Page 33 of Ribbons and Roses
“Mommy, can we go play with our Cosmic Man toys outside?” Dominic calls excitedly. He and Bryce have gathered the action figures in their arms to haul them off.
“You can if you stay right on the terrace. Only for an hour.”
“Yes, Mommy! Let’s gooo!”
“Race you!”
Dominic and Bryce take off like rockets jetting through the room. Sasha and I both call out to them with reminders to walk and be careful.
“Boys,” she sighs, sipping more from her spiked eggnog.
“You should’ve seen me when I was their age. Pretty sure I gave my ma some white hairs.” Stitches whistles.
“I’m going to go make sure they slowed down.”
I’m clutching my mug of mulled wine as I follow in the boy’s wake. The kitchen is empty, the backdoor hanging ajar. I cut across the room with brows knitting at the lack of sound. The only thing I can hear is the background chatter from the next room.
Dominic and Bryce are normally so loud we often have to ask them to tone it down.
“Dom!” I call, reaching for the half open door. I pull it open and step out onto the terrace. My heart freezes midbeat inside my chest.
Their action figures are in an abandoned heap on the floor.
I look up to see them both ten feet away with eyes wide from fear and their hands up. I’m stepping forward to go to them when someone’s heavy hand grips me by the shoulder first.
There’s a click next to my ear, then a cold, hard barrel pointed against my spine.
“Don’t move, Mrs. Mancino,” comes the voice. “How about we head inside the house and finish this Christmas celebration?”
12
delphine
I can’t breathe.I can’t think.
I’m stuck in the moment as Paulio Belini prods his handgun into my spine. I recognize his pallid, scowling face from my years as an ADA in Northam. Time has matured his once boyish features, making them sharper and more angular. His head of chestnut hair has started to recede, giving him a severe widow’s peak.
Two of his henchmen appear on either side in front of me, coming out of hiding. One has his gun pointed at the kids while the other’s shoving along none other than Marcel.
My jaw drops open as if to scream his name, then I clamp it shut again.
I’m still so lost as to what the hell’s going on, I can’t even react properly. Fear and anxiety have coalesced into a single feeling that leaves my pulse thumping dangerously fast.
Dominic and Bryce are my concern first and foremost. Both boys blink at me, on the verge of breaking out into tears.
It makes me want to cry too. Cry because their innocent little minds are being warped by the demented men who have wandered onto the property and pointed guns at us.
Forcing a breath into my lungs, I urge myself to stay calm. “You’re making a mistake,” I say slowly. “Whatever it is you want, you can’t think you’ll get it by threatening me and the boys.”
“So it’s true!” Paulio grunts out a laugh. “Delphine Adams really does think she can tell guys like me what to do. Hey, sweetheart, you think I’ve forgotten what you did to my cousins Giorgio and Hector? I was a rubber-necked kid when you were fucking with them, but none of that’s about to go unpunished now. Bet you wish you hadn’t sent your security on some wild goose chase tracking down your brother. Turns out, he was with us the whole time.”
I barely have a clue what he’s speaking of. Clearly, no matter how many years it’s been, he’s harboring a grudge.
“Anything you’re upset about, we can discuss, Paulio. After you let the boys back into the house.”
“What did I just tell you? You don’t call the shots anymore. Believe it or not, this isn’t even about you. See this one?” Paulio uses the Glock he’s pressed into my spine to wave toward Marcel. “He’s in deep trouble. Quite the gambler. You know how much debt he’s in?”
My gaze snaps to Marcel’s, who avoids looking directly at me. His expression blanks, only his tight jaw giving him away. He’s simply too prideful to address it.