Mafia's Redemption: Terzo - Chapter 62: Chapter 62

TERZO
My wife truly hated me. She couldn’t look at me without the disgust on her face. But at least I knew she was safe. She would thank me later. Knowing she was a victim of all this nonsense made me want to protect her even more.
Three SUVs and one sedan pulled out of the gate. Three more followed as a diversion as we headed towards the meeting place, a hotel with an underground casino and a private lounge.
Dani stayed silent beside me as she turned her good wife mode on. She looked beautiful in a suit dress despite constantly scowling. She did not join us for breakfast earlier, so I told Marco to bring her food upstairs.
We arrived ahead of time. Earlier, our security checked the entrance and the private lounge that served as the conference room. While patrons played in the casino, they were unaware of what was happening behind the wall.
My father took a seat on a royal chair. I sat next to him on a long L-shaped lounge chair. Next to me was Dani. On top of a small table to my right was my gun. A minute late, one of my caporegimes, Danilo, arrived. Agnese and Enrico followed. Celestina and Magnus came together.
Nicolette Danatti, who was supposed to be my arranged wife, immediately looked at Dani, who was unaware of our family’s relationship. She would be a good wife, a perfect choice to sit next to the don, but she wasn’t it for me. She was too sophisticated for my taste.
Gavin Kass, from Los Angeles, and Vincent Nardoni, who oversees the business in New Orleans. Though some of our allies couldn’t make it due to security reasons, they sent their support and maintained their alliances with the new don.
“Now that we are all here, let’s start the meeting,” my father began.
I looked at everyone. Even if their votes mattered, my father wouldn’t allow anyone to replace him, if not his only son.
“This meeting is expected to happen. Businesses are thriving. We haven’t encountered financial issues so far. Threats will always be there. Lately, my son just eloped with his wife and got married. Francesco Giordani made a threat. I haven’t made a move because he was my son’s father-in-law.”
There were surprises in some eyes, especially Nicolette's. The rest who attended the dinner knew about my marriage, but not the relationship between Dani and Francesco.
“My son just found out, Francesco is not Francesco. I’m working on a solution to end the threat to my family. If proven, Francesco is not my daughter-in-law’s father, he will be eliminated.”
Nicolette watched Dani’s reaction.
“I know that pig can’t be trusted. He once approached me about an alliance, but I declined because I didn’t know him. That was the best decision I’ve made,” Gavin Cass said, who was our loyal ally.
Dani turned her head to Gavin. Gavin was younger than me, tall and good-looking, and charming. He ran the business when his father was murdered.
“And I’m here to remain as the loyal ally of the Siciliano family,” Gavin said. Did Francesco approach him to marry Dani? “We have no problem, Don Gaetano.”
“So does the Danatti family,” Nicolette said, smiling meaningfully. “Even though I wasn’t invited to the wedding. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” I muttered silently as I stole a glance at my wife, who seemed oblivious.
“I’m turning over my position to my son. Any one of you here objects, remain seated.” My father was the first to stand up.
“Should I?” That was the first time Dani had spoken since we left the house. She stood up anyway to show her support.
The rest followed suit, even Magnus. Except Enrico Rosetti.
My jaw tightened. Never in my dreams did I think of him betraying me. I didn’t peg him as deceitful, but I guess we didn’t see someone until they showed us their true colors.
Enrico sent reports on time. He attended family gatherings. His sister Agnese spoke highly of him. Mostly, he was loyal to my father for more than a decade. Why did he attend this meeting if he would not vote for me? It was like tying himself to the cross surrounded by firewood, ready to light up.
I instantly saw Agnese’s body go rigid with tension, but didn’t say a word.
“What is your reason for this objection, Enrico?” my father asked.
“I’ll vote for him, but I was hoping to resign as the caporegime and work behind the desk as a bookkeeper.” He then stood up. “Will you approve it, Don Gaetano?”
Son of a bitch. I sighed inwardly. I didn’t want to kill him. I was still trying to find the person responsible for releasing my photo and Dani to Francesco. Alessio had already interrogated the photographer, and I believed that when he said it was either stolen or someone had accessed his computer remotely, because I knew everyone who attended the dinner, and I didn’t see strangers caught by the CCTVs.
“Since the votes are unanimous, I congratulate my son.” My father offered his hand and his ring. The ring that had been passed on to the Don.
“Thank you, Papa. I won’t let you down.” I shook his hand and hugged him before I slipped the ring onto my finger. Then everyone came over to express their support.
“I never thought this day would come.” Nicolette kissed me on the cheek. “A married man and now the Don of the Siciliano family. Congratulations, Terzo. I mean Don Terzo. Why don’t you introduce me to your wife?”
“Thank you.” Dani was already standing beside me. I placed a hand on her lower back as I introduced her. She instantly steeled. “Danielle, this is Nicolette of the Danatti family.”
“Dona Danielle.” They did an awkward kiss on the cheeks. “Please take care of him. He can be uptight, but trust me, you’d enjoy life even more with him if you can keep him happy.”
“Is that based on your experience?”
“You bet.” Nicolette smiled at me. “Give him a child. He likes kids.”
Dani tensed as she forced a smile.
Champagne arrived. The celebration started. Dani and Celestina, including Magnus started their conversation at the end corner.
“What do you know about your wife?” Nicolette came beside me. At the corner of my eye, I saw Dani stealing glances at us.
“What do you mean?”
“What your father said earlier made me think if Giordani, or whoever his real name is, fathered Danielle.”
“He’s not Dani’s father,” Papa joined us. “We got a hair sample of Francesco. I already asked Alessio to bring it to the lab that we trust. It’s only a matter of time before we can expose him.”
“If what I think is true. Then he can’t father a twenty-four-year-old woman while he was still with his wife. He changed his name. Dani was already born unless he had an affair with an American woman that caused their fight and accidentally killed his wife.”
My father looked at me. “That’s a good theory.”
Nicolette studied Dani for a few moments before she spoke, “She’s too pretty and compassionate to live in our world.”
My brows arched. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it possible for someone to develop amnesia after witnessing a horrible crime?”
“Yes, Nicolette agreed. “I read it somewhere, and you watched movies. Traumatic events can cause amnesia. It’s called sissociative amnesia.”
“How to reverse it?”
“No.” My father raised his hand. “What are you trying to do, Terzo?”
“I think my wife has had some traumatic events in her life. She fainted twice, and it happened when she was under intense stress and terrified. I’ll ask her what she remembers about her childhood.”
“No. I know what you’re doing. You want her to be somebody else she’s not,” my father disagreed.
“A simple DNA test will do. I can have her sample, and all I do is dig the dead.”
“You’re insane,” Nicolette said, eyeing me suspiciously. “You’re not an expert. If you want to know her past, dig her past. I’m sure you can hire someone capable. If you want her to remember something she forgot, why don’t you send her to a shrink? I think they have a method to recover a memory loss.”
Before I could answer, a call from Marco interrupted us. “Yeah?”
“You need to get out of there. Now.”