by AJ Wolf
I frown at his bowed head. Why would Jessie bring it up? “What do you mean he brought it up?”
He looks up from his hands, eyes running over me. “Jessie blackmailed me into keeping his ties to the Famiglia a secret by using her. He knew I was sleeping with her when we were on a break and knew it was something I’d prefer you didn’t know.”
Jessie knew about Olivia and he didn’t tell me. No wonder he wasn’t surprised when I told him about the pregnancy. He probably knew that also. Why wouldn’t they just tell me? My heart aches, angry and bitter. The two people I love most do nothing but lie and keep things from me. “Why didn’t you tell me Jessie was in the mafia before? In Alabama? Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Sit with me and I’ll tell you.”
I close my eyes, rubbing my fingers over them. I don’t want to play games. I just want answers and to leave. “Donatello, I’m not in the mood for your games. Just tell me or I’m taking my books and leaving.”
“Delaney, sit with me.” His honey voice drips along my skin, coaxing me into his trap.
My legs are moving before I think to stop them, letting him grab me to settle between his legs, my back to his front. He wraps his arms around my waist, taking one of my hands in his to kiss my fingers. “Good girl.”
I sink into him, knowing this might be one of the last times I get him like this. In two months he’ll have a baby to worry about and another woman to figure out, and I know I won’t be any part of it. “Why didn’t you tell me about Jessie?”
His fingers brush the hair over my shoulder, his face sinking to rest against the crook of my neck. “He was there under orders from Remy. I couldn’t have just told you without compromising that, and it wasn’t my place to do so.”
It’s annoying to me how I’m basically in the Famiglia but because I don’t carry a gun or work the warehouses, I don’t get any of the benefits when it comes to knowledge. No one tells me anything and I’m fucking sick of it. I want that kind of power. I want to know things and to make decisions that matter. “Why did you join the Famiglia?”
He lets out a breath that warms my skin, his thumb brushing over the back of my hand. “It’s just what you do. My papa was a made man and I was surrounded with the lifestyle. My mama left us when I was five or six. I don’t actually remember, but it was just me and the old man.” His finger brushes over my tattoo that matches his, pausing his words. “The Famiglia is family to me. Sure we run drugs, counterfeits, blackmail millionaires and kill people, but we also help our own. No one goes hungry and no one goes without. You lose a family member you gain a hundred more. You work hard in the Famiglia and it pays off. Look at me…” He hugs me closer to him. “I was nothing but a made man’s son. Now, I’m Consigliere and feared for my fighting skills. I doubt I would have amounted to much in the real world without it.”
“Feared for your fighting skills? That sounds very braggy of you.” He chuckles and I smile, entwining our fingers. “Why did you fight Jessie? The night at the bar when you knew he was in the Famiglia.”
“In Alabama?”
I nod and he presses a kiss to my skin. “Because he didn’t want to break up with you.”
My gut sinks with his words. “What do you mean, Donatello?”
“I made Jessie break up with you.” I start to get up but he doesn’t let me, pinning me in place. “And before you start up with your shit, just remember this doesn’t even matter anymore. It already happened and you can’t change it. Dwelling on what could have happened isn’t going to change things now.”
“I would have stayed with Jessie.”
He lets out a long sigh, moving his face to rest his forehead on my shoulder. “I know. That’s why I did it.”
“I wish I hated you.” I turn my face and he pulls from my shoulder so I can look at his eyes. “I wish I hated everything about you. I wish I hated you for making Jessie break up with me. I wish I hated you for almost killing him. I wish I hated you for getting your secretary pregnant.” He looks down with my last wish, resting his lips on my shoulder. “But I don’t hate you and that... I do hate.”
“What am I going to do, Vita Mia?”
“I don’t know. Apologize to Olivia for treating her like garbage. Figure out how to be a dad and how you’re going to deal with your secretary in the process.”
His arms tighten around me, his russet reds falling from my eyes, to my lips. “I don’t want to do any of that. I don’t care how Olivia feels.”
