“I know. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t think you would approve.”
* * *
“I don’t approve.”
* * *
Martina didn’t want to chastise her husband too greatly. She could understand why he’d kept this a secret, but by keeping it a secret, he’d opened them both up to more danger than he’d realized.
* * *
“Do we leave him here?” Martina asked.
* * *
Edoardo shook his head, “We can’t.”
* * *
“And what about afterwards. Do we warn Nico?”
* * *
Edoardo pursed his lips and thought again.
* * *
“I want another cigarette.”
* * *
“No more smoking for you tonight. We need to figure out if we should tell your brother.”
* * *
Edoardo shook his head. He couldn’t see how telling Nico would help. He knew what his half-brother had just gone through with losing his son and he knew that Eve had her limit of what she was willing to accept when it came to mafia activities. Involving Nico in this was out of the question as far as Edoardo was concerned. He understood Martina’s compulsion to be open, but if that sent Nico off on a journey of vigilante justice, he could hurt not just himself but the people in his life.
* * *
“You know Nico. If we tell him…”
* * *
“…He’ll come to Italy and try to finish him off.”
* * *
“Right.”
* * *
“Let’s move his body, and then we’ll get out of town tonight.”
* * *
“He could wake up at any time.”
* * *
“So we’d better get going,” Edoardo sighed.
* * *
“But will Nico be safe? If we don’t tell him?”
* * *
Edoardo nodded, “I’ll protect him.”
* * *
“How?”
* * *
“His wedding. It’s in Milan. 3 months. We got the invitation last week.”
* * *
Edoardo reached into his pocket and pulled out the invitation, which he’d folded up. Martina looked the invite up and down. Against Edoardo’s warnings and surely against Eve’s pleas, they were going to be married in Italy. Martina felt a lump in her stomach as she looked down at the man she’d knocked unconscious. If it wouldn’t have been utterly careless, she could have killed him right then and there. But she’d done enough.
* * *
Martina prodded him with her foot again.
* * *
“We’d better get him out of here.”
* * *
Edoardo nodded in agreement. He grabbed the man’s arms and Martina grabbed him by his legs. They dragged him out of the building and down the empty street into the alley. Edoardo propped his head up against a giant trash can and Martina stood over his unconscious body.
* * *
“I can’t believe we’re going to let him live.”
* * *
“We can’t kill him. We just have to hope he loses interest in chasing down my half-brother.”
* * *
Martina gave Edoardo a skeptical look.
* * *
“Let’s go. We don’t have much time before we need to get out of here.”
* * *
“Back to Egypt?” Martina asked.
Edoardo nodded. Going back to Egypt would give them plenty of time to strategize and figure out how they could avoid Nico’s wedding day ending in disaster. The unconscious man leaning against the trash can looked innocent in his sleeping state. The irony was that he was one of the most dangerous men that Edoardo knew.
* * *
“Let’s go,” Martina ushered him.
* * *
They walked out of the alleyway together and disappeared into the night.
Prologue II
Eve spun around twice in her dress. She’d spent all morning at Vera Wang and they still hadn’t decided on what dress she wanted to wear. Daniella sucked back the rest of her iced coffee loudly and the slim attendant working with Eve cast her a snooty glance. Eve sighed.
* * *
“I don’t know if this is the one.”
* * *
“Let’s try the mermaid one again,” Daniella asked the attendant.
* * *
The attendant walked off to get the dress again.
* * *
“I’m sorry this is so hard,” Eve sighed.
* * *
Daniella shrugged, “It’s fun. Plus, it’s your special day. You’re supposed to have the perfect dress.”
* * *
The attendant returned into the room and brought back the mermaid dress that Eve had first considered. Eve took the dress and stepped into the changing room. She slipped off her dress and stepped into the other one. It felt good to have Daniella here. Daniella had graduated from high school and she was now engaged to Domenico, Nico’s nephew. They’d both come to New York to prepare for the wedding and iron out the details before they all flew to Italy together. Eve had started off as Daniella’s mentor, an older woman in the community who the young high school girl had looked up to. In the years since Eve had left Boston, Daniella had grown up.
