Swimming with Sharks (47 page)

He stared at the letter in his hands silently. Fury consumed him. How dare Constanzia? She had packed her bags and disappeared like a thief in the night without even uttering a word. He crumpled the paper angrily and threw it away. Silvio and his sons stood in front of the desk
with embarrassed faces while Sergio paced up and down the large room furiously.

“How could she do this?” he roared. “How dare she? Didn’t I give her everything that a woman dreams of? Didn’t I buy her everything she wanted? She has countless servants. Three cars!”

“Mama was very unhappy,” Domenico said carefully. “And after Cesare’s death—”

“Unhappy, ha!” Sergio cut him off. “She made him into what he was! A good-for-nothing, spoiled, and ungrateful brat! He was cowardly and dumb to boot!”

He felt like killing someone with his bare hands, which is why these three men who knew him well prudently remained silent.

“Domenico,” Sergio ordered, “bring all of the domestic workers here, right now. I want to know where she went. The last thing I can afford right now is the headline that my wife…”

He fell silent. He couldn’t bring himself to say his wife had left him out loud. How could Constanzia humiliate him like this? If he’d wanted to get divorced, then it was up to him to do so, but the fact that she’d run away was more than his vanity could take.

“I told you to get them!” he yelled at his younger son. “
Pronto!
”

Domenico shot him an upset look and disappeared.

“How could she do this to me?” Sergio continued his restless pacing like a predator in a cage. “How could she expose me like this?”

“But, Papa,” Massimo tried to argue, “she didn’t expose you at all. No one but us knows about this.”

“Soon everyone will know!” Sergio yelled. “Everyone will make fun of me!”

“Ahh, I don’t believe that.”

“Shut up!” Sergio snarled at his son. His face was pale with anger. “She makes me look like an idiot in front of my people. I’ll never forgive her for that! Sergio Vitali left by his wife! That’s unheard of!”

Sergio’s anger wasn’t really about his wife. What really made him furious was the fact that Alex had lied to him. She had told him that she was with the Downeys on Long Island. But instead, she’d snuck behind his back to see Kostidis!

“Silvio,” Sergio said after a while, calming down, “make sure that Constanzia comes back here. I don’t care how you do it. But if I read a single line about it in the newspaper, you’re fired!
Capito?
”

Silvio nodded calmly. He had gotten used to his boss’s temper tantrums years ago.

“Hold on!” There was a cruel smile on Sergio’s face.

“Call Luca. I have a special job for him.”

Silvio nodded and left the room.

“What’s your plan, Papa?” Massimo asked, concerned. “What will you do with Mama?”

“Nothing.” Sergio waved his hand dismissively and walked to the bar to pour himself a whiskey. “I just want her to return to this house.”

“What about this special job?”

“It has nothing to do with your mother.” He downed the whiskey in one gulp. That damn bitch Alex was about to really get to know him! First she’d pretended that she couldn’t wait to get married and live with him, and then she met secretly with his archenemy!

Alex looked around her now-empty apartment as she waited for the movers to arrive. Maybe it was naive of her to think that she could escape from Sergio, but at least she no longer owed him anything. Alex checked her watch and lit a cigarette. Her thoughts drifted back to last Sunday. She was deeply touched that Nick put her safety ahead of her information against Sergio. She had assumed that he’d do anything to avenge the murder of his wife and his son, but the bombing and the shooting at the cemetery
had changed his mind. When he called her late Monday afternoon, they talked for nearly fifteen minutes. But he didn’t utter a single word about what Alex had told him on Sunday.

The doorbell rang right at that moment. Alex walked across her apartment, opened the door, and froze. Constanzia Vitali was standing in front of her.

“Excuse me for showing up unannounced,” Sergio’s wife said. “May I come in?”

“Umm…of course.” Alex was astonished and embarrassed at the same time. Had Sergio actually filed for divorce? Did his wife come here to make a scene? Constanzia Vitali stepped into the foyer.

