Mafia's Redemption: Terzo - Chapter 27: Chapter 27

TERZO
“What the fuck do you mean?” I was yelling at Memphis over the phone when the door swung open. I didn’t even bother looking at whoever walked in. “Explain!”
“She almost got mugged, but I was following her. She’s fine, just a bit shaken up,” he said, but I was not buying it.
“Where is she?” I asked through gritted teeth. A surge of anger and fear cut through me.
“She’s with me, but she doesn’t wanna talk to you. I’m taking her to my hotel room. She’d be safe there.”
I inhaled deeply. “Where is the mugger?”
“Two of them. They’d probably wake up in the morning. Got their wallets.”
I groaned. “I need their names.”
“You’ll have them once we get to the hotel.”
“Good.” I hung up the call and turned to face whoever entered. What the fuck? How did she get here so fast? “Celestina, what are you doing here?”
“Really? Ciao, fratello.” Her eyes flashed with anger. “When are you gonna tell me you’re here?”
I blew a breath. “I’m sure you’d find out soon enough. What are you doing here?”
“What the hell is going on? I thought you were doing a job our father told you to.”
“This is the job,” I spelled it out, checking my phone for messages. Nothing.
“Boss, I know who attacked signora?” Gio just entered without realizing Celestina was in the room.
“Signora?” Celestina echoed, surprised.
Gio’s eyes widened, quickly walked out. Before he could shut the door, Celestina called him. “Get back!”
“Get out!” I warned Gio.
He bolted out until the door shut by itself.
“What the hell is going on?” Celestina asked again, glaring at me. “Who’s he talking about?”
“I found Dani Souls. She was under Ilya Vasilyev’s care, but she left for Türkiye the same day I arrived. I found her but escaped to the US. Now she’s with me.”
“And?” She arched her brow. “Why doesn’t Papa know about this yet? And it’s only a matter of time. I found out you’re here because our men saw you earlier.”
“He did.” I lied to Dani that my father knew I was married to her. I left to mention that part to my father, too.
“So why are you here and not at home?”
“It’s complicated.”
“It’s not, Terzo. The job is clear and simple. Bring Dani Souls to her father so that we can prevent any more war. Or you bumped your head and forgot the reason why you left Sicily in the first place.”
“I said—”
“It’s complicated. Yeah, I heard you the first time. Tell me or I’m leaving now, and I’m going to tell Papa you couldn’t do your job and that I’m going to marry that old hog.”
“You’re not marrying that son of a bitch!” My voice echoed in the room. My anger just banked up, and I needed something to punch.
“Then do your job!”
“I’m doing it right now if you didn’t interrupt me.”
“Then where the hell is the daughter of that son of a bitch?”
My nose flared. She didn’t know she was talking about my wife. I thought I might explode if I had to answer more questions. “She found out I killed her brother.”
“Holy shit.” Her voice softened, but she was still angry. “How could you be so reckless? How did she find out?”
“I don’t have time to answer any more questions, Celestina.” I took a deep breath to calm myself, but it didn’t work.
Celestina studied me for a moment before she shook her head in disappointment. “She got you, didn’t she? You fell for that little brunette pet.”
“No.” I walked towards the door.
“Then explain to me what’s going on.” She went ahead to block the door. “You’re not getting out of here until I know everything.”
“Celestina, get out of my way.” I glared. She knew if I was pissed off and she knew when to back away if I was beyond pissed off.
“Holy shit, Terzo.” She gaped at me. “You followed my advice and you fell for her.”
“No.” I denied. “She shot me.”
“She what?” She gaped. “She fucking shot you? Then how is she still alive?” She patted my body, alarmed and hurt.
“I’m fine.”
She stared at me in disbelief. “And you did nothing?”
“I don’t hurt women.”
“You can always make an exception.” She rolled her eyes. “Besides, she’s Francesco’s daughter.”
“You’re wasting my time.” The more I glared at her, the more she calmed down.
Then she just burst out laughing. I’d never heard or seen her laugh in a while, and I missed this. If I only knew I could make her laugh like this, I should have paid someone to shoot me.
Tears formed in her eyes as she laughed hard, and her face was red. “She shot you? Well, that’s first,” she said amusingly. “She didn’t know who you were, did she?”
“Geez, sis. Thanks.” I rolled my eyes.
“Where?”
I rolled my eyes again and showed her the bandage. It still hurt, but it was healing.
“Dio Mio.” Her shock was immediate. She looked at me in horror. “You could have died, T.”
“I said I’m fine.”
Unexpectedly, she hugged me tightly. “I can’t lose you. Can you be a little careful next time?”
I hugged her back. “I’m fine, sis. Thanks.”
The door swung again.
“What is it?” I asked irritably.
“Siciliano, your wife just arrived.” Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I’m going to strangle Lynx.
“His what?” Shock crept into her face. Celestina went to face Lynx. Great. When Lynx didn’t respond, she repeated her question, “His what? His married? To whom? Don’t tell me he fucking married the bitch that shot her?”
“Cee?” My eyes narrowed at her. “Stop cursing, and don’t call her bitch.”
“Unfuckingbelievable.” She just did what I told her not to. That was my sister. “Then I’ll just kill her myself.”
“My apology,” Lynx muttered.
“Who the fuck are you?” Celestina glared at him from head to toe. “Where is the daughter of that son of a bitch?”
I shook my head in irritation and pointed my finger at her. “Go home and don’t do something stupid, Celestina.” I opened the door.
“I will tell Papa. He’d be so impressed with your recklessness and stupidity. You just made another enemy, fratello. Puttana. I hope you get to live another day before she stabs you in your sleep.”
“Didn’t Papa tell me to marry her?”
“Not this way. Not after she shot you!”
I breathed deeply and left the room. I entered the elevator two floors down to Memphis’s room. Gio and Marco were guarding the door. One knock, the door opened.
Memphis nodded, gave me the IDs of her attacker, and left me to handle my wife. As I locked the door behind me, Dani was curled in bed and instantly stiffened. She felt my presence.
“Are you okay?”
“I said I don’t wanna see you again,” she said in disgust without looking at me.
“I know. You said that pretty clearly.” I sat at the edge of the bed, facing the window. “I heard everything you said.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
I checked the names on the IDs. Motherfuckers. They were Francesco’s men. “You almost got taken if Memphis wasn’t there. Dante and Enio are your father’s men. I’m sure they’d been following you and waited till they got you alone. What’s in the book, Dani?”
She turned to me, eyes filled with fury. “I don’t know anything about the book. I’d never seen the book he mentioned. He can torture me, pull my teeth out, waterboard me, I can’t give him the answer he’s looking for.”
“For a woman who hasn’t held a gun before, you have a precise shot as if you were trained by a shooter and know a lot about waterboarding.”
She sat abruptly. Her face was flushed, probably from the alcohol effect and anger as well. “Fine. After I met my father, my brother brought me to shooting practice. He taught me about my father’s business, but I didn’t believe it until he died and I saw his people by myself. But I never heard about you. He just mentioned Siciliano a lot while talking to his men. Happy?”
“I’m not, Dani. I didn’t mean to keep things from you—”
“But you did, and I don’t care. I can’t be with a murderer, the same murderer who killed my brother.”
“I know. I’m here because I want you to stay with my family while I’m fixing my problem with your father. If I can’t push him out of my city, then—”
“You’re gonna kill my father, too?”
“If he won’t accept our marriage, yes.”
“You’re a monster.”
“I know what I am, Dani, but you’re also my wife. And need I remind you that you shot a mafia don’s son. Your life belongs to me now.”