by Ava Catori
I played with the idea of leaving town, but it didn’t make sense. There was a job offer here, thanks to Barbara, and I'd have to make money to get on my feet. I didn't want blood money. I'd make my own way in the world. I was ready to pay the price for my freedom.
Gia spent most of her evenings curled into the corner of the sofa. She closed her eyes, but startled time to time. The poor thing grew up in the same chaos I did. Now her father was mixed up in trouble again. I knew now she went through the same feelings I did growing up, never had she embraced her family's lifestyle. She'd mentioned wanting to make it on her own, but was it to prove something to herself or to get away? I had no idea what my sister's path would be, but I hoped she made her own way in the world.
Being born into this, there was no choice as a child... but as adults, we could walk away. Or so I thought.
Only a bit ago, I was at college, now I was married into the very life I was trying to avoid.
My stomach twisted at the thought. I was married. I tried to wrap my head around everything that happened in such a short span of time, but it got away from me. I’d just gotten married, and I already I wanted a divorce. Though, let’s be honest, I didn’t want to marry in the first place. Maybe I could get an annulment, we hadn’t consummated our marriage yet.
I must have drifted off, too, because on waking, Barbara was cooing a sweet lullaby to her son.
"Did you get any rest?" she whispered. Gia was fast asleep beside her on the sofa.
I stretched my arms over my head and yawned. "I think I've been in and out. My mind is distracted with so many details. If it's not one thing, it's another."
"You've got a lot to think about," Barbara noted.
"No word yet?" I nodded toward Gia, asking about her father.
Barbara frowned without saying a word. She leaned over and kissed Aiden's forehead.
"Do you think Gia's father..." I stopped. There was no way of knowing. I knew I was looking for reassurance. Instead, I muttered, "Never mind."
"Hard to tell" was all she said.
Gia’s phone rang. It was propped on her leg. She stirred, then grabbed it. Her eyes were still closed as she grumbled, "Hello?"
Something happened.
Hopefully the wait was over.
The past few days locked up in this golden cage had been the longest of my life.
Gia sat upright as her eyes sprang open. We only heard one side of the conversation, but it looked as if things might be taking a change for the better. They told her they'd call back soon, but a plan had been set in motion. I guess it was Gino – my husband. I swallowed hard, thinking that last part. I had a husband...have... will have had. I shook my head, loosening the marbles that wanted to stray and focused on the call.
When Gia hung up, she stood and stretched. "They don't think it will go on too long, but there's no guarantee. They said something about a plan, and Gino is on his way to deal with things." With that, she made her way to the kitchen to get a fresh drink.
I stood and went to the window. Staring out, I couldn't see anything in front of me. No matter what I tried to focus on, I came back to the odd circumstances laid before me. My father, my own freaking father sold me out. I hated him. He was dead to me. And Gino, if he hadn't told me, I'd never have known.
I wrapped my arms tightly around myself and shivered. I wasn't cold, but a chill ran through me. My nerves had a mind of their own, trapping me in a spiral that refused to let go. I'd forever be changed. My innocence was gone.
* * *
22
Gino
A jarring pain jolted me awake. Where was I? In a bed. A good one. Soft sheets. I was naked as far as I could tell. The room was dark and warm. I tried to move, but felt a pull in my back. The pain was such that if I concentrated I could probably figure out how many stitches I had. It didn't smell like a hospital. A deep breath and I tried again more slowly. A cool hand came to rest on my shoulder gently stopping me.
"Isabella?" My mouth was so dry, I wasn’t sure I spoke loud enough for anyone to hear me.
"Shush, don't try to speak just yet." It was my sister's voice. A low light was turned on. With a soft engine hum, the top of the bed came up a bit. Was I in a hospital bed? Chiara leaned over me, offering me a cup and straw. I drank greedily. I was parched. I closed my eyes and it all came back to me.
The knife ...
I never saw it coming.
Well, I did, but too late ...
Fucking Russians!
Their chief made Dante look like the father of the year. The bastard agreed to a meet, but never intended to proceed with the exchange. No, that psycho meant to shoot his own daughter. Kill her just to prove a point. His message was received loud and clear. The man was a nut job.
The guys in my crew were no choir boys. They had a few notches on their records, but they were as shocked as I was. For fuck's sake, who tried to put out their own daughter? Thankfully the guy couldn't shoot straight. Poor kid wasn't dead but seriously damaged. The flesh wounds would probably heal faster than the scars on her soul. I wasn't big on psychobabble, but for her sake, I hope there was a shrink capable of fixing that sort of shit.
For good measure, we put one bullet in each of their miserable skulls except for one. The second-in-command. We kept him alive and made him talk. That's how we got to Sonny. We thought he was a goner, but he'd been playing us all the time. Yeah, I thought he was harmless after the serious beating he had taken, but then when I let my guard down, out of nowhere he pulled a blade and got me.
It hurt like a bitch, but it couldn't be too bad. If it had been, Chiara would have taken me to the ER. She was no nonsense way. If the choice had been letting me die a free man or making sure I lived, even if it meant I would end up in jail, she would have sent my sorry ass to prison without a second thought.
