After Mike dismissed the girl, Victor walked into the room coming face to face with Val’s son. The tension was so thick you could slice it with a knife. You could tell Mike was wondering why we were there and how we had found out about Maryanne’s accident. Aside from Jimmy, taunting the girl the room felt heavy, this wasn’t a welcomed reunion, and I’m sure Mike harbored many resentments.
In the next few moments, the words shared between Mike and Vic weren’t pleasant. Mike wanted no part of Victor or any of us for that matter. Mike’s date emerged from the bathroom fully clothed and after another pass from Jimmy, her taut ass left the room. I glanced back at Mike, saw his eyes full of unanswered questions, answers only Victor could supply. I kept my eyes on Mike, holding his gaze as I patted Jimmy on the back.
“Jim, why don’t you and I step outside and give Vic and Mike a few minutes to catch up,” I suggested.
Jimmy turned, glaring at me before looking back at the boss. “Is that good with you, boss?” Jimmy asked.
I waited for the usual tip of the chin nod from Victor signaling he gave his puppet permission to leave the room. I pulled open the door, stepped aside waiting for Jimmy to lead the way. I followed him out of Mike’s bedroom and into the living room, giving Victor a chance to redeem himself in Mike’s eyes.
Jimmy walked around the living room, inspecting it, for what I don’t know but he paused at the mantle, lifting a framed photo of Val.
“They don’t make them like him anymore,” I pointed at the photo.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jimmy asked, his head snapping up to glare at me.
“Relax I wasn’t comparing you to Val or anything,” I bit back, leaving out the part that there was nothing to compare. “It was just a different business when he was around. He was so level headed that there was never a mess to clean up.” I took a seat on the couch and shrugged my shoulders as I continued. “It seems to me like we’re always cleaning up someone’s mess these days.”
“You got something to say Bianci?” Jimmy asked as he narrowed his eyes, throwing the frame onto the couch beside me.
“You’re a little touchy Jimmy, something on your mind?”
“I don’t like little piss on’s like yourself insinuating shit,” he growled.
“Piss on? Yeah? Funny how this ‘piss on’ was the guy sent to fix your fuck up.”
“You going to take credit for that? That’s pathetic,” he laughed, sarcastically.
“I’m just stating facts. Victor didn’t send you with Jack, he sent me.”
“And you did shit!” Jimmy shouted.
“I didn’t have time to do a goddamn thing because he was fucking toast when I got there.”
“And a good thing too because you’ve been too soft these days.” He leaned closer, grinning creepily as he whispered. “I know your secret.”
“And what secret might that be?” I asked, humoring him. “You know that gambling junkie we barged in on, the one with the wife? Remember? Yeah you remember. Funny thing happened after he paid his debt, he came back looking for more and told me all about how you gave the wife back the ring,” he reached out and cupped my chin with his hand, his gray eyes cold as they penetrated mine. “Lucky for us that Fed’s house went up in flames. If it was left in your hands you would’ve handed us over to him on a silver platter.”
“Fuck you,” I spat, grabbing hold of his wrist and pushing his hand off me before I pushed him back and stood to my full height, towering over the fucking creep. “Don’t fucking question my intentions Jimmy.”
“Don’t give me a reason to,” he shouted as he shrugged his shoulders as if it was no sweat off his back.
“You torch that house?” I asked angrily, knowing he’d never confess but this little conversation made my thoughts so much clearer. If Jimmy was responsible for Danny’s death I wouldn’t give up until the motherfucker paid.
Jimmy laughed in my face. “Yeah Bianci, I torched the house,” he shook his head. “You really are going soft,” he said tauntingly. “You should give up on Adrianna, go get yourself some new pussy and stop being such a fucking softy.”
“Don’t go there Jimmy. You understand me?”
“She got knocked up by another guy and you’re still holding a candle. It’s fucking with your head and your job. You may not like it but you answer to me just as much as you answer to Victor and you better get used to that shit,” he said, poking his index finger into my chest. “I will not tolerate your bullshit Bianci. You’re not fucking my daughter.”
I snapped, everything inside me faded away and all I saw was red. I grabbed Jimmy by his fur coat and threw him up against the wall then I released him and grabbed hold of his neck with one hand.
“You’re right I’m not fucking your daughter and Adrianna is off fucking limits to you. I may not see eye to eye with Victor but I bet he wouldn’t care too much if I smacked you around for talking about his daughter the way you just did. Keep her name out of your mouth or so help me God, I’ll show you how fucking soft I am.”
I released him, watching as he slithered down the wall like a snake, gasping for breath. He lifted his eyes to mine, took a deep breath in and out before he spoke.
“I’m the fucking underboss!” He said through his pants for air.
“See if I care,” I said calmly, before leaving him on the floor like the piece of shit he was and stepping outside of the house.
My adrenaline was pumping, and I tried to calm myself down before I did something irrational. Jimmy would get his, whether it is at my hands or Jack’s, I’d see that the son of a bitch went down. There was no doubt in my mind he had something to do with the fire and I’d spend every waking moment trying to prove it. The fact that he had found out I had given that poor woman back her ring and paid the husband’s debt could’ve shaken him up. When he got word, I would be the one responsible for covering up his body he didn’t want to risk I wouldn’t get it done.
