by Olivia Fox
21
Dante
“Savanna!” I shouted towards the back of the house where she was getting ready. “Our reservation is in half an hour. You going to be ready or what?”
“Coming!”
She walked through the door, and I let out a low-pitched whistle. “Whoa. What‘ s the occasion?” She was all woman in that dress, and she met the heat of my gaze with her own.
“Why does there have to be an occasion?” she asked. “Isn‘ t the fact that you’re taking me out to dinner excuse enough for dressing up”
“I‘ m going to have to take you out a hell of a lot more often if this is the reward I get. Or maybe I’ll keep you here, locked up.” Not that I didn’t trust Savanna. I didn’t trust other men to leave her alone. “Make you hand feed me while you wear something sexy like that.“
The sun was setting through the long vista window at Mario‘ s; a paintbrush stroke of orange that faded to tangerine as it ascended toward the sky. The murmur of low voices filled the room behind us. Savanna and I had a private table facing the bay.
The server came and took our drink orders. Savanna asked for mineral water.
“Did you overdo it with the girls today or something? One too many mimosas?”
“Hilarious. I didn’t drink. We had ass kicking to do.” She scootched back and forth on her butt on her chair; real cute.
The server came back to our table with Savanna’s water and my double scotch, and I refrained from grabbing his black shirt in my fist and yanking him towards me, to tell him, “Get your fucking eyes off my fiancée, now.”
No, I didn’t do that.
I was an evolved male. I didn’t need to prove to anyone that Savanna was mine.
“What’s the deal with you sipping mineral water? You always have wine with dinner.”
She opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish, her expression pensive, before saying, “I wasn’t going to tell you.” She drew back, making herself smaller, and glanced quickly at a dad who stood at the aquarium towards the front of the restaurant while he gestured to the colorful fish with his young son on his shoulders.
My heart sank like a lead balloon.
Shit, I knew it.
She’d been hiding something from me.
“What is it, Savanna?” Something wasn’t right.
She had another think coming if she thought she was going back to Oakland just because there was no longer a stalker there.
A thousand thoughts went through my mind, and none of them were good.
“Out with it. What’s bugging you?”
She crossed her arms and said in a sharp tone, “See Dante, that’s why I didn’t want to say anything. You automatically fly off the handle before listening to what I’m trying to say.”
I took a swig of scotch and took long breaths to calm myself down.
Anger wouldn’t serve a purpose right now.
Strategize. If this were a construction deal, what would you be doing right this minute?
Soothing the client.
That’s exactly what I would be doing. “I’m sorry. Continue,” I said.
“Fine,” she said, “I’ll tell you if you promise to remain calm and not pitch a fit just because you don’t like what you hear.”
I knew it.
This was all about bad news, news I wouldn’t like. Somehow, I refrained from saying, Would you just fucking tell me, for the love of God?
Savanna set her jaw and rolled her glass of sparkling water between her palms. “Look, I had to pee on three different sticks before I believed it. They all said the same damn thing.” She covered her face with her hands.
“Savanna, what stick?” I needed to hear her say the exact words; didn’t dare believe what I wanted her to be saying was true.
“I bought three pregnancy tests today after my body was doing weird things. Every single one of them said the same thing” Her cheeks flushed prettily, “You got what you wanted. You planted your seed in my womb and knocked me up.”
I shoved my fists to the sky, my arms in a “V” for victory. “Yes!”
The next words out of her mouth smacked my heart down like a basketball rebound, “Of course I can’t keep it.”
“What do you mean can’t keep it?” I hissed.
“What do you think I’ve been trying to tell you?” She took a huge sip of her mineral water, started coughing, and the bubbly stuff actually spewed out of her nose. She grabbed a red napkin and dabbed up the water.
We looked at each other, wide-eyed for about five seconds, and started cracking up.
The last three years I saw a cloud in every silver lining.
Savanna made me feel light. Only she could bring warmth to my cold, dead heart.
She was still bent over the table and laughing so hard her face was turning red; tears were leaking out of the corners of her eyes.
“Is that one of your pregnancy symptoms? Snorting water out your nose?” I asked.
“Jesus, no. But having to pee when I laugh now! I need to use the restroom.”
“I’m coming with you.” Now that I had the news that she had my baby inside her, there were two people to look after instead of one.
I was no angel, but I could be their guardian, watching over them both.
22
Savanna
The cat was out of the bag, and I still wasn’t sure how Dante felt about my surprise, so I stalled in the restroom. Neither one of us were in any way prepared for a baby. It was silly to pretend otherwise.
After relieving my bladder, I washed my hands, brushed my hair, and applied lip gloss for about five minutes.
It shocked the hell out of me when I exited the restroom and he picked me up by the waist, holding me over his head, and spun me around in circles.
“Dante! Put me down!”
“I can’t help it!” He set me down gently, his eyes gleaming, and suddenly his mouth was on my neck, breathy and hot between kisses. “We’re having a baby!”
“We’re standing outside a public restroom, and you’re kissing my neck.”
His smile was pure male, and he took my hand to lead me back to the table.