She pushed my hair away from my face like she did when I was a kid and smiled at me.
"So, have you given it some serious thought?" she asked softly.
She didn't have to specify what she was talking about. I knew. I’d barely been able to think of anything else since she had planted the seed in my head. What did I want to do with my life?
"This is your chance, Gino. If you want it, then you need to grab it, right now. Today, there’s nothing Sonny can refuse you."
I didn't even blink as I took a leap of faith.
I couldn't figure out the why, but I knew what I had to do. Isabella came first. She was mine. Mine to protect. Mine to love. Mine to keep, even if, to keep her, I had to give up almost everything I’d been fighting for.
"Out. I want out," I said looking into my sister's eyes. She didn't seem surprised at all, as if she already knew the answer to her question.
"You're sure?" she insisted.
I nodded and she frowned.
Romantic yet very materialistic, she whispered, "What about money? Are you going to be okay?"
I turned my head to kiss the palm of her hand which was resting on my cheek. Chiara was my anchor, the proof that there was something good to look for when all the world went to shit. She'd never said anything, but I was sure she had a nest egg somewhere and I could read between the lines. She was offering to share it with me.
"I have enough stashed away to get a good start." I reassured her. "I've got the studio you stayed in, the house in Ocean Crest, some other official stuff and then, you know, cash and shit."
She nodded, clearly happy with my answer. I could almost read her thoughts. She was giving herself credit for giving me proper values.
"Consider it done," Chiara said as she lowered the bed. "Now you rest and I'll talk to Sonny."
I nodded.
She sighed and as she was leaving the room, I thought I heard her say, "I sure hope she's worth it."
If Chiara had doubts, I had none.
Well, that held true as long as I drifted in and out with no real sense of time, content to sleep away the hours as my body mended itself.
I wasn't thinking clea
rly.
The coin finally dropped as I climbed out of my drug induced cloud. The family doctor who patched me up came back to declare, "Give him another week and he'll be as good as new."
A week had passed.
Where the fuck was my wife?
* * *
23
Isabella
I took my clothes, most of my belongings, and moved into the small place Barbara found. I'd contacted a lawyer, and after flinching at the cost, resigned to call the family lawyer and let my father deal with the bill. I didn't want to use family money, but I couldn't afford counsel otherwise. I reasoned that since my father had gotten me into this situation, it was only fair that he would pay to get me out of it.
Money was obviously going to be an issue for now. There was the account my parents had set up for me when I was younger. It was tempting, but I didn't want to touch it. It was blood money.
If I ever needed to use it, I swore I’d pay it back, but that would be my last resort. My family had always taken care of my expenses, and then Gino once we were married. Now that I was striking out, trying to stand on my own two feet, I realized how expensive life was. I’d learn to stand up for my freedom and independence, instead of standing like a small child with my hand out when I needed money.
I knew I was luckier than most people with no college education. Barbara worked out a deal by setting me up in a studio with reduced rent. The rent would increase in due time, though. She stressed that the situation was temporary, but it gave me a safe start.
For the first time, I had my own place, and I was ready to start life over. I mean, sure, at college I was in a dorm, but that was hardly my own.
The new, small apartment was cheap. It would do the job until I could afford better. It came furnished with plastic furniture that was made to look like wood from a big box discount store. There was an armchair, a bed, a mini fridge and small microwave, along with a two burner stove. The bathroom needed some serious updating, but it was serviceable. The mustard gold color on the wall looked like it came from the seventies and hadn't been touched since. Barbara said that, when it was the rage, that color was called Harvest Gold, I was happy that fashion had passed. Regardless of the less than desirable decor, I was thankful to have a place to call my own.
One thing I’d discovered about myself was I wasn't afraid to work. I'd show Barbara she'd made a good decision bringing me onboard. I'd put in the hours, bend over backwards and prove to be an asset. I was determined to make her proud.
The tiny microwave sitting atop the mini fridge beeped. I took out my cup of hot water and added a packet of instant coffee. It was hardly the fancy sugared coffee with whipped cream I usually got at the local spot, but as long as the caffeine loaded grounds dissolved they would serve its purpose of slapping me awake.
I reached down and brushed my slacks, ridding them of the static that wanted to hold fast. Good dryer sheets were a luxury right now, and the store brand I picked up clearly provided a cheaper service than the top of the line stuff. On the plus side, I didn’t need to go to a laundromat, the building had a laundry area in the basement. Little conveniences like that made a difference.
There were days I wondered if I was devoid of feeling. I'd shut down, trying to cope with all of the life changes eating me up inside. It was easier to shut it out than go through emotions that wanted to spill out every other minute.
The weirdest emotions were those I felt about Gino. While at times I was happy that I’d soon be free of him, I was also disappointed that he hadn't somehow reached out for me. Over a week had passed since Gia's dad had been returned to his family. As far as I understood, he was safe and sound. Gia had only hinted about him being a bit shaken by the event. So surely Gino had returned home and realized I was gone. I’d left my cell phone behind and adopted the company one Barbara had provided. I had taken it without telling her not to give it to Gino if he asked. Clearly he hadn’t.
