Page 40 of A Touch of Fate

The following day, I helped with another meeting at the community center. The dance studio couldn’t offer me a tryout session so quickly after I’d canceled my last, so I had to wait two more days.

During the meeting, I found out Samuel had indeed spoken with Fiorentino’s father and made it clear they wanted his son to prove his worth.

Fiorentino beamed as he told me. “Tomorrow, Samuel and his father will oversee the first training of new initiates.”

“What happens there?” I asked curiously.

Fiorentino seemed unsure of what to share, and maybe he didn’t know everything, considering he wasn’t yet inducted.

“There is fight training, knife fights, shootings, some questioning.”

I frowned. “Questioning?”

“Some light torture. Nothing an initiate that’s been brought up in our world can’t withstand.”

Fiorentino nodded. Was he prepared, considering his father had never meant for him to become a Made Man?

Geno sank down beside me on a chair, propping his elbows up on his legs. “His father had to harden him. Even if he didn’t become a Made Man, he needs to be able to keep the secrets he witnesses to protect his family.”

“Will you be doing the questioning?”

He nodded. “But not alone. Pietro and Samuel will definitely be involved.”

I swallowed, thinking of my husband and father-in-law torturing teenage boys.

“It’s hard to imagine,” I admitted.

Geno let out a dry laugh, his eyes holding mine with mirth in them. “Not for me. I only know the business side of your husband, so I can tell you he is very capable with a knife.”

How did that go hand in hand with Samuel’s guilt over his friend Domenico’s brutal death? It didn’t make sense, but many rules in the mafia didn’t.

Samuel strode in. Geno looked toward him, and his smile fell. He cleared his throat with a tense smile. “I should really go.”

“Oh sure,” I said, but he was already walking away.

Samuel stopped by my side, then bent down and kissed me firmly, his hand cupping my head possessively. I frowned at him. “Why did Geno run off so quickly when he saw you?”

Samuel’s expression hardened. “Because the look I sent him told him I didn’t like him getting cozy with you.”

“Samuel,” I whispered in embarrassment. “Why would you scare away the man who helps the same cause I want to help? This is important to me. What if he decides it’s better not to have me involved because I mean trouble?”

“He can’t decide that. And because,” Samuel drawled, his eyes boring into mine, “he was checking out my wife.”

A laugh bubbled out of me. “You’re serious?”

“I’m dead serious.”

I covered my eyes and giggled. Then I peered up at Samuel. He didn’t crack a smile. He still looked mad. Most men gave us a wide berth, which made me feel bad for the intrusion. “He wasn’t flirting with me. Why would he? He knows I’m yours.”

Samuel crouched down, holding the handle, bringing our faces close together. “Because you’re gorgeous and kind. You’re the woman right out of his wet dreams, I bet. And sometimes men forget themselves if they are surrounded by someone like that.”

I rolled my eyes.

Samuel’s expression hardened even more. “You should trust my judgment and experience on this. I’ve been around enough guys in heat.”

“Well, first of all, I have zero interest in other men. Second, he knows I’m married to his boss. He won’t do anything even if he’s attracted to me because he knows you’d punish him harshly.”

I was still convinced Samuel was simply over-the-top jealous and distrusting, which could be explained by his sister’s betrayal and his nature in general.

Samuel chuckled darkly. “Indeed.” Priest Agnello headed our way so my husband finally straightened and lost the possessive expression. “Samuel, it’s so good to see you. I miss seeing you and your father in church.”

Samuel gave him a tight smile. “I have spent too much time in church burying good soldiers and friends. My mother prays for my father and me. That’s the extent of my spirituality, I fear.”

Priest Agnellus sighed, but I could tell he knew better than to push. He looked down at me. “What about you?”

“I attended church in Indianapolis.” My mother insisted we do. “I’ll join you this Sunday.”

Samuel shook his head, and I was about to grow angry again. He couldn’t possibly have anything against me being in church? “I’m afraid you, Renato, and I will be flying to Indianapolis over the weekend to finalize a bond between him and your friend Giorgia.”

My eyes grew wide with surprise and happiness. I missed Indianapolis, not so much my mother, to my embarrassment, but definitely Giorgia and Danilo.

“Renato has found a wife?” Priest Agnello inquired, astonished. I really hoped Giorgia knew what she was getting into.

“It’s not final yet, but once I’ve talked to the mother and brother of the future bride, it will be,” Samuel said with a hard smile.