He wasn’t wrong about me I agreed to let Jack handle things because Danny was his brother if it was anyone else I wouldn’t have thought twice about making the Fed disappear. Maybe I was soft, but I was also on a mission to get the fuck out. I didn’t want to be the stone-cold enforcer for the mob that everyone thought I was anymore. I wanted to reclaim what was mine and start a new life.
The next day was hard for all of us as we watched Mike say goodbye to his mother. They turned the respirator off and Mike stayed inside of her room, holding her hand as she took her last breath. All the times I had driven up here to check on him, he always seemed so lost. Today he was exceptionally off, walking around and packing his shit as if he didn’t have a soul in the world left to turn to. I guess he didn’t. Many years had passed since Mike had a relationship with any of us and he’s thought all along that none of us gave two fucks about him or his mother because we weren’t allowed to keep in contact. Maryanne wanted nothing to do with Victor or anyone that was associated with him, myself included, so I could understand why Michael was apprehensive to let us in.
The plan was to bury Maryanne in the same plot as Val that they bought in the Green-wood Cemetery after he was killed. Victor had taken care of all the arrangements and had the body brought back to Brooklyn. I had the pleasure of driving a grieving Mike back to the home he hated. I don’t know if it was that I was just in a bad mood because of my altercation with Jimmy or if Mike’s bad temperament was getting to me but after driving a while, I pulled off at a rest stop to take a breather. I had even called him Val at one point because he was pissing me off trying to poke and prod me for information on why I was such a miserable fuck. Calling him his old man’s nickname was a low blow on my part but I was having a bad fucking day, or month. Whatever.
After I reigned myself in, I caught up with Mike at the newsstand and watched from the door as he loaded up on snacks. My phone chimed with a new message and I pulled it from my pocket to see who it was.
Adrianna: I heard the news. How’s Michael?
Instead
of texting her back, which I hated doing, I called her. Besides, I wanted to hear her voice.
“Hello?” She said into the phone, her voice sounding like a little piece of heaven to my ears.
“Hey baby,” I blew out a breath and leaned against the wall. “How are you doing?” she was silent for a moment causing me to believe I had lost her but then again all I ever did was lose her.
“I’m fine,” she whispered. “How’s Mike doing?”
“He’s…,” I glanced at him back in the store trying on a pair of sunglasses and checking himself out in the mirror. “Well, he’s Mike. He’s a mess, but he’s holding his shit together.”
“Where are you?”
“Made a stop, shouldn’t be that much longer until we’re home,” I said, running my fingers through my hair as we engaged in a normal conversation.
“Okay, I’m with my mom waiting for you guys,” she replied.
“Anthony?”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Drive carefully.”
“I’ll see you in a little while, Reese’s.” I ended the call before I fell back into old habits and told her I loved her. It’s not that I didn’t want to tell her how I felt but I didn’t want to get her hopes up that I could change this whole thing around and give her the life we never had. No, I needed a little time to get this shit sorted out. Then I’d tell her I loved her, never stopped, and never would and that she was mine. I’d promise never to let her go again.
I sighed, shoving my phone back into my pocket and went to pull Mike out of the store.
We were back on the road, driving in silence for nearly an hour and we were almost home when Mike broke the silence.
“I don’t even know why I’m going back. Logically, it makes sense to bury her with my dad, she’d want that, to be close to him,” he admitted earnestly. “But what the fuck am I supposed to do until then? Where am I supposed to stay, with Victor? I fucking hate that prick. It should’ve been him,” he said as he stared out the window. “All those years ago, it should’ve been him that died and not my father.”
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, he was pitiful, and just another person whose life was ruined by Victor and his organization.
“Stay with me,” I offered.
“What?”
I gripped the steering wheel, closing my eyes for a beat before looking out at the road ahead of me, knowing I would probably regret having Mike as a houseguest.
“I said you could stay with me,” I glanced at him quickly. “Until you figure it out.”
“He wants me to stay after the funeral,” he laughed sarcastically. “Can you believe that? He wants to give me a legit job.”
Of course he did, I thought, Victor was probably dying to sink his teeth into Mike hoping he’d be anything like his old man. Mike sighed when I didn’t answer and turned his attention back to the scenery passing by as we drove.
“I’ll think about it,” he said. Little did he know I had already decided he would stay with me, giving Victor less of a chance to get to Mike and corrupt him like he had done to me.
Chapter Twenty-Two
2015
Seeing Michael again, despite the circumstances being less than ideal, brought me back to a place when everything was perfect, a happy time in my life. Mike and I were tight growing up, being the same age and all. We had been in the same classes since we started school until high school. Our parents were cute, trying to set us up since we received our first Holy Communion, but us kids, we had a different plan. It was more like a partnership between us. He being a close friend of Anthony’s; it was his job to make sure I got close to him and while he didn’t hook us up, he had made sure a lot of our coincidental meetings weren’t coincidental at all. He was all for Anthony and me getting together. Why shouldn’t he be? In exchange for his cooperation, I had set him up with half the girls in school. Really, it was a win-win for both of us if you think about it.
