by Serena Light
"No," Her voice cracked as she shook her head, her lips trembling as she turned around, hugging him close as he placed a hand against the back of her head, the dread rising up once more.
"Nicole, please tell me what happened, you're making me worried."
"Everyone keeps telling me you're bad!" She sobbed brokenly. "They keep telling me to leave you! They keep trying to take control of my life."
"Who?" Salvatore ducked his head, trying to make her look at him. "Who keeps trying to take control of your life?"
"Mom and dad, and, and..." Her words morphed into tears as he cupped her face and wiped at her cheeks. "All the people I loved the most..."
"Shh..." Salvatore soothed, placing a kiss on her forehead, then her eyes and then her cheeks, followed by a kiss on the tip of her nose and her chin, his lips inches away from her's as her sobs had reduced to silent tears. "Now, tell me what happened."
And she did.
She told him how her mother had just wanted to meet for lunch to tell her how horrible of a man her husband was and how he would kill her in her sleep whenever he wanted to, and how she should get away from him, get a divorce. Then, Luca. She had met with him a day after her mother, and he told her all the dark and inhuman things Salvatore has done. Now, her father. Who said she didn't have it in her to be with a man like him and had the audacity to demand her to sign the divorce papers, not even willing to give her a choice?
At the end of it all, Nicole lay curled in a ball as Salvatore sat at the edge of his bed, chin rested on his stapled fingers as he listened in silence.
"Why don't they understand..." Nicole whimpered. "For once...I'm happy...and they want to take it away from me..."
"You're...happy?" Salvatore repeated, almost in disbelief. "With a man like me? You're happy with me?"
"You're the only guy I've been with, who doesn't treat me like a fragile glass which might break if I have to lift a finger. My mother had my previous workplace shut down because I didn't want to quit. My previous boyfriend would keep me indoors, wouldn't let me leave without him, was utterly controlling and possessive and...God, he was bad, and I was with him for 2 years." Nicole wiped the tears from her cheek. "You don't do anything like that. Other than certain rules and regulations you have me following for my safety, you haven't placed any restrictions on me and I feel...Free...happy..."
"You've made me happy..." Nicole repeated, meeting his blue eyes that seemed to look like flowing water in springtime. "Happier than what I've been in a long time and people want to take it away..."
Heaving a breath, Salvatore felt a warmth spread through him as he lay down beside her, caressing her cheek as she looked up pleading at him.
"Please don't let them take my happiness away..."
"As my wife, you should know that I will ensure that no one can do anything to make you sad or take away the things that make you happy," Salvatore assured, cupping her chin into his finger as he swiped his thumb against her bottom lip.
"Promise?" She held out her pinky to him as Salvatore couldn't help but smile at her.
"I promise," He nodded, wrapping his little finger around her's, and placing a kiss on her forehead. "I promise,"
Chapter XI: Stephan with a Ph.D.
On this particular night, the couple lay sleeping when the bedroom door swung open silently. The footsteps were soundless as they stopped at the edge of the bed before the person jumped on the two. The suddenness had Nicole wake up with a scream as Salvatore grabbed his gun, a second scream joining in the cacophony.
Turning on the lamp, Salvatore held the gun outstretched before recognizing the face before him.
"Goddammit," He heaved a breath and put the gun down with a clang. "Fuck you, man."
Nicole looked at the man before her who had a messed up wavy hazel mane and dark brown eyes as he wore vision glasses, a stubble sported on his jaw and a wide grin on his lips.
"Salvi!" He squealed in delight, tackling her husband as they both went toppling off the bed and onto the floor. "I missed you, baby!"
Leaning over the bed, she saw the other man wrapped around Salvatore like a koala and stroking his hair, an exasperated smile on her husband's face as he patted his back.
"Missed you, too," He admitted with a fond look as Nicole couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the words.
After a couple of minutes of lying on the floor, the two men stood up, dusting off when the stranger caught sight of Nicole seated on the bed and looking at the two in amusement.
"Why hello there," He purred, sitting down next to her and taking hold of her hand. "My! What a delicate ring. Befitting for such beautiful hands," He placed a kiss on the back of her palm and Nicole couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when she noticed her husband shaking his head.
