ATONEMENT (36 page)

Alfonzo was in a state of manic rage
the minute they
arrived in Italy and they did not know what
set him off. On the plane he sat in a corner, drinking as everyone slept. Everyone except the two men
,
who saw murder in his eyes and knew
trouble
brew
ed
. The family was placed in a different car under
Vincent’s
instruction and transported to the guest house
.
Whatever, transpired he did not want the children to witness. Alfonzo was out of control, rambling murderous threats
geared
toward Nico and
his wife
to the point Vincent remove
d
his gun under force –but he could not restrain the powerful younger man without causing him injury and this he couldn
’
t do.

“Alfonzo, what’s going on in your head, primo?” Domingo asked, now highly concerned for the object of his cousin’s fury. Hearing Selange’s name being shouted brought a higher degree of anxiety because he lost control once and in the heat of the moment caused such pain to the one’s he loved, it would take a lifetime to repair. “
Primo
,
calmarse
, remember –walk away…cool down
!
”

Alfonzo rush
ed
the stairs, liquor having no effect on his balance. All Vincent and Domingo could do was keep pace, try to hold him
back before he reached Selange. They were at his side, grappling with him but he was agile and swift; avoiding their hold heading straight toward the woman
whose
brilliantly bright eyes suddenly died at the sight of him.

The music stopped.

“Why, goddammit…why?”
He bellowed when she faced him.

He was moving, fast
and
unchecked
until
Vincent caught him
and
held him
motionless
. Vincent
wonder
ed
what
Nico or
Selange
had done to
elicit such rage.
Then his face contorted, hoping Nico hadn’t done the unthinkable.

S
elange
was frozen in place, standing alone
. Her eyes
were on Alfonzo.
In the
pair of
sky blue
’s
she could tell…he found out…somehow he learned about her and Nico.
What she did not expect w
ere
the bodies
beginning to
surround her in a protective shield. Even Alfonzo’s stepsisters were at her side in support. Her eyes were running silent tears and
they
stain
ed
her silk dress. She could not take her eyes from him because he was free of the men and charging until Sophie,
Crystalia
and Marcella closed rank.

“Let me through…dammit…I need to talk to my wife!”

“Talk, but this is as far as you go!” Sophie shot back.

He looked over their heads at his wife, her grief confirmation of what he suspected. “You lied to me…” He pound
hard on his
chest and roared. “What the fuck did I do t
o
deserve this…goddammit…help me under
stand
,
why
babe...what did I do to you
?”

“Alfonzo I’m sorry…” she whined, “please…not here…not in front of everyone!”

“Here
’s
as good a
place
as any, you’ve been lying to me for months…I trusted you.” He snarled, “Fucking look at me, look at me!”

She was crying holding on to Adrianna
, frightened by the fury displayed in his body language.
She couldn’t talk to
him;
he was
beyond irate
and perhaps drunk
. He would
n’t understand because she wasn’t able to
comprehend the reasons
her heart splintered in two pieces.
Maybe, she was
n’t
whole when it
did
and too weak to prevent it.

Amelda
hugged her as she sobbed and his rants boomed like the bass of a drum. “I
’ll
kill him…
do you hear…he’s a dead man and
I swear if you weren’t the mother of my children I’d.
.
.”

“
You’d
what?” A harsh voice asked through the
tension filled
stillness.

Her head lifted
when she heard
Nico
’s voice
. Nico moved at
full speed right
toward Alfonzo and
his fist
impact
ed across Alfonzo
’s face and sent him
crashing toward
the women. Everyone
shrieked
and
mov
ed
out of
the
way as Alfonzo
scrambled to his feet
. Alfonzo answered back
and threw a kidney punch and an upper cut which Nico blocked
then
swung at Alfonzo
and
he ducked then
tackled
the larger man
. Both men
went
crashing
over tables. They were brawling from one side of the room to the other, denting the walls and at times it felt like an earthquake occurred.
There was shouting, screams to stop them from every direction. Pandemonium ensued as her secret was broadcast to the world.

“
I trusted
y
ou
Nico
and y
ou slept with
my wife
you
sonovabitch!”

                                               
***

Selange was escorted upstairs out of harm’s way by the women. Guards flowed past them, running, shouting in Italian for the women to go. Sophie directed
Amelda
to take charge of her and spun around in the opposite direction to go back. She could not let anything happen to Nico. He was her flesh and
blood;
in spite of his transgression she would not
allow anyone to kill him
.

Selange was hysterical, choking through sobs, wailing at herself for what was happening. She was inconsolable. She didn’t want their hands on her anymore, she didn’t want their pity. She hated herself, despised every part she played in the nightmare unfolding below her feet.

The noise was deafening.
The s
mashing glass
and
loud booms shook the sturdy walls. They were
murdering
each other…

Her hand gripped the side of the wall as the women moved her along, she screamed they stop…shouted they halt
…they were slowing. They were spinning.

“Selange…Selange!”

Blurs of color
…
inaudible…quiet.

Selange stumbled
and was caught by Marcella before she hit the floor.

                                     
***

Nico’s clothes were bloodied. He was
being restrained by his brother,
being dragged apart from Alfonzo who continued pummeling his face with his fists.
Nico absorbed every one of them smirking, letting Alfonzo strike,
and looking
at the man with amused eyes. He could easily kill him, right here, right now. All it took was him to flip his brother over his shoulder, seize the younger man by the neck and snap it.
He could
do it
–but he chose not to.

They heard the women screaming, Nico heard orders being shouted in Italian for an ambulance and he spun away
, knocking his brother to the floor and bolted up the stairs with Alfonzo in pursuit.

Alfonzo sprint ahead of him and reached the woman being cradled in Marcella’s lap, before Nico. He knelt, lifting her
head
up, calling her name like a loving husband, asking her to wake
, directing someone to bring a cold towel
, t
aking charge of her care like a doting husband should
.

Nico stopped. He could do nothing else. The rage had dissipated from the man who only earlier was fueled with it. The man who would dare threaten his own wife, yet seeing him there brought Nico erect. He’d seen this scene before, only then, Selange had been shot. Blood stained the white shirt she wore and then as he was doing now, Alfonzo
held her, caressed her,
and stayed
by her side. Selange thankfully was okay, a fainting episode. The stress,
fragile dove
.

Vincent
scowl
ed at his twin brother, “You fucking bastard!”

“Shut-up!”

Vincent
suddenly put him Nico in a chokehold.
“What were you thinking
?”

Nico grappled with his equally strong sibling and they bounced against the wall
until Nico broke the h
eadlock
.
He elbowed his brother below the ribcage and their fight ended when
Sophie pulled at the two, “Stop! Stop enough!”

Vincent thrust Nico aside. “F
orget it
,
you
sonovabitch. If you weren’t my brother I’d…”

Nico breathed anger, “You stand in line,
I
heard that one already,
fratello
!”