Jessie Keane - Lawless

But they had Ruby. Vittore’s words to him at Tito’s funeral rang in his head: I’ll rip the heart out of you, out of every one of you. Vittore had her. His mother. The very mother who had abandoned him, given him up.

Rob was staring down at him.

‘What we gonna do?’ he asked.

‘We have to get her back,’ said Daisy. ‘We have to exchange them. Ruby for Bianca.’

Kit looked up at her. Then at Rob.

‘Kit?’ demanded Daisy, panic lacing her voice.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘For God’s sake! What are we going to do? We have to do something.’

Kit seemed about to speak. Then he sat back, said nothing.

Rob was watching him. He was afraid that Kit was going to say something like: I’ve got Bianca. They can do whatever the hell they like with Ruby. He exchanged an uneasy look with Daisy. He could see that she was thinking the same thing. He glanced back down at Kit. Years of anger and hurt there, all directed against Ruby. Was he really going to let it go now, come riding to Ruby’s rescue when she needed him?

Rob didn’t think so. And he could see that Daisy didn’t, either.

Bianca was lying on the bed in the safe house, bored out of her brain, wondering when she would see him again.

He was probably the one who killed Tito.

She knew that. But she couldn’t hate him. God knows, she had tried so hard to do it. Hate him as a true camorristi should hate. She’d shot him. Doing that had devastated her. Fearing him dead, she had thought she might as well be dead too.

No, she couldn’t hate him.

Impossible.

When the key turned in the lock, she thought, What’s this? I’ve had supper.

No one ever disturbed her except at mealtimes. It was part of her routine, her endlessly boring routine, that this was the case. So the only other living person she saw was the thin one with the cold eyes who came in to leave her a tray of food. He never spoke. He just put it down, and departed.

So what was this about? She tensed, turned away from the wall and sat up.

Kit was standing in the open doorway.

He didn’t say anything. He just came in, closed the door behind him, leaned back against it.

Her heart beating hard, she stared at him, taking in every detail. He looked stronger. He was dressed in jeans, a white shirt, a dark jacket draped over his shoulders. He seemed almost himself, but for the slight pallor of his skin and the sling still supporting the weight of his left arm.

Their eyes met and held.

‘So I’m your prisoner,’ she said.

‘Yeah.’ Kit walked forward, came to stand over her. ‘Seems you are.’

Bianca stood up. He was very close.

For a moment she hesitated, then with a breathless moan she leaned in, snaking her arms around his neck, burying her fingers in his thick dark hair. His head dipped and he kissed her, long and deeply.

When the kiss ended, Bianca stayed there, her breath mingling with his. ‘I love you so much,’ she murmured. ‘I shouldn’t, but I do.’

‘I know. Bianca…’

‘Hm?’

‘I have to talk to you. About Tito.’

‘No…’ She started to pull away. He held her fast.

‘Honey, yes .’

‘I can’t!’ She was shaking her head wildly. ‘I don’t want to hear it. I can’t take it!’

‘Look.’ He grabbed her shoulders, shook her lightly. His eyes were intense as they bored into hers. ‘Bianca, we have to somehow get past this, or it will wreck us. We have to talk.’

‘But it’s no good,’ she said, almost sobbing. ‘I can’t…’

‘Bianca. I’m sorry you lost your brother. Really sorry. But Tito did something awful to a woman I loved very much. He tortured her, killed her. I know you don’t want to hear that about him, but he did.’

Bianca was staring at him; her skin, already pale, was now white as snow.

‘And you see this? My hands? You asked me about them, remember?’ Gingerly Kit held out hands, palms upward. The angry scar tissue right across them was horrible. ‘Tito did this to me. The same night he killed that woman, he did this.’

Bianca was silent, staring at his hands.

Kit shook his head. ‘I couldn’t let it go, Bianca. How could I? The things he did to her… I won’t tell you. It makes me want to puke just thinking about it. Tito… yeah, I know this is the last thing you want to hear, and I’m sorry. He was a sadist. A psycho. He was cruel right through to the bone, particularly with women. But Michael Ward – my old boss – he said that Tito was his wife’s kin, that I mustn’t do anything. So I didn’t. I respected Michael’s wishes. But once Michael was gone, I was free to act. And I did.’

Bianca was staring at him. All the colour had drained from her face and her eyes looked enormous. This was it, at last; now she knew for certain. All the rumours on the streets were true. Vittore and Fabio were right. He’d killed Tito.

‘For fuck’s sake, say something,’ said Kit.

She swallowed convulsively. ‘I loved him so much,’ she said.

‘I know.’

‘And I love you,’ she said, dragging a hand through her hair. ‘God forgive me.’

‘He’s got fuck-all to forgive you for. You loved your brother, you didn’t know that side of him. How could you? And Bianca – you and me, there’s nothing wrong with that. Nothing that feels this right could possibly be wrong.’

Bianca put her head on his chest, slipped her arms around him, held him tight. A deep, shaky sigh escaped her.

Kit took a breath and said: ‘There’s more.’

‘What?’ Bianca murmured.

‘Honey – Tito was never your brother.’

She looked up at him. ‘I know, I was adopted. Mama always said I was special because she chose me from an orphanage. I’ve always known he wasn’t my blood brother, but-’

‘Bianca, there was no orphanage. You weren’t adopted.’

Now she was frowning at him. ‘I don’t understand.’

He took her hand, led her over to the bed, sat down there with her. ‘Before he died, Michael Ward told a friend of his about something that had been preying on his mind for years. It used to wake him up in the night, give him nightmares. In the end he felt like he had to tell somebody or he’d go mad.’ Kit paused, took a breath. ‘He said it broke his son, Gabe, because he was there when it happened, and afterwards he couldn’t live with the guilt. He took to drugs, to drink – anything to wipe out the memory. And Michael was so disgusted that Gabe had been a part of it that he split with him, kicked him out of the house, when he was only nineteen.’

‘I don’t understand,’ said Bianca. ‘What does this have to do with me being adopted?’

‘You weren’t adopted, Bianca. Tito took you. You were stolen to order,’ said Kit.

‘But… what…?’ she asked. Then she shook her head. ‘No, don’t be silly. I was adopted.’

‘No, you weren’t. Bella wanted a daughter, but she couldn’t have one by normal means and she was too old to adopt. That only made the wanting worse. She craved a daughter like a druggie craves his next hit. So Tito went out and got her one. He got her you.’

For a moment Bianca was too stunned to speak.

‘Bianca-’

‘No! What are you saying…?’

‘Bianca.’ Kit was holding her hand very tightly in his. ‘Honey, Tito… well, he went on a trip with Gabe, searching until he found a couple with a little daughter, a three-year-old child. I’m sorry, but he slaughtered the parents, and took the daughter home. You-’

Bianca surged to her feet. She whirled and stared down at him. ‘No!’ she said firmly.

Kit stood up too. ‘It’s the truth. It’s what happened. You’ve been lied to all your life. I’m sorry.’