The Beautiful People (The New Mafia Trilogy)

by Fechenda, E. J.

  Dominic’s mom stood to the side watching me in silence.

  “Well, if she thinks that this is lavish, wait ‘til she gets a load of this,” he said, pulling a small black box out from his pocket. My heart stopped beating. I really hoped this wasn’t his way of proposing. I was nowhere near ready for that level of commitment.

  I took the box with shaking hands and popped the lid open. A solitaire diamond pendant sparkled at me. “Oh my God, Dominic! It’s gorgeous!” I flung myself at him and practically knocked him over. “Thank you…oh my God!” I stared down at the giant, glittering diamond. He laughed at my enthusiastic response.

  Several of my girlfriends hurried over to see what the excitement was about. They probably had the same idea I had when they saw the jewelry box in my hand.

  “Wow!” Sara, a friend from high school gushed.

  “Beautiful!” Jillian, my friend from college agreed.

  They all waited for Dominic to fasten it around my neck. I had to hold my hair up so he could clasp it securely. I had never owned a lot of jewelry until Dominic started spoiling me and it was slightly daunting wearing such a valuable piece – it had to be at least two carats.

  I looked up from the gem and glanced around the room for my mom. When I found her, she had a disapproving look on her face. I had expected as much. Happy moments involving couples irritated her. I just thought that when it came to her own daughter, she might make an exception. I refused to let her issues ruin my night. I looked around at my friends from high school and from college that had showed up to celebrate. Chelsea’s absence was noticeable. I missed her, but we had never been able reconcile.

  Grant walked out with our mom and I after the party had ended. He handed a valet ticket to one of the drivers. I thought this was odd because he didn’t use the valet to park his car. A bright red BMW convertible came to a stop in front of us. The valet hopped out and tossed the keys. It took me a few seconds to realize they were sailing through the air at me. I caught them and gave him a puzzled look. My mom looked just as confused.

  “Congratulations Nat,” Grant said with a big grin.

  “Wait, what? Are you serious?” I wrapped my arms around Grant and squeezed him tight. He laughed at my reaction.

  “Do you like it?” he asked.

  “Do I like it? Is the Pope Catholic?”

  “Grant, how could you afford this?” our mom interjected. She looked at the shiny convertible in awe. I glanced nervously at Grant waiting for him to answer.

  “I’ve been saving up. Nat deserves it.”

  “I didn’t say she didn’t, but Grant this is so much.”

  “Mom, I only have one sister. This is a big occasion.”

  Mom eyed us both suspiciously. She looked at the two carat diamond sparkling against my throat and the diamonds sparkling on my wrist, then at the car. She inspected Grant’s Armani suit and the Tag Hauer watch on his wrist. She raised her eyebrow like she was trying to piece something together. Instead she shook her head and pulled us into a family hug. She had had some wine and was a little tipsy. I was hammered.

  “Uh, Grant? I don’t think any of us are in any condition to drive.” I slurred and looked sideways at my pretty car. It would suck to crash it on the first night.

  “I got it covered. Joey will drop it off at the condo. The valet will handle it from there.” I smiled at my brother. He always took care of things. Dominic walked out of the club with his parents and Miranda. He whistled when he saw the car.

  “We might have to take this to Atlantic City next time.” He bent down and kissed my cheek. “Are you happy?”

  “Definitely! This was all so…unexpected.”

  “You deserve it. Well, enjoy the rest of your night. I’ll see you later.” He kissed me goodbye before he and Miranda walked to the employee parking lot. My mom didn’t like the fact that I had moved in with Dominic and he was making himself scarce while she was in town.

  My mom and I sat out on the balcony at Dom’s condo, well our condo, and watched the traffic on the bridge. She was quiet and contemplative.

  “Nat, honey?”

  “Yeah Mom?”

  “What are your plans now that you’ve graduated?” I was prepared for the question. It was inevitable that she would ask.

  “Marco, the owner of Crimson, offered me some commission work painting murals at the club, in addition to waitressing.”

