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“What do you mean?”
“Dante didn’t send me.”
Wait, What? I’m confused.
“Then who did?”
“Someone who really wants to see the De Lucas pay for their sins.”
I pray for the earth to open up and swallow my whole, but no such luck. This is exactly what I feared would happen. I have no hand in this war. Why am I being punished? This is crazy.
“Look. I don’t know who sent you or what his beef is with the De Luca family, but I have nothing to do with them, so I’m going to go and you’re going to leave me alone. Okay?”
“No.”
Okay, that was spoken with far too much conviction for my liking. What do I do now? I turn to walk away, but the next few words out of the man’s mouth stop me dead.
“Angelo is such a sweet boy. What is he now? Six?”
No! Please, no! Not my boy.
“Stay away from my son!”
“You mean Dante’s son.”
How the fuck does he know this?
“Good news travels fast,” he grins.
“What do you want?”
“The De Lucas are big on family. We want you to invite Dante here. We’ll take it from there.”
I stare at him in disbelief. I cannot betray Dante like that. I won’t!
“I can tell you need some time to think about this. I’ll give you the weekend to think it over. I’ll contact you again on Monday.”
And, with that, he unceremoniously turns and walks away, leaving me standing with my bottom jaw scraping the curb. I sit down because I’m sure my legs aren't going to hold me up much longer.
I jump when I feel someone touching my shoulder.
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, Ms. Are you alright? Did that man upset you?”
A young woman is standing over me. She must be in her early twenties. She looks concerned.
“Oh, that’s alright. I’m fine. Thank you for checking.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
She smiles and walks on. I’m so not fine.
I pull out my cell phone and call the office.
“Hi, Julie. It’s me. I’m so sorry, but I have to take the afternoon off. I feel terrible. Must be something I just ate. I’m so sorry. Will you cope without me?”
“Oh, honey, ya sound awful. That’s fine. Feel better. See ya Monday.”