Page 39 of Forbidden Surrogate

Mikey and Peter wait for me at the meeting point, slightly impatient at my lateness.

“I got your Aunt Viviana on the phone,” Peter says. “Told her I was you and that we were coming over late. She said as longas we use the basement entrance and leave the guns in the car, we’re fine.”

“Perfect.”

“She says she hasn’t been in contact with Carmine in three years,” Peter adds.

“Great.”

She survived the great rift between the families by staying out of the drama as much as possible, even after Carmine Corsini murdered her sister. Our aunt teaches painting at a college in Pittsburgh, though she might be retired now. Dad pays her handsomely for last minute housing like this, but she doesn’t approve of the family business.

Women in her generation lost too much to the image the media attempted to force the mob to uphold afterThe GodfatherandGoodfellas. Too many people died trying to make something fundamentally unglamorous look more like the movies. Parts of that showiness continue today, or we wouldn’t have erratic displays of power like what just happened in our city.

The three of us already know that heading to Pittsburgh might be a trap or an otherwise fatal mistake that costs our lives. If that happens, Angela will take care of Delphine and… I suppose I’ll have bigger problems.

“Let’s get out of here,” I tell them. “We’ll need our rest before meeting with the Corsini family.”

“I can do most of the talking,” Mikey offers. “But I don’t know how much good talking will do with that side of the family.”

I can only hope this doesn’t escalate. If my father gives the order, all three of us would follow it without a second thought.

Everyone in the family would kill for my father, Leandro Taviani. We might all be here for different reasons, but we have a bond that goes deeper than blood and family that leads to thefiercest loyalty towards my father and his vision for our city and bloodline.

Killing creates more problems than it solves. But it can be done. I’ve done it before… and to protect Delphine, I know I would kill easily again.

Pittsburgh, 2 weeks after leaving Delphine

The first meeting with Carmine Corsini’s leftover brats leaves much to be desired. Dario and Vito have to postpone the meeting for a few days to handle ‘family business’ in Boston. Carmine might have been a fearsome boss, but his sons leave a lot to be desired.

When their absence extends out another three days, we get suspicious and start questioning Aunt Viviana.

She stays out of the mafia business, keeps to herself and doesn’t involve herself with the family. As a woman, she has that privilege. As an older, unmarried woman, just about everybody prefers that she stay out of the way. I’m not saying I agree with it, but that’s just how it is with our family.

The girls keep in touch with her, though Carmine did an excellent job of estranging or murdering several of his children. Nina Corsini is closest to Viviana, even if Viviana isn’t her biological aunt. Viviana is an Amato, like my mother and Carmine’s more recently deceased wife.

Nina’s mother was from the Amalfi Coast Doukas family and she died mysteriously shortly after Carmine met my aunt Nora.The second wife he “lost”. Italian families are complicated… especially ours.

Aunt Viviana suspects us immediately when we whip up a delicious pasta dinner for her and I send Mikey out to splurge on the good wine. She’s one of those women who is so bitterly and aggressively Italian, that warming her heart is almost too easy. She loves good wine, good food, and the parts of her family that aren’t blood-stained.

She pours herself a glass of wine as Peter serves her the homemade rigatoni.

“What do you boys want? If it’s a loan, you should really be asking your father for that kind of money.”

“Not a loan. We need to know where Vito and Dario Corsini are,” Mikey asks in a serious, low tone. She laughs mockingly.

“Those idiots?”

They might be idiots, but they know what happened at 9th Circle, so I don’t want to discount their criminal prowess quite yet. I remain wary as Viviana responds.

“Yes, those idiots. Our father thinks they were involved in the Buffalo nightclub bombing.”

Viviana’s posture changes after I mention the bombing, although I don’t think it was a secret that the truce-breaking event was the real reason we were here. Her expression isn’t exactly surprising, however. She’s more… pensive. Mikey and I exchange glances.She knows something. And it won’t take that much wine to draw it out of her.

“You can tell us, Aunt Viviana,” Peter says, taking her hand. “We aren’t here to cause more bloodshed. We want to end it.”

It’s not the entire truth. If my father asks us for bloodshed, all of us in the room would obey without hesitation. Viviana’s eyes glance nervously around the room.

“With all due respect, Maury is the one you have to worry about. I’ve said it for years. Carmine might have killed my sister, but I trust his right hand even less than I trust him.”

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