  She turned in the deck chair to look at me, her brown eyes were unreadable. “That doesn’t have anything to do with your degree. What about working with special needs kids, didn’t you want to use sculpture as a way for them to express themselves?”

  “Yeah, but…”

  “But what?”

  “I like working at Crimson. I never thought I’d say it, but it’s cool spending time with Grant.”

  “Uh huh, I’m sure it’s Grant you like spending your time with.” Oh God, here we go, Relationship 101. “Of course with a place like this and a gift like that,” she pointed at my necklace, “who wouldn’t be swayed?”

  “Is that what you think? I’m not for sale, Mom! God!” My eyes stung with tears as I glared at her.

  “I didn’t mean it like that! I’m sorry.” She reached over and grabbed my hand. “I was commenting on my life. Your father was so smooth and seemed to have endless funds for extravagance.” She looked at me and I could see the pain that still haunted her eyes. My father had left her high and dry, drained the bank accounts, trashed her credit and left all of us behind in a house that was in foreclosure. To say she had trust issues with men was an understatement. “I just want you to be careful. And don’t settle. And put yourself first. It may sound selfish, but you need to come first.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Are you done with the lecture Mom?”

  “Yes,” she smiled tentatively and patted the back of my hand before withdrawing hers. I yawned and stood up. She stood with me and we walked inside the condo together. We hugged goodnight and she went into the guest room and I into the master bedroom. I was tired, but knew sleep wouldn’t come so I drew a hot bubble bath in the big tub. I moved stealthily through the condo to snag a bottle of red wine and a glass out of the kitchen.

  I shut the bedroom door behind me and then the bathroom door. With the candles lit and a full glass of wine in hand, I was ready to enjoy my bath. Soon I relaxed enough and began to doze off in the tub. Sleep might come after all tonight. I dried off and crawled into the king sized bed, which seemed enormous and empty without Dominic. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

  The dream started out nice. I was swimming in the ocean, the sun high above and reflecting bright white off of the sand. I floated weightless in the water and bobbed with the gentle lapping waves. Dominic and Grant were on the shore waving at me. I waved back and dove under the surface. When I came up for air the atmosphere had changed. Dark, stormy clouds boiled in the sky and the sea had become choppy. Alarmed, I looked for Dom and Grant on the beach. They were gone. Something bumped into my back and moved away then collided with me again. I spun around and screamed. A body floating facedown in the sea moved with the surf. Panic set in and I started to swim toward the shoreline. When I turned, a different body, also facedown blocked my path. Then I noticed the water was blood red and corpses floated on the top of the ocean, in every direction as far as I could see. I opened my mouth to scream again and nothing happened, the air around me was void of sound, muted.

  I woke in a cold sweat and with a pounding heart. I reflexively reached for Dom, but he was gone. Disoriented, I briefly panicked, still caught between my nightmare and reality. Finally, the surroundings of our bedroom became familiar and I remembered where Dominic was. My head ached and I had cottonmouth, the beginning of a hangover beginning to set in. I rolled over and stared at the closed bedroom door wanting the comfort of my mom. On her good days she would make the nightmares disappear so I could fall back asleep. This time I couldn’t tell her the source of my terrors. The boogieman wasn’t in my closet and th
ere wasn’t a monster under the bed, the horrors in my dreams were real.

  Chapter 22

  With college out of the way I had more time on my hands than I knew what to do with. My days fell into a pattern of sleeping, usually restlessly, until noon and driving to Fairmount Park for a run. I would grab a bagel, pretzel or hoagie for lunch and then meander around the Art Museum. Something about the calm interior and hushed reverence visitors had for the exhibits were soothing.

  After spending a few hours in the museum I would zip home in my fabulous new car. Dominic was usually waiting for me and we would go to dinner before work. It didn’t matter which restaurant he took me too, everyone knew him and we always got the best treatment. There were definite perks to dating a Mafioso. Our favorite restaurant, and one we had to visit at least every other week, was Franco’s. Aunt Gloria would fuss over us like nobody’s business. Bianca would grill me about college as she was going to Temple University in the fall.

