Chapter 44

Author's Note: Whew, reposting chapters is hard work. I'll rest a while on this chapter. Why? Because it's got Pumpkin Pie in it and that's what you guys want! Yay Pietro! I know you guys missed him. Again thank you to my reviewers. Ziliverina, you were reviewing as I was reposting, lol, that was great, no you are not spamming, I love reader's comments so keep it up! You too Sky, spam now, I know you will now that Pie's back in the picture lol. Aw wittle Caspin, that's such a cute name. Yeah it would have been cool if Firefox and Piper had been read out. Mo kills all the best characters grrr! Damn you Mo!

"I just realised," Basta's self-described friend said as he and Dafne walked to the car, "I haven't introduced myself. I apologise. My name is Pietro."

"Yes I know," Dafne said, "I heard them calling you that."

"Ah but that's not the same as a personal introduction is it," Pietro replied.

Dafne shrugged. It made no difference to her. At this moment she was more preoccupied with resenting him. He was returning her to Basta's house like a truant child.

"And you are?" Pietro said, only to be met with frosty silence, "Oh come now. Why have you resumed giving me the silent treatment? I only want your name. I'm very curious. I'm sure it's a lovely name."

"Dafne," she mumbled, not swayed by his coaxing but the fact that she had a feeling he would keep persisting if she didn't.

"Dafne," Pietro said as if tasting a new fruit, "Dafne. Basta and Dafne. It has a ring to it, don't you think?"

Dafne didn't answer. She didn't like the amiable mocking in his voice. He made her uneasy too. Despite his genteel persona, there was an air of danger about him. She felt it instinctively.

"Hi. Who's this?" Nico asked as the two approached the car. He had obviously been too far away to pick up on any conversation.

"This is Dafne," Pietro replied, opening the car door for Dafne to climb reluctantly inside, "Dafne is Basta's girlfriend. We're going to take her home and pay Basta a visit."

Dafne heard Nico laugh in astonishment, presumably about the first part, not their destination.

"Are you serious?" Nico scrambled into the driver's seat and peered back at Dafne with fascination, "Are you really his girlfriend?"

Dafne crossed her arms, not liking the feeling of being gawked at.

"Yes," she growled.

Nico laughed again. He wore sunglasses but he pushed them back to reveal rather striking green eyes. To her surprise, he thrust out his hand to her,

"Nice to meet you," he said with a genuinely friendly smile, "I'm Dominic. But people call me Nico."

Dafne took his hand. He seemed harmless enough. She didn't get the same vibe from him as she did the man currently settling himself in beside her.

"Don't paw at her Nico," Pietro scolded, "I just told you she's Basta's girlfriend. Not for you. Now let's get moving."

Nico grinned,

"So Basta's place then," he said, snapping his sunglasses back over his eyes as he swivelled around.

"My, you are extraordinarily quiet aren't you," Pietro remarked to Dafne during the car ride. She hadn't spoken a single word. "Quiet as a mouse."

Dafne remained stony on the surface but she allowed herself to chuckle on the inside. Of all the animals he had to compare her to that one.

"Maybe she's just shy," Nico said, glancing back at Dafne with a smile, "I can put on some music if you..."

"No," Pietro cut in firmly, "None of that screaming you call music. Why do you think she would want to listen to that?" he looked at Dafne with a pained expression, "Believe me, it's dreadful."

Nico chuckled,

"Pietro, you sound like a cranky old man."

Dafne tensed. Nico was obviously a subordinate. It seemed unwise to say such a thing to his superior. She knew how fast Basta was bringing out his knife when one of the men insulted him.

But Pietro showed no signs of anger. He almost indifferently reached forward to pinch Nico's ear. Nico yelped and jumped in surprise, the car swerving slightly.

"Ow!" he whined, rubbing his ear.

Pietro settled back looking satisfied,

"Nico thinks he can get away with insulting me because he's family," he explained to Dafne, "But I'm not about to take cheek from my baby cousin."

