wanted to confirm something.
“Yes, Barone.” Her eyes narrowed at him. “It means free man, but before you changed it. What was your name then?”
I turned to look up at Angelo. Although to most people he would seem to be expressionless and unmoved, I could tell Nonna had hit a nerve he wasn’t particularly pleased about.
“Messana,” he replied. “Angelo Messana.”
“Ah, Messana. A name that harks back to the old city of Sicily.” She turned to my father. “That doesn’t strike a bell for you?”
My father’s eyes changed from being irritated and filled with suspicion, to realization, then widened with shock. His gaze left Nonna and darted to Angelo. “Messana? Messana from Boston?” my father muttered hoarsely.
The few seconds of silence that followed his question infuriated my father. He shot to his feet. “Answer me!” he roared.
Angelo met my father’s angry, confused eyes head on. “Yes, sir. That’s right.”
Then I watched in wonder as Angelo’s spine straightened. He appeared to grow in stature, as if he had purposely made himself small at this time. It was like watching an angel unfurl its wings.
“How did you find out?” my father asked Nonna. He kept watching Angelo with part disbelief and part horror.
Involuntarily I moved even closer to Angelo, partially standing in front of him to protect him from whatever was about to unravel. I felt so confused. I turned to Nonna. “What’s going on?”
“Your lover here is no ordinary man,” she replied. Then she turned to my father. “I became curious about him after I saw the little one falling in love with him, so I requested his background check. One far more thorough than the one conducted by your men.”
My father shook his head. “When he first came to work for this family and before I put him on to the role protecting Sienna, I did a very thorough check or I would never have put him in charge of protecting Sienna. This connection did not come up. He was clean.”
“Well,” Nonna went on, “being the son of the renowned and most powerful mafia boss in Boston is not exactly a crime, now is it? And he is clean. He left the family when he was nineteen.”
My brain scrambled to a halt. What?
“Let this be a lesson to you,” Nonna continued. “You’re too impatient and too quick to come to conclusions, which I’ve warned you about. Also, whoever did the check for you probably wasn’t capable enough to make the connection. Anyway, there you have it. He’s not just a bodyguard. You’ve had the direct offspring of the capo del capo of the Messana house under your roof for the last two years, and you didn’t even realize it.”
“Loosen up on the criticism mother,” my father said, starting to recover from his shock. “This was one mistake. “
“Well, it could have been a deadly one if this young man’s intentions over here had been evil.”
My father turned and glared at Angelo. “And what makes you think they aren’t? He’s hid himself too well over the years has he not?”
“Is he acting like he’s guilty of anything?” she asked.
“Well, with this moron daughter of mine standing right next to him and fighting all his battles for him what has he got to worry about when he could use her as a shield? Get the hell away from him!” My father pulled out a gun from his drawer and in a flash pointed it directly at Angelo.
“Papa!” I screamed and moved to stand directly in front of Angelo.
“Marco, what are you doing?” Nonna asked tiredly.
“Sienna, step away from him,” my father ordered.
“Are you seriously considering hurting Messana’s youngest son?” Nonna asked him. “I believe he is the apple of his mother’s eye. You want a war on your head?”
“Well, I have a damn good excuse. He invaded my turf. Do you know how much information about us he has been able to obtain over the last two years? Such behavior is unacceptable.”
Nonna’s sigh was heavy. “Young man, why aren’t you saying anything?”
Angelo turned to my grandmother and bowed his head slightly at her. “Sienna,” he said “Go to your grandmother’s side.”
“No!” I refused, and turned around to face him, but at the sternness in his gaze, my mouth sealed shut. I understood that he meant what he was saying. Earlier, he had implored me several times to trust him … to have a little faith and yet, I had defied him at every turn. Now, it was time for me to trust him. I