by Harley Stone
Before I could answer, she tugged me behind her to check the place out.
It was a nice house. Two stories, thick carpet for the baby to crawl on, a fireplace we could make love in front of, big bedrooms with walk-in-closets, a master suite with a jetted tub, a swimming pool in the back yard, clean and bright, but nothing too lavish. It was also completely empty.
“We bought it,” I said, handing her a key. “It’s ours, Net.”
Her eyes were still wide. “Doesn’t it take like a month to buy a house? How did you pull this off?”
Cash could close a loan unbelievably quick. “Mamma warned you about the dangers, but didn’t fully detail the perks.” I tried to smile but ended up wincing at the pain in my cheek.
“She definitely forgot to mention the beating you’d get on our wedding night.”
I’d told Annetta that I got jumped while on a job. I was pretty sure she didn’t buy it, but luckily, I’d talked her out of trying to hunt down my attackers, at least for now. We need a topic change before she started asking questions again.
“I was gonna get furniture, but Mamma said you should be the one picking it out.”
Annetta halted her exploration long enough to stare up at me, her eyes once again full of happiness and passion. “If you weren’t a mess of bruises, I’d attack you right now,” she said.
“What’s a little pain for a shit-ton of pleasure?” I asked.
Rolling her eyes, she smiled and tugged me along to finish exploring our house.
***
Annetta spent the next couple of months preparing for the baby, buying furniture, and turning our home into a happy place, full of laughter, music, and comforting food smells. I cherished every moment I got to spend with her there, unfortunately, they were few and far between. Our attack on the Durantes was still in full swing, and we were gaining ground.
Much to my amusement, Annetta’s friend, Adona, was still hot for Mario. Wanting to see my shy, no-game-havin’ friend squirm, we threw together a dinner for four and invited them both. Mario walked in, took one look at Adona wearing a low-cut dress and come-hither look, and immediately turned to bolt. Sensing that my friend could use a little help, I stepped in front of him and closed the door.
He looked betrayed, but I had a sneaking suspicion he’d get over it.
“Enjoy,” I said, walking past Adona.
“Oh, I plan to,” she said, on the prowl toward her prey.
The night must not have been too bad, because they left together, and had been dating ever since.
As Annetta got further along, Mamma took over one of the spare bedrooms, so she could be there when the baby came. Knowing Mamma had things under control freed me up to focus on my job. I was helping the family move a couple of televisions which had “fallen off a truck” on the crisp February morning I got the page I’d been waiting for. I called the house and Mamma told me Annetta was in labor.
“These things take time, Dom. Sometimes even days,” Mamma informed me when I called in. “I’m taking her to the hospital and I’ll page you again when you need to come.”
Mamma paged me four hours later, and I barely made it in time to robe up and cut the umbilical cord. Born healthy and with a powerful cry, D’Angelo had a full head of dark curls and the tiniest hands and feet I’d ever seen. I was the first to hold him, terrified I’d drop him or squeeze him too tightly. When I handed him off to Annetta, the way she looked at him made my life feel complete. We’d done it. We’d beaten the odds and found some measure of freedom inside my father’s world. I didn’t think I’d ever be happier, but life got even better.
The day after Angel’s birth, the Commission and their messaggero negotiated the families into a ceasefire. We were so close to taking down the Durantes that Father grumbled nonstop. I, on the other hand, couldn’t wait to spend more time with my wife and child. As I drove them home from the hospital, I reflected on how great my luck had been.
As soon as we got home, Mamma took the baby and ordered me to put my wife to bed, insisting that Annetta needed some sleep. She didn’t even protest as I picked her up, carried her to our room, and laid her on the bed. I started pulling down her pants, and she laughed.
“I’m not helpless, you know.”
“I know you’re not.” I kissed her leg and tugged her pants over her feet. “But you just gave me one hell of a cute kid. I can show you my gratitude.”
Once we were both naked, I snuggled in beside her, thinking my life couldn’t get any better.