  Up until late June I had been waitressing in the VIP section until one night Miranda interrupted me while I was setting up.

  “I need your help.” She pleaded.

  “Sure, what’s up?”

  “Joey and Grant got called away on ‘business’ I need someone to work the gun check.”

  “Oh.” I was suddenly nervous. I had never touched a gun before. “Ok.”

  “Brittany will work VIP tonight. She’ll be beside herself with joy.”

  There was something disconcerting about taking firearms from drunk people. Even more disconcerting was handing the weapons back to them when they could barely speak, let alone stand. I handled the guns like they were made of extremely fragile glass. It would be just my luck that I accidentally shot someone or myself. Up at the front desk I was able to observe who didn’t have to check a gun. Quite a number of people were allowed to go around the metal detectors and I suspected that they were all packing.

  At the end of the night Miranda handed me $400 and asked if I would be able to work the gun check one night a week. I agreed as it really wasn’t as intimidating as I had imagined it to be. After work we all met up in Miranda’s car to smoke up. Ever since I moved in with Dom, Miranda and I had gotten really close. Any animosity Grant had previously felt toward Dominic slowly dissipated too. Now that I was aware of the mafia ways, Grant had given up on attempts to keep me from Dominic – there didn’t seem to be a reason to anymore. Other people used to join in Miranda’s after work decompression sessions, but lately it had become exclusive to just us four.

  We were parked in the side lot of Crimson that provided a view of the Ben Franklin Bridge. I leaned back against the door and rested my legs on Dominic’s lap. He caressed my thighs as we passed a joint between us. We were mellow and relaxed listening to the radio. Grant’s cell rang and broke the silence.

  “Hello?” We could hear the agitation of the person on the other end, but we couldn’t make out what he was saying. Grant turned his head and caught Dominic’s eye.

  “Yeah, he’s with me. We’ll be right there.” Grant snapped his phone shut.

  “Dom and I have to go. Something went down at Butter.” Butter was the five star restaurant on Walnut Street that the Grabano’s owned. Grant leaned over and kissed Miranda.

  “Careful,” she whispered as he pulled away. “Always,” he promised. I lifted my legs off of Dominic’s lap and moved closer to him. We kissed and hugged each other goodbye. It was hard to let him go. The boys shut their doors at the same time and walked quickly across the parking lot to Grant’s Lexus.

  “I wonder what’s going on,” I said to Miranda.

  “I don’t know, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.” She picked up her phone and dialed her father. He picked up after the first ring. “Dad, what happened at Butter?” Her eyes got wide and then narrowed “Really?” She gave me significant look in the rear view mirror. “Yeah, he and Dom left like a minute ago. Okay, lemme know. Bye.”

  “Wow,” she said as she put the phone back in her purse.

  “What?” I asked, curious.

  “One of the Nucci boys just tried to take out Uncle Al.”

  “What!” I gasped. “Is he ok?”

  “Yes, the bullet only grazed his hair, thank God. This move is ballsy. We’ve only taken Nucci Soldiers, but to go after a rival Capo…” she paused. “They’re planning to retaliate. All of the boys are having a meeting.” Miranda looked dejected at that statement. She was not and never would be considered one of the boys. I flashed back to the murder scene I witnessed months ago; another bloodbath was in the making. My stomach rolled with unease. Miranda must have seen the distress on my face.

  “Don’t worry Nat. Everything’s fine.” She seemed so confident.

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because the Grabanos aren’t going anywhere,” she replied, which wasn’t really a good explanation.

  When I got back to the condo I anxiously paced the length of the living room waiting for Dominic to get home. The pacing didn’t help so I sat on the leather sectional to wait. Exhaustion caught up to me and I passed out. I didn’t hear Dominic come home but woke when I felt him sink into the sofa next to me. Relief washed over me; he was intact. I crawled onto his lap and covered him with kisses.

