Giovanni

by Dominique Butler

  " Yea, I texted Danny about it," he said.

  I pulled my phone out my purse to see I've got a message hoping it's from Chris, but no, it's from dad saying I needed to end ties with Ricci before things get worse. I texted him back, asking what did he mean. I set my phone down, then leaned my head on the window.

  " You okay?" Angel asks.

  " Yea, was just trying to clear my head," I tell him closing my eyes.

  " Come on, Camille," Brandi said, shaking me out of my sleep.

  " What?" I said, swatting her hands away.

  " We’re in Manhattan. We're supposed to be shopping," Brandi whines.

  I open my eyes, mean-mugging her. "I'm getting up," I said, stretching. I grab my purse getting out the car.

  "Where to first?" Brandi asks.

  "Where's Angel," I ask, looking around, not seeing him.

  " He went to get the thing for parking," she said. I shake my head, looking at our surroundings. "Did you hear me?" Brandi asked.

  " Sorry, what did you say?" I said.

  " Where to first?" she repeated.

  " How about we get some shoes?" I said.

  " What kind?" she asks.

  " I know this dope sneaker shop," I tell her hooking our arms together with my other hand in my pocket holding a knife. We walk down the busy street.

  " Camille, how many times have you shopped in Manhattan," Brandi ask.

  As I'm about to answer her question, someone grabs my shoulder, turning me to them. I pull my knife out, poking them in the stomach.

  " Camille, it's me," Angel said, grabbing my wrist.

  " Where were you?" I ask, putting the knife back in my pocket.

  " Just went to put some money in the meter," he said.

  " We’re gonna go look at some shoes," I told him.

  " This is gonna be a long day," he said, walking behind us. We walk for a few more minutes when we walk up to a red brick building that had Tags over the door. I open the door to see a few people looking around. Brandi went straight to the wall with the Jordans. "I might like shopping with you," Angel said, walking to another wall.

  " Hey Camille," Zach, one of the white boys that work here, said.

  " Hey, Zach. Did my shoes come in?" I ask.

  "Yea, after we had to hunt them down. Let me grab them from the back," he said, walking away.

  I look around the store to see Brandi have five pairs of shoes surrounding her.

  Walking up to her, I ask, "what do you have?”

  "I'm just trying to decide," she said closely inspecting the shoe.

  “ Just know you on a three shoe limit, and this is not the only stop," I tell her.

  I start walking to Angel to see him standing in front of the mirror with his shoes on. “What are you thinking about the letter?" I ask Angel looking around the shop.

  "That you have a rat in your family," he said.

  “I know that. I'm gonna pinpoint who it is at this reunion this weekend," I tell him.

  I hear my phone beep and take it out my purse to see that dad texted me back, saying that they have a mole working for the FEDs that's giving away our information. I texted him back saying that I'll see if I can get someone else on the case.

  "You know I'm coming with you to the reunion," Angel said.

  "What?" I said, looking up from my phone.

  "You are taking my wife, so I gotta go to," Angel said, talking to me like I'm slow.

  "Camille," Zach said, handing me the shoes I order.

  "Thanks," I tell him, opening the box seeing white, black, and baby blue retros.

  "Nice, I didn't take you for a sneakerhead," Angel said.

  "I have always been," I told him. " Brandi let's go," I said, walking to the register. We waited a few minutes to get rung up.

  " Your total is $850," Zach said I grab my wallet out my purse.

  " Here," Angel said, handing over a card.

  " I can pay for my own things," I said, grabbing the bag walking to the door.

  Chapter 12

  "It's not me. It was Gio's idea. He wanted to do something nice for you because of the incident," Angel said.

  "Well, tell Gio that I don't need his help," I tell Angel as we were walking out of the store. I grab Brandi's arm, lacing our arms together.

  "Where to next?" I ask.

  "Follow me," Angel said, leading us down the street to where the fancy stores are.

  "I have money but not money money," I say to Angel, causing Brandi to laugh. The store has a glass window front with mannequins draped in mink coats and leather shoes. The door had Valentina in cursive on it. Angel holds the door open for us.