Four weeks later I got the page that changed everything.
I was in the middle of a weapons exchange when our home phone number flashed across my pager. Annetta rarely reached out to me while I was at work, so I peeled off shortly after the deal to give her a ring.
“Dom,” she breathed, sounding like she’d been crying.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, instantly on alert. “Is the baby okay?”
“Who the fuck is Tiffany?” she asked.
Shocked to hear her swear, I wracked my brain, trying to remember a Tiffany. “I don’t know. Who is she?”
“Don’t play dumb with me.”
“Annetta, I’m not. I promise you, I don’t know a Tiffany.”
“Well she sure as hell knows you. She said she couldn’t deal with the guilt anymore.. not now that we have a kid… so she had to tell me you’ve been sleeping together.”
What the fuck? Now I was getting pissed. “I swear to god, I don’t know any goddamn Tiffany,” I said.
“The Davenport Hotel, room 325. Said you meet her there. If you don’t know this girl, how does she know about our room, Dom?”
Good question. My shoulders tensed as I made a mental note to go visit my night clerk friend and find out who he’d told. “I don’t know. Someone’s fuckin’ with me.”
“You need to tell me if you’re sleeping with her,” Annetta said, sounding devastated. “I know I haven’t been able to do anything lately because of Angel, but I thought you were okay with that. If you’re not happy, you should have told me.”
She didn’t believe me. After all we’d been through, it felt like a slap in the face. “Would you listen to me for a goddamn minute?” I asked. “I don’t know this Tiffany bitch, and I’m definitely not cheating on you. If I had time to fuck anyone, I’d be home in our bed. You should know me better than that.”
“I don’t know, Dom,” she sobbed. “I don’t know anything right now.”
Someone was messing with us while she was tired and jacked up on pregnancy hormones. When I found out who, I’d kill the dumbass.
“Where’s Mamma?” I asked.
“She went to the store a little while ago.”
“Perfect goddamn timing,” I grumbled. “Net, I swear there is no Tiffany. There is nobody else. I love you. You know this.”
“I do, Dom, but she knew things. She talked about the tub.”
How the fuck? That desk clerk had some serious explaining to do. “I’ll be home as soon as I can,” I promised her before hanging up.
A quick glance at my watch told me I had only a half hour before the pick up at the Pelino warehouse, but I needed to get home. Now. I paged Michael, sending him the number of the payphone. He called me back within minutes, and I explained the situation, asking him to handle the Pelino pickup.
“Dom—” Michael started.
Hearing the disapproval in his voice, I stopped him. “I know the Pelinos are my responsibility. I’m sorry, Mike. I wouldn’t ask you if this wasn’t important. Pregnancy hormones are no joke.”
Michael chuckled. He and Zeta were expecting a child in a few months, so I knew he’d sympathize. “Okay, but you owe me one.”
“Whatever you want,” I promised before hanging up.
Breaking multiple speed laws, I got home in record time, only to find a strange car in the driveway and the front door wide open. Drawing my pistol, I clicked off the safety and crept inside. The living room was quiet and still. Nobody in the kitchen. I thought about callin
g out to Annetta, but if anyone was here, I didn’t want to alert them to my presence.
Creeping down the hall, I searched each room until I reached ours. Turning the doorknob, I pulled open the door and stepped aside. Gun outstretched, I peered in.
“Dom?” Annetta asked, sounding both scared and hopeful.
I stepped into the room. Holding Angel, she sat huddled in the corner, her eyes swollen and a gun in her hand. Two steps away from the door lay the crumpled over body of a man I didn’t recognize, surrounded by bloody carpet.
“You okay?” I asked, pointing my pistol at the body. It wasn’t moving.
“He was gonna hurt Angel,” she said. “I didn’t have a choice. I got your gun out of the nightstand and—”
Her hands were trembling. I hurried over and took the gun, flicking on the safety and hiding it back in the nightstand. Then I wrapped her and Angel in a hug, picking them up and moving them to the bed.