"Aren't you going to introduce us, Salvi baby?" The man asked, snuggling closer to Nicole as she looked at Salvatore in fright at the blatant actions of the man.
"Well, Nicole, meet Stephan Finch, my friend-"
"-Best friend, baby, don't mix it up." Stephan intervened, still caressing Nicole's hand.
"My best friend since high school," Salvatore shook his head with a chuckle. "And Stephan, meet Nicole..." He trailed for a moment.
"His wife," Nicole finished for him with a broad smile and pulled back her hand.
Stephan looked at her for a moment, staring at her unblinkingly before standing up in haste. He grabbed hold of Salvatore's hand, seeing the silver wedding band around his finger before looking back at Nicole's emerald ring.
"You..." Stephan choked out, pointing between the two. "You got married, and didn't even tell me? Much less fucking invite me?"
"Stephan-" Salvatore tried to explain.
"I was supposed to be your best man! You promised! You ass, you said I could be best man!"
"It was a small reception,"
"A reception, nonetheless!" Stephan exclaimed, flailing his arms. "What a great man you are! You always keep your promise! What happened to this one, huh?" He demanded, shoving at Salvatore's chest.
"Stephan, listen to me." The taller man tried to reason. "Can we talk about this in my study, hmm? You can say whatever and lash out, but please, not my room."
"In your study? You want to do this in your study?"
"Yes,"
"Fine." Stephan seethed. "Come on then!"
With that the other man walked out of the bedroom and towards the study leaving Salvatore to stand by his bedside and pinching the bridge of his nose, sighing before he turned towards Nicole.
"Just get some sleep, I'll deal with him." He informed her and walked towards the door.
"Salvatore?" Nicole halted him. "Who is he really?"
"He is actually my best friend from high school. We met at 17 and were roommates at Stanford; we even shared an apartment. Then he further pursued his education and just received his Ph.D. degree to become 'Stephan with a Ph.D.'." Salvatore chuckled.
"It's a long story." He waved dismissively at seeing Nicole's confused expression. "Just get some sleep, yeah?" With that, he walked out and closed the door behind him.
Walking down the hallway, Salvatore made his way to his study, entering to find Stephan pacing the length of the room with a glass of scotch in his hand, muttering incoherently under his breath. Heaving a sigh, the taller man braced himself for the earful he was about to receive and closed the door behind him and made his way towards his seat behind the desk.
"I was here just 5 months ago," Stephan chuckled humorlessly, shaking his head in disbelief. "I leave you for 5-fucking-months and you get yourself married! Who is she anyway, huh?"
Heaving a heavy breath, Salvatore leaned back in his seat and perched his feet onto the table, gently turning in his chair as he thought on how to tell him.
"Her maiden name is Nicole Lombardi, the daughter of Renzo Lombardi – he's a fellow Mafia Boss by the way – and she was part of a negotiation deal."
"What negotiation deal?!"
"Basically, the initial deal was I get 30% earn
ings in exchange for exporting a few products of Mr. Lombardi's. But then, after having met me, he negotiated that I export all his dealings for him through my regular clients and get 10% of the earnings and marry his daughter for a political merger, and I agreed on the condition that he names me his beneficiary upon his death, meaning I get his mafia leading to easy expansion."
"So an arranged marriage in exchange for a mafia you could have gotten with the use of a couple good men, some guns, and time." Stephan scoffed in disbelief.
"Yeah."
"And what if he doesn't do what he said?"
"I shoot Nicole." He shrugged before the glass came hurtling towards him, Salvatore ducking at the last moment as the glass shattered against the bookshelf behind him, sending shards flying and the scotch splattering across the covers of the books and the pictures.
"You will do no such thing." Stephan gritted out, his anger too much for him to contain. "You hear me! You will not do that!"
"You see, this is why you wouldn't have made a good Mafia Boss." Salvatore patronized and retook his previous position, rested his hands behind his head as if though he wasn't about to be impaled by the glass. "What you don't understand is that when it comes to things you want, in this world, you use what the person values the most. In Renzo's case, it's Nicole, and besides, I had him draw up a new will before me stating that I will be the beneficiary at the time of death. The threat is just a reminder for him not to try anything. "
"You're fucking cold, you know that?"
