The door burst open and Primo strode into the room. He took one look at Gianna and Constantine, and closed the door behind him. “What is this?” He spoke in Italian, the only indication of his concern. “What has happened?”
Constantine swiveled to confront him, leveling an accusing finger in Gianna’s direction. “She took away The Inferno. Make her give it back.”
Primo froze for an instant. Then his mouth dropped open and he blinked in astonishment. Tilting back his head, he roared with laughter. “Give it back?” Tears filled his eyes, making them glitter like ancient gold and he fumbled for a handkerchief to wipe the dampness from them. “Is this a joke?”
“It’s no joke,” Constantine said through clenched teeth. “She released me. I want you to make her give me back The Inferno.”
Primo patted his pockets until he came up with a cigar. “Give it back,” he repeated, still chuckling.
“Primo, you can’t smoke that in here,” Gianna informed him quietly. “It’s against the law.”
“Phft. These laws do not apply to me. I am what they call ‘grandfathered in.’“ But he did refrain from lighting up. He clamped the cigar between his teeth and leveled Gianna with a look. “Spieghi lei.”
She didn’t want to explain. Couldn’t explain. Couldn’t tell her beloved grandfather the truth about his son and daughter-in-law. Definitely couldn’t tell him what she’d learned about The Inferno. “Primo—”
“Subito!”
She shrugged, surrendering to the inevitable. “Constantine’s right. I took back The Inferno. I released him.”
Primo raised his eyes heavenward. “Santa Maria, Madre di Dio. What has gotten into you, Gianna? There are no take backs in The Inferno.” He wavered between laughter and outrage. “Where did you hear such nonsense?”
She hesitated. One look at her grandfather’s expression warned that he’d have the answer from her, no matter how long it took. “Uncle Dominic and Aunt Laura.”
Primo stiffened. “Dominic,” he repeated. Spinning around, he crossed to the door and yanked it open. “Get Severo. Now.”
Her cousin Sev entered a moment later. He was followed by his wife, Francesca, and Constantine’s sister, Ariana. An instant later her parents slipped into the room, along with her grandmother, Nonna. They settled her in a chair not far from Gianna. That opened the floodgates and the entire family piled in behind them.
“This concerns all of us,” Alessandro informed his father. “La famiglia.”
And that said it all.
Reluctantly Primo nodded. He took a seat beside Gianna and gathered her hands in his. Constantine sat behind her, his solid warmth at her back, a supportive hand on her shoulder. Her family encircled the three of them, love and concern flowing from them in palpable waves.
“You have often been a chiacchierona when you should not,” Primo said, though kindly. “Perhaps this is one of the times you should have chattered more and chose instead to chatter less. From the beginning, Gianna.”
She spared Sev a swift look. Other than her grandparents, his reaction to her story worried her the most. “It was my thirteenth birthday. The day before Uncle Dominic and Aunt Laura died.”
Almost in unison, the family crossed themselves. “We were at your uncle’s house to celebrate the occasion,” Primo prompted. “I remember that day.”
Her hands tightened within her grandfather’s warm hold. Behind her, Constantine gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Even at that young age, I was crazy about shoes.”
“So was Mamma,” Sev murmured.
“Yes. For my gift, she told me to go up to her closet and pick out any pair of shoes I wanted.” Gianna sighed at the memory. “I’d never seen so many lovely shoes.”
Constantine snorted.
Gianna took instant umbrage. “Believe it or not, she had even more pairs than I do. And her closet…” She sighed. Aware that she was getting a bit offtrack, she forced herself to focus. “I’d probably been up there for a full hour, trying on pair after pair, unable to make up my mind, when Uncle Dominic and Aunt Laura came into the bedroom. I was buried in the closet. They didn’t know I was there. Aunt Laura had probably forgotten. Or maybe she assumed I’d already left. They…they were fighting.”