by AA Lee
Ella’s eyes tapered to the floor. “Maybe they got Mr. Sullivan and my father mixed up. Mr. Sullivan did handle a lot of business in my father’s place, and my father never took pictures.”
“We did a check on Sullivan and nothing turned up on him at all.”
“What did you expect to find?” she asked.
“Well, his existence,” Angelo huffed. “There’s only a record of him being born. Nothing since then.”
“Oh.” Ella looked off to the side. “That’s strange.” Then she seemed to think. “Who is Gregorio anyway? Is he another one of my father’s clients?”
“He’s nobody I want to talk about,” Angelo replied. He did not even want to hear his name.
“But you asked me about Gregorio. You can’t just tell me nothing about him when my phone is registered to him.”
“Actually, I can.” He held up her finger with the ring.
“That’s not fair, Angelo. I have the right to know who he is since you asked.”
“You know how I feel about fair,” he said with a mocking chuckle.
“But why do you not want to tell me?” she asked. “I don’t under—”
“Enough, Ella. I don’t want to talk about him. I have my reasons,” he said. “Don’t ask me any more questions about Gregorio. He isn’t worth my time.”
Ella crossed her hands over her shoulders and frowned. He noticed that she had done that before. It was some sort of defense mechanism against the unknown and made him feel bad. He kept forgetting that she was not used to his forward tone.
“Look, I don’t know anything for certain about your father yet, and I don’t like Gregorio. I wouldn’t want to talk about him with anyone. Okay?” He wrapped her in his arms. He protected her even though his tone made her sad. “I also have other affairs coming up. I won’t be staying here anymore.”
“Okay,” Ella grumbled and started to stand when he held his arms around her waist.
“Why are you having an attitude with me?”
“It doesn’t matter. If you have to go, there’s nothing I can do.”
“Who said I’m going alone?”
“Hm?” She twisted to see him talk.
“Well, I can’t go to a banquet at my largest casino alone. Especially since I’m hosting the event, per se. Rafa is handling the specifics.” Angelo raised her chin and gave her a small kiss. “Besides, I can’t trust you to stay here by yourself. Either someone is trying to hurt you, or some man is kissing you.”
Ella huffed at his words. “I didn’t kiss him back. It wasn’t my fault.”
“Maybe not, but I can’t let you wander far. I have to keep you out of trouble.”
Ella just gave him a look. Angelo found her adorable when he frustrated her. He would keep that in mind. “Why didn’t you change your clothes anyway?” he asked.
Her face immediately frowned. “Because Brett wouldn’t let me grab anything,” she replied.
“Yes, he takes me literally. That’s why I promoted him.”
“You threatened to shoot him.”
“Yes, I did. That is usually the most effective way to get what I want.”
“Okay, but what is he doing with my stuff? I really do want to change and go to the beach today.”
“The beach,” Angelo nodded. “I will have someone go with you. You can’t be alone anymore, Ella. You realize that, right?”
“Okay,” she relented.
“And I’m having all of your belongings moved to my house in Miami. Key Biscayne is not safe either.”
“You want me to stay with you?” Ella asked surprised. Her shock amused him. He found her genuine reactions to his words refreshing. Any other woman would have immediately tried to seduce him more out of him.
“And why wouldn’t I want what belongs to me to stay with me at night? Do you have an issue with staying with me?” he asked.
“I am not an object,” she puffed. “Why did you have to say it like that?”
He smiled and looked thoughtful. “Maybe not, but you are certainly mine.” He swiveled his chair and lifted her bottom off his lap. “I’m glad you stayed with me last night, Ella. I want many nights like that.” His tone changed to one more serious as he gazed at her fragile self. He adored every part of her. “I will see you later at my house. I want you to start watching out for those around you, and you can go get some clean clothes. I will give Brett a call.”
Ella started to walk away when Angelo twirled her body right back around. His hands held her cheeks. His lips captivated her mouth with several gentle kisses. Then he smiled and walked back to the desk, leaving her to wobble out of the door in surprise.
“Brett,” he said into his phone. “Ella is on her way down. Let her get what she needs.” He looked up at the ceiling and shook his head. “No, Brett, I didn’t mean her too,” he replied. “Brett, I’m hanging up.” Angelo set his phone down and looked back at a sheet on the desk.
“Angelo.” Rafa barged through the door. Angelo could only wonder what news he had with the urgency in his tone.
“What do you have?”
“PD has still found nothing on Sullivan, but I went down and checked property records for Orlando. Granted, I had to have Donnie go with me. Gregorio did have Robert Collins sell property for him some time back. But more recently, though, he transferred half of his real estate into Collins’ name. Not sold—transferred.”
“So Robert Collins works for Gregorio, not Bonadio, and we still have no idea who Collins is. You know what we do,” Angelo pointed. “We go to the real estate agencies and find this man.” He slid open a drawer and pulled out Sullivan’s picture. “Follow Sullivan until we come up with someone we can trace. I need to know what the hell Gregorio is planning.”
