ATONEMENT (34 page)

“What, I thought we were leaving tomorrow,
hijo
?”

“Change of plans mama.’

“
Aye
!”

He turned his back and walked to his bedroom, opened the closet and took down the garment bag with his tuxedo and three suits. He planned to travel light. He would purchase a few more suits in Italy, their tailors were top-notch, besides with everyone else’s luggage he expected the pilot to remind him of the plane’s load capacity, something he knew by heart. Everyone was being limited to two suitcases. No more. The crate of rum
was already sent and the only other loose end was making sure the security was heightened in their absence.

Alfonzo’s brain was ticking non-stop. Eversince, speaking to Selange he’d gotten a weird sensation running up and down his nerves.
Yes, she was justified in the anger but days passed and she still was not willing to
listen
or even talk to him. Nah…nah…nah…it was unlike her.

He tossed the items on the divan,
and then
went to Selange’s side of the room to the walk-in closet. Yeah, chica had a custom made closet, that’s where their luggage was stored. She’d bought a matching designer set
and thank goodness, his was not colorful like hers. He seized the blue medium size case from a far corner after passing rows of her clothing and shoes. The last time he was in her domain was
right
after the renovation
, four months ago. At the time of completion, they decided to sequester themselves here and
officially christen
the expanded
space
. He smiled at the memory then turned to leave
,
but something caught his eye. It was an insignificant thing to some, he supposed, people forget to update their paper calendars all the time, especially with the convenience of the ever present tech devices. Those old-fashioned reminders were becoming less necessary. Selange had a small flip over one sitting there on her vanity. It hadn’t been flipped in months, since
July to be exact
. The 15
^th
was
circled in red
marker. The color of blood, a day Alfonzo could not forget. Certainly, his wife could not either. How could she? Years were only time, horrific memories survived its passing. They hide, waiting like a thief to leap out when we least expect
it,
then
rob our souls of peace and security. He’d always been with
his wife
on th
e solemn anniversary.
Except, this once.
He walked to it, flipped it to October then frowned. Come to think of it, Nico was here. They’d been alone before in the past, there wasn’t any reason not to trust his wife or Nico for that matter –but …
Alfonzo froze.

No…no…he tried to stop thinking but his mind was screaming
…putting pieces of a puzzle together…ones he hadn’t seen before or thought to look at. Nico’s bruised mouth the day after
,
Selange’s strange behavior
a
nd moodiness
, were all making sense now
. The image of them insinuated itself into his psyche and his feet began to move swiftly. He was downstairs in a flash, almost jogging to the lower level of the house to the basement where the interior home surveillance equipment was stored. He punched in the code to the door and stepped inside the cubicle size room, took a seat and
went
through the systems footage. He
input
a date on the laptop and it was blank. July 16
^th
was there, as well as July 14
^th
. He typed July 15
^th
, carefully this time, hoping in his haste, he’d hit a wrong digit. Still nothing!

He checked the hard-drive
and searched
stored footage, anything to
disprove
his suspicion
. He
frantically
checked back-up discs,
attempted a
reboot and restore
from the date, repetitively as if he had OCD.
Two hours of this and
he finally relented. Denial seeped in as he considered alternative
explanations,
wanting to give his sweet, loyal wife and friend the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps, there was an electrical outage,
maybe
the computer
malfunctioned or
someone accidentally deleted the data.

He sat there, staring at the computer screen, dumbfounded.
A vein protruded from his forehead, pulsing under the pressure building inside. He was a furnace, overheating
and on the brink of a catastrophic explosion.
The o
mission
of the video
-recordings
served as affirmation. Nico must have deleted the memory
.
Selange would not have been as thorough.

Denial turned to anger and his fist pound the hard steel desk
, “
Pendejo
…
motherfucker
!”
He
snarled.
“I’m going to kill that
sonovabitch
!”

F
irst he’d confront his wife
, she was a horrible
liar
and h
e’d see the truth in those
lovely cheating eyes
!

                                
CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Nico met Alberti at a secluded area of the estate
, behind the guest house, near one of the many gardens. They walked in silence until they reached the end of the property cordoned off by a
high stone
wall
. Be
yond this point was treacherously
hilly terrain. It served as both protection and
a
deterrent
to
trespassers
who may be
foolish enough to attempt the climb.

“
Are you sure
he said nothing
else
?”
Alberti asked
when they stopped at a stone fountain in the center of a circular bed of flowers
.

“Only what I told you.”

“How is
Selange
?”

“She’s okay.”

“Good.” Alberti said thoughtfully,
“Security has been reinforced for the wedding. Remain diligent.”

“Umm.” Nico mumbled, shoving his hands in his pocket
s then
surveying the perimeter.

Alberti took a
puff
from the
cigar.
“You have yet to complain. I thought the women may have driven you mad by now.”

“They have.”

The senior man laughed, “A cluster of women are like an angry beehive, better to keep a distance.”

Nico frowned, “I’m glad you find humor in
it
.”

Alberti
changed the subject. “Sophie tells me she is concerned for you.”

Nico’s expression turned quizzical. “
And why is that?”

Alberti studied the younger man’s face. He’d known him since he was an infant. Always quiet, even then.
H
e watched
Nico
grow
and he acquired
the
same temperament as
his
mother
.
D
utiful
, private
and
yet,
an unwavering
stubbornness
.
“You love her?”

“Who?”

It was night but Alberti did not need the assistance of the
miniature garden lights to see love in a man’s eyes. He felt it permeating from Nico’s spirit. “She is not yours.”

“You’re speaking riddles, as always
. Get to the point.”

“Still
your
tongue
.
Do not
deny the obvious, little brother.”

Twenty-five
years
separated the men. Yes, his parents raised Alberti but they were not blood brothers, of this Nico was fully aware. “My tongue speaks when
ever
it wants. You
’ve
cross
ed
the line
many times. I
’m
not a little boy, remember that!
”

“
You
commit
the worst
of
sin
s
by repeating the mistakes of the past and turning against the man who has caused you no ill, Nico
.
M
y father did
this
long ago
with the wife of Frank Monticelli
.
You know this history, yet you persist
in defiance?
Blood spills with treacher
ies,
young brother. Do not make me choose
between you and Alfonzo
!”

Nico
’s stance changed. Every muscle in his body constricted.
He never dismissed a threat
. “
Goddammit, then
make your choice and give me peace!”

Alberti faced down the younger man. “What peace are you seeking, is death really what you want?”

“I
f
peace
i
s
found
in the ground then put me there and stop with the posturing. I’m sick to death of you
r shit
!”

Nico detected
the movement in the shadows and was prepared for
the order but Alberti eyed him, wondering if he had made a horrible mistake by extracting
Nico
from his paradise. Perhaps, deat
h
truly
is what Nico wanted and the rebellion he’d seen of late was a man suffering from the loss of love. The cigar was snubbed out on the
side of the
fountain and Alberti gripped it between his fingers looking down at it.
“
She is young and easily distracted by your charm, Nico. I do not doubt what you feel
,
but it is wrong.” His eyes moved upward to the
chiseled face of the angry man. He could be a statute in the garden
he was so rigid
.
His posture was that of a fighter
with
the
taut muscles
,
defiant scowl
and
fierce eyes set upon Alberti, unafraid and prepared for a deadly battle.