"You don't get to where I am by being a ball of sunshine, Stephan." Salvatore shrugged nonchalantly. "And besides, I didn't persist on having you at the wedding because I knew you wouldn't approve of a political marriage based on expansion and death threats."
Heaving a sigh, Stephan collapsed onto the seat by the window, holding his head in his hands and messing up his already disheveled hair. Inhaling deeply, he looked up at the man who was his best friend of 11 years.
"How long have you guys been married?"
"4 months."
"Are you happy?"
"I am very satisfied with where I am in life,"
"With this wedding, Salvatore,"
"I am not certain,"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Like, I know I'm not in love with her, but I also know that I'm fond of her and her eccentrics. I also know that I care for her and get concerned and worried when she doesn't look right, but I am not entirely certain if she makes me happy."
Stephan stared at his best friend in disbelief, wondering what was wrong with this man
"We're working on it."
"Where do you think you two will end up?" Stephan stood from his place.
Salvatore opened his mouth to respond but closed it as he thought for a moment; the American watching him sit up straight, even stand up as he scratched his chin in thought.
"I don't know." Salvatore ran a hand through his hair. "I honestly don't know where I imagine this to end up."
"It's simple, Salvatore." Stephan shrugged as he stuffed his hands into his jean's pocket and made his way towards the door. "You'll either love her or kill her. We've already put a no-no on killing her, so you'll love her. But in order to love her, you need to want to do that. Do you want to love her, Salvatore? Think about that."
"I'm taking Marco's room." Stephan opened the door, about to head out. "See you in the morning, babe."
Nicole awoke to an empty bedroom in the morning. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she got out of bed and got ready for the Saturday morning, getting dressed in denim jeans with a white tank top under a royal blue cardigan.
Making her way down the stairs, she was surprised to find guards huddled together with grins on their faces as they chatted excitedly between themselves.
"What's going on?" Nicole asked hesitantly as they all broke apart, Thomas going to her with a smile.
"Stephan with a P.H. is here." He chuckled.
"It's Stephan with a Ph.D. now." Manuel corrected.
"At the rate, I'm going, I'm going to be Stephan with a Ph.D." The two spoke in sync before bursting into a fit of laughter, Nicole looking at the two in confusion.
"I don't get it,"
"Oh, basically, Stephan always introduced himself as 'Stephan with a P.H.' because he hated people getting his spelling wrong," Thomas enlightened as they walked towards the sunroom. "And once, he was on a roll and said that 'at the rate I'm going, I'm gonna be Stephan with a Ph.D.' and that became his personal catchphrase."
"I see," Nicole nodded in realization, standing outside the sunroom. "Well, I'm gonna have breakfast now."
With that, she turned towards the door as they were pulled open for her, the sound of laughter was the first thing she heard upon entering.
Surprised, she looked up to see Salvatore in a three-piece pinstriped grey suit and black button-up laughing with Stephan who had his hair tied into a ponytail, wearing cargo pants with a denim button-up. They looked so contrasting, yet they both were laughing together.
"Oh, you should have seen his face!" Stephan threw his head back.
"I would have paid good money to see that happen," Salvatore nodded, composing himself, a smile still sported on his lips.
"Morning," Nicole called out uncertainly, making her way towards them.
"Morning," Both greeted in sync as she sat down across from Salvatore, watching him take a sip of his coffee as she grabbed a breakfast muffin from the trey before her and catching sight of the unconventional scrambled eggs, cheese, sausage, and toast placed before Stephan.
"I'm sorry about last night," Stephan apologized, picking up his orange juice. "Salvi baby here explained everything to me and I'm sorry for having frightened you."
"It...Alright," Nicole hesitated, not entirely certain why he was calling Salvatore 'Salvi baby'.
"Congratulations on the wedding, you two,"
"Thank you," They both responded with a curt smile.
