by Nikki Wild
I’d get my information, eventually. I just had to keep moving.
Gabby
Dante and the guys were in the kitchen arguing over what to do.
Once I saw the discussion was going in circles, I quietly backed out, leaving them alone. I motioned for Bear to join me and opened the front door to take a walk.
The afternoon sun was starting to go down, the clear blue sky pierced by the swaying trees that towered over the cabin. It was quiet, almost eerily so, with nothing but the muffled sound of the guys behind me and various songbirds breaking the silence. Bear trotted ahead of me, running around the side of the house and lifting a leg against a tree to pee. His black fur almost sparkled in the sunshine. It was beautiful, and it reminded me of being in Central Park last summer. Bella and I had gone for a picnic on her birthday, and her hair was flying all around her head in the breeze.
“You look like a horse with that mane!” I’d said to her. “The way the sun hits it makes it sparkle!”
She laughed and flipped it over her shoulder, doing her best to control it.
“Just call me the Italian Sparkle Pony!” she quipped as she struck a pose and we fell onto the blanket laughing. It wasn’t even funny, but we had a habit of laughing at even the dumbest jokes from each other. We were tight like that.
Fuck, I thought, I miss her. I wondered if my dad had gotten to her yet. I was sure she’d be the first person he would talk to.
We’d been friends since third grade and inseparable ever since she saved me from getting beaten up by Alfredo Luna in the fourth. His unprovoked assaults had escalated from pinching my arm to pulling my hair and by the time he’d decided pushing me down on the playground was the best way to express his affection for me, Bella stepped up and slammed the heel of her brand new pink cowboy boot right on his toe.
I declared her my best friend then, and her loyalty had never wavered.
Now, I felt bad for not telling her that I’d planned to go to Otto’s. But at this point, it didn’t matter. I just hoped my dad wasn’t grilling her too hard, because she didn’t know anything more than what was on the news.
I went to Otto’s.
There was a fight.
I killed someone.
I killed someone.
That very fact was finally beginning to dawn on me and a chill ran through my veins. Part of me hoped it wasn’t true, that somehow there’d been a mistake. But if there was video, how could it be a mistake?
I’d grown up around violence. Or, rather, with the knowledge of violence being close. But rarely was it something I witnessed first hand. That’s why I was frozen in shock outside the tent at the carnival. I’d never seen anything like that before. Men pulling guns on each other. My father, perfectly willing and ready to shoot another man.
I never found out what truly happened that night, but there’d been rumors, of course. Paulie Paradiso was found dead inside the tent, and nobody was ever accused of his murder. I’d kept my mouth shut, and apparently, Dante had too.
I’d never forgotten that day and I never told my dad what I saw. But he’d been there, doing whatever Giannetti asked him too. Always loyal, always willing to drop whatever he was doing to please The Boss.
And now he was The Boss. The Don. All his hard work had paid off for him.
Unfortunately, his family had suffered. Oh, I don’t mean suffered like third-world suffering or anything. My brothers and I had everything we could ever want. We were never hungry, we were never cold, we were never neglected, in the physical sense of the word.
But we were neglected of our father’s attention. Giannetti got that instead. He was his teacher, his mentor, so much more than his boss. He demanded constant respect from all his men and he received it.
Now, my father demanded that same respect. It was a different era; life as a Dom in New York was a whole different lifestyle now, but the basics were still the same. He ran things. He made sure things kept running.
When people needed him, he was there.
Just like Dante had been there that day so many years ago. If he hadn’t come along and thrown me out of the path of gunfire, my life would have ended that day. I shuddered to think of it now.
I couldn’t believe it was him. I’d never forgotten him. And now, all these years later, he’s back? Basically barreling into my life in the same exact way. His eyes, his smell, his face had haunted me for years.
Despite my best efforts, I’d never seen him around the neighborhood again after that day. An hour after my father showed up, and amidst all the chaos after Paradiso’s death, I found another moment to sneak off to look for him but I’d never found him again.
I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about him often over the years. In fact, his memory eventually turned into my first real childhood crush. I’d always hoped I’d see him again someday, but as they years passed, I’d pretty much given up on it actually happening.
And now here he was. No longer a young boy, but a man.
A breathtakingly sexy, gentle, sweet, funny man that I couldn’t keep my hands off of.
I’d never in a million years expected things to turn out like this.
Bear finished his business and kept walking around the back of the cabin. I followed him, grateful for the moment alone with my thoughts. Now that I knew Dante was the boy from the carnival, my thoughts had been in a tailspin.
I needed to sort them out. I needed to come up with a way to convince Dante that my father really would be able to get us out of this. Maybe I wasn’t completely confident of that fact myself, especially now that the police were involved, but if anyone could pull off that kind of miracle, it would be Leo Loprinzi.
All I needed to do was get to him somehow. I hated being dependent on Dante. Once again, I wished I knew how to ride one of those bikes out front. More than that, I wished for my own car. I groaned when I thought about some smelly tow truck driver sitting in my pristine leather seats.
I rounded the corner and ran smack into a shiny black truck hidden behind the house.