Growing up, Mike had been my best male friend. He was the peanut butter to my jelly and then there was my sister Nikki, who was the banana that wormed its way inside our sandwich. She tagged along everywhere we went, trying to be older than what she was just to fit in with us. I didn’t mind it, even thought it was cute considering how obvious it was that Nikki’s first crush was Mikey Valente. Yes, she called him Mikey and what was even more bizarre was that he allowed her to but if anyone else did, he’d flip out on them.
We were young and carefree without a worry in the world other than your usual teenage bullshit. Like I said, a perfect time in my life.
It sucked that Mike had lost his dad ten years ago and that he and his mom had moved far away from us and never kept in touch. It sucked even more that the only reason Mike had come back home was to bury his mom. Michael split my heart in two as he said his final goodbyes to his mother. He looked pitiful even though he kept his tough guy bravado firmly in place it was easy to read him if you looked into his eyes, the heartache so clear. It made me wish I could go back in time, to that perfect place and be the friend he needed.
Luckily, he had warmed up to Nikki and even though she had just been a kid when he had seen her last it was almost as if they picked up right where they left off. Sure, things were different. He wasn’t chasing tail, and she wasn’t chasing him but still the few times they had been together in my company, you could tell how comfortable they felt with one another, how easy they felt around each other. They reminded me of a younger version of Anthony and myself and at the re-pass, I tried to sway Nikki to explore that. It may have been wrong of me to do so, she had a boyfriend Rico, and they were serious. Rico didn’t strike me as the type that would be okay with his girl being chummy with a guy like Mike, but Mike needed a friend and Nikki could be that for him.
I should’ve kept my opinions to myself because it bit me in the ass. My sister started to question my situation with Anthony, giving me the usual ‘You’re pathetic as you sit here and pine away for him’ speech. I wish it wasn’t so fucking obvious that I was still in love with a man who constantly pushed me away. She was right I was pathetic. The harsh reality smacked me in the face, causing me to grab my son and storm out of the restaurant we had all gathered at after the funeral.
I wanted to be a good role model for my sister, to be a strong woman she could look up to and strive to be. Instead, I was her older sister whose life was a fucking mess. I’m the red flag you steer clear of, the chick you look at and say to yourself, ‘God, don’t let me be like her’. Pathetic.
“Hold up…,” I heard Anthony holler behind me. I ignored him, placing the baby in the car, still carrying the diaper bag and tried to fold the carriage. I gave up and threw the carriage on the floor as Luca began to fuss and opened the back-seat door, struggling to get him buckled in.
“Adrianna,” he called, standing behind me now. There was no sense in ignoring him. I strapped the baby in and grabbed a toy from the diaper bag then spun around on my heel and pierced him with a steady look.
“What is it Anthony?”
“I’ll give you a hand,” he said, bending down to grab the carriage.
“I don’t want your help,” I replied, reaching for the carriage. His eyes lifted to meet mine and then narrowed as they studied me. It was unnerving how he stripped me to the bone with one stare.
“What’s going on?” he asked slowly, not letting go of the carriage. I ripped my hand off it and let him have a go at it. The goddamn thing was a bitch to fold. The first time I used it I had to watch a YouTube video in the middle of the street so I could close the damn thing.
I frowned when he set the carriage down on the concrete and bent his knees a fraction to make himself eye-level with me. His index finger tipped my chin as he straightened himself up and held my eyes with his own.
“Talk to me,” he pleaded.
“I want you to leave me alone,” I said hoarsely, my words sounding weak to my own ears. “Stop fucking with my head Anthony. I can’t take it anymore,” I said, running
my fingers through my hair as I pulled my eyes off his and looked away from him.
“Whoa, where the fuck is this coming from?” He asked taking a step back looking at me as if I had lost my mind. Maybe I had. Who the fuck knows anymore.
“I can’t do this dance with you anymore,” I turned my head and found his eyes. “I don’t have any fight left in me.”
“I’m not looking to fight with you.”
“No, of course not. That’s just it. I’ve been fighting for you, for us for ten fucking years and all the while, I’m fighting, you are fighting against me. You push me away and pull me back in at your convenience. I can’t do it anymore. You’ve made it clear you and I are done and the minute I accept it, we spend Christmas together. You gave me one of the best Christmases of my life by just being you, by being there and being with my son. Then you disappear and I have to learn to accept we are done all over again. My heart can’t take it anymore.”
“Baby, I had to go away for work.”
“You’re a gangster not a fucking war hero, give me a break. You could’ve called but no, you didn’t and you know why you didn’t? You have no fucking intentions of making things right between us. You get lonely or maybe sentimental, you think of me, of what could’ve been, and then you push it so far out of your head I become a stranger you don’t want to think about.”
“Adrianna…”
The Tempted Series: Collectors Edition Page 48