Tempted By The Mafia Boss

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Mimi

It’s raining…

I hate the rain. The same as crying, it reminds me of sadness, especially when it pours down like this.

It always seems to rain in this way when there’s something to do with Mom.

Always sadness and grief.

Salvatore holds my hand as we walk up the steps of a church.

It’s a catholic church with large oak doors and a cross with Christ on it over the door.

This is the address we were given to find Adrian.

I’m not sure what to make of it yet. It feels very ominous. But then, what other way can it feel?

The man is in hiding. My nerves have been on high alert since we left Chicago this morning. I keep thinking we’re being watched. Dad has been calling me but I didn’t speak to him. I plan to as soon as we know all the details. I know that Salvatore has placed extra security for him because there’s no doubt that the Fontaines will try to get to him in an attempt to draw me out.

I push against the door to the church and find it’s locked so Salvatore rings the little bell on the side.

“I’m nervous,” I say under my breath.

“It’s okay. You’ll be okay. I’m out here and we have backup. Think of me,” Salvatore says and leans down to kiss me.

I gaze up at him with so many questions in my mind. Now is the worst time to be thinking of the vagueness between us.

I told him I’m his and I meant it, we’ve been sleeping together and acting like we were weeks ago, but we haven’t exactly said anything about what we are now.

Danger is still there and this is just one more thing. If I didn’t have Marc Fontaine on my ass, Salvatore and I wouldn’t have seen each other.

He moves back and like always I know he can tell what I’m thinking.

“Thanks for the restaurant and the money,” I tell him. I haven’t said thanks yet.

The corners of his mouth lift into an easy grin. “Don’t you dare give it back to me, if that’s what you’re going to tell me, fucking save it Babygirl.”

“I wasn’t. I just wanted to thank you just in case…”

He places a finger over my lips and shakes his head. “Leave it there. Just in case nothing. You leave it there Babygirl.”

The door creaks open and a tall elderly man with a full head of gray hair stands before us.

He looks from me to Salvatore then back to me.

“Hi,” I begin. “I’m here for a meeting.”

That is what I was told to say. It’s like déjà vu. I have to admit though that going into a church sure beats going into a strip club.

He nods once. “You alone, you know that right?” he states and glances at Salvatore.

“I know.”

“Hey,” Salvatore begins and his face hardens. “She better be safe. We aren’t here to cause trouble. She better be safe.”

The man nods. “We don’t want trouble either. She will be safe.”

I wish I could feel the safety of which he spoke but I’ve had one too many experiences this week where I could have gotten myself killed.

What’s pushing me forward is knowing what I could potentially get out of this meeting.

I glance back at Salvatore before I go inside and the man closes the door.

He moves, walking ahead of me in silence and I follow.

I walk past the rows of benches in the chapel and we continue down the aisle and out through the archway.

We step into an elevator and it takes us down and I feel like I’m going to end up in the center of the earth.

I swear it took almost ten minutes although it moved slowly.

Several times I looked at the man but he never engaged in any conversation with me and barely looked at me. When we eventually get out of the elevator we walk into what looks like a home.

Someone’s house and there’s beautiful piano music playing. I’m not familiar with the tune, but it soothes me.

We walk down another corridor and enter a living room where a man and a woman sit by a grand piano. Beyond them is a floor to ceiling window that gives an excellent view of a school of colorful fish and bass swimming by.

We’re practically in the river and the sight is definitely one to behold. I sense no element of danger here.

My nerves don’t spike until I look back to the couple and see that the left half the man’s face is burnt to a crisp and his arm looks like the robot arm from the Terminator.

The man who brought me down here leaves us, leaving me with the couple.

The lady smiles at me. She has that motherly presence. She gets up and walks over to me.

“Hi,” I say, remembering my manners.

“Hello,” she replies. “Can I get you something to drink before we talk?”

“No… but thank you. I do appreciate it.” I haven’t eaten since yesterday and I feel like I can’t take more than a few sips of water but it’s best to get down to business and put pleasantries aside.

“I am Mary Delongsel and this is my husband Adrian. I will speak for him.”

“Oh…” I reply, unable to hide how weird I think that is.

