Too Late, Mr. Capo: Watch Me Shine

l dress my husband demanded and made his favorite tradit

ountain, he played a voice

er phone and coat. Let's see if sh

actually pulled over, dragged me

s smear campaign. He claimed I abandoned him to sleep with the groundskeeper who saved my life. He filed for a

diamond anniversary necklace. They thought the freezing cold and poverty would break my spir

had the hidden dashca

his arrogant face and prepared to show the Dons

pte

a

itiello, stepped into the diner. He held a designer bag in one hand and

oom that smelled of garlic and simmering tomatoes, he woul

uthless family in the city. He controlled the

aze-these were instruments of fear. Men bowed to him. Women w

ng neon sign casting a buzzing, int

arried the threat of a razor's edge. "Are you done

that night struck me not as a thought, but as a

preparing a traditional family broth for him, the chill of the evening already seeping through the thin

had pulled up close behind us, its

up. It was a voice message in his 'B

ead, the saccharine voice of Mia, his secretary, filled the car's interior. A muscle jumped in h

er on the roadside. Take her telephone and her coat. Let u

ith a chorus of coarse laughter. They called it

stomach. "Who is Mia?" I asked, my voice thin a

e road. "A girl from the office.

e car over to the jagged edge of

ole, his fingers digging into the flesh of my up

bare skin. I stumbled on the loose gravel, my knees scraping r

r and grabbed my phone, my wal

ehind us, rolled down his window. "B

a cigarette, his face impassive in the brief flare of t

is voice devoid of all warmth. "She wil

. "Call the Capo and confess your sins, Nia!" she sho

og by the shed, startling a raven from the pines. He did not look at me, but turned and walked back t

o the present. The thick, savory scent of roasted garlic and simmering t

tep back from Franco,

apron over his broad chest, his arms lightly dusted with white flo

through Dante's, the solid warmt

t the Capo who ha

" I said, each word a carefully placed sto

hand drop. The arrogant sm

mal?" Franco demanded, taki