’d never discuss it again. The matter is finished, as far as I’m concerned. Just tell her you have no idea what Father Rainaldi was talking about.”

Gio had always been a bit of a wild child, so when he’d ended up in the Italian special forces, where cooler heads typically prevailed, I’d been surprised. But Gio was fearless, smart, and the best marksman I’d ever met. The special forces had been a good fit for him. His reluctance to admit his culpability clearly stemmed from a fear of disappointing Mama. All three of us had that same vulnerability, which came from a place of absolute respect and love. But it was clouding his judgment here.

I considered for a moment and turned to Lexi. “Maybe what we need is an impartial opinion. Lexi, you’re the only one without a stake in this issue. What do you think Stefan should do?”

“Me?” she said, clearly surprised by my question. “You want my opinion on this?”

“Si, Lexi,” Gio said eagerly, perhaps hoping she’d come up with a way to get him out of confessing. “You’re family now. What do you think we should do?”

She fell silent, clearly considering the situation. “Let me get this straight,” she finally said. “All of this is about a childhood misdeed, and the biggest concern is disappointing your mother and/or dishonoring the memory of a priest who is now dead, but who covered for your transgressions at that time?”

“That succinctly covers it,” I confirmed.

She looked between the three of us. “Well, if you’d asked me this question just one week ago, I likely would have had a different answer. But I’ve learned something important over these past few days. Honesty is the right foundation on which to build a family. I didn’t know Father Rainaldi, but if he covered for you, Stefan, he essentially did what you did for Gio, and what Slash did for me tonight. In the end, it sounds like he just wanted you to tell the truth, to stop you from having potentially harmful secrets within your family…our family. Not necessarily this secret, but any secret. Slash and I have recently learned how harmful it is to keep secrets from each other. Since Father Rainaldi wanted to wait until one of you was getting married, it sounds like he desired to give you—or by extension, all of us—an important lesson on how to start our marriages. So, my advice to you, Gio, and to all of you, is to come clean with your mom, start fresh, and don’t keep secrets from your spouse.”

I couldn’t have said it better, and the fact that my wife had been able to articulate it so beautifully made me love her even more.

After a moment, Gio kicked his foot against the railing and sighed. “Fine. You’re right, Lexi. You’re all right. I release you from your blood vow of silence. It’s time I face my penance many years later.”

“About damn time,” Stefan said with a grin.

Smiling, I gathered my brothers, one on each side, before clapping them on the back. The incident with Father Rainaldi had been a childhood transgression, but it had also been symbolic of the times we’d had each other’s backs while growing up. Despite the distance and different directions our lives had taken, one thing was clear to me. We’d successfully evolved from our childhood roles with one thing intact…we’d always be brothers who cared deeply about each other.

I glanced over at Lexi, who gave me a little smile. Meeting her had ignited a chain of events that had led me back to my family, and for that, I’d always be indebted to her.