“You're right.”
That surprised her.
Dante pulled out a chair.
“Please sit.”
Nora remained standing.
“First, tell me why your father thinks he's related to me.”
Dante looked toward Salvatore.
The older man took a long breath.
“Pietro Rossi was born Pietro Gallo.”
Nora shook her head.
“No.”
“He was my younger brother.”
“My grandfather was from Prizzi. He came to America when he was twenty-three.”
“Yes.”
“He worked as a mechanic.”
“He raised my mother.”
Salvatore nodded.
“And he changed his name because of me.”
Nora felt a chill.
Salvatore stared at the tablecloth.
“Because I betrayed him.”
Thirty-two years earlier, Salvatore and Pietro had worked together in Sicily.
Their father operated a transportation company that secretly moved contraband through the island's ports.
Salvatore embraced the business.
Pietro wanted nothing to do with it.
The brothers fought constantly.
Then a shipment disappeared.
Several powerful men were killed.
And Pietro was accused of stealing money from the organization.
Salvatore knew his brother was innocent.
But admitting the truth would have exposed a deal Salvatore had made with a rival family.
So he stayed silent.
Pietro was beaten.
Threatened.
Forced to flee Sicily.
He escaped to America under his mother's maiden name.
Rossi.
Salvatore never contacted him.
Not because he couldn't.
Because he was ashamed.
Nora listened without moving.
“My grandfather worked double shifts at a repair shop for twenty years.”
“He should have inherited half our father's business.”
“He didn't want your business.”
The old man flinched.
Nora continued.
“He wanted a quiet life.”
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
Her voice trembled.
“He used to wake up screaming.”
Dante looked toward her.
“He never told me why.”
Salvatore covered his face.
This time Nora sat.
Not because he told her to.
Because her legs were shaking.
“Why now?” she asked.
Salvatore looked up.
“What?”
“Why are you telling me now?”
The old man stared at her.
“Because your grandfather is gone.”
Nora's eyes filled.
“And because I was too much of a coward to tell him while he was alive.”