But Indianapolis wasn’t his territory, and Danilo would make that very clear.

I kept my thoughts to myself. Samuel talked to most of the men who were still around after that before we set out home.

I waited until we were in Samuel’s car before I voiced my thoughts. “Giorgia falls under Danilo’s jurisdiction, so her mother and brother will listen to him, not you.”

Samuel’s mouth tightened. “That is true. But Danilo should have an interest in sending your best friend to Minneapolis.”

He had a point. Danilo wouldn’t care if Renato was good husband material for Giorgia.

“When are we leaving?”

“Friday afternoon.”

I was relieved. That meant I could go to dance classes on Thursday.

“Geno told me that tomorrow you’re testing the initiates before they’re allowed to take the vow.”

Samuel’s brows snatched together, but his vigilant eyes stayed on the street. “He should be careful what he says.”

“I’m your wife, so I’m allowed to know these things, right?”

Samuel parked the car in our garage, then turned to me. “If I keep information from you, it’s not because I think you’re not trustworthy. It’s because I know you wouldn’t be able to protect a secret under duress.”

I pursed my lips. “I know pain.”

Samuel looked at the scar peeking out on my neck.

It was one of many, though most of them had faded to fine white lines.

Mom had insisted I have the best laser therapy to reduce them.

Samuel reached out for it and lightly traced it.

“That’s true. You have more experience with pain than most girls in our world.

But submitting to torture is different. There’s a psychological aspect to it that’s almost as bad as the pain itself, the knowledge of being completely and utterly at someone’s mercy. ”

I shuddered. Samuel nodded and left the car, then opened my door and lifted me out of the seat.

When we were at dinner that night, I finally broached the subject of tomorrow again. “Can I watch the initiation process tomorrow?”

I was really curious. I couldn’t deny it.

Samuel gave a tight smile. “This is part of Outfit business, only Made Men and future initiates are allowed to be part of it.”

“I understand.”

Samuel put down his wineglass. Something on his face shifted to a heated look that tightened my belly with desire. “Since seeing Geno smile at you inappropriately, I have been thinking about nothing but staking my claim on you again.”

I blinked, then quickly glanced around to make sure our cook wasn’t around to clear up the dishes. I would have died of mortification.

Samuel chuckled and shoved to his feet, then came around the table toward me. I dabbed my mouth with a napkin, then leaned back in the chair with a teasing smile. “And how are you going to do that?”

Samuel picked me up and kissed me fiercely.

Emma was still asleep when I got up. For a moment, I looked down at her sleeping form. Her brown curls were all over the place, and her hand rested on my pillow, our wedding ring prominent on her slender finger.

Being married to Emma was easier than I thought. She definitely had a stubborn streak, but she wasn’t someone who played games or who tried to rile me up on purpose. She had her own interests and didn’t just wait all day for me to come home.

I turned and got dressed in my usual gray suit and white dress shirt. I’d change into gym clothes at the training center.

I picked up Father at home. He too was dressed in a suit but a dark one.

“Are you going to get your hands dirty today, or are you too old for that?” I taunted him.

He sent me a dark look. Dad was fifty-seven, but he didn’t look it.

He worked out with me five times a week, and had lost the hint of a belly I’d teased him with for months.

“Considering you are going to become Underboss soon and will be the one these new soldiers will answer to, you should be the one to question and test them. But I certainly won’t stand back and watch. ”

“Do you really think you can retire soon?”

Dad looked at me with searching eyes. “If you don’t think you’re ready yet—”

“I am,” I said firmly. My demons would still haunt me in five, ten, or twenty years. “Or does Dante disagree?”

“You have been very efficient and proven your worth over the past few years. He won’t hold on to an incident from the past.”

“It wasn’t an incident. It was a betrayal of the Outfit that cost three of Dante’s soldiers their lives.”

Dad nodded. “Dante has his own skeletons in the closet.”

Dad had said it before but never explained it. Feeling my curious gaze on him, he leaned back with a deep sigh. “I might not always be there. As long as Dante is your Capo, you should have something in your hand.”

I parked in front of the square building that held our training center, then waited for Dad to continue. I was surprised by his words. Dante and Dad liked each other, and we had a good family bond, but of course, in our world, that didn’t mean you didn’t have to take certain precautions.

“Rocco Scuderi Senior, the traitorous bastard, had a brother. Jacopo.”

I had never heard of him. He had died long before I was initiated, I assumed.