"Cousin?" Dafne couldn't help herself from speaking. She was too surprised to learn they were related.

"Ah she speaks," Pietro said approvingly, "Yes we are cousins."

"Carlo too," Nico added brightly, having recovered quickly from the assault on his ear, "The one you were just with. And Dante. And Massimo. Have you met them?"

Dafne shook her head. She probably had seen them in the church but she only knew Carlo's name because he had been in her class.

"Do any of your family not serve Capricorn?" she asked dryly.

Pietro chuckled,

"Our family members like to be in the same line of business. Always have."

Before Dafne could ask him to explain this, Nico brought the car to a halt. She peered out the window to see Basta's house.

"Home sweet home," Pietro said to her.

"Wait," she said as he was reaching for the door handle. He paused and looked her expectantly, "I'm not supposed to leave the house on my own. Can you please not to tell Basta how we met when he gets in?"

She disliked asking him for this favour but she had to cover her tracks. Her excursion had been a failure. She didn't want the extra unpleasantness of Basta finding out and rebuking her.

"Of course," Pietro said, patting her hand reassuringly until she moved it away uncomfortably, "We won't say a word."

His touch left a prickling sensation that lingered as she opened the door and showed them inside. She was relieved they had beaten Basta home but she hoped he would return soon.

"So Basta keeps you on a tight leash, does he," Pietro remarked as he and Nico glanced curiously around, "Not letting you leave the house."

"He's just protective," Dafne said defensively, not liking Pietro's particular choice of words or the almost goading sympathy in his voice.

"Protectiveness can be rather suffocating, can't it?" Pietro said, settling down in Basta's armchair.

Dafne bit her lip. He had a point. She did find her confinement frustrating. She used to have the whole wide world. But there was a reason why she was supposed to be confined here. It was so she avoided crossing paths with untrustworthy men like Pietro.

"Take a bird for instance," Pietro went on, "A bird is safe in a cage but it's unhappy. It would rather be out flying."

"I'm not unhappy if that's what you're getting at," Dafne said testily. What business was it for him to pass judgement on their relationship?

Pietro raised his hands disarmingly,

"That's not what I was implying at all. I was merely philosophising. I hope you are happy."

She didn't believe him. He was eyeing her narrowly as if looking for some sign proving that she wasn't.

"I am happy," Dafne said, finding it necessary to specify, "I'm happy being with Basta,"

She mentally added: I'm not happy here.

"That's good to hear," Pietro said, closing his eyes and smiling like a pleased parent, "God knows Basta's had a bad run of luck with women. His lucky rabbit's foot couldn't help him with that," he opened his eyes with amusement, "Is he still superstitious? I bet he is. It's not something you could easily shake out of him. He's as bad as my nonna..."

"Our nonna," Nico piped in. He was amusing himself with his mobile phone and didn't look away from the screen as he said it.

Pietro regarded his cousin reproachfully,

"It's rude to play with your mobile when you're a guest in someone's house. Put it away Nico."

Nico obeyed, stowing his phone sheepishly.

"Sorry," he said to Dafne.

"As I was saying," Pietro resumed his story, "Our nonna is deeply superstitious. When I introduced Basta to her, they got along famously. She showed him how to make the hand sign to ward off the evil eye. Nonna is the only woman I've seen enjoy his company. They would have made a perfect match if she wasn't close to ninety," he chuckled at the thought, "But no matter. Basta has you now. You look much more age appropriate."

"She sure does," Nico said with a grin, "Good thing too. Imagine having Basta for our nonno."

The two men laughed heartily. Dafne couldn't help smiling herself, picturing Basta strolling along arm in arm with a frail old woman, with their matching amulets.

"But I am curious," Pietro said as the laughter subsided, "About how you and Basta came to be. A very interesting tale I'm sure."

Dafne wandered into the kitchen. Their talk of Basta's superstitiousness had reminded her of another of his quirks. She had rushed out of the house without cleaning up the mess left behind by Silvio's breakfast. She went to do so now. No mess meant no complaining.

