Page 163 of Marcello

What could I tell her that would make her run away with me?

…I know.

“Somebody wants to kill me.”

It was true, in a general sort of way.

Gangsters in other Camorra clans would’ve enjoyed seeing me dead.

The Cosa Nostra would’ve loved to kill me – and they’d want it even more after tonight.

Strangely, though, Giulietta didn’t gasp or cry out in sympathy.

She just asked, “Why?”

Like I’d said, I need to go to the grocery store.

“Why does somebody want to kill me?!” I asked incredulously. “Because I owe them money! Because I fucked them over! What does it fucking matter?! They want to kill me, and I have to leave Naples NOW!”

There was a long pause, during which my shock and anger only grew.

“I can’t promise anything,” she finally said, “and it probably won’t happen, but I suppose I can try to sneak out.”

“Don’t TRY – just DO it!” I snapped.

She immediately got frosty. “Look, I WOULD have gone with you if you’d given me a little more notice, but I can’t sneak out tonight. I just can’t.”

Now I was furious. “Then don’t sneak out – just leave!”

“It doesn’t work like that.”

“WHAT doesn’t work like that?!”

“My father will stop me.”

“Don’t tell him what you’re doing, for God’s sake! Tell him you’re going out for ice cream! Tell him you’re – ”

“Romeo, I CAN’T. I’m stuck here. I want to go with you – I DO – but I can’t leave. I CAN’T.”

I stood there in utter disbelief. “So… that’s it?”

“Look… go ahead and leave Naples tonight. I can sneak out in a couple of days and join you. But right now, I – ”

I heard knocking, followed by a muffled voice in the background.

I couldn’t make out what it said, but it sounded like a man.

“I’ve got to go,” she whispered. “DON’T call back!”

“Giulietta – ”

She hung up.

I stood there in utter shock…

And then I threw my phone across the room in a fit of rage.

“GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING SON OF A – ”