The Eternal Secret by Mary Romasanta

Author:Mary Romasanta [Romasanta, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mary Romasanta
Published: 2024-05-21T00:00:00+00:00

31

ARMONON SALIVATED AS HE GAZED at the feast before him—the smell of fresh tomatoes, fragrant basil, and savory meats more pungent than he remembered. The pizza’s thin and crispy crust, covered in gooey melted cheese, called his name. He brought the pizza slice to his mouth, the generous amount of cheese pulling with each bite. “Yum,” he said with his mouth full.

Tonio’s father stepped up to the table.

“Here,” Armonon said, holding up the plastic bag like he was holding a rabbit by the ears.

“There’s way more than six million, Pà,” Tonio said. “I know, cause I counted it—way more if you count the other stuff.”

“Good job, kid,” Tonio’s father said, petting Armonon on the head. He looked inside the bag. “How’d you get it?”

“Pà, it was so neat. I saw the whole thing… I never seen nothin like it. It started when we were—”

“Stop talking,” Tonio’s father said. He inhaled deeply, pressing his lips together. “I’m sure you’ll tell me all about it sometime.”

“OK. So… What’s his job going to be, Pà? You gonna make him a thief?”

“No. He’s already a better thief than most my guys,” he said, his eyes fixed on Armonon. “He’s smart, fast, and gots quick reflexes. Full of potential—reminds me of me when I was his age.”

He paused, turning his gaze to Tonio.

“Besides, people who talk less…They listen more. Just what we need.”

“So if he’s not gonna be a thief, what’s his job going to be, then, Pà?”

There was silence.

“An assassin,” he replied. A wide smile spread across his face.

“You’re kiddin me!” Tonio exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. “Pà, that ain’t fair! That’s what I wanna be, and you told me no!”

“Tonio, you’re full-bred Italian. You’ll be a made man, like me,” he said, rubbing Tonio’s shoulder. “And when a made man needs something done on the street, we’ve got associates willing to handle most anything. That’s going to be Armonon’s job.”

He paused.

“That is, if you trust him.”

There was silence.

“Yeah, I trust him,” Tonio said, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. “Molto non giusto,” he muttered under his breath.

“Scusa? What’d you say?” he said, looking at Tonio with a stern and fiery glare.

“Niente,” Tonio replied. “Niente.”

“That’s what I thought.” He turned to Armonon. “What do you say, kid? You want the job?”

He nodded, unsure of what he was signing up for, but the details weren’t necessary. Yes, he had lost track of the number of times he felt the urge to punch Tonio in the face to shut him up, but he had become the closest thing to a family he had. At this point forward, he was no longer an orphan that merely existed. He was a coveted student on his way to the confines of an ancient monastery, a secret gift to the mafia from a former pope—one of many little-known exchanges between the organizations. No longer in the care of the nuns who merely tolerated him at the orphanage, he was now on a path of secrecy and lethal precision, guided by notorious assassins.

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