The Rocchetti Queen - Bree Porter Page 0,44
him quieter, sharper.
I knew which one of us had the most terrifying anger, and it definitely wasn’t me.
“What did the lab say?” he asked.
I had given the skeleton’s bones to some of the scientists at Rocchetti Alzheimer’s Support. It hadn’t taken them long to get back to me with a match, and the news was not good, but expected.
“The DNA matches one Danta D’Angelo.”
Alessandro looked up at me, eyes black. I shifted under his attention, not understanding this anger of his, but refusing to show any fear. He was my husband, my heart, the father of my child. He would never hurt me.
He leaned back in his chair, stare never leaving me. “So, my father kills her and leaves her to rot on Eloise Pelletier’s land. Why?”
“I...I do not pretend to know the reason why your father does anything, Alessandro,” I reminded him. “But we should not point fingers without proof.”
“Everyone believes my father killed my mother. You don’t?”
The image of Danta’s crossed out eyes filled my mind, except now they looked hollow and empty. Bloody whore, bloody whore, the words rang through my brain like a bell.
I swallowed. “No. I don’t.”
“Well,” Alessandro said, “I wish you had told me that sooner.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Because he is coming over here.” My husband rose from his seat, revealing the gun at his waistband that the desk had hidden. “Go upstairs, my love. You do not have to see this.”
I didn’t move. “You’re not going to kill your father. It wasn’t him, Alessandro. I think it was the Union—”
“This is not the time for guessing or thinking.” His tone wasn’t cruel, just factual. “My Sophia, just because you believe he is innocent, that does not mean he is. He is a crazy man, a mafioso with little honor. Killing the mother of his children would have been just another Tuesday to him.”
“Is that so?”
I spun, swallowing down my cry of surprise.
Toto the Terrible stood behind me, dark eyes darting around the office with wild delight. They went to the desk and caught sight of the golden band.
In an instant, his expression changed.
“Where the fuck did you find that?” he asked darkly.
“Sophia,” Alessandro warned, his voice implying he wanted me to go upstairs and barricade myself in our room. I didn’t leave.
Toto stepped forward, the movement nothing but threatening. “I asked you a question, boy,” he hissed to his son. “Where did you find that ring?”
“Where you left it,” Alessandro said, cool as a cucumber.
A part of me wished for my husband’s burning anger. I knew it a lot better than I knew this other anger of his.
My father-in-law noticed his son’s strange mood as well. “And where exactly did I leave it?” he snarled, barely unable to contain his own anger.
I stepped back, pressing myself into the bookcase.
“Don’t play dumb,” Alessandro said. How many times had he said that to me? I almost wanted to laugh, not being on the receiving end, but kept quiet. “Everyone knows you killed my mother.”
“Why do you care?” Toto leered. “You don’t even remember your mother.”
If he was innocent, he was doing a spectacular job trying to convince us otherwise.
“That does not mean her murder can go unavenged.”
“She would not have done the same thing for you,” my father-in-law said. “You know she stepped out, took lovers.”
Alessandro’s expression flashed, the first real sign of the fury building up inside of him. “That does not warrant her death.”
Toto’s expression grew delighted and he looked to me for the first time. “Should you be dead right now, Sophia?” he asked. “Have you been stepping out and convinced my son that it does not end with you and your lover dead?”
“Enough!” snapped Alessandro. “This is between you and me, Father. Leave Sophia out of it.”
I held my chin up, meeting Toto’s crazy Rocchetti eyes. “I am on your side,” I told him. “I don’t believe you did it. So, choose wisely what you say to me, because right now, I am the only ally you have.”
“I don’t need your alliance, Sophia,” Toto said, turning back to my husband. “You truly believe I killed your mother?”
“You never gave me a reason not to.” Alessandro leaned against his desk. “That is as good as a confession.”
“Is it?” I asked.
I was ignored.
My father-in-law lifted his chin up, spreading his arms. “So, what if I did kill Danta? Strangled the life out of her? I was in my rights, boy. I was her husband and she my wife. That is how this world works.