“He’s a dangerous man.” Papi made another cross motion.
“Nikolai knows what he needs to know. The point is, if Xavier was given a copy of the Alfero crest, the ring, my ring, to make decisions. If he is still using it…”
I held up my hand. “Yeah, got it, if he’s still using any of your power as you, we could be shit out of luck. Great. Just. Great. And you were going to tell me this when?”
“I had my suspicions, but…” He spread his hands and shrugged.
“If he means to kill Dante and Val, that means he’s coming for you, too.” I glared at Frank. “And me.”
He said nothing.
“Just another day in the life.” I shook my head. “Well, first things first, we keep the twins safe, and then we deal with the threat like always.” I reached for my phone.
“What are you doing?” Sal asked.
“What Frank should have done the minute he found out.” I eyed Frank with a bit of irritation. “Calling the Cappo.”
“Sweet Mother.” Papi started muttering prayers, “Campisi?”
“Tex?” I barked into the phone. “I need the five together. Now.”
“United. In one place?”
“New York. I need you all here. Now. We need to scare the shit out of some people.”
He chuckled darkly. “Serg, you just made my day twice. How can I ever repay you?”
“Just don’t get in a plane crash.”
“Hah.”
“And don’t shoot me.”
He said nothing.
“Tex.”
“Fine.” He let out a heavy sigh. “We’ll arrange for a red-eye just in time for Mass.”
“Bless us Father…” I whispered under my breath. “All of us at mass has to be a sin.”
Papi was still praying, Sal had joined in, and Frank looked more amused than pissed that I’d gone over his head.
…And think no more of this night’s accidents, but as a fierce vexation of a dream. –A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Valentina
I OPENED IT.
There wasn’t a bomb.
But there was a card. It was typed out, making it impossible to decipher if the handwriting would have been more feminine or masculine.
The instructions were simple. Weird, but simple.
It was almost like I had a fairy godmother — you know if that sort of thing existed. Then again a few days ago I wasn’t even aware the mafia was alive and well.
I re-read the instructions again.
Read the next letter, before opening the rest of the box.
The only letters I had were the ones from the safety deposit box, so whoever had arranged all this had gone to a heck of a lot of work.
With a sigh, I pulled the letters out from underneath my mattress and grabbed the one for that next day.
Princes, like beasts, are meant to be in the wild. Allow them to unleash their fury, for their fury is what keeps the princess safe along with the rest of the land. But there is always time for tenderness. For the prince’s fierceness must be matched by his tenderness and his love for the woman he desires. But, how can one tempt a cold-hearted prince? One so broken. One so confused he isn’t even sure he wants to be fixed? Easy. She puts on a dress. And twirls.
Your wedding dress.
Something old.
Something new.
Something borrowed — he’s more than on loan.
Something blue.
Blessings on your special day, Val.
Who was this person? It had to be someone I knew. Nothing else made sense. I was too curious not to open the rest of the box. I tore through the tissue paper and gasped.
The simple white dress was absolutely gorgeous. The tags were still on it. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the name brand and dollar signs behind it. Who paid over six thousand dollars for a dress that would only be worn once? And who would buy one for me?
Something about holding the white satin in my hands felt wrong.
Like it was someone else’s dress entirely.
And I was a sad imposter for who should have been wearing it.
I peeled back another layer of tissue paper.
The shoes looked worn, but only slightly; they were a silvery white, with a spiked heel. Grass stains and dirt were noticeable on the heel, but only barely. Frowning, I picked up a sliver of grass and examined it.
The shoes still had grass on them? Like they’d been in a field or something. A piece of blue satin material was stitched across the toe.
Maybe that was my something old and blue?
The last object was even stranger.
A baseball bat.
Seriously?
A note was taped to it. “Trust me, you’ll need this.”
I was even more confused than when I started.
My head hurt from the long day I’d had.
And my clock seemed to be screaming out every second that ticked by as if to remind me that I only had two days until Sergio and I said I do.
Shivering, I tucked all the gifts back into the box and crawled into bed. Maybe one day the clues would make sense, but tonight? They just made me wish that I really did have a fairy godmother who would take me away and tell me everything was going to be okay.