  "I guess we are going into window shop," I tell him.

  "Camille, just get your ass in the shop," Angel said. We walk into the store.

  “Don't touch shit," I whispered to Brandi as we walk around the store seeing beautiful dresses, jewelry, and heels.

  “Camille, you gotta try this dress on," Brandi said, handing me this peach dress.

  "No," I tell her picking up these black heels. Angel walks over to us.

  "What do you got Brandi," Angel asks.

  "This dress that Camille should try on," she said, handing it to Angel. He holds it up, looking at the front and the back.

  "Try it on," he said.

  "No," I said, putting the heels down.

  "Come on, just try it on," Angel said.

  "If I do, will you two leave me alone?" I ask. They both shake their heads. I take the dress out of his hands look around the store for a clerk standing two tables away from us folding clothes. " Excuse me," I said, looking at the lady.

  "Yes. How can I help you?" asked a skinny white lady.

  "Can I try this on?" I ask her.

  "Yes, follow me," she said, speed walking towards the back of the store.

  I hand my purse to Brandi then followed behind the lady. “Here you go. Make sure you don't rip it," she said before leaving me.

  That heifer, I thought. I take my clothes off, placing them neatly on the seat.

  "Who took the dress by the office?" another female asks.

  "Don't worry. She won't be able to afford it," said the clerk.

  I look at the price tag to see that it's three grand. I put it on standing in front of the mirror. The dress was simple with spaghetti straps and a slit on the right midway up my thigh. As I'm admiring the way the dress hugs my body, someone knocks on the door.

  “Someone's in here," I say, turning my back to the mirror. A second later, someone knocks again. I open the door.

  "I said —,," stopping mid-sentence.

  "You look gorgeous, my love," Gio said. I look at him in surprise. He looks very handsome in this blue suit he had on. "Camille," he said, getting me out of my daydream.

  "Yes," I said.

  Giovanni walks closer to me, and I step back. He kept coming closer to me, and I kept moving away until I hit the wall. Giovanni closes the door behind him then starts unbuttoning his suit jacket.

  “How are you out?" I ask.

  "Well, your ex-co-worker made staying in jail dangerous for my well being, so I'm on house arrest for the next five months," he said.

  "Oh well, I need to change out of this dress," I tell him, pushing myself off the wall.

  "You should keep it on. It enchants your beauty," he said, looking me up and down. I feel my face getting hot, and I start smiling uncontrollably.

  "Thank you, but you gotta get out," I tell him, hoping that he would leave, but he doesn’t.

  I walk up to him, ready to push him out the door, but before I could even touch him, he grabs my waist, pulling me to him. He takes his free hand, cupping my face moving closer to him then smashes his lips onto mine. They are soft and very skilled. He took control of the kiss, biting and sucking on my bottom lip. I break apart from the kiss catching my breath.

  “We can't do this right now," I tell him. I put my head on his chest, thinking about everything that's happening and why. "Ricci, I need to ch
ange," I tell him.

  "Okay, my love," he said, holding me for a minute before letting go of me. After he leaves, I hurry out of the dress then walk to the front looking all around the store to see Brandi still picking out clothes. I walk up to her.

  "Did you like the dress?" Brandi asks.

  "Yes, we have to go," I tell her, taking the clothes out of her hands and setting them on the table. "Why what's going on?" she asks. I take her hand, pulling her close to me.

  "I'll tell you later," I said, walking to the door.

  "Camille," I hear this sexy voice call my name. I look back to see Angel and Giovanni standing behind us.

  “Yes," I said.

  "Where are you two going?" Angel asks.

  "I'm getting a little tired, so we're going to go home," I tell him, keeping my gaze from Giovanni.

  "Have a seat. I'll have the ladies bring the clothes to you," Giovanni said, walking to the chairs towards the back of the store. I look over to see Brandi following him. This girl acts like she never was taught to interact with strangers, I thought, walking behind them. By the time I made it to the back, the only chair that was left was the one next to Giovanni.