“He … can’t speak. They cut his tongue out before they burnt him.”

I close my eyes and wince. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s times like these when you’re just grateful for life. I’d rather have him like this than not at all. Same for him.”

I nod, understanding and admiring her words.

“Come and sit. We’ll go to the sitting room.” She waves her hand toward the archway to our left.

I nod and Adrian gets up from his seat.

From his movements I see that his whole body appears robotic. His neck and right arm are skin but the rest of him is all artificial.

What the hell happened to him?

My skin crawls just looking at him and knowing the Fontaines must have done this to him. How is he alive?

We go into the sitting room which looks more like an old fashioned library.

There are bookshelves going around the room and a black leather sofa in the center.

An arm chair is next to it and a coffee table made of oak.

Adrian and Mary sit together and I sit in the armchair.

I try not to look too much at Adrian, not because the sight of him is so gruesome but because I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable, or think I’m staring in any rude way.

Mostly, I can’t believe I’m here and in his presence. About to get answers.

“He will sign and I will translate but I kind of know the story,” Mary states. “If it’s okay I’ll tell you as much as I can of what happened and Adrian will cut in when he feels the need to.”

“Of course. I’m just grateful,” I answer.

Adrian signs something quickly and Mary looks at him. She nods.

“Adrian wants to know how you knew about him. He wants to know how you came by his name,” Mary explains.

I press my lips together and think back to how it all started.

My restaurant. Such a simple thing. Recipes and my restaurant. It led me here. Mother

“I cook. I was going through my mother’s stuff looking for recipes. I saw a picture of her with Mr. Russo.” I stop and reach into my purse. I brought it because it’s the only thing I have that gives me a pass to get the info.

I pull out the envelope and take out the picture. I hand it to Adrian who reaches for it with his robotic arm.

He scans over it and looks back at me. The eye on the good side of his face looks sad. The eye on his left doesn’t move all that much. I notice some scarring on the ball so I’m not quite sure if he can see through that eye although it looks like he can.

He signs to Mary who nods again and sighs.

“This picture was taken the day before she died. Adrian took it. The same day she died, the Fontaines came for him too, and William,” she explains. “They killed William.”

I take a shaky breath. “The same day?” I ask and Mary nods.

“I knew from the picture and what she wrote that what I thought happened didn’t. Or not the way I believed. I found a note and my father and I thought she killed herself.”

Adrian shakes his head and it’s clear from what expression I can make out that he’s adamant Mom would never do that.

He signs again and Mary says, “Your mother wanted to take you away. She planned to leave and had tickets booked for a flight to Europe. That was the plan. She thought you were in danger. She was going to leave straight away.”

“There was no mention of leaving.” I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I’m noticing too how there’s all this mention of me and her but not Dad. Wouldn’t he be in danger too?

It’s the Fontaines, but knowing how Dad was, or rather is, I can imagine him wanting to stay and ride it out. I remember when two of my cousins from Calabria were found out talking to the feds we had threats on us. That was when Mom started acting withdrawn around Dad. That was when the arguments started and it was clear she wanted out.

“She was supposed to leave,” Mary chimes in.

“What is this about Mary? And the files? What are they? I know someone killed her and made it look like a suicide. What was so important that she had to die?” I ask.

“Destruction my girl,” Mary answers. “Your mother had seriously incriminating evidence against Congressman Patterson, that would not only lose him his position but would lock him away in prison for many, many years.”

My mouth drops. “What? My mother had all of that?”

“Yes. At the time Congressman Patterson was the Cook County treasurer but considered one of the wealthiest men in America. A man who had various connections and worked with a number of different people. The files are evidence of rigging votes and links to the international sex trade and drug trafficking. Which is where the Fontaines come in. That’s what they do and how they’ve been able to carry on doing what they do and stay in so much power. It’s because Congressman Patterson is in charge.”

My heart just about stops in my chest as I look at them both. They’re being serious.

I’m trying to take it all in and I wish like hell Salvatore had been allowed to come in with me because the shock is taking me whole.

The pieces of the puzzle are coming together though, they sure as fuck are.

