Page 108

“You should say yes,” Maz said to our sister. “Vito needs one of us to help him and it should be you. You’re the smartest.”
“Allora, this is true.” She snatched the cigarette out of Maz’s hand and took a long drag off it. When she gave the cigarette back, she asked, “Why now? Why me?”
“Because I need someone I can trust. Someone who gives good advice. I—” I walked over to the island and took the cigarette out of my brother’s fingers. I continued to smoke, not caring whether anyone liked it or not. “I’ve been distracted and I need someone to help me keep my head on straight.”
Her lips pressed together like she was trying not to laugh. “I see. But won’t that distraction clear up when you leave it here and return to Toronto?”
We all knew she was talking about Maggie, but I let it go. “I’m expanding there into a number of different projects. It’s alot to manage and I need someone at my side that I can trust implicitly. Tommaso would be my next logical choice . . . ” I shrugged. “But he isn’t a sibling.”
“So I’m the last sibling standing, is that it?”
“Don’t be that way, Lo,” Maz said, using her nickname. “It should be you. And if you were a man, this wouldn’t even be a question. You’d already be doing it.”
She rubbed her hands together like an evil mastermind. “I do like the idea of stepping on all the misogynistic toes. I assume a lot of your people will be pissed, V.”
“I don’t give a fuck. You’re family.Myfamily.”
“I don’t give a fuck either,” she echoed. “I’ve been dealing with men telling me I’m not as good as them my entire life.”
“And women in the ’Ndrangheta aren’t so rare anymore,” Maz pointed out. “They’re taking over when the husbands go to prison.”
Paloma stared down at her cup, turning it back and forth on the marble with her hand. “I need to think about it. I’ve worked hard to build a life for myself that has nothing to do with our family. It’s different from Maz because I was never truly in the ’ndrina, but it’s nice to have my own bank account, earn my own money. I can sleep with whoever I want and stay out all night.” She played with her bracelets, a nervous habit of hers. “Papà kept such a tight leash on me . . . I can’t go back to that.”
I held up my palms. “I would never ask it or expect it of you. I will give you a salary, if you wish, into an account of your own that I cannot access. You’ll need to live at the compound with me, though. I can’t promise you can have men visit there, but I own a penthouse in the city you can use.”
“My brother’s apartment?” She wrinkled her nose. “No, thanks. I’ll buy my own place. I know how often you wash your sheets.”
“That’sMazwho never washes his sheets,” I said, gesturing to our brother. “Not me.”
Maz rose and stretched his arms over his head. “Dai, fratello. Don’t pick on me. I’m on your side.” He kissed the top of Paloma’s head. “I’m going home to sleep. If you want to smoke some and relax, Lo, come join me. Otherwise, go apologize to Maggie and I’ll see you around dinner time.”
“Ciao,” she said. “Get some sleep.”
“A presto!” Maz called and then went out the door, leaving me alone with my sister.
Paloma sipped her cappuccino, then said, “Maggie seemed disconcerted by my presence. Does she think this is just sex? Or are there feelings involved?”
“She insists it’s just sex.”
“Do you believe her? Because that girl—” she pointed at the door where Maggie had disappeared “—didn’t act like this is just sex.”
“She didn’t?”
Paloma pressed her palms together and shook them to the ceiling. “Madonna, save me from idiotic men. Have you seen the way she bandaged that meaningless scratch on your side? She took such care and precision with it, like you are precious to her. Like youmeansomething to her.”
I put a hand on the bandage over my injury. Was this true? “She has repeatedly said that I don’t.”
“Vito. Have you told her how you feel, confessed that you’re in love with her?”
“I’m not?—”
“Please.” She put out her hand to stop me. “I’ve known you my whole life. I’ve seen you with women and I can tell that you feel differently about this one. So can Maz. And you braved a fucking blizzard to get back here last night because of her. Now,if you want me as your consigliere, you have to listen to what I say and believe meandaccept my advice. Not argue with me.”
“So this is some kind of a test.”
“Maybe.”
I braced my hands on the marble and leaned over, elbows straight. “She lives here. I’m in Toronto. Nothing about that will change, even if I wanted it to.”