"Also many congratulations on getting the degree," Salvatore recalled, nodding towards his guard as Stephan grinned in anticipation.
"I get my gift now?" He rubbed his hands together, closing his eyes and holding his palm out.
Nicole watched Salvatore place a box with a ribbon in his hands as Stephan opened his eyes. Pulling open the lid, he stared down at the contents with a wide grin before punching the air in his joy, squealing with delight.
“A Patek Philippe Calatrava 5119,” Salvatore took a sip of his coffee, placing it down just in time for Stephan to tackle him in a hug, nearly toppling his chair back.
"I swear to God, your gifts were the only thing that kept me going through these last 7 years of education," He exclaimed as Salvatore chuckled.
"I'm glad you liked it." He stood up once Stephan let go of him, buttoning the front of his blazer while his guard helped him put on the beige overcoat. "Also, the barber will be here by 1 to cut that unruly mess you call hair, and the tailor will drop by at 4 for your suit fitting. So be ready by then. I'm heading out,"
Stephan was too busy admiring the watch to pay attention to Salvatore as he shook his head at the man before making his way to Nicole, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
"I hope you wouldn't mind keeping him company, would you?" He asked, cupping her chin into his fingers.
"No problem at all," She smiled back in assurance as Salvatore nodded with an appreciative smile. "Remind him of his appointments," Salvatore told one of the men as he made his way out the sunroom, leaving for work on a Saturday.
After Stephan had taken the liberty to unglue himself from the watch, Nicole managed to interact with him. She learned that they two had first met when he was transferred to Salvatore's school from America and how he didn't know he was in a Mafia exclusive school until they tried to figure out what his connections were. She also learned that the two had lost touch in the last year of high school since Stephan moved back to America, but fate reunited them in Stanford where he was studying software engineering and Sal
vatore studied law.
Nicole even got to hear quite a few of their mischiefs and experiences in school and university.
"You know, he wasn't always this way," Stephan informed Nicole as she sat on the sofa, watching the barber cut away at his wavy locks. "Salvatore, I mean."
"Really?" Nicole chuckled in disbelief. "What was he like then?"
"Amazing," Stephan sighed wistfully. "Charismatic, charming, confident, so outgoing, and social. He used to talk a lot more back then, laughed a lot more too – sure he's always had a dark sense of humor – but he used to laugh. And he used to be very trusting back then too, now that fucker doesn't trust a single being. He was great with people and even better with kids. Everyone loved him, he was Mr. Congeniality, but now he's just cold and detached, aloof, and feared. He is so feared by people,"
"What changed?" Nicole swallowed, not having known how different he was when he was younger.
"A lot," Stephan shook his head, earning a disapproving noise from the barber for moving. "He nearly died when he was 17, almost choked to death because he trusted the wrong person. Kidnapped and tortured and broken. He became so secluded and quiet after that, hardly slept because of the night terrors and bad dreams. He became traumatized. It took years for him to get better, but he was never the same. Salvatore figured that if you're nice, people take advantage of the fact, so you need to scare them for you to bend them to your will. He's a Regnante, his favorite saying is "either it happens my way or it doesn't happen at all","
"I...I didn't know," Nicole choked out, suddenly imagining a young and bright-eyed Salvatore, and then comparing him to the cold-eyed man people feared, the transition had a lump forming in her throat.
"He doesn't like to talk about it." Stephan tsk-ed.
"Why did you stay friends with them through the drastic change? I mean, it must have been hard on you,"
"Because, Nicole," Stephan tried to formulate his thoughts. "Friendship isn't just enjoying the good parts and bailing when things get hard. Friendship is like marriage and I chose to stay committed to Salvatore. He helped me through a lot and in exchange, I have seen every side of this man. I have seen him happy, and sad, I have seen him angry, and depressed, I have seen him cry, but most of all I have seen him broken and scared and lost and alone, and I never wanted to bail on him. I didn't want to go back to the U.S. in the last year because Salvatore needed me, he trusted me, and he cried when I told him I was going back, Nicole, he begged me not to go. Both of us tried our utmost hardest to have me stay, he even convinced his parents to host me, but my family didn't agree."