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19

ADRIANO

R ustic Italian buildings line the drive out to the quaint, cozy apartments at the end of the lane. From the vantage of the low hillside, we can make out the waters of Lago di Garda, glistening in the afternoon sun. I always loved driving through Lazise on our way to the lodge as a kid.

We’d stop near the shore to dip our feet in the water.

No time for that now.

Or much time to spend with our nonna.

The twins haven’t seen her since they were little. Aless and I have been by a few times over the years to check on her. Not that she’d notice most of the time.

A little detail I failed to mention to Dom.

Still, knowing that it will likely be the last time I will get to see my grandmother makes the trip worthwhile, and necessary.

“You want to come in?”

Ero’s mouth twitches up on one side.

“He doesn’t like old people.” Ciro rolls his eyes.

“Fair chance she won’t know who you two are, anyway. I only need an hour, maybe two.”

So they take a lap, heading into town to grab a bite.

Probably for the best, considering all three of us are still wound up from the ordeal in Orvieto. Adrenaline might have faded, but the energy, the thrill…

And more than that, the three of us, going into battle together. It felt like old times. Minus Alessandro leading the charge, bashing his way through the door.

Who am I kidding?

I’m glad he’s out.

I watched him shoulder the weight of an entire family for years. He wore it well. But I always just wanted my older brother to be happy.

The nurse lets me in, leaving me to wander into the small living room. It’s just like I remember it from the last time.

“Nonna, are you napping?” I smile, catching her peeking out of one eye. She’s laid back, covered in a blanket, sitting in her chair. The TV is on mute, playing reruns of some old show.

Her grin as I sit next to her on the sofa, patting her withered hand tells me she’s having a good day.

“Adri—no, no,” she says, like she’s telling a secret, winking at me.

“ è bello vederti, Nonna.”

“Mi hai portato i biscotti?”

A laugh huffs from my chest, making me grin, the first real smile I feel like I’ve had in so long. “Of course I brought you cookies.”

Laying out the box on the coffee table I give her a sidelong look, reaching for the box, but she waves for me to wait. “No, no. Later. You come for tea, no?”

“You’re as clever as ever, Nonnina .”

“And you are still baby face. But you pout too much. Why you sad, il mio piccolino ?”

Her little boy. She only ever called me that.

Aless was her orso , her bear.

“I’m not sad. Just tired. But I am getting married, Nonna . I wanted to tell you. To get your blessing.”

“Hm. She not good enough.”

“She’s beautiful. Smart.”

“Bah! One day she look like me. Smart? Smart no keep you warm. What matters: She make you food? Make you smile?”

I feel something tug at my heart in my chest at the question.

Does she?

The food, sure. Gloria is a great cook, from what she’s made at the apartment so far.

Does Gloria make me smile…

“ Si, Nonna .”

“Only thing matters. I love you, boy. Ti benedica. ” She reaches towards me, cupping my face, patting it gently.

I savor the feeling, the nostalgia and an old, faded sense of home, tradition. Along with a sense of finality.

The moment passes and I see Natalia blink, her gaze growing a bit distant.

“Tell your brother to come see me. Bring me great-grand babies to sit on my lap!”

“Nonna, Aless is…” I drift off, my initial reaction to cover, to keep our story up. But it occurs to me that she would have heard the news. That someone in the family had to have told her.

She just doesn’t remember.

“I will. He’s just been busy.”

“Bah! Always busy, you boys. Out in the yard, chasing rabbits. Tell the twins if they want dinner, they need bath!” She chuckles, waving one finger in the air.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Diamante, but it’s time for hers, and her medicine.” The nurse says softly, peeking into the room.

“Of course. I should get going.”

Excusing myself and kissing her cheek once, I look back, knowing it’s probably the last time I’ll see the place, see her.

Ero and Ciro pick me up at my request, looking like they’ve been up to no good. I don’t have the energy to question them. Soon, I’m dozing as we head up into the mountains, the hours fading into fitful dozing and stressful dreams of trying to hide from someone who’s constantly trying to find me, to catch me.

I’m jarred awake from one such dream, shaking myself and taking a breath. Chef Dom kept giving me orders and I didn’t have any of the ingredients.

That’s what I get for watching reality cooking shows in the hotel.

“Wakey, wakey,” Ciro sings, trying to put his finger in my nose.

“I’ll chop that finger off.”

“Testy! I just wanted to see if we were stopping in town or heading straight up?”

“Avoid the village. The fewer people that see us, the better.”

We take that roundabout route, sticking to our tactics, doubling back, covering our tracks, making sure nobody can track our movements. Better paranoid than caught.

After Orvieto, we played into the assumption that we would need to clean up our mess, loading the remains of Ciro’s bike into a van and scrubbing the catacombs of any evidence that we were there.

Careful planning and placement will keep the authorities guessing for a while, but there were enough guys to make it look like a deal gone wrong.

Minus one detail …

Giuliano was shuffling away, having spilled his guts about Dom, everything he knew.

To be fair, he did mouth off, muttering about us “regretting this.”

Ero says he was threatening worse, from his point of view closer to Carcosa.

Needless to say, we had to take his body with us to dispose of it.

“You’re not still mad about Carcosa?”

“No. Dom wanted him dead. No sense leaving a loose end.” I don’t have to like it though.

Ero’s unfazed, shrugging it off. “He was lying about all of that, anyway.”

“I wish I felt as confident as you about that,” I sigh, falling silent as we skirt the little mountain village, looping up into the stunning vistas of the Alps in early summer.

It’s majestic. That’s not even close to enough to describe it.

Breathtaking.

Pulchritudinous.

Several more synonyms flit through my thoughts, leading back to Gloria.

To our back and forth, the way she makes my mind shift into overdrive.

I’m so lost in my head that I barely realize that we’ve stopped.

And a giant man is running across the courtyard of the lodge toward us at full speed.