“You should. It’s not fair to her to treat her like that. I doubt she wanted this either and she wasn’t the only one who caused this. She’s having your baby, you need to treat her like it.”
“You don’t know that for sure, Vita Mia.”
Yes, I do. Why would she go out of her way to lie and the timing adds up. I’d rather think the worst and be wrong than allow myself to think it’s not true. “Are you getting a test done?”
“I went and got blood drawn yesterday after you left. One of our doctors will be doing it and I should get the tests back soon.” This conversation makes me sick. Each beat of my heart an echo of pain.
Both of our phones start ringing. Donatello shifts me off his lap to pull his from his pocket while I grab mine off the desk where I left it. It’s an unknown number and I look at Donatello as I answer. “Hello?”
“You have a scheduled appointment for seven P.M. at the east warehouse. Payment will be collected on your behalf if you miss your appointment time.”
It’s an automated message. A menu asking if I’d like to repeat the message playing at the end. I hang up confused as Donatello stares at the phone in his hands.
“I just got a really weird automated call for an appointment I don’t have. Who called you?”
“We have the same appointment.” He roughly scrubs his face, and it’s not until he makes eye contact I see the fear hidden behind his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“We have an appointment with your brother, Vita Mia.” The way he says it makes the breath catch in my lungs, an anxious energy running along my spine.
“That doesn’t even make sense. I’ll just call him.” I bring my phone to do just that, but Donatello stands, pulling the phone from my fingers.
“That’s not how the Famiglia works, baby. We have an appointment and we have to show up or they’ll punish us.”
I shake my head against his words, willing them to be wrong. “Why would I have an appointment? What does this even mean? What payment?”
“Baby, I want you to listen to me and really listen to me, okay?” I nod, tasting a hint of blood from biting my lip too hard. “We made a deal with your brother didn’t we? I don’t know what deal you made, but we each made one and they’ve been broken.”
“I don’t understand. I didn’t make a deal.”
His tongue runs over his lip, eyes blinking as he tries to explain this to me. He palms my cheeks making me focus on him. “I told your brother he could trust me with your heart, that I wouldn’t break it ever again. And I was wrong. I broke our deal. So Remy is collecting payment. Every action has a consequence.”
The tightness in his face and shoulders tells me he’s being serious and I don’t know how to respond, shaking my face no in his hands as he tries to make me understand. “Your brother won’t hurt you Delaney, at least not physically. You don’t need to be scared, baby. You have to go though, you can’t miss it. Do you understand me?”
No, I have no idea what any of this means. “What about you?”
His eyes go dark at my question, shoulders hunching so he can press a kiss to my lips. A feather light touch that does nothing to help my nerves. “Will you do something for me, Vita Mia?”
“What?” It’s whispered because I’m afraid to hear the answer.
He kisses me again, his lips lingering as he reaches behind his back. I feel the cold metal on my palm and try to yank my hand away, but he closes my hand around it pulling from my lips. “Hold it, Delaney.” He forc
es my fingers around it, pressing his lips to mine once more.
He steps back and I stare at the gun in my hand, fighting the tears trying to crawl out of my eyes. I’m shaking my head no as he speaks, refusing to hear what he has to say.
“Vita Mia, look at me.” His tone forces my gaze, ripping my blurry vision to his face. “Remy is going to kill me.” I shake my head even harder and he stops it, grabbing my face once again. “Listen to me… Remy is going to kill me and it’s not going to be as simple as a gunshot.” He kisses me one more time, a hard press of his lips that makes mine tremble when he pulls back. “I want you to do it, Vita Mia. I’d rather die at your hands, seeing your beautiful face than the inside of a bag.”
He grabs my hand with the gun, pressing the end to his chest as I shake. “I can’t kill you.” It’s a broken sob as I try to rip my hand from his grasp.
He keeps it there with one hand using his other to brush along my cheek. “Yes, you can. I need you to, Vita Mia.”