Alex had only seen Sergio’s wife once before, and that was a year and a half ago. The woman had visibly aged since then. Deep wrinkles had settled into her face, and she had bags under her brown eyes. She couldn’t hide her unhappiness. She had lost her son, and Alex suspected Sergio did little to comfort his wife during this difficult time.

“You won’t be surprised to hear that I don’t want to see your husband anymore,” Alex said.

“You’re leaving him?” Constanzia raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“That’s my intention,” Alex replied.

“Well,” Constanzia said, smiling with wicked amusement, “then Sergio has been left by his wife and his lover on the same day. That’ll be a big blow for his ego and his pride.”

“You…
left him
?” Alex asked in disbelief.

“Yes.” Constanzia nodded and gave her a probing look.

Constanzia sat down in one of the rattan chairs and observed Alex, who was her absolute opposite in terms of appearance. She was silent for a while as she considered how to phrase her question.

“I have known Sergio since we were small children,” she began. “We grew up in Little Italy. Everyone knew everyone there. Ignazio Vitali sent
Sergio to a boarding school when he was six years old, shortly after his brother Aldo was killed by a rival gang.”

Alex was astonished because Sergio told her that his brother died of an illness, but she wasn’t surprised to learn he had kept the truth from her.

“Sergio only returned to the city after his father’s death,” Constanzia continued. “Ignazio, who was the
padrino
of the Genovese family, was essentially executed because he was in the way. My father was his successor. I didn’t understand the intricacies of the power structure among the city’s families back then. I fell head over heels in love with Sergio when I saw him at a girlfriend’s wedding, and I could hardly believe it when we got married just a short time later. I was deaf and blind with love and didn’t listen to my father’s warnings. However, I realized very quickly that Sergio didn’t love me.”

Constanzia’s face hardened when she remembered the humiliation that Sergio had caused her.

“When I was pregnant my husband cheated on me with every cheap whore on Mulberry Street, but I didn’t say a word, just like any good Italian wife. Sergio was much too busy becoming rich and powerful to be interested in what I was doing. He married me for just one reason—because I was Carlo Gambino’s daughter.”

Constanzia looked inquiringly at Alex.

“You’re not surprised to hear that Sergio comes from one of the city’s most powerful Mafia families, are you?”

“He told me that his father was a known killer,” Alex replied hesitantly.

“Pah!” Constanzia exclaimed. “Ignazio Vitali wasn’t just a killer. He was the feared enforcer of Lucky Luciano and Dutch Schultz—both of whom he later shot, by the way. But this is old stuff. They’re all long dead. Sergio bought the house in Mount Kisco after he made his first millions. It was terrible for me to live so far away from my family and friends, but Sergio thought it would be beneath his dignity to keep living on Mulberry Street. He bought the apartment on Park Avenue and only came home to
me every now and then. He’s always been an inconsiderate egomaniac, and our marriage was never worth more than the paper it was written on. Sergio always did what he wanted, and I knew from the very first day that he couldn’t resist a beautiful young woman.”

Alex blushed, but Constanzia didn’t seem to notice.

“As the years passed, our sons grew up and left the house. All of them, except Cesare.” Constanzia sighed heavily. “Sergio always despised Cesare. He was different from his brothers, weaker and not as intelligent. He was in trouble all the time, and I lived in constant fear of Sergio’s temper tantrums when Cesare got himself into hot water.”

She smiled sadly, and the tears shone in her big eyes.

“It happened on the day of Sergio’s birthday party last year, as you probably remember. Sergio threw Cesare out of the house, and he never came back. He called me every now and then, but I didn’t know where he lived or what he was doing. I was terribly worried about him. Whenever I tried to talk to Sergio about the boy, he got angry. A few days after the party, I heard that David Zuckerman had been shot. He and his wife were good friends with my eldest son and often came over to visit. I knew right away that Sergio was responsible for his death.”

Alex held her breath.

“Then came the day Sergio was shot. I wasn’t shocked when Massimo called to tell me that his father was injured. No, I wasn’t hysterical. I laughed. May God forgive me, but for a second I hoped that he was dead.”