"I think you should wait until Basta gets here," she told Pietro, "I'm sure he would love to tell you himself."

"I don't doubt that," Pietro said, "Could I trouble you for a coffee while you're in the kitchen? It was a long drive coming here and I need something to wake me up."

He seemed rather alert to Dafne, perhaps too alert. But she made the coffee anyway.

"You'll need to drink it at the table," she said, "Basta's strict about that sort of thing."

Pietro didn't object but he seemed amused by her laying down Basta's house rules in his absence.

"If I had to guess," he said as both he and Nico sat down at the table. She had fixed coffee for both of them, "I don't think you're someone Basta brought in from the outside. I think you've spent time in the House."

"The House?" Dafne said, going to resume the washing up.

"Capricorn's house," Pietro said, "That's what we call his house up north. I thought they might call it the same thing down here."

"He has a house up north?" Dafne said, recalling Basta telling her about Capricorn's other hideouts. Was that where these two were from?

"Yes. He goes between the two depending on the season," Pietro told her, "I'm surprised you don't know any of this. Maybe you weren't a maid like I suspected."

"No I was," Dafne said, not sure why she was admitting this to him, "But since the time I was brought here, Capricorn hasn't left the village."

"Yes he's been unusual this year," Pietro said, "I expected him to join us up north much sooner," he shrugged, "But it's his choice. I run things smoothly enough for him not to worry."

"You run things?"

"He's the boss while Capricorn's not there," Nico informed her proudly.

Pietro had nothing to add. He simply smiled in confirmation.

Dafne's instinctive wariness of the man suddenly made sense. She had subconsciously picked him out like picking an alpha in a pack of wolves. But he wasn't the lead wolf really. This was Capricorn. But he was still dangerous. Beneath that charming disposition, he must be ruthless and cruel. Why else would Capricorn place him in charge of in his absence? His rank was probably on par with Basta's.

"Dafne?" a voice broke the silence, coming from outside. How funny that she had been thinking of Basta and here he was, coming through the door, "There's a car parked outside. Has anyone..."

Basta trailed off, catching sight of his guests. He didn't look particularly delighted to see them. He seemed more annoyed. But that was perhaps because they had entered his house when he wasn't there and were seated comfortably at the table drinking coffee.

He sighed, his eyes shifting to Dafne, a reproachful look on his face as if to say "why did you let them in". She gave him a shrug in return, indicating she'd had no control over it. She hadn't really. Pietro had invited himself and that had been that.

Basta turned back to the man,

"Hello Pietro," he said, "I must say I'm surprised to find you in my house."

His tone of voice indicated it hadn't been a pleasant surprise. It seemed to Dafne that Pietro had exaggerated their friendship.

But Pietro himself seemed unconcerned by Basta's demeanour towards him. He smiled.

"Hello Basta," he said, "It's been a while hasn't it? So long I felt I simply had to call to see you the moment we got here."

"And why are you here?" Basta said as he made his way over, "I assume it's for Monster Night. You're a little early aren't you? Do you think it's a good idea to leave the men unsupervised for so long? You're supposed to be in charge after all."

He sounded bitter of the fact, almost as if he were jealous. Perhaps he was jealous, that Capricorn would place such trust in someone other than him. Dafne knew Basta well enough to know this made sense. Pietro was someone on the same level as him and how else could Basta see him but as a rival?

"Capricorn seemed to think it was fine," Pietro said, "After all he's the one who invited me to attend," he stretched languidly, "Besides the men know what's expected of them. They know what happens if they disappoint me."

"Let's hope they don't then," Basta drawled, sounding like he wished the exact opposite, "I would hate for Capricorn to regret inviting you."

"Oh he won't," Pietro said confidently, "Anyway I came down early for reason. I'm curious as to how things get done around here. I want to see if there's anything I can improve on," he cleared his throat bemusedly as if to imply he highly doubted it, "I hope you don't mind a companion for a few days."

Basta stiffened, his hands tightening into fists.

