Aftermath by S. W. Frank Page B

back, but along with it, came a tracking system so he could stay abreast of their whereabouts. They needed constant supervision and after last night’s escapade, he warned the guards, if there was one more incident, they’d have hell to pay.
    Their little escape route was closed and from now on, if they so much as got out of line, he promised they’d see him back here alright, to ship their asses to boarding school until they turned eighteen.
    He stood and stuffed the phones in his pocket, retrieved his suitcase and headed downstairs to say good-bye to Bianca. Ari was packed and ready, waiting in the car with the boys. He hastened his steps. In the corridor, he glanced around, one last time, thinking how different this family’s lives were going to be without Alberti’s presence. Obviously, he was a doting father and loving husband and his absence was certain to be missed. He inhaled and his nostrils flared. He would come as often as possible to visit. This was his family and their protection an additional responsibility.
    “Nico?”
    He spun around to see one of the girls. She must have recently got out of bed. This was Madeline, the quietest of the pair. He could tell them apart. Twins often can. “Yeah, Madeline.”
    “We’re sorry.”
    Was she crying? He put down his suitcase and walked to the girl, “Come here, you.” He dwarfed her and pat her petite spine as he hugged her tight. “Listen to your mother. Be good.”
    “I wish you could stay , fratello, ” she sobbed .
    His lips pressed tightly together as the girl gripped the side of his jacket. When she finally stopped crying he spoke, “I’m only a c all away. I put my number in the phones. You can call if you need to talk or just want a big brother, how about that?”
         She sniffled, “Okay.”
    He kissed the top of her hair, reached inside his pocket for the phones and placed them in her hand. “No talking on the phone and driving or any of that nonsense , c apisce?”
    She nodded.
    “Where’s your sister?”
    “Sleeping.”
    “Alright, tell her I said bye and I’ll come soon to see how you’re doing, alright?”
    Another nod.
    Nico tipped her chin up with a finger , “ Ci vediamo presto , sorellina . Ciao , ” then gave her forehead a lingering kiss . He’d be back. This was his sister. He’d lost Vincent and gained double siblings. Yes, he would never distance himself emotionally from family again. They were the anchors keeping him from becoming a lost man. He stepped away, gave her a reassuring smile as he picked up his suitcase and went to say his farewell to the widow.
    When Nico joined his family, he carried beneath his arm a small chest, which he immediately secured in the trunk along with his suitcase.
    He slid in the front seat next to the driver and discreetly examined Ariana in the rearview mirror. She looked pretty, emotionally distant, but pretty. The goddamn woman was stubborn. He turned forward and looked straight ahead.
     
     
     
                                                   ****
     
     
    During the flight to New York Nico gazed out the cabin window into darkness . The black was touched by a n invisible tiny painter’s brush with drips of white sparkles. He was tired, emotionally drained to the core. He thought of the woman in the closet. He usually didn’t think of his victim’s, but tonight he did because when he killed the helpless woman he told himself he was wiping clean evidence. Yet, the fatal blow to the heart was the death blow of a relationship’s end.
    Ariana unbuckled her seatbelt and came to sit next to him . He didn’t turn, merely inhaled her faint perfume and wondered why she didn’t keep her ass over there next to Darren.
    “What happened to your face, it wasn’t bruised the other night?”
    “Bumped it.”
    “And your lip. You bumped that, too?”
    The nostril’s flared, “Is this an interrogation Ari…are you playing lawyer