Avarice by S. W. Frank

Author:S. W. Frank [Frank, S. W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781491248676
Google: 9bBAngEACAAJ
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2013-08-04T23:00:00+00:00

***

Giuseppe answered his cell when he noticed its origin. A sly smile transformed his stern face. “Cosa?”

“I need to talk to you about this bill.”

“But there is nothing to discuss bella,” he said walking around the low table in the living room with Gee following on his heels.

“I’m rolling up to your door right now. There’s a whole lot to discuss if you think I’m paying this!”

When she hung up Giuseppe howled. Ah, the game of women. How amateur. He walked to the door, swung it open and leaned against the frame until the car in which Shanda arrived in halted under the security lighting. He pushed off the wood and stepped atop the cold smooth stones with natural mosaics. The translucent snow had become watery and the ribbed socks clung to his feet. “Buongiorno donna!”

She marched past and entered the house with a grunt. He did not follow immediately; Shanda’s bodyguard had sought his attention to inform Giuseppe about the exchange with Signora Calbrese. “Grazie,” he replied. After the death of Geovonna and the disappearance of her son, Signora Calbrese had become somewhat of a recluse. The rumor is she prayed each night and lit candles wishing for her son’s return, but of course he would not. Alfonzo had ensured the scum was fish bait and the likelihood of a resurrection was nonexistent.

A parent’s mourning lasts a lifetime. If he had sympathy for the woman, it would be he could not give her death and end her imprisonment of sorrow. She was the daughter of a former Capo with a ruthless reputation. She was of their lot, yet behaved as if she were not.

Giuseppe looked at the sky. Swirls of thick gray smoke flew slowly by a bright fluorescent moon. Perhaps there was a trick that occurred to the eyes because the moon seemed to turn and present a side view. Why in this moment did he think of his fratellino? Something in his voice besides illness was there when they spoke today. What trouble lay on Alfonzo as always that could not be taken away?

Alfonzo stressed too much about concerns he could not change. The iridescent light high above was untouchable by lowly men. It sat to rule until the sun shouldered in or space shuttle landed, but the astronauts could not breathe the air for the gases and wore protective gear filled with oxygen.

Alfonzo was like the moon. Many wanted to venture there, but not many would survive the noxious air. He teased his fratellino often about the position, but in truth, he never wanted it and neither did the man who raised him. Troublesome is the man who holds the seat and wears a ring others want to chop from his hand. He was what Carlo was to Luzo, the swordsman.

Only the cold ushered Giuseppe indoors or else he may have stood in observation of the firmament until dawn with a wrinkled brow. A somberness he hadn’t felt before held him there too long. Such heaviness is not what he was accustomed to or this black mood when he thought of his brother.

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