"What do you mean?" he growled.

"I mean I'm going to accompany you on your daily rounds," Pietro said with a smile, "You don't mind do you?"

Basta looked as though he did mind. He minded very much. He narrowed his eyes at the other man suspiciously,

"Did – did Capricorn ask you to do this?" he said.

Dafne figured that he suspected Capricorn had enlisted Pietro to keep an eye on him, given his recent failure to procure Sara. But if that was the case, Pietro denied it with a shake of his head.

"No, it was all my idea," he said, "You're Capricorn's right hand. I'd prefer to watch you at work than any of the others."

Stroking Basta's ego seemed to work, he relaxed, taking Pietro's word for truth. Dafne remained sceptical. She didn't trust Pietro.

"I suppose that's fine," Basta said, paranoia turning into arrogance, "I can show you the ropes. You might just learn something."

If someone had made such a belittling comment towards Basta, he would have brought his knife out in an instant, ready to prove them wrong. But Pietro kept his reserve, smiling at Basta as one might smile at a child who didn't know any better.

"I just might," he said, then waved his hand, "But enough business. It's always business with you. I want to talk about your love life. I want to talk about that lovely creature over there that you haven't even said hello to."

He shook his head scoldingly at him. Basta flushed and scowled at the same time.

"He hasn't said hello to me either," Nico said sounding put out.

"Hush Nico," Pietro said as if quieting a fellow theatre goer as the play was about to start, "You're not as important."

The subject of the play was Dafne and Basta and the opening scene had Basta hastening over to her.

"I didn't mean not to say hello," he mumbled apologetically, glaring at Pietro for putting this in the spotlight.

"That's alright," Dafne said in a pointlessly low voice. The spectators were close enough to be able to pick up on the words. She could feel their eyes on them. "You were distracted."

Basta moved to place himself between Dafne and the two at the table, obscuring their view of her except for the top of her head. This couldn't be helped because she was slightly taller than him. He leaned in to whisper in her ear,

"I have a surprise for you. When we get rid of these two, I'll show you."

"Really?" Dafne said, curiosity aroused, "What kind of sur..."

She was interrupted by the blare of an obnoxious ringtone. Startled, the two looked over in the direction of the noise. Cheeks flushing, Nico was scrambling to dig his phone out while under the heavily exasperated gaze of Pietro.

"Hello?" he said, managing to answer it in time but sounding quite out of breath at the ordeal.

A pause as the caller identified themself. Nico immediately cringed, eyes flicking to Pietro. Dafne saw Pietro tense as though he might know who it was.

"Hi Gabriella," Nico said with a nervous laugh, "How are you doing?"

He winced and held the phone away from his ear as Gabriella, whoever she was, responded. Meanwhile Pietro, who had kept his cool all this time, he buried his face in his hands with a groan of despair. Dafne looked to Basta for explanation. But he only grinned and put his finger to his lips. Another play had started and the roles were reversed.

"Aw that's not good," Nico said as he gingerly put the phone back to his ear, "So – so you want to speak to Pietro then?"

Pietro flapped his arms angrily at him.

"No!" he hissed, "No! Tell her I'm not with you!"

But the woman on the end obviously had more authority over Nico than Pietro.

"Sure, I'll hand you over," he said, "Here he is."

He held the phone out to Pietro who glared at him in betrayal.

"Come on," Nico whined when he didn't take it, "I shouldn't be stuck talking to her."

"It's your fault for bringing your mobile with you," Pietro growled, eyeing the phone uneasily, "I told her there was no reception here. Do you know what's she's going to be like now that she knows I lied."

"Yeah I do," Nico said, "I just had her screaming at me. But it's going to be worse if you keep her waiting."

Pietro sighed, realising he had a point. With great reluctance, he took the phone and raised it to his ear, pre-emptively cringing.

"Hello principessa," Pietro's cringing deepened, "Yes I know that's what I said... Well that's what I was told. It's a secluded part of the country darling... No, it's not because I don't want to speak to you..."