  Gio raised his hand in the air; a second later, the clerk that took me to the changing room appeared in front of us. "How can I help you, Mr. Ricci?" she asked.

  "Yes, I need one of every dress brought over, and that peach dress that she tried on earlier, take that to the counter," he said.

  "Yes, Mr. Ricci," she said, scurrying away.

  "This is not necessary. We are not getting that much," I tell him.

  "You are getting whatever you like, and if you don't pick anything, I'll buy one if everything in the store," he tells me.

  I know he didn't just give me an ultimatum, I thought.

  Ten minutes later, both clerks bring over three racks of clothes. They start showing us each dress. I didn't pick anything as the ladies showed us. Giovanni gets up from his chair and walks over to Brandi.

  "Hi there. I'm Gio, your sister's future husband," he said. I damn near fell out of my seat. Brandi looks at me then back at him

  “Nice to meet you. I'm Brandi, Mille's little sister," she said.

  "Brandi, I need a favor since your sister doesn't want to pick out clothes. Can you pick out clothes for you and her?" he asked.

  "Yeah," she said super fast, getting out of her chair, waking to the rack. Gio walks back to his chair. I look at him.

  “First of all, don't go around telling people that we will be husband and wife. Second, don't ever go to someone else to do something because I won't do it," I say he looks at me.

  "How about this? I won't tell no one I plan on marrying you, and if you tell me no again, I'll just do it for you," he said.

  There was no talking to this man I thought I just sit back in the chair watching Brandi pick out clothes.

  After ten minutes, Brandi had damn near every piece of clothing in the store. We get to the register waiting for everything to get rung up. "Your total is $ 30,000," said the clerk. Giovanni didn't even flinch. He just pulled out his black card.

  "That's too much," I tell him, grabbing his hand.

  "No, it's not," he said, giving the lady his card. She swiped it then handed it back. Angel and Gio carried the bags out of the store.

  “Anyone hungry?" Angel asks.

  “Yes," Brandi damn near screams, and I look at her, ready to kick her in the back of the neck. She sees me trying to get away from them.

  "Good, we can go to my restaurant," Giovanni said, walking to the garage.

  "Where are we going," I ask.

  "We’re taking my car," Giovanni said as we made it to an all-black Mercedes. They put the bags in the trunk then open the back door for Brandi and I to get in Gio’s driver, and Angel sits in the passenger seat.

  "What type of restaurant do you own?" Brandi asks with her greedy ass.

  "Well, the restaurant was actually passed down to me from my grandfather, but it serves traditional Italian dishes, and we do a little southern cooking," he said.

  Angel connected his phone to the radio playing Migos. "Are you sure that your Italian?" I ask him. Angel started laughing and said, "Yeah, I just love your culture."

  After riding around New York for another twenty minutes, we pulled up to the restaurant called Ricci. The valet opens our doors for us to get out. “Good evening Mr. Ricci," the valet said when he saw Gio. We all follow behind Gio into the restaurant. "Evening Mr. Ricci. Would you like your usual table?" asked the hostess.

  “Yes," he replied with us, following her to the table.

  The restaurant decor is white and light gold with a little sparkle. There’s a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. A grand piano on the right side of the room, a couple of booths in the back. What really made this so beautiful is the tables on the balcony. As I'm looking around the room, I see that everyone's dressed in suits and dresses while we came in wearing jeans and a shirt.

  “Here you go," the hostess said, stopping at one of the booths in the back. We take our seats with me sitting next to Gio. "I'll send a waiter," she said, walking away.

  "This is nice," I said, looking around the room.

  “Yeah, my great nonna decorated it," he said. I see a waitress dressed in a white button-up and black skirt walking to our table.

  "Good evening. Here are your menus," she said, passing the menus out. "Mr. Ricci, so nice to see you again," she said, handing him his menu. After passing out the menus, she got our drink orders then left. I open the menu up, seeing all different kinds of food.

  "This looks all kinds of good," Brandi said, going through the menu.

  "What are you gonna order," Gio ask me.