* * *
She was soon to be married and she worked alongside her husband in their family business. For all the friends that were Eve’s own age, she was the one whom Eve felt could understand her the most. Daniella knew more about being with a Riccardi and what that was like. Life since Matteo was born sounded like a series of fantastical lies strung together. Eve hesitated to share that with anyone except Daniella, who already knew most of it.
* * *
Eve walked out of the room and had the attendant and Daniella zip up the dress again. She spun around in front of the mirror twice, but the dress hadn’t gained additional luster.
* * *
“Maybe I should try something more traditional?”
* * *
The attendant nodded and then left the room again. Daniella eyed Eve in the latest dress she’d tried on.
* * *
“I sort of like this one.”
* * *
“I hate the way it bunches,” Eve added.
* * *
“Doesn’t it feel strange?” Daniella asked.
* * *
“What?”
* * *
“Planning your wedding.”
* * *
Eve smiled. What felt even stranger than that was seeing the young high school girl she’d mentored acting so grown up. Since she’d left high school, Daniella had her own job and she was working on saving up money to go to college. She was close to being married and her relationship with Domenico seemed strong for people who were so young. The half-Italian, half-Black little girl that Eve had known was now a fully grown adult.
* * *
“Yes. It feels weird actually marrying Nico.”
* * *
“And marrying him in Italy… It’s so romantic.”
* * *
“Well you’ll be getting married soon too… And your high school sweetheart at that.”
* * *
Daniella blushed and looked down.
* * *
“Well I don’t think we’ll be getting married in Italy. Maybe Boston.”
* * *
“How has Boston been?”
* * *
“Good. Giuseppe left town recently to head back to Italy.”
* * *
A lump formed in Eve’s throat as she thought about Giuseppe. The man who had threatened their life had never met his grandson Matteo. In fact, since they’d fled the country the first time, they hadn’t encountered Nico’s father. He was still furious for Nico’s betrayal. Domenico had won his forgiveness and he’d been permitted to stay in Boston. But Nico was persona non grata in the Bosto
n area and Giuseppe’s opinion wasn’t likely to change. Eve didn’t dare ask Daniella what great price her fiancé had to pay in order to keep Giuseppe off his back.
* * *
Eve supposed that after three years, perhaps Giuseppe could be forgiving. Still, she doubted that he’d really changed.
Hearing about Giuseppe still sent chills down her spine. She still worried about him exacting revenge for his son’s betrayal and she still worried about him finding her son Matteo and hurting him. For a three-year-old, Matteo had already experienced far too much.
* * *
“And my family in Boston?” Eve added.
* * *
The attendant came back with a rack that held three more dresses.
* * *
Daniella replied, “They’re doing great. They er… spend a lot of time with my mother.”
* * *
Eve wasn’t surprised.
* * *
“They’re invited to the wedding you know. My mother can’t see why I don’t have the wedding in Boston.”
* * *
Daniella scoffed, “Boston? Over Italy? She’s crazy.”
* * *
Eve picked out a dress on the rack and gestured to Daniella, “If you unzip me, I’ll try this one on and maybe we’ll get this over with. Daniella walked over to her and trailed the zipper down Eve’s back.
* * *
Eve walked into the dressing room and stepped out of the dress. She looked at her body again with it’s small lightning strike stretch-marks from the birth of her first son. She eyed the shape of her bosom and the curviness of her hips. She’d lost 10 lbs to fit into her wedding dress and she enjoyed the shape of a healthier and more athletic body before her. Eve began to slip into the last dress and as both her legs entered the soft silken fabric, she knew she’d found the right dress. As she slid the long sleeves up over her shoulders, she felt like she had stepped into a princess’s ballgown.
* * *
Eve didn’t even require assistance to get into the dress. For the first time, she zipped up the dress all the way on her own. When she saw her own reflection in the mirror, Eve felt a tear push its way to the front of her eye socket. She imagined Nico seeing her walk down the aisle with this dress, and she imagined him sweeping her off her feet on the dance floor. Eve pushed open the door of the dressing room. Daniella clapped her hands over her mouth the moment that she saw her.