“What’s bothering you, my love? This is a happy time.”
“I don’t want you to feel obliged. It’s not your fault I didn’t take my pill.”
“Do I look put out?” He had the confident smile of a man used to getting his way. “You didn’t make that baby on your own, precious. It’s mine too.”
I gulped back the sorrow that hit me all at once. “You know better than anyone that when it comes to good judgement, I missed the boat. Besides, raising a child works best in a committed relationship and that’s not what we have here, is it?”
“You’ve got to decide when you’re going to accept your feelings for me are stronger than your fear. I’m loyal to you.” He placed his hand on my arm to emphasize his words, “That means I promise to make our family the one thing that I cherish the most.” His words were tender, a contrast to the impressively muscled roughness imparted by his gorgeous body. He was a walking contradiction that I couldn’t get enough of.
“We made a baby together. I would never dream of asking you to raise my child on your own. That’s not who I am.” He picked up a clean cocktail napkin with the word “Mario’s” written in script embossed in gold. Under it, he wrote the date and:
Mommy told daddy we’re having a baby.
“For the baby book.” He said, carefully folding the napkin and putting it in his pocket. “No man in my family would abandon a woman because he got her pregnant.”
Oh God, I’d forgotten momentarily about Dante’s extended family. Something told me this was going to be a very big deal, and I found out soon enough that I was right.
We drove up to Zio Lorenzo’s place, which was lit up like a Christmas tree from the inside. There were cars and trucks lining the drive and small children spilling out onto the lawn, chasing each other in the half dark, screaming like rabid monkeys.
Great, this is what I had to look forward to, giving birth to a rabid monkey.
I could hear loud music through the open windows of the truck. “That’s Zio’s favorite song. It means he’s happy. He always plays Mattinata when he’s happy,” said Dante.
“How on earth did all these people find out so quickly about the news? I thought you were calling your uncle to celebrate with a nightcap.”
“There were already twenty people here for dinner when I called, and I’m sure the news spread fast. You’d better brace yourself.”
We entered the home and got rushed by a pack of Drago’s young and old, all ecstatic about the news of our baby.
Our baby.
The most unified act two people could commit together.
Out of the corner of my eye, Jessica, my aunt Teresa, and even my best friend Kate walked through to the door of the solarium and cried in unison, “Savanna”
Kate placed her hand firmly over my belly and said, “So, it’s true! You peed positive.”
“Can you believe it!?” I looked over her shoulder, looked over her shoulder at the dangling eggplants, “It’s just that…”
Jessica started twirling a strand of my hair around her finger, meditatively.
I would have given anything to explain to them all this stupid lie I’d gotten myself into. It was one thing to fake an engagement, but faking parenthood wasn’t in the cards for me.
Up to now, I’d been selfish enough to enjoy Dante’s company, and his amazing cock, but now I was sitting between a cock and a hard place.
“‘Just that’ what?” Kate asked.
I didn’t voice my concerns about playing pretend with the life of the child—everything was totally different now that there was a baby involved.
“People get pregnant every day,” I said.
“Why, oh, why then does it feel like a miracle every single time it happens?” Aunt Teresa asked as she sipped her Negroni . “Don’t harsh my buzz, Savanna. This is the best news I’ve had since the bank financed my line of edibles!”
What kind of sick person was I to believe that I had the right to raise a child after allowing Dante and Carlos to abet in a murder? I definitely wasn’t mom material.
At that moment, Kate came up to me and put her arms around my shoulders. “Hey! Don’t look so somber. No matter what it is, it’s going to be okay, I promise. Best of all, I’m going to be an auntie!”
Of course, Kate could say something like that. She’d never watched a man bleed out before her very eyes. A man that she had killed with her very own hand. It was too soon to be taken over by hormones. But the sense of dread won out over the loud and bright celebration taking place, and the joy that you could practically cut with a knife. There would be another Drago in our midst and a whole new life of fighting, loving, and lusting with abandonment.
I give anything to be like them—a gangster capable of killing without feeling an ounce of regret—accepting that some things justified vengeance and violence.
If only I could surrender to that idea in my heart.
From the kitchen, I heard Jessica shouting, “Savanna! Come see what we got for you.” I walked in to join her at the red formica table. “Your auntie did an amazing job making this Italian cream cake in your honor. Slice it and pass out the pieces to everyone. It’s good luck.”
I approached the amazing three-layer cake with buttercream frosting and rainbow sprinkles splashed all over the top and sides. I turned to look for Dante and saw him with his head thrown back in laughter, while his uncle patted him on the back. His cousin Carlos pointed at him as if holding a pistol. “You’re the man!” he said.
Don Alberto reached an age-spotted hand over and placed it on Dante’s shoulder. “You had little to do with all of this, but we’ll toast you, anyway. Fatherhood is the greatest joy one can experience.” There were so many tears of happiness around the room, we’d soon be swimming in them.
I put my hands protectively over my stomach and silently vowed that my innocent baby would never become a victim of senseless violence.
Over my dead body.