“What the hell! You bastard!” I yelled, startling Bear. I turned on my heel, anger shooting through my veins, shocked with disappointment that this fucking truck had been here all along and Dante had never mentioned it.
I flew through the front door, and the boys parted like the sea as I strode angrily up to Dante as he stood in the kitchen.
“Give me the keys!” I demanded.
“The keys to what?” he asked, his eyebrows wrinkling.
“The truck! You never told me you had a fucking truck!”
“The truck? You never asked if I had a truck…” he replied, his dark eyes filling with confusion.
“You knew I was stranded here! You knew I couldn’t ride a bike, I couldn’t just leave on my own. You knew I felt dependent upon you!”
“Gabby, what the hell are you talking about?”
“You! You won’t let me leave!” Tears welled up in my eyes and I felt everyone staring at me.
“I’m not forcing you to stay, Gabby.” I stared up at him, and was taken aback at the gentleness I saw there as a twinge of pain threaded through his voice. “I would never just fucking kidnap you and hold you against your will like that. I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not that fucking kind of man.”
He turned to the guys.
“Can you give us a few minutes alone?” he asked, which was promptly followed by awkward silence and muttering until they had all shuffled out, leaving us alone in the kitchen.
Dante pulled a set of keys from his pocket and slid them across the kitchen counter towards me. I grabbed them quickly and shoved them into my pocket.
“You’re free to go, Gabby. But I need you to listen to me first. I know you think your dad can make everything magically disappear and maybe he can with the cops. Maybe he’s in bed with all sorts of people, judges, politicians, whatever. Maybe he can make the charges disappear, I’m not disputing that. But here’s what I know for sure. I know the Iron Go
dz aren’t going to just go away. They don’t forgive and forget, no matter what. They aren’t going to just replace their members and go about business as usual, just because of who you are. Men like that don’t give one fuck about the mob. They aren’t afraid of your father. They aren’t afraid of the consequences. They live to protect each other, to avenge each other’s deaths.”
He walked around the counter, closing the distance between us and peering into my eyes.
“That’s why I want you to stay here. I would have told you about my truck if you’d asked. I wasn’t trying to keep anything from you. I’m just trying to protect you. Now, I don’t know what might happen if you take off on your own. You might be just fine. But most likely, there are lots of people out looking for you right this very second and some of those people are bad, Gabby. Not for nuttin', but they’d wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you, babe.” His eyes flashed with concern, and my heart melted. “I don’t know what I’d do if someone hurt you.”
Of course he wasn’t trying to keep me here. It all made sense now. I felt like an ass for assuming otherwise, for accusing him of doing something like that. He was a good man.
“We’re in this together, Gabby. For better or worse. It’s best if we stick together. You can go if you want, but I really wish you’d stay. I can’t protect you if you leave.”
“Dante, I’m sorry, I just —,” he put a finger up to my lips, silencing me. A slow grin spread across his face and he brought his lips to mine, kissing me so slowly, so gently, it almost hurt. I sighed, leaning into him, leaning into his warmth, his protective arms wrapping around me.
“No apologies needed,” he whispered, as he pulled me into his chest. “I get it. Trust me, I totally understand.”
We stood there for a moment, breathing in each other’s warmth, his comfort seeping into me. I’d never felt like I needed anyone in my life, but suddenly, in that moment, in his gentle arms, I felt like I needed him.
“I have a plan,” he said and I nodded in agreement. “You just have to be patient. And you have to trust me.”
Trust and dependence. Two things I was totally unfamiliar with. I sighed, trying to find a way to let my walls down just a little. If anyone in the world deserved my trust at this point, it was him.
“Do you trust me, babe? Can you trust me?” he asked quietly. I pulled back, looking up into his eyes again and smiled through my tears, nodding.
“I can try,” I whispered.
“Good,” he said, leaning down to kiss me gently again. “I promise I’ll never let you down, sweetheart.”
Dante
“I want each of you to leave your cuts here, go out and see what you can find out,” I said.
We’d gathered outside with Bear circling us, sniffing our boots and begging for ear scratches.
“Romeo, go to Otto’s. Hang out, drink a few beers, keep your eyes and ears open. Italo and Alonso - go hang out in the old neighborhood. See if you can get a beat on what Loprinzi and his guys are up to. Bats, brother, you go see if you can get in touch with Donny, from the precinct. See if he’ll tell you anything. Anything at all,” Donny was an old friend of ours from the neighborhood. He and his brother Sal had both become cops, following in their father’s footsteps. Their father, Charlie, was close to both Leo and Giannetti and rumor had it that he wasn’t opposed to letting his palm get a little greasy over the years.
“Sure thing, Dante,” Romeo said, as they all stripped off their cuts and draped them over a chair on the porch.
“What do you want me to do, Dante?” Angry Bobby asked.
“I want you and Gio to go check on my Ma. I don’t want to leave Gabby alone here, and I’d normally go to her house today.” I dug in my wallet and handed Gio some money. “Give her this. Tell her I’ll stop by as soon as I can, and tell her to have Veronica take her to the store.”
“Will do,” Gio said, nodding.
