The Body #1: Santo and Fiorella

Chapter 14 (Santo): I Want To Go

My phone alerted me to a text from Lucio and from one of my outside guards. I read them, both saying the same thing: Lucio was here. Getting up quietly so as not to wake Fiorella, I walked downstairs and opened the door to him. 

"So, it's finally over," I remarked.

Lucio nodded. "It's over, but it's beginning, Santo. All those years of planning..."

"Now we begin the next phase of the plan."

We spoke for a few moments, and I asked him if Federico was a solid ally.

"After yesterday, more solid than ever. He plans to honor the truce." Lucio gave a small huff of laughter. "Caruso was relentless with Dario and kept the fucker alive for three hours despite Dario losing body parts left and right. Right after he cut off Dario's dick and shoved it in his mouth, he asked me, very formally, if I would allow him to end Dario. Let me tell you, those rumors we've heard about Federico? One hundred percent true. He cut open Dario's chest and ripped out his heart. So, you can rest easy that your request for Dario's prolonged suffering was honored. He paid for hitting your wife."

"If I could bring him back to life and kill him again, I would," I told him solemnly. "Fiorella suffered for months, Lucio, and not even his death can fix that. I don't even know if I can."

"Your hands were tied, Santo. We've both seen what Dario would do to wives if their husbands fucked up. The smallest misstep could have spelled disaster for her, for her family."

I tapped my temple with two fingers. "I know that up here." 

Then I tapped my heart. "But it still hurts me here."

Lucio's attention was caught by the necklace on the foyer table that Dario had removed from Fiorella's neck. He picked it up and dangled it from his fingers.

"Good call on this. By making such a fucking deal about putting it on her neck and her never taking it off, Dario fell right into your trap. He thought he'd gotten Fiorella's tracker off and didn't bother looking for another one."

"Everybody overlooks the wedding rings," I shrugged.

"Except my wife," Lucio said sourly. "Somehow, Ginevra knew, and we were tracking a motherfucking tractor trailer across the country for two days."

"You'll find her," I encouraged him. "You'll find her and bring her home."

"I know where she is," Lucio admitted. "I found her after a year. Didn't tell anyone because I wanted to be the only one who knew in case Dario found out."

"Surprised you left her out there alone."

"Couldn't bring her back here because of Dario demanding her blood. But she wasn't alone. You remember Macelliano?"

"Yeah," I said. He'd been the stepson of one of the men in Ginevra's father's team. The minute Macelliano turned eighteen, he'd left the Body in his review mirror. His departure was allowed since he wasn't Body by blood.

"He goes by Butcher now. Runs the Lords of Mayhem. Ginevra landed by him. He was the only one I could think of that she'd run to, so I contacted him. He wouldn't say if she was around or not, so I stopped asking and just requested that he watch out for her if she showed up."

"And what in any of that told you she was there?"

"He said if Janie shows up, I'll watch out for her."

"Interesting. Ginevra became Janie," I mused.

"He's a careful man. That was no mistake. So, knowing she was safe and had a man to look out for her, I could focus on Dario and our plans."