“You’re both okay?” I asked. “Nobody’s hurt?”
Annetta relaxed her arms so I could see Angel. He was sleeping soundly. Relieved, I let out a breath.
“You did great, Net.” I sat behind her and pulled her against my chest. “You’re safe now. Tell me what happened.”
“I don’t know,” she said as tears slid down her cheeks. “After that awful phone call, I called you. I was so upset I… I went to check on Angel.” She glanced at the bassinet beside our bed. “When I turned around, that man was standing in the doorway, pointing his gun at me. Said he needed to take the baby. I couldn’t let him do that, Dom.”
“Shhhh.” I kissed her forehead. “I know you couldn’t. You protected him. You did the only thing you could do.”
“I… It’s a mess. I don’t know what to do with the body,” she said. “I want it out of my house, but I didn’t know who to call.”
“I’ll take care of it,” I said, reaching for the phone on the nightstand. “It will be okay.”
“I… Do you think this is connected to that call from Tiffany?” she asked.
I squeezed her against me. “I don’t know, baby, but I’ll get to the bottom of it. I promise.”
Little did I know, our house was only one of the hits made that night.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Dominico
FATHER WAS DEAD. Try as I might, I could not reconcile the hard-as-nails, mean-ass man who’d raised me with the corpse laid out in the pine box. The Durantes had finally gotten him. He’d been heading into Antonio’s for a meeting when they’d taken him down. Of course, my old man didn’t go down alone; he made sure to drag Maurizio to hell with him.
Michael should have been dead as well. Taking my place at the Pelino pickup, had earned him two bullets in the spine. Then he shot Adamo and two more of his men, buying our soldiers enough time to pull him out of there and rush him to the hospital. So far, my brother had undergone three surgeries. The bullets had been removed, but the doctors said he’d never walk again. Michael would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
“Dom,” Carlo said by way of greeting, joining me at the casket.
“What have you heard from the messaggero?” I asked, still staring down at my old man’s lifeless form.
“The hit was unprovoked and unsanctioned. The Commission gave us the thumbs-up to retaliate, and we hit them this morning.”
“This morning?” I asked, stunned. “I should have been there. Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
He laid a hand on my shoulder. “Because as soon as this shit’s over, the family will swear allegiance to you. You’ll be our new capo. We couldn’t risk you.”
Confused, I stared at him. “But Michael will recover. He’s the heir.”
“The men won’t follow a cripple,” Carlo said frankly. “They need strength right now, and they’re willing to pledge to you.”
Still reeling, I asked, “How did the hit go?”
“We got all the Durantes except Joey. The little bastard slipped through our fingers.”
Joey Durante was Maurizio’s youngest son. “He’s just a baby, isn’t he?” I asked.
“As your father always reminded us, babies grow up to be men, thirsty for revenge.”
Yeah, but the old man was dead. “I’m not my father, Carlo.”
“I’m aware.”
He sounded disappointed. No doubt, they all were.
“What about Gino?” I asked.
“No sign of him.”
Carlo was holding back something.
“When’s the last time he checked in?”
“Two weeks ago. They might have discovered him, Dom.”
My world was crumbling around me. Father was dead, Michael was crippled, and Gino was probably dead. At least they’d taken our enemies with them.
“And the Pelinos?” I asked.
“Found them holed up with the Durantes… all except Ciro and his kid.”
Valentina’s big brother was still roaming the streets. No doubt that would come back to bite us in the ass long before Maurizio’s baby did.
Carlo finished his report and excused himself to talk to one of his cousins.
I went through the rest of the funeral in a daze, shaking hands and thanking people for coming the way I’d been trained to do. They looked at me different now, like the death of my old man and the crippling of my brother had turned me into a goddamn king. I didn’t want any of it, but whenever I’d start looking for the exits, my gaze would find Annetta. Seated in the second pew, holding our sleeping child, her reassuring smile gave me the strength to keep going.
