Whispers in New York - Book Two

~Chapter 49~

Chapter Song
Believer – Imagine Dragons
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The week had gone by slowly, much more slowly than Salvatore had expected especially with everything that had been going on.
Between the extensive funeral arrangements, the NYPD, dealing with constant phone calls between Adriana’s parents who were still stuck in transit due to typical Italian transportation strikes; he was beyond exhausted.
He hadn’t even stepped foot inside Silenzio since being dragged out and interrogated. He simply had no time and had no desire to leave Adriana unattended when everything was still so up in the air.
So while Francesco and Marco took care of business within the club, he remained in the Penthouse on call, his cell phone constantly ringing with updates or people asking for advice. All while he tried to reconnect with Adriana, understand what she may or may not have done.

Their conversation that day had been cut short when the NYPD detectives showed up at the most inappropriate time, just like clockwork.
Adriana had excused herself to wash her face after her outburst in an attempt to hide her bloodshot watery eyes. But nothing could have masked the devastation she had been carrying around with her.
She had sat on the couch in front of them during the interrogation barely saying a word and only offering little when directly spoken to while Salvatore conducted a little interrogation of his own...

“Are you the cünts blackmailing her?” He barked with sheer aggression as the woman detective looked completely stunned at his bluntness while the man didn’t even flinch. He had dealt with Salvatore in the past and his vulgar language was no surprise to him.

“Blackmailing?!” The woman repeated unable to hide the fact she was disgusted by his language and now accusations.
“Sir. We work for the city, we would neve-”

“Oh cut the shĩt!”

Before Salvatore could continue he was interrupted. “Mr Abandonato! We’re here to ask your girlfriend questions relating to the shooting, not whatever it is you’re insinuating! And whatever it is, we’re not privy to that investigation, if there even is one. So how about we stick to the topic here?”

“How about you suck my-”

“Please!” It was now Adriana’s turn to interrupt. “Can we please just get this over with?”

The remainder of the interrogation was just as pointless as the way it started. Adriana stuck with her story, she didn’t remember. She couldn’t recall a single useful detail. Besides confirming there had been two shooters, there was nothing left for her to say.
They had asked if she recognized accents, seen tattoos, approximate height and build, what they said, why they had let her live?

“I don’t remember.”

She certainly wasn’t budging. Not for them, not for Salvatore.

Now as they stood on the crisp green grass in New Jersey they seemed like a somewhat united front as guests from all ages silently flooded the area.
They were so close to his father’s grave, it was only natural to see Giuseppa walking to the grounds from the direction of her late husband’s grave site.

The past week had been torture. So much was on her mind; so much was up in the air no closer to being resolved. She had begun to feel like a prisoner in her boyfriend’s home, unsure if she was even allowed to leave.
On the days Francesco would sleep at the Penthouse, Salvatore would ask him to bring items from her apartment on his way back from the club, possibly a way of ensuring there was no reason to leave. 
With one hand she was relieved to have Salvo’s company during this time. She was confused about everything. Their relationship, Luca’s death, the pending consequences of the cöcȧine, her parents travelling across Italy to come home.

What would she say to them? How would she explain the relationship she had with Salvatore when she herself had no idea how to explain it to herself!
Her parents never meddled in her relationships. They rarely asked questions and let their daughter be; they had a lot of trust in her and knew if a relationship was truly serious she would subtly let them know.
But she hadn’t with Salvo. So much had happened, so much was always happening she wasn’t sure when the appropriate time would have been to casually pop over for dinner with her boyfriend.

As she stood perfectly still next to Salvo she continued to stare across the grass. They hadn’t made it directly to the site yet, they were close, merely a few yards away, but Salvo was constantly being stopped on his way over. Various men approaching to pay their respects and acknowledge the boss before starting the dreaded final formalities.
She was somewhat grateful. The longer they could prolong this moment the better in her eyes.

As the voices became whispers in the background her mind ate away at her, making her second guess herself, their relationship, everything about the pair.
She was sure he was angry at her, he had to have been. They had been tiptoeing around each other all week since her outburst. She was afraid they were going through the motions, waiting for this period to end before the real fight would begin.

There had been no affection, little actual conversation. The day would go by, they would sleep in the same bed but things felt different, they felt strange, forced, fabricated at times.
He hadn’t even rolled over to touch her, hold her, even just to feel her. She would hear him wake up in the middle of the night, almost always at the same time. He would get up and leave the room, sometimes for an hour or two while she just lay there, wondering.

Feeling a tug of her hand, Adriana was startled back into reality as they continued to walk towards their final destination. The priest standing patiently awaiting the crowd to come closer as he placed a comforting hand on the shoulder of Luca’s sobbing mother, her husband gripping her hand tightly feeling as though if he let go he would be letting go of a part of his son.

Adriana couldn’t help but stare at the family. She studied them, their features, the way they expressed their emotions, the striking similarities she saw of Luca continuing to live on in them.
It was bittersweet, more so towards the bitter side. Watching parents standing over a deep hole, the sand from the hole piled high behind it, a mountain of flowers attempting to hide the boulder-like pile of sand. No matter the amount of flowers, the thousands spent on them there was no camouflaging the damp dull dirt.
It didn’t seem right, it would never seem right. Parents burying their son, their child, the light of their lives.
After today their light would be out. Gone. Diminished, until they would be reunited with him once again.

As the priest’s voice silenced the remaining whispers Adriana looked to her left, Salvatore standing tall, shoulder to shoulder with her. His face looking drained and expressionless. The weight of another death on his shoulders, this one another kind of burden.
They were estranged for so long, wasted so much friendship because of her...

The weight of this reality now on Adriana’s shoulders, nobody was left unscathed. She took a silent breath in before gently taking his hand in hers. A gentle squeeze to remind him she was right there, by his side if he needed her.