“Thanks, brother,” I said, pulling him in for a hug and then doing the same with Bobby. These guys were my family, just as much as my sister Veronica and my Ma. I hated that I couldn’t be there today, but there was no way in hell I was going to leave Gabby alone.
Ma was really getting old and Veronica was responsible for making sure her day to day needs were met. I went by her house several times a week to make sure she had plenty of money and helped her out with anything she needed around the property. It was the least we could do for her after all she’d done for us over the years. After our father left her all alone, she had to be both mother and father to us, and we didn’t always make it easy. I shuddered to think of the hell I’d put her through before I joined the Army. Hell, the Army years weren’t easy on her either, saddling her with so much worry and pain until I’d finally made it home.
“Check in with me if you hear anything. I want to know who’s looking for us and if anyone’s getting close.” I said, before lowering my voice, “I’ll turn my phone on. Text me with any info you find. When you come back, make sure you aren’t followed.”
I watched the guys leaving, a tiny pang of guilt for lying to Gabby about my phone starting to form in the back of my mind. She’d probably be pissed when she found out that my phone really did work out here, but I knew that when I lied about it. I figured I’d deal with the consequences when that happened, but at the time, there was no way I was going to let her lead Loprinzi to my doorstep.
Not before I had more time to gather information and figure out what to do.
“So why were you just wandering around the carnival all alone, anyway?” I asked Gabby, the flames from the fire flickering in her pretty green eyes as she smiled at me.
“Cotton candy!” she replied, jutting her chin out proudly.
“Really?” I asked.
“Yep. I was obsessed. I loved those carnivals. Giannetti was the man back then. We all looked up to him. My mother adored him. My father was his most loyal employee.”
“I’ve heard.”
“I loved those parties, though. Not just the cotton candy, but the pony rides, the bouncy houses, the face painting, the fireworks!” Her eyes lit up and I felt a twinge of nostalgia as she described our shared childhood memories. They were the same eyes I’d seen that night behind the tent and I’d had no idea at first. I always figured I’d know them as soon as I looked into them again, but I’d been wrong.
Maybe that was because she’d grown up so much. Those amazing curves were proof of that, but there was a lot more to it than that. It was the eyes themselves. They were filled with a strength, hardened with the sadness that comes when innocence is lost, and yet deeper, wiser. I found myself lost in them, remembering them, remembering the way they’d looked at me last night, trying as hard as I could to engrave them in my head in case they didn’t stick around for too long.
“Yes! I remember all of them fondly. No matter what anyone says about Giannetti, he took care of the neighborhood,” I said, tearing my gaze away at the thought of losing her. That was the first time I realized she was getting under my skin. Or, maybe the first time I admitted it to myself. I guess the first time I’d felt it was when I dragged her out of Otto’s. Or maybe when I first felt her lips against mine. Or, maybe it was the first time I felt her wrapped around me, the first time in so long that I’d buried myself in the heavenly bliss of a woman. I suppressed a groan just thinking about it. Here she was talking about fond childhood memories, and I was fantasizing about ripping her clothes off again and taking her back to my bed once more.
If there was one thing we had, it was time. I got up to lock the front door as she kept talking, the blood rushing through my veins as I imagined her writhing below me.
“He did. I never thought I’d see the day he’d get put in the joint,” she said, her eyes trailing me as I locked the door. I grabbed my gun from the table and tucked it into the waistband of my jeans. She didn’t miss a beat, just kept right on talking. “My dad was so freaked out that day. The whole neighborhood was. Not just Queens, either. All the housewives in Howard B
each were gathered out in the street in front of their houses, chaining smoking and gossiping like it was the event of the century.”
Yeah, I thought, she’s not like other girls. Wait - women. She wasn’t like other women. She didn’t flinch at the sight of my gun, she didn’t seem afraid of anything. It made me wonder if she was ever scared of anything in her life. But why would she be if her father was Leonardo Loprinzi? What did she ever have to be afraid of?
No wonder she was calm as a cucumber about all of this shit. She sat there like we were just two old friends catching up. As if there weren’t a dozen dangerous men trying to find us and kill us at this very second. As if our very lives didn’t hinge on what happened in the next few days.
Fuck it, I thought. Maybe she’s onto something.
“You aren’t afraid?” I asked her, stopping in front of her and pulling her up and into my arms.
“Of you?” she asked.
“No, not of me. Of everyone else,” I said.
A slow smile spread across her lips and she smirked.
“I like to live in the moment,” she winked, “and right now, you’re the only person I see. And I don’t see anything to be afraid of.”
“I like the way you think,” I whispered, pulling her chin up and brushing her lips with mine. She tasted like peaches, so sweet, so good. She melted under my touch. I pulled her close, as close as I could get her, as we stood in the kitchen, slowly inhaling her, tasting her, running the silkiness of her skin under my palms.
All these years, she’d been like a mirage in my head. We were just kids. That brief moment was like a dream, something that never really happened. Something I’d almost convinced myself that I’d made up.
But now she was here, in my arms. Real. Flesh and bone, all feminine softness and welcoming warm bliss that I desperately needed to feel again.