ASCENSION (37 page)

The solution was simple, get rid of Alfonzo!

Monticelli stood
, “
G
ive
your wife
my regards.”

This was Dominick’s cue
to leave but it did not matter, he heard more than enough.

Gina you clever bitch
!

***

F
rank
took his meds
then retired to
his
bed
room for a short nap before dinner
. He lay
there reminiscing about
t
he past. He reached in the
top drawer of the nightstand to retrieve the
gold ring secreted there.
He turned it over in his hands and lay back wistfully against the pillows. The ring was a reminder
of the old days, gone but not forgotten. He thought of his first wife Anna and the wrinkled old
face softened.

Anna resembled a starlet; she was Sophia Loren in his eyes.
Beautiful, innocent and
full of joy.
When he married her, he knew life could not be better.
With a new wife and
a
good
friend
,
his prospects for the future were endless.

His friend
Sergio’s wife Amelda was beautiful in her own right with classic Greek features and
an easy smile
.
She and Anna also became close friends and often
spent time together shopping in the markets or gardening.

Sergio Giacanti was from an affluent family in Naples and an only child.
He
p
ossessed
an easy charm and piercing blue eyes that contrasted with his dark Italian features.
Handsome and well connected,
he
moved unimpeded through elite society and often shared his political views of Mussolini with his close friend. One day, Sergio came to him and presented him with the ring. He was forming an
organization
which he believed
would bring not only wealth to their families but also a brotherhood.
When
he presented details
about this secret organization
, Frank gladly
joined. He became the co-chancellor of the
newly formed International Board of Directors which soon bolstered eight others
.
Each a friend
of Sergio, also very ambitious and young.
They were
l
ike brothers back then. Sometimes, he often wondered why such a young man
of distinction
befriended the son of a lowly printer but those feelings of insecurity vanished, replaced by trust
and admiration.
The I.B.D’s influence spanned most of Italy
;
they were well respected among
crook and politicians alike. That is why during his country’s dark shameful past, Sergio was
sought out to give refuge and passage to the wife of a Jewish banker. In
exchange he was
given valuable documents, the contents which were never shared with anyone, not even Frank
, although it was he who provided the forged passport and risked his life to get the woman to the ship leaving for America
.

Frank
’s ambitions were meager then, he sought nothing more than a simple life with his wife but in time with influence came wealth. He had become a rich man and his ambitions grew. He was loyal to Sergio for the introduction to a society in which he only dreamed that is
until he discovered the truth about his friend and Anna.
Frank inhaled
sharply;
he could s
till smell the flowers from Sergio’s elaborate garden where he confronted
him on a late
evening
in
Spring
. He was distraught and drunk after being summoned
to a back parlor of a dirty butcher’s shop in
the bowels of
town. There on a filthy chopping table he found Anna, her dress covered with blood, dying
from a failed abortion
.

In her moment of confession and remorse she told him about
the
affair
.
When she learned she was pregnant she sought to terminate
the fetus
to hide
her
shame
for betraying her husband and Amelda.
She feared the child would be born with blue eyes and
everyone would
know of her infidelity.
When she died
Frank burned the shop to the ground
and the butcher with it.
He hid the true nature of his wife’s death, claiming she succumbed to illness and held a private funeral shortly after for the sake of appearances.

His heart beat irregularly and he
seized his chest.
The memories were more painful than the mechanisms of a weak heart.
Sergio and he fought in the
garden,
even then Sergio emerged victorious and
unremorseful. He recalled soothing his sorrows at a local bar. He drank for hours trying to kill
the emptiness in his body until finally stumbling out onto the street. A member of the
organization happened by, saw Frank in his drunken s
t
ate and offered him a lift home.

On the drive
Frank
inadvertently disc
ussed Sergio’s illicit affair with his wife, the banker’s books and
disclosed his
anger at Sergio for his betrayal. He was
heavily intoxicated
,
of course and may have muttered
more.
He
was
bereft,
mourning for his beautiful wife who he would have forgiven anything…even raised the child as his own if she had come to him instead of seeking such a desperate resolution. His
arrogant friend had taken everything from him and in the end he was left with nothing. He sought to make Sergio pay but was cheated the night Sergio was killed.

