“If Sergio finds them…it doesn’t matter who you are—every Colonia family will side with him. You’re going to end up dead in a ditch, Emo.”

“Stop it. Jesus. You need to get pregnant before you grow a dick.” He must see my confused expression, because he waves at me as if to suggest I should just forget it. “There’s a lot going on. I’m trying to keep a lid on what happened to Dafne… what they did… these fucking assholes.” He thrusts his hand at the door Ray, Timo, and Uncle Caesar walked out of. “The older guys—Uncle Caesar and them—they knew, and now we all know.”

“All the men, you mean.”

“Whatever. They’re thinking, ‘wow, what a great deterrent,’ and you know what? They’re right. Wife gets out of line? Look at her like you’ll scrape her pussy off. Watch how fast she shuts up. And there was more shit Dad was going to loop me in on”—he snaps up a piece of paper and flicks it to the other side of his desk—“and I’m like, fuck. I can’t stop it, and I can’t be like ‘whatever’ about it.”

I don’t know what he’s talking about, but Oria’s story wasn’t made up. It’s all so horrible I have to sit.

“Those cells downstairs.” I slide my hands between my knees, trying to look as harmless and stupid as he expects. “Why were they built? There are more than you’d ever need for the odd traitor.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He rubs his face so hard that when he lowers his hands, his eyes are red. “I don’t need this shit with Sergio, or Lucari, or you.”

One of those problems is mine too.

“Sometimes, Dario would talk about his day.” I put my hands on the arms of the chair. “This guy or that guy annoyed him. Or once he asked me to rub a sore shoulder. When I asked him why he was so sore on one side, he said something like, ‘If you want to go through a door, you have to open it yourself.’ So, I know. I’ve heard it all before.” I push up and stand. “Being in charge is hard. I don’t know why everyone—Dario, you, Sergio—want it so bad you’ll kill each other for it.”

I turn to leave, figuring this opportunity has passed and I’ll have to find another to prod my brother into seeing his prisoner.

“He told you things,” Massimo says as I reach for the doorknob. I let my hand drop. “About what he does.”

“Sometimes.” I turn and fold my hands in front of me, staying harmless. “In the right moments. He’d be vague about it.”

“You’re right about one thing. If Sergio brings those women home, I’m as good as dead. He’ll be sitting in this chair.”

“If you say so.”

“I have to be the one to find them.”

“He’ll never tell you where they are, Massimo.”

“But he may tell you.”

My head is already bowed, so the smile I’m fighting is already hidden from him.