* * *
Even the attendant, who had been unusually quiet, let out a sound of awe as she saw Eve exit the dressing room with the dress. While there had been absolutely nothing traditional about her relationship with Nico, she felt drawn to a more traditional theme for their wedding. She’d thought of him as her husband for months… All they had to do was make it official. Their engagement had been long and had spanned the time of their son’s birth. A wedding was long overdue.
* * *
“This is the one,” Eve said.
* * *
Daniella nodded, “It absolutely is. Give it a twirl…”
* * *
Eve twirled around in the dress and watched the floor-length skirt studded with glimmering crystals spin around in front the dressing room mirror.
* * *
“I love it,” Eve confirmed.
* * *
“Let me measure you and you can come back within a week to pick it up.”
* * *
Eve nodded. She couldn’t believe that after hours of searching, she was finally going to find her dream dress. The long sleeves, the deep v-neck neckline and the ballroom skirt all added to the appeal of the dress’s design. She slipped out of the dress and back into her every day outfit which was sleek, but far less glamorous than a designer wedding dress.
The attendant walked away with the dress and returned with a measuring tape. She confirmed Eve’s measurements and then herded both Eve and Daniella to the register where they were supposed to pay for the dress. Eve swiped her card and breathed a sigh of relief. They were all one step closer to finalizing all the details of the wedding.
* * *
They walked out of the store and Daniella turned to Eve with a smile.
* * *
“Isn’t this all so exciting!”
* * *
Eve shrugged, “I don’t know. It doesn’t feel real yet. And you know, Nico and I still have a son together. I wonder if we’re doing the right thing or if marriage is outdated…”
* * *
Daniella shot Eve a grumpy look.
* * *
“It’s absolutely not outdated, Eve. Maybe you already have a kid together but it just isn’t the same unless you do it the proper way. In a church.”
* * *
Eve sighed, “I know. I’ve been going to special sessions with Nico’s priest.”
* * *
“Becoming a Catholic?”
* * *
Eve nodded.
* * *
“In the most technical sense, I guess.”
* * *
“That’s so romantic! So you can get married in one of the Riccardi churches in Italy…”
* * *
Daniella trailed off and Eve could tell that she was doing more fantasizing about her own wedding rather than thinking too much about Eve’s.
“I don’t know. I still hope we’re doing the right thing,” Eve added.
* * *
Daniella shot her a glare.
* * *
“What do you mean?”
* * *
“Well you know… You and I are different from the Riccardis. Or the Savellis.”
* * *
Daniella had only just heard about everything that Eve had experienced in Italy. Despite the tales of a terrifying family with a staunch belief in blood purity, Daniella hadn’t lost even a smidgeon of interest in pursuing Domenico.
* * *
Eve didn’t know if she could be so naive anymore. Pursuing a whole life with Nico still felt risky. And though Eve trusted him, she still worried that her trust in him could be taken away at any instant. She had no confidence that something terrible could be avoided for the rest of their lives.
* * *
She loved Nico. Being with him was like a breath of fresh air on a cool spring morning. He excited her senses, awakened her to the romantic truths of the universe and he’d given her a chance to realize dreams she never believed would come true. Now, Eve was a mother and soon to be a wife. Everything she’d never thought possible was happening because of Nico. Yet, her fear that her son would be snatched away hadn’t abated. The terror she felt when her fiancé left the house at night that she’d get a call from someone saying that something had happened to Nico.
* * *
Eve sighed, “I guess I don’t want to rush things. And I encourage you not to rush things with Domenico. Just… make sure you know what you’re getting into.”
* * *
Eve was surprised when Daniella didn’t respond for a while. Daniella folded her arms and kept her eyes focused ahead. Her caramel skin glowed in the sunlight and highlighted the lines on her face as her features scrunched up in frustration.
* * *
“Not going to respond to me?” Eve asked.
* * *
Daniella huffed in frustration.
* * *
“I don’t appreciate the suggestion that I’m rushing.”
* * *
Eve’s eyes widened at Daniella’s tone. She had never experienced anything other than pleasantness with the young girl that she’d mentored for so many years.
* * *
“Er… sorry.”
* * *
Eve still couldn’t figure out what she’d done wrong. The depth of Daniella’s frustrations alerted her to the fact that this was likely more than just teenaged hormones.
Out of Bondage Page 2