She smiled briefly at her own ridiculousness, but quickly her expression turned grim.

“Cesare was arrested that very same night. When I learned that he was…dead, I almost lost it. I was sure that Sergio had something to do with his death. I accused him of it a few days later when he came home from the hospital. I screamed and said all kinds of hideous things to him. Everything that had accumulated inside of me over the years burst out, and I finally realized that it was the truth that I never wanted to see.”

Alex saw Constanzia’s tears, and she understood how this woman felt. Wasn’t she in a similar situation?

“On that day it became clear to me that I hated Sergio. I wished him dead. I decided to leave him right then, but I lacked the courage. Then I heard about the assassination attempt on the mayor that killed his wife and son. I know how much Sergio despises Mayor Kostidis. Even though he never talked to me about business, I witnessed enough in thirty years to put two and two together.” Constanzia shrugged her shoulders. “Sergio orders people who stand in his way killed. Ever since childhood, I’ve been used to people around me dying—but not from old age in their bed. My father was a Mafioso, just like my brothers and uncles, but my husband Sergio is the worst of them all—more brutal and ruthless than even Lucky Luciano or Al Capone ever were. He’s a criminal, and I know it. I’ve endured all of this for my boys through all these years. But now that Cesare is dead, I can’t go on like this anymore. All of the blood, violence, and death—it’s too much for my conscience.”

Alex felt as if a cold hand had grabbed her by the neck. All of the color vanished from her face.

“Sergio killed his own son?” she whispered, terrified.

“Yes,” Constanzia said, nodding, “not with his own hands, of course. He wouldn’t, because he has people for that. But I know he did. He was afraid that, under pressure in prison, Cesare would start talking. My son had to die for the same reason as David Zuckerman or the man at LMI who was supposedly run over.”

Alex swallowed frantically.

“Gilbert Shanahan?”

“Yes, I think that was his name. His wife told the truth. The poor woman would have been better off keeping her mouth shut. They put her into a psychiatric clinic, and now she’s wasting away in a padded cell.”

Alex’s mouth was dry as cotton. Once she took it all in, she was overcome with terror. Oliver was right. Gilbert Shanahan had been killed because he didn’t want to play the game anymore and tried to get out.

“Why are you telling me all this, Mrs. Vitali?” she whispered.

Constanzia looked at her.

“I came here to warn you and to ask you for something,” she said. “I overheard a conversation last Sunday evening. Natale Torrinio, one of the killers who works for Sergio, told him that he saw you at the cemetery with Mayor Kostidis.”

Alex tried to control her panic. Natale Torrinio—the man with the yellow eyes.

“Alex,” Constanzia said emphatically, “Sergio has caused enough grief and sorrow. I wish that I had the courage to stab a kitchen knife through his cold heart, but I’m too much of a coward for that. I want someone to put an end to his crimes. I want revenge for my dead son and for everything that this monster has done to me and my family.”

She leaned forward and grabbed Alex’s hand.

“I have an ally,” she said, lowering her voice, “but he and I won’t be able to do it on our own, although we could destroy Sergio with our knowledge. I need contact with someone who is powerful and fearless enough to support me with what I must do. I can’t simply go to the police or the US Attorney’s Office. Sergio would find out about it right away and have me silenced.”

She paused for a moment.

“Alex, you know the right people. You know the mayor. You can help me!”

Alex jumped up and desperately wrapped her arms around herself. Of all people, Constanzia Vitali had come to her for help! She felt miserable. If Sergio hadn’t even batted an eye at the murder of his own son, he certainly wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. What had she gotten herself into? And all of this because of her damned ambition, her arrogance,
her insatiable drive to belong in high society. She was a gangster’s whore, just what Oliver had accused her of being. All her work, her education—everything had been in vain! At thirty-seven, when others were getting their careers in high gear, her future was already over. She’d never be safe from Sergio again. Fear sprang to her eyes, and she turned around to face Constanzia Vitali. And somehow the woman was looking at her, full of hope.