I hesitated between relief and frustration.
Asking Gia wasn’t a possibility for news. She wasn’t exactly ignoring me, but it was obvious she’d intended on limiting our exchanges as much as possible. There was no way I could call her out on it and ask for an explanation since her tone was always cordial and polite. Nevertheless, something was off. Maybe it was my working with her had put her in a strange position with her uncle, and that she needed to distance herself out of loyalty for him.
Not that I was too proud, but instead of asking for news, I listened to her conversations, hoping to glean bits and pieces of information as she spoke to Barbara and others.
I wasn’t going to let my mood sink over the fact I was sharing work space with my future ex-niece. I’d find a way to make it work. It’s not like I’d trouble any of the bosses with the elephant in the room. I’d tip toe around until it went away, hopefully sooner than later.
After a quick glance at the clock, I took a deep breath. It was time to head to work. I grabbed one of the donuts from the white and blue box on the counter. I had eaten my way through half the box last night. I had to stop filling the emptiness inside with Bavarian cream, it didn’t work and I was in no financial situation to redo my wardrobe one size up.
I stopped in front of the mirror to check my hair one last time. I knew the wind and humidity wouldn't do it any favors. Why I bothered to check, I don’t know.
* * *
24
Gino
Gia came to visit me every other day. At first, I thought she was coming over to check on her dad, but after a while, I realized she was there just to sit with me.
Our relationship had changed through the years. Since returning to the East Coast, she’d been as cold as ice. This new change of heart was puzzling.
We’d been really tight when she was a kid, our age difference was so little that I was like an older brother more than an uncle, but that was more than a decade ago. As soon as puberty hit, I became the enemy, well, until I helped her with college. It felt like ages ago.
"So there’s this new project Barbara came up with," Gia said. Her voice betraying how excited she was about her boss and her ambitious ideas. I smiled at her, paying more attention to the animated way she spoke than to what she was actually saying until she mentioned Isabella.
I raised a hand to interrupt her and asked, "What is Isabella doing at your office?"
Blushing like a kid, Gia closed and opened her mouth a few times as if unable to answer.
"Come on, that's a very simple question!" I snapped.
She closed her eyes and took a big breath. "Barbara hired her," she spat as if exasperated. "Don't you guys talk?"
I shook my head. The truth was, I had called her cell after we went out of lockdown and the line had been shut down. "She changed her cell number," I said more pitifully than I meant to.
Initially I suspected she'd done it not to be on her father's plan any longer, but then, after a few days I had been unable to deny the obvious truth. Whatever her initial reason for doing it, the result was the same, she'd cut me off effectively.
Swallowing my pride, I'd left a message on the house phone telling her I was stuck at Chiara's house, but chances were, by then, she'd already moved out.
In any case, there was no denying my number hadn't changed and she'd never called me.
"So she got a job, huh," I said more to myself than to Gia.
It made sense. Isabella was starting fresh. Cutting ties with a family who’d literarily sold her out, and walking out on a husband she hadn’t chosen meant she had no choice but to work. It was strange that she chose to take a job with Barbara and didn’t look outside of her world to make a clean start. But then again, she had no experience, no training for anything and, as far as I knew, no special talent. Well, aside from the one of having me lose my mind.
Unable to resist my curiosity, I asked, "So what do you guys have her doing?"
"She's Barbara's assistant." Gia shrugged. "You know, with the baby she's not putting in long hours as she used
to, so there's a lot of stuff she's delegating to Isabella."
“Ah,” I answered, not sure what I thought.
She smiled as if remembering something amusing. "She's smart. She'll figure it out."
I shook my head. Not smart enough if she hadn't figured out I wasn’t letting her go. If she wanted to work, that was fine with me. Hey, I was a traditional guy, but not a complete moron. I understood women were like men in many ways and they needed a reason to get out of bed in the morning. So, if my wife wanted to work, I was cool with it. Of course, we'd revisit the issue when getting our family started, but for now, I had no objection. None at all ... actually, I thought her choice was perfect.
Hunter arrived minutes later, and while Gia went down to the kitchen to help her mother, I made the approach I’d been thinking about for a while.
"How are you doing?" he asked with what seemed to be genuine concern.
"Better every day except for one thing," I admitted.
"And what’s that?" From the worried look on his face, I was certain he was thinking I was going give him a hard time about his company hiring my wife without even mentioning it to me.
"Well, I need to figure out what I'm going do with my life," I said.
Relief and then puzzlement showed on his face. Normally, Hunter wasn't such an open book. I liked that he didn't try to hide his thoughts with me. I took it as a sign we had now built some sort of rapport that was based on trust.
"Sonny is letting me go," I explained.
"Because you were injured?" There was outrage in his tone. I liked that his sense of loyalty would make him question Sonny's behavior. With only half of the information, it was natural for him to reach a wrong conclusion and think that Sonny was somehow punishing me for saving his life.