Even I know how much of a mystery it’s been to figure out what links the Fontaines have in the government. This is it. Congressman Patterson.

“Oh God…” I wince.

“She and William were going to expose him for his crimes. They were seeing each other and planned to be together. I… know this is hard for you to hear because of your father but that was the plan. It just didn’t happen that way.”

Adrian signs and Mary stops talking. She looks to him then to me.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“He wants me to tell you that he thinks the Fontaines have some sort of spy because of the way things played out. It wasn’t normal and there were so many loose ends and questions. There was no way your mother would have died if there wasn’t someone like that around. He thinks she happened on the files by accident.”

“I figured she must have gotten them at the office,” I fill in. “The office where she worked with William.”

Adrian shakes his head.

“She didn’t get them from the office. She came to William when she already had possession of them,” Mary informs me.

I narrow my eyes. That doesn’t make any sense at all.

“Did she say where she might have got them?” I ask.

Adrian closes his eyes and once again shakes his head.

He signs to Mary.

“Adrian met with William and your mother. His job existed solely to keep secrets safe. That’s what he did. No one is supposed to know his name because he never went by his real name in public circles. So anyone who knew it wasn’t going to be anyone good. Except you.” She stops and draws in a breath. “It was me who heard that you were looking for Adrian. I mentioned you to him and we knew you couldn’t have wanted trouble but you must have stumbled over some truth.”

“Yes. That’s what happened. I don’t understand any of this. It’s all so bizarre. I don’t get where my mother would have found the files.”

“He was never told that. She handed the files over to him. He was supposed to wait for William to contact him.”

William wouldn’t have contacted him because he didn’t know that Adrian had the files. He never got mom’s message.

She pauses for a few seconds and brings her hands together. “Adrian found out William was killed so he hid the files. He was on his way to Washington when his car was run off the road. The Fontaines came for him. They knew his name. The picture was clearly something she wanted to give William herself and never got the chance to.”

“All my mom’s stuff got taken to my grandmother’s house. Everything. My Dad couldn’t bear to have her things around. The grief took him down for years.”

She nods understanding. “The Fontaines thought Adrian had the files on him so they tried to kill him and get them back. They burned him and I managed to get to him with a rescue team before they could do worse. I’m ex-navy so I had my contacts. We’ve been in hiding ever since. Hiding here.”

God… this is surreal. “I’m so sorry this happened. It feels …” I don’t know what the word is to describe what it feels like other than bizarre. “The Fontaines think I have the files.”

She smiles and Adrian looks at her.

“Well, you do, or you will,” she answers and he pulls a key from his pocket.

He signs to Mary.

“Your mother told him you were the only person who would know what this opened. Not that she wanted to involve you. I think it was more a matter of speech,” Mary says and hands me the key.

When I take it and I look over the sleek black metal and the Celtic swirl on the top for my family crest, memories flood my mind.

I sigh and nod. “I do know.”

The key is for the dream house at my grandfather’s manor. The place she used to take me where we’d talk about all our dreams. That’s where the files are.

“Well they’re yours now.”

Adrian signs to Mary and she taps his hand and gives him a smile. “The files are in the floorboard hatch,” she states. I know exactly where to look.

“Is there a password? I was told there was a password and they’re in a case.”

He shakes his head and signs to Mary. She looks back to me with a lighter expression on her face.

“There’s no password. It was just something Adrian told the Fontaines to confuse them. The case with the files should open with no problem.”

“Thank you so much,” I tell them.

“Please be careful with them. Be careful with your life. You’re basically going after senior government officials and the mobsters who do their dirty work.”

I nod. “I’ll be careful.”

“There’s a lot of what happened that doesn’t make sense. The Fontaines are sneaky and dangerous. They were one step ahead in the past and if they’re after you now they’ll be watching and waiting for the right moment to get what they want,” Mary continues her warning.

“I’ll be careful,” I assure her again. “Thanks so much for your help. I’ll make sure everything is done the way it was supposed to be, for everyone.”

I plan to do exactly what Mom intended for those files. I plan to finish what she started.

Expose and destroy.

Stop the Fontaines in their tracks once and for all.

Stop their vendetta against the Giordanos.