Page 47 of Doll's Eye

“Does it matter?”

“Yes, it matters,” I growl. “It could have been just Angelo, and Massimo was out of the loop. You don’t even know what their work dynamic is like. They hardly word together! He knew Massimo wouldn’t go along with it.”

“You don’t know that!”

“Yes, I do! Massimo cares about me! He wouldn’t do that! And why would he? Why would any of them? Why would Angelo want us to marry if he just wanted to take us out?”

“It wasn’t Angelo’s idea! It was Massimo’s!”

“What?” I rear back.

“Massimo came up with the arrangement, not Angelo. In fact, Angelo was against it and wasn’t exactly secretive about it either.”

Okay, I can process all that later.One fire at a time. “Okay, but why would Massimo agree to the marriage if they were just going to killBabbo?”

“To sweeten the deal.”

“To sweeten the deal,” I parrot back dryly. “No. I don’t buy it. I’ll call him right now and find out.” I get up and go to leave. The sooner I talk to him, the sooner we can get this straightened out. We should all be focused on mourning the death of our father and praying for Mamma. Not pointing fingers and fighting.

“Good luck. It’ll be hard to call him without a phone.”

I come to a halt and then slowly turn around. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re without a phone and confined to the estate grounds until further notice.”

He is really testing my forbearance here. “You’re grounding me?Cazzata, Tullio. Give me my fucking phone back,” I demand.

“Not happening.”

“What the fuck, Tullio?!” I yell.

“I have a lot of shit to deal with right now. I’m not dealing with your tantrum. You can go.”

“This is insane! You can’t do this!”

“I can, and I just did.”

Staring at my brother as if he’s a stranger to me, I realize I can’t win this one. Not this time. “I’ll just use Gemma’s phone then.” I turn to leave again.

“Took hers away too.” I stop. “Don’t make me lock you in your room.”

I spin around now,fuming. All restraint flying out the window. “You wouldn’t dare,” I caustically hiss.

“If I have to, I will.”

“Santino wouldn’t let you do that,” I try using as a lame attempt.

“He’ll do whatever I ask of him. Especially if it has to do with your safety.”

“How is taking away my phone and locking me up keeping me safe?” He doesn’t answer. “Tell me!”

“You’ll just call Massimo and let him manipulate you.”

“So, now I’m some naïve neophyte that lacks intelligence and a mind of my own?”

“Didn’t say that, Alessia.”

“You pretty much implied it! You think I would be easy to manipulate! Same fucking thing!”

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