23
Dante
My Nonno, took the cigar out of the inside pocket of his blazer. It didn’t matter that this was Tuesday afternoon, no special occasion on the horizon, or that he was sitting in a dusty, metal modular office on a construction site.
The Don wore a suit.
He spoke in Italian so he could express himself. “So, that’s what I’m here to tell you. Orlov is pushing hard for a bigger piece of the new development, but I don’t think that’s the hill he wants to die on. A man of his stature doesn’t have to throw his weight around sabotaging a construction site. Just not his style.”
He clipped the end off of his cigar, carefully trimmed as an English hedge, then stuck the end in his mouth, lit it and puffed until grey smoke rolled angrily towards the ceiling. “Someone is trying to make a name for themselves by trying to get in his good graces, and we need to find out who.”
Out of the blue, he brought his fist down on the table, clattering the coffee mugs against one another and making the tiny plastic containers of half and half tumble out of their shallow bowl.
I jumped to my feet.
Every family member got jittery and trigger-happy when threatened by an unknown source, in this case whichever hoodlums were destroying our property. You never knew where the next blow would come from: a bullet, penknife, or a baseball bat.
“I don’t want you getting mixed up in these things, my boy. You’re doing plenty for the family just by taking an elected position.” He tapped his blunt ended cigar over an empty tuna can I’d set out for such purpose, “We’ll take care of the heavy stuff.”
“Nonno, whether or not shots are fired, I’m in. I can’t stand aside and watch while our developments continue to be damaged.”
A pained expression crossed his features, and he covered his face with his hands. “We need to make sure that security is stepped up for everyone,” he said.
“As per usual, we’re on the same page,” I replied.
The office landline rang. I picked it up since it was nearly time for Savanna to get off work, and she might call about our plans for afterward.
“Drago,” I said, my standard greeting.
“Dante?” My skin tingled with goosebumps at the chilling sound of the person attempting to speak on the other end of the phone. I didn’t recognize who spoke. It was as if something stuffed the throat of its owner full of cotton.
“Who’s this?”
“It’s Aldo, Pete’s father.” The sorrow and raw anguish in the tears on the other end of the phone sent a shiver up my spine.
“What happened?” I gripped the phone, and it felt as if someone held an ice cube to my lower spine and ran it up towards the base of my neck. I held my breath to keep from screaming.
Savanna!!!
“They blew up his car! My boy—he’s gone.” Aldo wanted to let me know before anyone else did. And of course, he wanted vengeance for the death of his son.
I shook my head in denial, and Nonno looked at me with concern, shrugging his shoulders to ask what was wrong.
Pete was scheduled to pick her up after work. I slumped forward in my chair and my grandfather placed his hand over my shoulder, his eyebrows knitted together.
“They killed him.” Aldo’s voice broke. “They blew up his car like he was only garbage.”
“Do you know if anyone was with him?” I could hardly get the words out of my mouth, I was clamping my jaws together so hard.
I noticed my grandfather jumping, his chair nearly falling over backwards when the door to my office slammed open. It was Orlov’s underboss, Maxim, and he had some nerve appearing at my place of business.
Especially at a time like this.
My Nanno jabbed his finger in Maxim’s face. “How dare you!”
“We just heard some terrible news from Aldo.” I limbered up my neck and shoulders, preparing for a physical fight
. “A car bomb killed one of our employees. You know anything about that?”
My lungs were lead-filled balloons, and tiny black spots danced in front of my eyes. I kept picturing Savanna climbing into Pete’s car, and if I didn’t find out what happened soon, I was going to fucking lose it.
Maxim addressed my grandfather. “Only that the Orlov’s weren’t involved, and we’ve heard the Bulgarians may have ordered it. I came to let you know you have our support—whatever you need. You’re not alone in this, Don Drago.”
“Then why am I hearing this from you? Why is your Don not delivering this news in person?”
“It can’t be helped. He’s in Los Angeles working on a deal he’s hammering out for all of us. But he’s the one who sent me.”
“The Bulgarians?” I heard the Don’s disbelief as I rushed out the door to get to the bottom of the bombing.
“Pete was my driver. I’ve got to find out if Savanna was with him. He was supposed to give her a ride home!” I shouted behind me.
It was surreal speaking actual words when I didn’t know yet if my world had ended. Half of me wanted to kill something and the other half of my body told me to crumple onto the floor, wrap my hands behind my head, and hide. If anything happened to her, I wouldn’t survive it.
I’d done this once with Lilly, but the pain of that day was a distant memory.
This felt like someone had taken a huge butcher knife to me and filleted my heart.
It wasn’t right to compare.
It wasn’t right for me to be alive if Savanna was dead.
My stomach churned, my throat suddenly parched and raw.
Were there two people in Pete’s car when it exploded?
It took all my restraint to avoid leaping across the counter at the front desk dispatcher. He couldn’t provide any information.
Finally, a detective came from the back to let me know. “The car was headed Eastbound on Blue Slide Road, outside of town, thank goodness.”
“There was a lot of damage and it’s going to take the forensics team a while to sift through it. Leave your number and we’ll get back in touch with you as soon as we can,” he said.