Her Capo Protector

Caterina Rossi's father left her a print shop, a hand-press, and a debt to the Morello family that has no end. When the capo comes to call, she knows the terms before he says them: the shop keeps its press and loses its independence. Matteo Morello expected a frightened woman. He found one who offered to work for him instead of belonging to him. For a year, Caterina prints the family's notices and keeps the cleanest ledger in the Italian quarter. For a year, Matteo moves closer. When the rival Bianchi family burns her doorstep and leaves a warning on her threshold, the whole Morello operation folds itself into the rooms above her shop — and Caterina finds the traitor no one else would look for. She names him in her own back room, beside her own press, in front of the whole family.