“Ollie isn’t going to kill you. I know he isn’t, he wouldn’t do that.” He looks sad at my words, still touching my face. “I can’t do this. I won’t do it.”
He must see the resistance in my face because he drops my hand holding the gun and I let it fall from my fingers to crash to the floor. The loud heavy thud like a shockwave, echoing along the walls as he stares into my face. “Okay, Vita Mia.”
He opens his arms for me and I press my face to his chest, crying over what he almost made me do. I’m shaking over just the thought. My heart is beating so loudly it’s filling my ears with the noise. “Ollie isn’t going to kill you.” I say it into his shirt, his hand stroking the back of my head.
I feel him press a kiss to the top of my head, whispering into my hair and repeating what he’s already said but doesn’t sound like he believes. “Okay, Vita Mia.”
I listened to the message three different times before the words actually made sense. I’ve never been on the receiving end of the call and it was unnerving. I can only assume he sent one to the three of us. Donatello, Laney, and me. My timestamp is set earlier than the others because I had to help set up and hear every detail from the Capo Famiglia himself. My punishment isn’t a physical one, but it’ll be just as painful. I almost wish the roles were switched because then I wouldn’t have to be witness to the pain I’m going to have to endure.
The Boss and I are standing outside the warehouse with several of his men waiting for the other two to arrive. It feels like I’m cranking the lever of a jack in the box. Each turn getting me closer to the monster, each turn building my anxiety, each turn scarier than the last.
Donatello’s SUV starts driving our way and Capo Famiglia’s voice pulls my attention off of Laney in the passenger seat. I knew she was going home to get some things, but I guess I didn’t realize they’d be together. “Remember Wolf, no talking, no touching, no contact.”
Swallowing past the tension coiling in my chest, I nod. “Understood.” There’s a steel to his voice, a sharp edge that speaks to how this appointment is about to go. I’m not sure if I’m grateful for knowing what to expect or if I’d prefer to be in the dark. Both would be painful, but at least I wouldn’t be thinking about it beforehand.
I watch as they exit the vehicle, eyes moving from Laney’s worried face to Donatello’s. His eyes lock with mine and if hate could kill, I’d be pushing up daisies on the spot. He’s smart enough to know I provided the information that’s about to put the nail in his coffin.
“Ollie what is this? Why are we here?” Laney’s eyes find me and her frown deepens, confusion painted across her face. I look away from her, trying to lose her focus.
“Consequences have actions, Piccolina. It’s time you learned that.”
My eyes keep going to Jessie. I can tell he’s purposefully trying to avoid eye contact and it’s making me more anxious. “I don’t know what you mean, Ollie. What actions?”
Remy almost looks sad as he looks at me, watching as I wrap my arms around me in an attempt to calm myself. He doesn’t answer me, eyes flicking to Donatello who comes to stand next to me. “I’m unbelievably pissed I have to do this.”
Donatello scrapes his hand over his jaw, a humorless chuckle coming from his chest. “I can’t say this is how I wanted things either.”
Remy holds his hand out and the man next to him places a folder in his palm. He opens it, tossing it onto the ground at our feet so photos and papers scatter across the gravel. Donatello doesn’t look but I do, picking up a photo of him behind a half naked Olivia, palming her breasts. I drop it to the dirt and grab another, a fuzzy black and white shot of her at the hospital. Letting it fall from my fingers with the rest, I realize it’s all the same content, just different versions and angles.
“It seems Jessie has been keeping tabs on you, Donatello.” Remy pulls his gloves from his pockets, sliding them over his hands. “I really fucking wish you would have just let Delaney go when I had asked.”
Donatello doesn’t respond, just blinks at Remy as he silently watches him.
“I’m sorry you have to learn this way, Piccolina, but hard lessons are usually remembered the best.”
“What are you even talking about Ollie? Can someone please explain to me what’s going on? Did you all forget I don’t do this shit?” I turn to find Jessie, his eyes avoiding me again. “Jessie? What’s happening?”
