Indebted to the Mafia King
Death Wish

Eleni

I unpack the suitcase I packed so hastily when I left Dante's house into my closet, then pause. This is Dante's house, still, in my mind. And yet this room, this closet, is mine. I shared this bed with Mama. I've cried here, and been furious, and smiled for so long my face hurt. I run my fingers over the pillowcase and look around. Maybe Dante will let me paint this something other than drab tan. Or at least get new sheets.

For now, though, I need to study. I lost three days of study-time to learning everything I could about Dante. Sometime during my absence, someone installed a desk in the previously featureless guest room, which brings another smile to my face. Already, I'm making my mark on this place. I could even be happy here, a ferry ride away from the city. I put my laptop, now thankfully with the Wi-Fi back, on the desk and sit. Daydreaming later. Focusing... now.

***

"-do you mean you brought her back?" an unfamiliar man shouts.

I jump, my studying reverie suddenly broken. The sun set while I wasn't paying attention, and my leg aches from how long I've been sitting on it.

"You have...it's been like these last few years!" Dante replies, well above his normal speaking volume, but not so loud I can hear every word.

My heart skips a beat. Dante is fighting with someone. I glance at the closet. I could hide, just let the fight unfold. But it doesn't sound like a rival boss. They're shouting, but they're saying things, not just demanding the other stand down. "I get out, and...this fucking mess!" the unfamiliar man says.

I slide on a pair of slippers I've taken to wearing around the house, ease the door to my room open, and peer down the hallway. Nothing. They're definitely downstairs.

"I didn't ask you to stick your nose into this fucking mess, Uncle John!" Dante snaps, now much clearer. "You're not even supposed to be out yet."

A family fight, then. Dante can handle this on his own. I start to shut the door again.

"You're damn right I'm not," Uncle John says. "But I heard about this Calimeris girl on this fucking website, and I did the goddamn work to get me out and tell you."

My heart leaps into my throat. They aren't just having a family fight. They're fighting about me. I creep closer to the open wall of the hallway that looks over the foyer below. It sounds like they're in there, and I want to see. Dante rakes a hand through his dark hair, looking stressed and disheveled. "Yes, fine, I appreciate that."

The man across from him, Uncle John, has salt-and-pepper hair and the same olive skin as all these Italians, but I don't see anything that obviously marks him as Gianna's dad as he shakes his head.

"I keep telling you, Dino, and you're not listening." He takes a step closer to Dante. "You gotta fucking listen."

I mouth the word "Dino" to myself as I sit in front of the railing, lingering over the long "I" in the middle. Surely a childhood nickname. Any other time, I would've been delighted to have another piece of Dante, but he's clearly angry. "What do you want me to do?" Dante flings his arms out. "It's a fucking website. I can't exactly raid it and take it down."

"I want you to get out. You're in way too fucking deep." Uncle John shakes his head. "And I don't even know if you can see that."

"What, because Luca Lombardi's come up with a sick new game to lure me out?" Dante's eyebrows shoot up. "Please, tell me why Eleni's picture being posted on some dark web site with a dead or alive bounty makes me in too deep. Because I'm pretty fucking sure all it makes me is about to start hunting this fucking guy."

My mouth falls open. I wedge my slippers between the bars of the railing like that will anchor me here. A bounty? The phrase "dead or alive" shivers over my skin. Luca can't get me in here, right? Do I really trust a few guards enough to take a final with a bounty on my head?

Can I really bear disappointing Baba's spirit if I don't?

"See, that's exactly what the fuck I mean." Uncle John shoves Dante lightly. "You're falling right into his trap! Obviously, he posted about this girl because he knows he can get to you like that. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, how the fuck did you let him know? How can you not see the mousetrap?"

Dante grits his teeth as he obviously holds back the desire to shove Uncle John. I wrap my hands around the railing to keep myself in place as my own temper flares. I don't know exactly who Uncle John is to Dante, but I know Dante is the boss, and nobody should be able to treat him like that.

"I see it, Uncle John," he says. "I'm not stupid. He's obviously ready for me. So I'm going to start small, find some no-name soldier, and work my way up the fucking ranks until he has nobody to be ready for me with." Uncle John grabbed Dante's head. "Fucking listen to me. Drop the girl. She's not worth the trouble."

I study Dante. He flinches visibly back, though Uncle John doesn't let go, and he looks like he's been slapped. He looks hurt. Despite all the anger swirling around, my chest warms a little. He doesn't think I'm too much trouble. Then, he puts his mafia-boss armor back on, and my stomach sinks to my toes. Suddenly, I'm looking at Baba squaring his shoulders as he marches into the living room. Dante cares about me deeply. Maybe even enough to put himself in a lot of danger.

Uncle John shakes his head and releases Dante. "But hey, who the fuck am I? Just the kid brother who got his ass arrested. If you've got a fucking death wish bad enough to want to drive your dad's organization into the ground, more power to you."

Wow. I rock back at the change in energy. My foot slides out of my slipper, and my pulse thunders so loudly in my ears that I can't hear Dante's response, if he says anything, as I grab for it. My fingers graze the edge of the heel and catch. It drops out of my grip and slaps against the floor below. As one, Dante and Uncle John look from the slipper to me reaching through the railing. My face flames, and I yank my arm back. My second slipper falls in the process, adding insult to injury.

"Come on down and meet my uncle," Dante calls, his voice carefully neutral. "I think you left your slippers in the foyer anyway."

That doesn't do anything to assuage my blush or the guilt churning in my stomach. I try to fix my T-shirt and pad down the stairs. Dante and Uncle John are in hushed conversation when I reach the bottom, and they whip away from each other, both frowning.

"Uncle John, this is Eleni Calimeris," Dante says. "El, this is Uncle John, Gianna's dad."

I smile my customer-service smile as old training snaps into place.

Uncle John steps forward with his hand out. "Calimeris, huh? I think I knew your brother when he played ball with Dino."

I grab his hand to shake. "Yes, we were very proud of Christos."

Uncle John looks back at Dante like this means something. I swallow a frown.

"Well, I'm sorry I disturbed you," Uncle John says. "I'm just out of the clink today, and that never puts a man in the best mood."

"I understand that," I chirp, still shaking his hand. "I mean, I've never been to jail, but I've had some awful bad days."

"Try five years," Uncle John replies.

My smile is frozen on my face. I can't let go of his hand. He maybe broke out of prison to tell Dante I had a bounty on my head.

"It was lovely meeting you, El." He claps his other hand around mine, then pries my fingers off. "I hope you enjoy the rest of the short time you've got in this life." My stomach drops to my toes.

"And Dino." Uncle John turns to him and just shakes his head. "You inherited your dad's thick fucking skull. Try not to bash it against so much bullshit you break it."

He spins on his heel and marches out through the front door without another word. Dante and I stand in the foyer, feet or miles apart, and stare at each other in painful silence.