CHAPTER 29
The sun had already set. Ella was getting bored and hungry. In moments like these, she would look at anything to keep her mind off the restaurant. She missed Santiago’s. The restaurant gave her pride. It made her happy just knowing she could sit down at one of the tables and reminisce. Now she had nothing to watch but Brett who was sitting on Angelo’s sofa. Ella stood up and decided to look around.
She saw Angelo’s laptop on the counter. Maybe he would not mind if she turned it on and used it for a while. She was not much for Internet browsing, but anything beat the silence of the house. She opened the device and waited for everything to boot; then she sighed. It was password locked. Ella let it close again. Was there anything to do in this house?
Below the counter, a single drawer caught her interest. A piece of paper was sticking out of it. It would not hurt to open it. She did not expect to find anything anyway.
Envelopes filled the drawer. There were no addresses on the outsides and they were all opened. Ella took one piece of paper off the top. It must have been the latest letter Angelo received.
Son,
Quit ignoring me and go meet this woman! Joining with this family will stop Bonadio’s power. It’s obvious that he will not give up on threatening us. Gregorio already lost one and the same threatens us all. Bonadio will stop at nothing. You need to hurry and marry this woman, so that you can gain the Gregorio estate before he does. Consider what you risk here, Angelo. Don’t make me worry about this anymore.
Your father
Ella frowned. That was the reason Angelo did not want to talk about him. Gregorio was the other mob boss. It was true about Antonio. He did not like Ella because of another woman that he wanted Angelo to marry. How would she ever compete for Angelo against the fortune he would gain by marrying another boss’s daughter? She did not want the title of mistress as Rafa had said. She slammed the drawer shut and went back to the family room to sulk.
She stared at Brett. She did not know how he found his gun that interesting as she looked around the room. A remote set on the sofa. Ella decided that she had nothing better to do and turned on the television. Ella never watched a lot of TV and found nothing that played of any interest, until she came to a channel with men in suits.
She needed sound and repeatedly pressed the up arrow on the remote as she watched.
The men in suits looked unhappy to have a camera crew following them, and the man in front held a manila envelope in front of his face. Ella watched them approach a limousine. When the man who covered his face stepped into the vehicle, Ella’s mouth opened with shock. Father, she thought. Why was he on television?
By the time she thought about the mute button, the front door opened and shut. She looked back as Angelo laid his coat over the back of the sofa. “Hey, you can leave now,” he said to Brett.
“See you later, Ella,” Brett said as though they had talked for hours. Then out of the door, he went.
“Why are you watching TV without sound?” Angelo asked.
She shrugged and looked up at the screen. “I don’t like to watch TV, and I didn’t care about the sound at first. Then I saw my father on the news, and I didn’t think about turning it off of mute until it was too late.”
“Your father?” he asked.
“Yes, he was covering his face, but I saw part of it when he stepped into this limo.”
“Limo? What order did he enter the vehicle?” His question confused her. “Like was he first, second, third?”
“First,” she replied. Angelo gave a nod, but she did not know what it meant. “All it means is that he was more important than the men he was running with.”
“He was in Miami,” she added.
“Was Sullivan with him?” Angelo asked. When she shook her head, Angelo took out his phone and pressed it twice. “Hey, you remember what we talked about earlier?” Ella saw him walk into the kitchen and lean his body against the counter. “Right.” He glanced at his laptop and then the drawer below. “Hold on,” he said and looked over at Ella as she stood. “Don’t move.” He pointed at her and continued his call. “Ella’s father is in Miami tonight. Maybe Sullivan will be too. I want you to look into it.”
The drawer opened and he shuffled a couple of papers around as he ended his call. He would definitely notice a difference with the order of the letters, because she did not take care to put them back correctly. Then it tapped shut and Angelo walked back toward her. “You haven’t been going through my letters, have you?” Ella breathed in deep under his pointed question. Her entire body tensed. “Did you read anything interesting?” He continued to probe. She looked at the floor, resentful that he had noticed anything different with the drawer. “I will handle your intrusion on my privacy later, but if it makes you feel any better, I have some other woman I would rather protect.”
“I didn’t mean to be nosey. I was just looking around your house and…”
“You decided to read it when you realized it was probably personal.”
Ella almost smiled with her guilt. Angelo could be direct with his words. “Yes, I did. I shouldn’t have.” She looked down at her lap.
Angelo let out a breath and ruffled her hair. “Have you eaten?”
She looked up again, surprised he was not going to press the issue. “Not since earlier. Brett stopped and picked something up at a drive-thru.”
“Then go get your shoes. I will take you out.”
A night out with Angelo sounded nice. She liked the thought of just the two of them enjoying the other’s company over dinner. It took her seconds to slip on her shoes.
***
Angelo drove Ella to a lit area of town. Soft music filled her ears as they followed the hostess to a table covered with a white tablecloth. The restaurant was not busy with just a few guests sitting around them. Ella was glad to relax.
“Here are your menus. Your server will be with you shortly.”
“Thank you,” Angelo said and she left. “This place is nice. I like the atmosphere in here.”
“You haven’t been here before?” she asked, and he shook his head.
“No, I wanted to try something different. A couple of my men like to come here.”
