Elisa’s sitting by the bedside. Her eyes are red from crying, and she’s staring down at a man-shaped lump beneath a white sheet. Her hand’s right where his hand must be. Several other men stand nearby, all of them in black suits, and I realize they must be the funeral directors. Raf’s talking to them, but he stops when he sees me.
“Fiorella,” he says. Elisa looks over and instantly starts crying again, curling into herself. “I’m sorry, Fio. I’m really sorry.”
“Dad’s gone.” It feels so strange. I’m hollow inside, like someone scooped my guts out. Only Luca feels real as his grip on my hand tightens. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“He went last night in his sleep. They think it was peaceful.” Raf glances back at the respectful men waiting off to the side. “You should say your goodbyes. They’re going to take him soon.”
“Right. Okay.” I bite my lower lip hard, but I don’t move. “We should’ve had more time.”
“I know.” Raf suddenly pulls me into a hug. I feel Luca’s hand slip from mine. I hold onto my brother for a second, letting out a single sob before he releases me again. “But he knew it was coming.”
“He warned us. I just thought we had months.”
“That’s what he kept saying.” Raf shakes his head miserably. “But here we are. You go sit with Elisa. Let me borrow your husband for a second.” He looks at Luca, his face going hard, and I know they’re going to talk business.
Let them deal with that. I walk to Elisa and throw my arms around her. She cries harder as I hug her, and her crying makes me start crying too, and god damn it, there are too many tears already.
“Dad died,” she says, sounding so small and sad. “I never really believed it. But he’s gone.”
“I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
“What can we do? There’s the service, the funeral, someone will have to write a eulogy—” She sucks in a few breaths and gathers herself. “You should say goodbye.”
I turn to my father, or at least what used to be him. I touch his hand, and it doesn’t react. I’ve seen death before, but it’s different when it’s your own family. I lean in close and try to find words, except they all seem inadequate, like there’s nothing I can say that’ll make any sense right now.
“You were a pretty good dad,” I whisper, which makes me laugh stupidly to myself. What a dumb thing to say.Pretty good?The guy just died. I could at least upgrade him to justgood. “You cared about us in your own way. You weren’t easy. I hated you sometimes. But you took care of us. And I love you for that. I always will love you, Papa.”
That makes Elisa cry again. I hug her, and we sit there in silence together, staring at the body that doesn’t breathe, the sheets totally still and unmoving, until the funeral home employees gently ask us to leave so they can handle taking the body away. I gently lead Elisa back downstairs to where the Capos are all gathered. Raf’s pouring coffee and handing out little cookies and pastries, and Luca comes over the second he spots me.
“You all good?” His protective arm wraps around my shoulder.
“Trying to be.”
He nods like that’s the best we can do at this point.
The tension in the room is subtle at first. Raf’s doing his best to keep his spirits up, but his smile and his energy feel forced and terrible. None of the other Capos seem interested in holding a conversation with him, and they studiously avoid looking over toward where Elisa, Luca, and I sit at the edge of the gathering.
Everyone goes quiet and stares as Dad’s body is taken out in a black body bag.
“Guess that’s all our future,” Rocco mutters.
Carmine flips him off. “Don’t be fucking grim. The Don’s dead.”
“He was a good man.” Nicolo presses his palms together and bows his head. “May the Lord embrace his soul.”
“End of a fuckin’ era,” Carmine grumbles, shaking his head. “Last of the greats.”
“We talkin’ about the same guy?” Rocco looks around the room. “Tom Serrano saddled this family with debt. Under his leadership, we nearly fell apart. He had to sell his daughter to another family to keep us afloat.”
I glare at him, my heart suddenly racing. Asshole’s talking like I’m not sitting in the room. I lean forward, about to tell him off, but Luca puts a hand on my arm and shakes his head slightly. The look on his face keeps my mouth shut.
“Situation was out of his control,” Carmine snaps back. “You know that good as I do. Don’t be a prick.”
Rocco glares at his brother. “Easy for you to say. You were deep in the shit with him, weren’t you?”
“Motherfucker,” Carmine snarls, lurching toward Rocco, hands outstretched.
“Enough, god damn it,” Raf says, getting between the two older men as they glare at each other over him. “Carmine, stand the fuck down. You too, Rocco.”