No one answers me right away. Remy steps on the photos to stand in front of me and grabs my arms. “There are rules in place for a reason, Delaney. You don’t run at the pool because you could slip and break your neck. You don’t drink and drive because you could wreck.” He pauses, eyes flicking over to Donatello and back. “You don’t fuck your brother’s much older work associate.”
“I don’t see why we need this conversation here, Ollie.”
He ignores me like I didn't even speak. “You’re here so you can see what happens when my men don’t follow my rules. You’re going to see what happens when YOU make them not follow my rules.” He lets go of my arms, taking a step back from me. “Then maybe you’ll understand that my rules also apply to you, whether you are one of my soldiers or not.”
He uses my favorite line against me, the tone of his voice digging its way under my skin making me feel uneasy.
“Wolf.”
My eyes shift to watch Jessie move at my brother's command. I watch him stand beside him, and even standing in front of me, he won’t look at me directly. He moves ever so slightly to avoid the hand I reach toward him.
“Stand back Delaney.” It’s Remy who says it. I frown, looking between the three men. Donatello’s face is twisted into a sneer, eyes narrowed on Jessie, who is standing just out of reach, his crystal gaze locked onto Remy, waiting for his next command. Remy is looking at me, an eyebrow raised as I stay standing in my place, still not having moved.
“Delaney. Back up.”
I feel the panic rising in my chest, wondering if maybe Donatello wasn’t just exaggerating about how he thought this meeting would go. I feel my head shaking, the tears already sliding down my cheeks. “Ollie, please don’t.”
“Backup, Delaney.”
“Ollie, I’ve learned my lesson. We both have. I’m sorry.”
“Back. Up. Delaney.”
I grab Donatello’s hand bringing his palm to my chest. “Ollie, I get it. Please.”
“Shoot him.”
Jessie raises his gun and I scream his name, pausing his hand for just a second as his eyes flick to my face. I can see the indecision, see that he doesn’t want to do it.
I hear the ringing in my ears before I realize what’s happened, my eyes moving from Jessie to Remy’s gun pointed next to his. The hand against my chest tugs and I turn to see Donatello fall to the gravel, blood blooming across the front of his shirt.
I fall next to him, pressing my hand over the hole in his chest, still squeezing his hand in mine. “Donatello! You’re not allowed to leave me. I’m your life and I’m right here. You can’t leave
me.”
I can see his heart throbbing in the vein on his neck. His chest just barely rising and falling beneath my hand, but he isn’t responding. His face is turned away from me, cheek laying against the gravel.
Something snaps. A violent, loud, wet crackling that brings me to my knees and crushes my lungs. My body is shaking as I stare, willing my burning eyes to unsee what just happened. Will it undone. It’s only after my sob echoes in my ringing ears that I realize the sharp splintering grind is coming from behind my own rib cage.
My fingernails press into my palm as the words scrape past my lips, biting and cutting them like knives, “Ollie, what have you done?”
He drops to squat by my face, forearms resting on his knees. “You have a choice, Piccolina. Leave him to die and be done with him or bring him to the end of the drive where there is an ambulance waiting and hope he makes it.”
“Bring him? How?” I can barely breathe through my sobs, clutching Donatello’s hand to my chest, my other hand frantically trying to feel his heart behind his bloodied torso.
“You better hurry, Delaney. Each second you waste here is a second less he has to live.”
He stands from me and I look at Donatello laying in the gravel. I have to at least try. Letting go of his hand, I move to reach under his arms and behind his back. Lifting with all my strength I pull him back with me. He barely moves a foot and I’m already heaving. His big body completely lax in my arms. I look to Jessie, desperate for his help.
“Jessie, help me!” I’m screaming through my tears. Doing everything I can to move Donatello as it is, but way too slowly for what he needs. “Jessie!”
“He won’t be helping you, Piccolina. You’ll do this on your own or not at all.”
I’ve only made it maybe five feet, and my muscles are screaming at me to stop. I can barely even see past the tears in my eyes, my hair sticking to my face and neck. “Ollie I can’t! I need help.”