Ella looked around. The shiny wooden walls looked nice with the artwork the restaurant collected. They kept the floors neat and glossy. Wooden cabinets stood behind the bar on the opposite side of where she sat. She admired the restaurant and thought it was pretty. She wondered if it had a balcony out back. She would not be able to see the ocean, though. This restaurant sat inland. Then Ella stopped. She was comparing this restaurant to Santiago’s, but it was gone. She looked down at her menu and let out a sigh. That was it. It was gone. She could not get it back.
“Are you all right?” Angelo looked up from his menu at her. “I didn’t think about how dinner at a restaurant would make you feel.”
“It’s okay.” She smiled, though she hardly felt any joy. This was supposed to be a romantic time with him, and she was ruining it. She had to put Santiago’s out of her mind. “I am enjoying my time with you,” she tried again.
“You don’t lie very well.” Angelo gave her a smile. “Why don’t we take the food with us and find somewhere else to eat?”
“Oh, we don’t have to…”
“Good evening,” their server approached. “My name is Fey. Could I start you off with a gin and tonic or a cosmo?”
“Actually, we decided not to dine here after all. Give us two of whatever the chef recommends and,” He looked at Ella, “and a bottle of one of your good merlots.”
The server smiled. “I will take care of that for you.”
“Really?” Ella said when the server left. “That wasn’t necessary, I promise.”
“No arguing, remember?”
Ella did not say anything else. She also tried not to look around. The time that it took to complete their order could have been ten minutes, but it seemed like an hour. Then she was riding in his car again.
“I know of a nice spot where we can eat on the beach. Are you interested?” he asked.
“Of course,” she answered without a moment’s thought.
“Good. We’ll be there in five minutes.”
Angelo turned down a couple of roads and came to a small home on the beach. It looked like a private residence. Maybe he owned it.
“You see that gazebo over there? We are going to eat there.”
“It’s gorgeous!” she exclaimed. Except for a stone walkway, the white gazebo was surrounded by the most beautiful stone pool she had ever seen. Each rock was a different shade, ending at a point with a quiet waterfall.
“Even more so than you think,” he said and grabbed the food in one hand, leading her with the other. She could not see it from where they parked, but waves from the ocean landed on the rocks below.
“It’s incredible,” she said as she gazed in awe.
“Have a seat,” he said and began taking their food out of the bag. Then he opened a bench seat on the side and looked confused. “Well, I guess we are drinking wine out of the bottle.” Ella laughed. If anyone saw them, they would get the wrong idea. “Actually, I think I moved the glasses the last time I was here.” He stood up and checked a small cabinet to the side. “Here they are.”
“Do you own this place?” she asked as he poured the wine.
“I bought it last year. Nobody is going to bother us here.”
“It’s peaceful.”
“It is. I have come more than once to clear my head but,” He held up his finger. “I have never brought somebody with me.”
“Thank you.” She smiled and took the glass from him.
“So tell me something,” he said.
“Okay.”
“What are your goals in your life? You wanted the restaurant but what about your future and settling down…raising a family. Did you ever think about that?”
Ella shrugged. “I used to think about it a lot when I was in college, but my father wouldn’t hear of it. After a while, I just stopped hoping it would happen. Every time I would try to ask, he wouldn’t listen. I just ended up feeling lonelier than I did.”
“And now?”
“I don’t know. I keep expecting Mr. Sullivan to take me away.”
“From Miami o
r me?”
“Well,” Ella looked down. “Both.”
“You understand that it’s too late for your father to be involved in your personal life, don’t you?”
“I don’t really understand my father,” Ella said. “He controlled everything I did and then stopped talking to me. I know he changed after my mother died, but not talking to me after I moved really hurt.”
“Ella, I don’t know your father, but because of the men he is involved with, I have a feeling that he isn’t talking to you because he doesn’t want them to know where you are.”
“You think they will kill me too?”
“I think you could be in danger because of the men your father is affiliated with.”
“It would seem that way,” Ella agreed. “What about your future?” she asked.
“I want a wife and I want children. I don’t have to think about that answer. I also want to keep peace with my father and my men. Trying to do that is a lot harder than the first. I have to accept that I can’t have everything I want.”
“You mean that letter.”
“My father always looks at a marriage as a business transaction. Which woman will do the group the most good? Gregorio’s daughter was it.”
“Are you going to marry her?” Ella needed an answer but did not want an answer. She had already fallen for Angelo herself. She did not want to give him up or watch him marry someone else.
“No.” He paused between bites of his food and stared at her. “But if I want to stick with the rules, I can’t marry anyone else either.”
It was a blow to her heart. After wanting to be with him and choosing to stay, he could never offer her anything permanent. She would never be anything but the woman in Angelo’s home.
“What’s the point then?” she said and stood to her feet. “Where does that leave me?”
“Sit down.” He reached over the table and grabbed her arm. “I tried to refuse you. I didn’t want to involve you in any of this. I thought you deserved better. Then every time I would see you smile, my mind wouldn’t leave it the fuck alone. You’re not going anywhere.”