He rolled his eyes and carried on listening to the woman's complaints, punctuating what she was saying with half-hearted yeses.

Dafne could hear Basta sniggering beside her. Nico also looked rather amused now that he had been relieved by Pietro.

Dafne couldn't help smiling herself. The sigh of this suave criminal being reprimanded over the phone by a woman no less. Who was she? Who was this principessa who could make someone as collected as Pietro afraid to take her call?

"Yes," Pietro was saying, "Yes I know you're feeling very vulnerable at the moment. It's a big thing that's happening to you principessa... Of course I want to be there but I can't say no to Capricorn... No, no, I don't think should speak to him. He's a very busy man... No it's not that you're not important enough. You're very important, it's... I'm not even with Capricorn at the moment. I'm at Basta's... Basta... You don't remember him. He was at our wedding. Your sister threw her drink on him."

Pietro laughed despite his predicament. Basta flushed, his own amusement evaporating,

"Why are bringing that up!" he growled at him but Pietro waved him away,

"Yes that was the happiest day of my life," he said, face becoming weary again, "Yes I do love you just as much as I did then. You're having my child principessa... No you're not fat. You can barely tell... Yes you are more beautiful than Rachele. Why compare yourself to her, she's only a maid... I do not make eyes at her... Get rid of her? Darling, we've been through enough maids as it is because you don't like them... Fine, fine, if that's what you want... No I don't think it's a good idea for your mother to come stay... Yes I do want you to feel supported but your mother? Wait a moment principessa I'm going outside so I can talk more privately... No it's not because I'm embarrassed by you. Just wait a moment, one moment..."

Pietro held out the phone to Nico who recoiled as though it was a snake. Pietro sighed,

"I'm not asking you to talk to her. Just take it outside and wait for me. I want to say goodbye to these two."

Nico accepted the phone but held it away from him as though it might bite. He headed for the door, waving with his free hand,

"Bye guys. See you around."

Pietro came over to Basta and Dafne looking rather embarrassed.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," he said, "My wife... My wife is in a rather delicate stage of her pregnancy. It's her first child and she's not coping very well."

"It seems like you're not coping well either," Dafne remarked.

Pietro smiled at her,

"Well that's why I thought a little vacation might do me so good," he glanced unenthusiastically towards the door where his wife awaited him, "Hopefully if I walk around a bit the signal might cut out," he seemed hopeful, "Anyway it was lovely to meet you," he took Dafne's hand and kissed it, ignoring Basta's glare as he did so, "I'm sure we'll meet again," he turned to Basta, "We'll make arrangements later shall we."

"Yes later," Basta said, his mouth twisting into a mocking smile, "You better deal with principessa first."

Pietro sighed, moving away only to turn back again,

"A word of wisdom," he said, "Don't get married. It does something to women's heads. Makes them crazy, so crazy you start to think a lot about strangling them."

"His principessa was crazy before they got married," Basta told Dafne after Pietro had left, "On their wedding day, she accused him of flirting with one of the serving girls, which he probably was, and started breaking everything she could get her hands on."

Dafne smiled,

"This was the same wedding you got a drink poured on you."

Basta scowled,

"That was her sister. Insanity must run in their family. I only complimented her dress."

"Considering what I've just seen, I'm inclined to believe you," Dafne said, "I almost felt sorry for him."

"I don't," Basta said, "He always acts like he's so much better than me. It was good to see him taken down a peg," he shook his head, "I'm amazed he lets her get away with it though, he being a former mobster and all."

"Former mobster?" Dafne said interestedly.

Basta nodded,

"Yes. He and the rest of his family. But then they came over to Capricorn's side and helped drive out their old associates. Pietro's the head of his family. He made the decision," Basta's voice turned bitter again, "And got handsomely rewarded for it. That's why Capricorn lets him run things up north. But enough about Pietro," he smiled, brushing thoughts of the man aside, "I want to show you your surprise."

To be continued...

Nonna = grandmother

Nonno = grandfather

Principessa = princess