“I’m not afraid of your family.” Massimo leans in closer to Sergio, putting a hand on the bar to steady himself.

Meanwhile, somewhere behind those black screens, Dario’s still pacing.

“Look, I’m just laying out the facts. You people already left a promise on the table. Signed and sealed. Dad to dad.” Sergio juts his chin toward me. “Lucari’s in the way.”

He’s talking about the marriage promise. I’m back, so it can be fulfilled once Dario’s dead. They don’t care if I love him. No amount of begging and pleading will save his life. I don’t care what happens to me after that. If a man doesn’t own me, they can broker a deal for me to marry Sergio. They can hollow me. They can kill me. It doesn’t matter. If Dario’s dead, it just doesn’t matter.

“I need him alive.” I blurt.

They both turn toward me.

I point at the blank screen behind the bar. “He took me. He stole me from my family and the only life I ever knew. He’s a monster, and you promised I could spit in his face.” I’m not being taken seriously. “Once he’s dead, I won’t be a man’s wife. If no one owns me and you decide I’m a traitor, you’re going to hollow me.”

“Stop it.” Massimo waves off my concern. “I won’t let that happen.”

“That’s the rule and you know it. Even with you at the head of the table, that’s the rule. And it’s not like there’s another Colonia family who’ll have me now. I’m a ruined traitor.”

They can do it to me. I’ll never be his.

“Sarah!” My brother barks my name, annoyed with this female distraction. “I’ll take care of it.”

“He did that to me.” My voice hits so high it breaks. “I deserve what I came here for.”

Sergio is stock-still for a moment before he holds up his hands, palms facing each other, and brings them together with a loud clap. He does it again and again… slowly applauding. “Brava, muffin. Really. I’d like to see for myself just how much of a badass you are. Assess the value of my investment. Tell you what. I’ll go with you to see him.”

Massimo puts himself between Sergio and me. “You can go home.”

“Right, but what I was trying to say… I like the Colonia. You guys got a lot of shit sorted out. Kids aren’t running off to law school then taking you to court. Back home, our guys were robbing ice cream trucks and getting busted by their own cousin. It’s embarrassing, but you know, it’s someone else’s problem now. You and me, we’re gonna be like brothers.”

The two men stand off. We’re not going to get rid of Sergio. He’s got his hooks in us. I’m not sure Massimo—who caught a beating for wearing our father’s shoes—is capable of killing him.

I follow my brother to Ray’s car but stop in the middle of the sidewalk.