Page 58 of The Demon
“What do you mean?” Angelo’s voice is hard and suspicious, and Baron shakes his head.
“I heard on the streets that Massimo was searching for a nanny, which made me wonder what he was playing at. Like you, I was unaware he had a child, and I suppose I added up the dates and came to the right conclusion.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Alessandro roars but Baron doesn’t even flinch and merely shrugs.
“Because none of us were in any position to help Winter. All I could do was send in my own form of protection to keep your baby safe until we worked out how to free her. To be honest, I was fighting my own war, and it involved your father, Eliza.”
“My father!” Eliza appears shocked and Baron nods, his wife’s hand resting on his shoulder, offering him a small comfort for something that is affecting the usually controlled man by her side.
“Giovanni Ortega married my aunt. My mother’s sister.”
“What?” Eliza’s voice is shocked and disbelieving and Baron nods, watching her reaction with interest.
“I don’t understand.” She says with confusion, and I’m amazed when Baron’s eyes flash with anger and he snaps, “She ran away from home to be with him, and nothing mattered buthim. She cut all ties with her family to remain in a life of torment with him.”
Eliza’s eyes are wide as she struggles to understand, and I grab hold of her hand and squeeze it supportively as Baron explains. “I was a small child when my mother took me to visit her. She told me to go and play, but I listened at the door.”
Angelo says under his breath. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
Baron shrugs. “I listened to my mother pleading with her to return with us. That Giovanni was a violent man, and she believed he treated my aunt badly, something my aunt backed up when she told my mother she was scared of him.”
“Why didn’t she leave with your aunt?” Eliza says quickly and Baron shakes his head in disgust. “Because she loved him. Those were her words that damned her to hell. My mother pleaded with her, but my aunt told her that she could handle Giovanni. She had told him he would be a fool to touch her because she had a connection with the Mafia King who was watching over her.”
We all sit up and take notice because now we’re getting somewhere.
“The Mafia King?”
Angelo says quickly, “We understand that Massimo was searching for him too and formed an alliance with Malik’s father to discover his identity.”
Baron just laughs out loud. “There is no Mafia King. It was my aunt’s way of controlling her husband. She made him believe there was somebody more powerful than him and it drove him mad trying to discover his identity.”
“Then why did he call himself the Mafia King if he thought there was someone else with that title?” I speak up and Baron laughs softly. “To flush him out, I guess. That if therewasa Mafia King, he would make himself known just to prove that Giovanni was an imposter.”
“Which didn’t happen.” Angelo says almost to himself and then the atmosphere changes in the room as Baron’s eyes flash and he turns to Eliza and almost appears sorry for her.
“Giovanni was getting desperate. He hated picturing someone out there who could bring him down and decided to take matters into his own hands. So, he came up with a plan.”
I swear there is not a sound in the room as we wait for him to finish his story, and he hisses. “He called his wife’s bluff. He murdered her in cold blood as an act of war against the Mafia King. If he existed, he would come for him, and Giovanni would be ready. He never did, which shoots down the theory that he ever existed in the first place.”
“My father killed my mother.” Eliza’s voice shakes as she stares at Baron in shock and he nods, “I’m sorry, Eliza, but you need to learn the truth.”
“So, it was you.”
I speak up and Baron sits back in his seat as he stares around the room with his malevolent gaze.
“I wanted him dead. When I learned of your intentions that day at Scarpetta to free Winter, I seized my chance. I sent in my man to escort Eliza and Frankie from the mansion before Angelo burned it to the ground and I knew that Malik would be the one to find her. Malik wanted his own father dead, and it was the perfect way to kill two birds with one stone, with no questions asked.
“Why didn’t you come to us? Why involve Frankie in this madness?” Angelo is angry and Alessandro looks as if he wants to murder Baron with his bare hands, so I step in and say coolly, “To set us all free. Honor the pact we made and end our misery while gaining retribution for his aunt’s murder. It’s a clever plan, Baron, but what would you have done if the plan didn’t work out?”
Baron shrugs. “I had a Plan B, of course.”
He looks around the room and his eyes fall on Winter holding her son and his gaze softens a little. “Above everything, I wanted to protect your child. He is innocent and didn’t need to be caught up in a war. I kept him safe and knew it wouldn’t take you long to finish this. I was relying on you, Malik, because your mind is much like my own. You keep emotion out of business decisions and that is what I needed to do. It was up to Malik to deal with his father. If I had taken that matter into my own hands, it would be wrong. It wasn’t my decision to make, but Giovanni was a different story. No, it was the best solution all round and this way we all get what we want. A few more weeks was a small price to pay for a lifetime of freedom, and I will not apologize for that.”
He stares at the rest of us with a hard look and in this moment, I truly believe he is more a member of this club than the rest of us put together. Baron has always been the man in the shadows and yet he’s always there, watching, waiting, and searching for the opportune moment to strike. He passed that on to Winter and I must hand it to him, he knows his stuff and I’m guessing the others come to the same conclusion because Angelo says with a sigh of relief. “Baron’s right. It needed to be that way because we all had our own battles to fight. It just so happened Malik’s and Baron’s were dealt with together and all that matters is that we have won. The blood pact we shared will always stand, but we no longer need to fight family. Weareone and from now on that counts for everything and it always will.”
He raises his glass to the entire room and as we all follow, we salute the only toast that matters.
“To Club Mafia.”