ATONEMENT (45 page)

                            
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Alberti paced the hospital corridors of
the Trauma Room.
His thoughts were murderous and the wait for news of Nico’s condition
,
a t
est of his patience
. He’d flown to Milan the momen
t he got the call. He’d planned to speak with Nico about what he discovered regarding the man
he killed and his connection to Constantine
and other matters
,
but
apparently he was too late. He inhaled heated air. He craved a cigar, one puff would do,
however the smoking
rules were strict
ly enforced
and
this once he would obey the dreaded policy.

After an eternity of this waiting business a surgeon emerged, his face glum and severe. Alberti
allowed him to speak first, “Signore
Serano
is out of surgery. We will move him to ICU shortly, but-”

“But, what,
medico
?”

The doctor’s tone was serious, “His injuries were very bad. He lost much blood. He may not survive, it is best you know this.”

Alberti’s usually impassive expression became solemn. He nodded and walked to one of the seats
and dropped there. The doctor turned to leave but Alberti had one request. “I wish to stay with him, arrange a private suite. Money is no obstacle.”

The doctor replied, “It has already been arranged.”

“Who requested this?”

“Giuseppe
Dichenzo
.”

Alberti nodded, yes, of course he had. Nico was his cousin.

The doctor slid out the panel doors and Alberti sat alone. Internally, he possessed emotional strength. Death wasn’t new or shocking in his world, yet somehow the possibi
lity of Nico passing and the loss of Vincent were distressing beyond words. He loved them
because they were his sons.
But Nico was wrong in his
assessment. He was honorable. Giving his sons a loving home with parents was a noble thing to do.
He was
in his twenties, unmarried
and in love with a woman
whose
father
despised
him.
Alberti
did not come from a rich and influential
family;
he was the son of a killer
and
in her father’s eyes an undesirable. He wanted better for his daughter. Sabrina was her name, young, pretty and untouched.

They made love in the fields on a warm evening and later she came to him and told
Alberti
of the child growing in her womb. How her father
learned of it so quickly is still a mystery
but he did and sent her away.
The father hid her and planned to give Alberti’s children away like trash, b
ut Alberti was not a timid boy and enlisted the help of his adopted father. They made
Sabrina’s
father speak and he sang like a canary. They did not kill him, that would be merc
iful
, instead they made him take them to Sabrina, undo his arrangement
and when the children were born they were given to The Butcher and his wife Angelina to
care for
.

He did not regret
it;
he would do it all over again. Yes,
Nico was right
,
he was the father
but
Nico was
wrong about
other things. Alberti would clarify these things and then Nico would have peace. The sadness he felt was the same when his adoptive mother died,
although today it was tenfold. Alberti
stood
and went for a
smoke, Wax like a massive shadow followed.
Later, he sat at Nico’s bedside and spoke long into the night, recanting the story of his birth
. Nico heard, he could tell in the medicated induced eyes.
Nico
could rest knowing Alberti never once
disgraced
the man they called their father
or the woman they both knew as mother
.

When Nico dozed Albert
i
touched his hand, “Sleep, gain your strength, my son and
when you are well I will make amends and we will begin anew to rebuild what we have lost. But you must want it, you must want to live.
”

                                  
***

Sophie could not contain her grief. Vincent was dead. She’d seen his body at the morgue.
Amelda
was beside herself, wailing when she heard the news and immediately chose to cancel the wedding but Soph
ie would not have it. Vincent would want her to celebrate life, it was short.

Giuseppe was making the arrangements for an expeditious funeral, he was also making certain the
re wasn’t an autopsy and the
cause of death was listed as
a sudden heart attack.
Money and fear produced no ethical debate from the coroner. He would clean and suture the wounds and release the body to the funeral director by morning. Two of Giuseppe’
s men would remain there to ensure this was done.

She had yet to speak or see Alfonzo and his wife. From the news she received, Selange was in shock and admitted to the hospital for monitoring. Sophie closed her eyes, praying for the young woman. Praying she was pregnant with her nephew’s child. A selfish prayer, yes, but one she fer
vently wished because the guilt of what happened would forever haunt Selange. A child of Nico’s would help ease the pain and maybe bring peace to her heart.

                                          
***

Alfonzo pressed his forehead to the railing trying to unload the heaviness which settled there. Selange was hooked
up to IV’s, again
!

He didn’t want the kids to see her
in this condition. She appeared so out of it,
heck he hated seeing it, too. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, so many things he needed to know
but they had to wait until she was well.
It was the
damn sonogram and
an announcement,
“The fetuses appear to be fine Signore, the heartbeats are strong but we will keep her
a few days.
She
’s
dehydrated and malnourished. Is she taking pre-natal vitamins?”

Alfonzo choked. Fetuses, did she say that? “
Wait,
did you say fetuses?”

“
Sí
signore
.
Due
bambini
, twins.”

He excused himself, walked out into the hall and bent over with his hands on his knees breathing hard. Confused, angry, sad and an entire array of mixed emotions
assaulted him.
Twins, Selange was pregnant by Nico.
“
¡
C
oño
!
This can’t be happening!” He exclaimed.
 

His wife was having another man’s
babies
.

‘Shit…shit…shit!’

After walking off the shock and shadowboxing in the hall like a
lunatic, he
re
turned to the hospital room and
resumed his current bedside vigil.
More than an hour passed since he got the news and the blow continued to sting.

                                                
***

Crystalia
and Lucia sat with
Amelda
throughout the night, doing what bridesmaids should, comfort and support a friend.
Renalda
and the others had fallen asleep unable to fight sleep. This was the first time the house
was quiet. Husbands, a worried
Matteo
, an angry Giuseppe and a host of newly appointed guards had come. Most were gone, only burly bodyguard’s remained. Giuseppe and
Matteo
were paying a personal visit to Don Messini. They were not convinced he was unaware of Constantine’s doings despite his protest. Lucia feared Giuseppe would evoke a war. She called her father, a man Giuseppe
respected;
hopeful
he could intervene and avoid
further bloodshed
.

There were moments when men acted from anger and ma
d
e bad choices. Giuseppe was impulsi
ve. Her brother
Matteo
was getting married in a few days and she did not want him placed in jeopardy.
Amelda
was already a basket case over her cousin’s death and she could not withstand any more drama!

She called her father and he assured her he would deal with it and she returned to
Amelda’s
side.
Soon
Amelda
slept and
Crystalia
and Lucia remained awake. Both unable to believe quiet Kim-Sung Li was spying on them, looking for information to use against them.

“They haven’t found her.”
Crystalia
commented.

“Who?”

“The bitch Kim-Sung!”

Lucia sneered, “We vote, you and I.”

“This isn’t how we do it Lucia, everyone must be present.”

“To hell with the others.
I’m sure they’ll
agree,
besides if we wait any longer she might make it out of Italy.”

Crystalia
nodded,
“One million euro.”

“
Bueno
, I will make the call tonight.”