  "Don’t know yet. What about you?" I ask him.

  "My regular," he said, putting down the menu.

  "What's that?" I ask him.

  "I usually get TUSCAN-STYLE VEAL CHOPS with mashed potatoes and asparagus," he said.

  "That sounds good," I tell him. I look through the menu some more. The waitress comes back to our table, passing out drinks.

  “Is everyone ready to order," she asked with a pen and notebook out. Everyone gives out their order, but me.

  “I'll get the chicken parmesan with plain pasta and asparagus," I tell her, and she writes it down.

  "Anything else I can get you?" she asks, looking at Gio, but he was on his phone.

  "Yes, can you get me some white wine," I ask her. She damn near sneers at me before I can say something.

  "Your names Alice right," Gio says more of a statement than a question.

  "Yes," she said, looking confused.

  “You know who I am," he asks.

  “Yes," she replied.

  “These are my guests, and this lady right next to me that you’re looking at all crazy is my future wife," he said. I almost choked on the water that I was drinking. I look at Gio.

  “You need to apologize to her, then run and take our order to the kitchen and get us a new waiter," he said, picking his phone back up.

  The waitress turns to me. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Ricci. I didn't mean to ruin your evening," she said, then speed walks away from our table.

  "Really, Gio," I said.

  "What?" he said, putting his phone down on the table face up.

  "Why did you tell her that you're going to marry me?" I ask.

  "Because you are," he said, then getting back on his phone.

  "That's what you think," I mumble, grabbing my cup of water.

  "What did you say?" Gio asks, still typing on his phone.

  "Nothing," I said. He got ears like a hawk, I thought.

  “I'll be your new waiter," said a young man holding a bottle of wine. He starts pouring it into the cup. When he got to Brandi's, "No, she can't have any," I tell him. He looks at me for a minute then proceeded to pour Angel some. "Anything else I can get," he asks.

  “No, but keep your eyes to yourself," Gio said.

  I look at Gio after the waiter leaves he looks u
p from his phone. "Is there something wrong?" he asks.

  "No," I said, grabbing my phone from my pocket.

  I see that I have a message from my dad and Chris. I open Chris’s message first. He said the only people that know that we are involved with them are dad's right hand, his right hand and a couple of Ricci's people I text back is he sure about it. I open the text from my dad saying that our flight leaves Friday at four in the morning the tickets are waiting either Chirs or him will be picking us up at the airport. After replying okay to dad, I put my phone back in my pocket. I look around the table to see everyone on their phones.

  “So, what is everyone doing this weekend?" I ask. Angel looks at me.

  "I'll be with my boo at this family reunion," Angel said, I look at him.

  "Really? I didn't know that you were invited," I said.

  "I wasn’t, but I'm coming anyway," he said, folding his arms under his chest. I look over at Gio.

  "He can't come," I said.

  "Well, since I can't leave the state, he will be going as protection," he said like he's my dad.

  "Gio, he's here," Angel said, looking at an older man walking to a table across the room.

  “I’ll be back," Gio said, getting up from the table. I look over at Angel.

  "What’s going on," I ask.

  "He’s gonna have a talk," Angel said. I look over to where Gio was to see that he's sitting at the table talking to the man. The waiter comes over to our table, placing our food on the table. "Here you go, ma’am," said the waiter.

  After placing the plate in front of me then he puts Gio's plate down, but a folded piece of paper falls in Gio's seat. I grab the paper to hand to the waiter, but he shakes his head at me. "Have a good meal," he said then leaves. I look around the table to see Brandi and Angel eating, not understanding what happened. I open the paper to see what was on it:

  When you get a chance to get away from Ricci, I'll be in the back waiting to talk to you about Andre Smith.

  Who the fuck is following me, I thought. I look across the room to see Gio still taking.

  "Angel," I said.

  "Yes," he said after swallowing in his food.

  "I need to grab a pad out of my purse," I said.

  "Don’t ruin my meal," he said, going in his pocket, pulling out the keys. "Do you need me to go with you?" he said.