When the funeral wrapped up, Annetta and I followed the hearse to the graveside to lay my old man to rest. As he was lowered six feet under, I knew I should feel something, but all I felt was cold. Buttoning my coat, I reflected on the man in the box. The bastard had never been much of a father to me. I couldn’t imagine forcing Angel to beat the shit out of his younger brother while I stood there and watched. What the fuck was wrong with him? Determined to do better—to be better—I tucked my wife and son under my arm. We would be different.
After the graveside service, we headed to my parents’ house for a family potluck. Homemade dishes of every sort covered the bar and table as people huddled in groups, talking about my old man like he was some sort of legend. I drifted around the room, catching stories of his exploits. He’d stolen a cop car, peed on an electric fence, botched a robbery, got so drunk he passed out naked in a night club. The man they spoke of sounded fun and a little wild. I wish I could have known him, rather than the asshole I’d grown up fearing.
As the potluck came to an end, women collected their dishes as the men approached me. The first of which, was Mamma’s cousin Gus. Gus had to be approaching his seventies, which made him a relic among mobsters.
“It was a respectable service,” he said, shaking my hand.
“Thank you for coming, Gus.” I replied. “It was good to see you and your family. It’s been too long.”
When was the last time I’d seen Gus? He hadn’t come to Michael or Abriana’s weddings. When I’d become a made man, maybe?
“We don’t get out much anymore. Rarely see a reason for it.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead, but I never much cared for your old man. He wasn’t a Mariani, and never should have been leading this family.”
Stunned, I held my tongue.
“But you… You’re a Mariani, son, and I have all the confidence in the world you’ll do everything you can to see this family prosper.” He clapped me on the back. “That’s what Marianis do. You need anything, you come and see me, you hear?”
I said the only thing I could think of. “Thank you, Gus.”
He smiled and walked away.
Mamma’s cousin Manuel came next, and basically told me the same thing. Manuel was followed by Luca, after Luca, came Allessio, as Allessio left, a line formed. Every single man shook my hand, revealed their dislike for my father, and assured me I’d do better.
B
y the time I packed Annetta and Angel into the car and drove away from Mamma’s, there was no doubt in my mind that the family had accepted me as the new capo, a job I’d never wanted but was now stuck with. Looking for advice, I dropped Annetta and Angel off at home and went to the hospital to visit Michael.
Although this wasn’t my first visit, it still stunned me to see my brother lying in bed and hooked to machines. He smiled when he saw me, shooing away the nurse who was taking his vitals.
“How was the service?” he asked once we were alone.
“Respectable.” At least that’s what everyone had called it.
Michael chuckled, no doubt understanding why I’d used that word.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Feeling? They got me hopped up on so much dope I can’t feel a damn thing. I pissed myself earlier. Didn’t even feel it.”
I laughed, glad to see him in such good spirits.
“How’s Zeta taking it?” I asked.
“Honestly? I think she’s relieved.”
“Relieved?” I asked, surprised. “You’ll never be able to walk again.”
“Yeah, but I’ll be home at night now. She said she’s looking forward to that, especially with the baby on the way.”
I sat in the chair beside my brother’s bed. This was the first time we’d been alone since the accident and I had so much to say to him, but no clue how to start. I used to be able to tell Michael anything, but over the past few years, he’d turned into my boss rather than my brother. Now he was lying in the bed Adamo Pelino had intended for me, forced to be my brother again.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I know I can’t ever make up for it, but I’m sorry I asked you to go to the Pelinos that night. It was my responsibility.”
“You didn’t shoot me, Dom,” Michael replied.
“Yeah, but had I gone—”
“Then maybe you’d be dead, and you sure as shit wouldn’t have been able to nail Adamo between the eyes like I did. You’re nowhere near as good a shot as me.”
“You’re full of shit.” I leaned back in my chair. “Remember that Christmas we got those pellet guns? I gave you so many welts Mamma thought you had chicken pox.”