His heart kicked
again
and he squeezed his chest tighter. He slowly reached for an envelope
with the name: CARLO
DICHENZO,
typed across it and an address.
Dichenzo was a ruthless man, Luzo’s Capo Bastone. Once he received the letter it was only a matter of time before the I.B.D were deposed.
He slipped the ring inside
behind the letter and sealed it
then removed the other letters, seven in all addressed to members of the I.B.D.
His parting gift to his distant brothers.
Exhausted he lay back with the letters in hand and hit the buzzer beside the bed
to
summon
Pietro
.
When
t
he
butler
arrived
he handed the letters to his trusted
friend
of f
if
ty
-two
years. He made
c
ertain
Pietro
was compensated for his many years of loyalty in his will. Perhaps, he
would
return to his homeland and retire with a young wife.
He instructed
Pietro
to
go immediately to send the documents overnight express.
Once
Pietro
was gone
, Frank closed his eyes. At eighty-two years old he was long
overdue for some peace.
Time was
shortening,
his heart was not strong enough.
He thought of Gina and smiled. Dominick was so full of questions. What
good would it
h
ave done to tell him
Gina was the daughter of a distant cousin
?
None at all.
She was nothing but a
greedy woman
who’s
selfish ambitions lost him the opportunity to return to Italy
. H
opefully
, upon his demise
his wishes would be honored and he
would
lay
eternally beneath
the soil which birthed him.

Tonight he rested easily knowing the true killer of the Giacanti’s would be unmasked and Carlo Dichenzo would carry out the execution!

CHAPTER T
HIRTY

As the
cabbie made its way down the darkened highway Alfonzo
entered the beginning stages
of
sleep.
Moving through
v
arious
cycles into REM, the dream state.
The dreams were of
his beautiful wife,
then
another image cut through his mind
.
Selange’s
limp body in his arms after being shot
.
His
heart and
respiration
s
increased a
s
his muscles contracted.

Alfonzo’s
face contorted in pain,
st
artled
he awakened in a state of

c
onfusion
.
The medication.
He realized it was no more than a horrific nightmare
. He at

upright
, fully alert as the vehicle whizzed past familiar landmarks leading to home.
His

expression
was one of
fierce determination. He had to see his wife, make sure she was

okay
then he’d
give the order for the elimination of
Monticelli and the entire

International Board of Directors
for their audacity to strike at him.
This decision was

an
easy
o
ne. He attempted to maintain peace, yet they forced his hand and forfeit

their
lives for the treachery.
The
tragedies of the past was
not in
his future. He

planned
to
protect his family at all cost even if it meant
dying to
do it!

H
is
s
weaty forehead
connected with the cool glass of the
air-conditioned vehicle
.
The
t
hrobbing
pain in his shoulder p
ersisted;
the restrictive
gauze around his chest constricted his breathing
and he fought the need to puke.
Irritably, he urged the driver to go faster. Any second he might pass out and he didn’t want to be in the back of a cab when he did.

The guard peered through the window when they reached the security gate
. Once
he spotted his boss
he
immediately
opened the gates
and waved
the taxi through.
The lights were on in the house
when
they
arrived
. The security guard
must have
alerted
Vincent to
Alfonzo’s arrival
because
he stood
expectantly outside the door.

Alfonzo
stumbled out the taxi and Vincent took one look at his
appearance and
rushed to help him. “What the hell are you doing here
y
ou’re supposed to be in the hospital
under police protection
?”

“I heard
, but I guess no one’s got the memo I
was
cut loose
.” Alfonzo replied
, “Where’s Selange?”

Vincent opened the front door and assisted Alfonzo inside.
Alfonzo
fell across the sofa sweating profusely. Vincent rushed to get water and made him drink.

“Where
’s my wife
?”

The awkward silence alerted Alfonzo to trouble.
He sat down the empty glass and repeated the question.
Vincent
averted
his eyes from
the
intense gaze. He didn’t know how to break
the news
. He went straight to the truth, “She’s with Nico and Giuseppe.”

“Where?”

“Miami.”

“Why is she in Miami?”

A pause and a guilt-stricken expression were visible on his bodyguard’s
usually impassive face
.
Alfonzo rose
a bit unsteadily
. Vincent was
behaving
evasively, which was unusual for the bodyguard.
“Vin
stop
the bullshit and
just spit
it out!
”