The Mafia Lost His Queen novel · Chapter 20 of 24
Chapter 20: Read Aloud
Armando's mother took her reading glasses out of her bag.
She did it slowly. She always did everything slowly when people were waiting.
At the head of the table, Armando said, "Mamma."
She didn't look at him.
She put on the glasses and picked up the phone.
She looked at the photo first. My test, on his desk blotter.
I watched her understand what it was.
Her mouth went thin.
Then she read the time stamp out loud, in her flat, clear Sunday-mass voice, so the far end of the table could hear.
"Twelve oh four, the tenth of October."
She let them do the sum themselves.
She put the phone down on the linen.
Nobody moved.
Sixty people, and not one fork, not one glass.
The candles flickered in a draft from the hall.
"You opened it," his mother said, still not looking at him. "At noon."
Armando didn't answer.
"You knew your wife was carrying your child at noon. You sent her down to my cellar at ten." Her voice didn't rise at all. "And you stood at the top of my stairs."
"Mamma, it isn't."
"Don't." She took the glasses off. "Don't tell me what it isn't in front of these people. They can read."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Mafia Lost His Queen are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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