I should've known it would be a private jet. Why that had gone over my head until now was a mystery to me. The last time I'd been on a plane was three years ago. I'd been accompanied by an Italian Government official who was taking me back to the UK as per my request. I'd been boxed in by people I didn't know, carrying nothing but fear and regret.
I'd been in a busy plane where I'd fretted for most of my ride.
Now, I was back to travelling in luxury.
A simple look from Assante had Turtle evacuating to the end of the jet, from which point he was out of earshot. Assante and I still had some important speaking to do.
Needless to say, I had a lot on my mind.
"Are we going to fight again?" Assante asked as he took the seat across from me, a series of files spread out across the little table.
"If we start being honest with each other, then I don't see any reason for us to fight."
"Then you should know that I looked into that man I killed last night before I did it. Didn't you think it was a bit suspicious he was still sitting in his place of work at two in the morning if it was closed?"
I'd been a wee bit drunk. Details like that hadn't crossed my mind.
"No."
"His costume shop's in the perfect position. It's on a street with lots of bars around it."
"Your point?"
"My point is it's his game. He waits for women like you and Ida to stumble drunkenly past the doors. Then he brings you inside and rapes you behind the counter."
I swallowed, my skin heating.
"What?"
"The two of you inviting yourselves in shocked him a bit, but that's his game Bellezza."
"That doesn't justify killing him."
"I know it doesn't. I just want you to think about it."
He snatched a file up from the table, leaving me to think about it. The problem was that I didn't want to think about it. I was sick of thinking about things and mulling over philosophy. Now was the time for me to start putting things behind me.
"How did your meeting go?"
"Not as I'd planned. Luca drinks too much through the night. It's a task to keep his mind focused on business. After poker, all he was interested in was a party."
"What are you looking at?"
He moved the file off his lap and stared at me knowingly. "Come see."
I crossed the space between us and sunk down in his lap, sighing as I made myself comfortable against him. It was when he held me like this that it really felt like we were married.
He picked the file back up, propping it at an angle we could both see.
"These are Columbo's estimated finances," He explained. "With three incarcerated bosses and one dead boss, they should've skyrocketed over these last three years, but he hasn't been playing it smart. With so many leaders in crime gone, he should've expanded massively. These figures should have tripled."
In the absence of four bosses, advancement should've been a piece of cake.
"Which means?"
"Which means that Ricci must've played it smart or nothing's changed at all. Ricci has an eye for business, so I'll be putting my bets on the former."
I nodded in understanding. "This is all a part of what you haven't been telling me, isn't it? The big plan to fight Marcello Ricci."
"I've decided I'm going to trust you Bellezza."
And it meant a lot. It meant we were moving forwards. It was probably what we needed after all the fighting we'd done in the last few days. A bit of trust was the bloom of our future.
No more secrets.
"So, how's this going to work?"
"We focus on rebuilding and getting the mafia back to what it was. After that, we take down Marcello Ricci."
"Where does Luca come into this?"
"We'll need his support," Lorenzo explained. "Which you can help me with."
I frowned. "Have fun with that. Luca Columbo isn't going to listen to a word that comes out of my mouth when business 'isn't for women'."
"Maybe, but Ida Columbo left me with her phone number last night and asked me to pass it along to you." Although there wasn't a lot about last night that I could remember, I knew that similar circumstances and shared life experiences had the two of us clicking. "Dealing with you means I know not to underestimate the power of a woman's will. If Ida's on our side with this, she can pull Luca over too."
I pointed my finger out. "Ah, but what makes you think he'll listen to Ida?"
Ida had made me aware of the nature of their marriage. They trusted each other even less than Assante and I trusted each other. There wasn't an ounce of love between them. Not really.
"We'll work something out."
My heart fluttered at that.
He'd said we.
We were going to do this together.
"I have an idea," I said after around ten minutes of deep thought.
"It's more than I have. Give us your idea Bellezza."
"I'm not sure that you're going to like it..."
"When do I ever like any of your ideas?"
He had a point there.
I pulled away from his lap and crossed back over to my own chair. He frowned, but it was probably better to have him meet my eyes for this one. I wanted to see if he was taking me seriously.
At this point, I wasn't entirely sure I was taking myself seriously.
"Alright then. What if you just... get rid of all of them?"
"Get rid of who, Bellezza?"
When I looked at him, he looked genuinely intrigued. It was the push I needed to go on.
"I'm not saying kill anyone, but what if you just got rid of all the other bosses? Marcello Ricci, Alfonzo Rossi, Brando Russo and Luca Columbo."
"And then what?"
"Ida's been in your mafia world her entire life. She's been raised to be Columbo's wife. She's smarter than you think and believe it or not, she wants to be involved in the business side. I say you take her husband out of the picture and make her the Boss. From there, you could form an alliance with her. As for Rossi, he's a shit you don't want to replace. Split his mafia between us and Ida."
He was taking me seriously. I could see it. He was thinking it through, weighing it up.
"How do you propose we take them out Bellezza?"
I opted to shrug, leaning back in my chair. "I can't come up with everything. You'll have to do some of the work too."
He smirked at me, then resumed his skimming through files.
I went to sleep for an hour or so after that. I wasn't even aware that we'd gotten off of the plane. Assante carried me down as I slept, loaded me into the car and then drove steadily all the way home.
Home, to where all of this had begun for me.
I woke up on that long and winding country road, engirdled by trees without another house in sight for miles. I could remember the first time I'd been down this road, tied up in the back of an SUV. There was a time where I'd ran for these trees for hours until I'd stumbled across an Italian town.
Now, being back here again, everything felt real.
"When was the last time anyone came here?" I asked.
He side-eyed me, realising I'd woken up, and smiled. "Not since you and I were here after Romero's absorption ball."
"Kinsey was here too." My face scrunched up in disgust. "Oh God. You killed Kinsey that day. Does that mean...?"
"Fucking hell." He pulled up on the side of the road and grabbed his phone. I tried not to think about it as he waited. When the line connected, I even went as far as to look the other way. "Turtle? Yeah, I'm going to need you to get me a cleaning team out to the address I gave you. Why? Maybe because I've got a three fucking year old body decaying in my entrance hall." He pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed out heavily. "I don't care what time it is or how much they need to be paid. Go through mafia contacts. There are people that will do this, no questions asked."
He listened for a moment longer before putting his phone down, slipping it back into his pocket.
The two of us shared a look. It was a heavy look, a look that took me back.
Kinsey's hand was around my neck all over again.
God, in the end I'd hated that man. He'd done everything he could to push the rules about not touching me. From walking too fast with his massive, long legs and dragging me down the hall with him to other little things, snitching me in for whatever he could. Definitely that time when Enzo was training me and Kinsey had beat the ever loving shit out of me, kicking me when legs were strictly against the rules.
The best memory I had of Kinsey? Trying to escape in his new car. Now, that memory was even better when I recalled the damage Enzo had done to it. He'd shot the tyres and broke the windows.
Kinsey?
Yeah. I didn't miss him.