  “I’m glad you’re home. I missed you.” I didn’t admit how I was worried sick that he was a target for the Nuccis. Sensing my concern he laid me down on the sofa, trapping me beneath his body. Lowering his head he kissed my lips; I opened to him and his tongue slid in. What started out as agonizingly slow grew in urgency. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I drew him closer, matching his intensity. My legs fell open and I cradled his body with mine, feeling all of the hard and soft parts. I surrendered completely and with each caress, each stroke, he made me forget my worries. Spent and sated, we fell asleep wrapped around each other. There in the comfort of his arms I slept; a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

  Chapter 23

  Most nightclubs were slow in the summer since at least half of the city migrated to the Jersey shore on the weekends. Crimson wasn’t affected by that trend and continued to thrive. One hot and steamy Saturday night in July, I was working the gun check, desperate for the front doors to stay closed long enough for the air conditioning to cool the entryway. Sweat dripped down the back of my neck under the heavy blanket of my hair.

  Joey B. was working the door when I noticed him stiffen. A large group of men walked up to the door. Joey radioed Grant and moments later he appeared and went to greet the party.

  “Welcome gentleman.” He held out his arm in a welcoming gesture and let the group pass without going through the metal detectors. To the naked eye Grant seemed perfectly normal, but I grew up with him and knew him better than anyone. He was stressed. The film of sweat above his upper lip was the first sign, the next was the way he rapidly licked his lips. Something was up and the tension seemed to infect all of the employees. The strained atmosphere increased when a half hour later Uncle Marco, Uncle Al, Dominic’s dad, Rico, and about ten soldiers filed through the front door.

  The second Miranda came up to the front desk I jumped at the chance to find out what was going on.

  “Did you see that big group come in?” she asked. I nodded. “Those are some of the Nucci boys. A few capos and soldiers,” she explained. That would explain the tension.

  “Why did Grant let them in, and with their guns?” I hissed.

  “It’s all a ridiculous façade if you ask me,” Miranda confessed. “It’s like some macho thing. We show that we are completely unaffected and unafraid of their presence. Meanwhile, we’re all on edge because people are drinking and armed. Anything can happen.” I nodded again, my mouth was dry. “I don’t think anything will happen here tonight though,” she continued.

  “Why do you think that?” I asked.

  “The Mayor and District Attorney are sitting in VIP. It would be foolish to try anything with them around.”

  “That’s good,” I said and breathed
a sigh of relief. The relief didn’t last long. Shortly before last call Joey B.’s cell phone rang. Almost instantly he took off in a run down the walkway to the club, leaving the front door unattended. Gina, who ran the cash register, and I were the only ones up front.

  “What was that all about?” Gina asked me.

  “I have no idea.” A small group of regulars walked in and they looked around surprised to see the door bouncer-less. “Something going on?” one of the men asked.

  “Bathroom break,” I lied. The man shrugged his shoulders and continued on. Minutes passed and Joey B. still didn’t return.

  “The door usually isn’t left unattended like this,” Gina remarked.

  “Well, it’s not busy so it isn’t that big of a deal, is it?”

  “I know the boss likes to have some muscle up here…it deters thieves. The register gets pretty full.”

  “Oh…” I hadn’t thought of that. The front desk area was cut-off from the rest of the club. There was a door to Miranda’s office, but that was it aside from the long walkway, which led into the main part of the club. The entire entryway was glass and we were as visible as if we were sitting in a fishbowl. Someone could easily walk in, rob us and walk back out into the night. If anyone ever did attempt this, they would have to be crazy to hold up a place owned by the mafia. “I pity the person who robs this place.”

  “Yeah, I know, right?” Gina laughed. “Marco would not be happy.”

  We passed the time chatting, stopping occasionally so I could return guns to their owners. We heard the DJ announce that the club was closing in ten minutes and we braced ourselves to handle the exiting crowd. Fortunately Joey B. returned and helped funnel people through. Several men hit on me and Gina; the more persistent ones were physically ushered out. Joey B. got noticeably more irritated when Gina got hit on. I wondered if something was happening between those two. They wouldn’t be the first co-workers to date each other.

  Miranda walked up with the Mayor, the District Attorney and their wives. She was laying on the Grabano charm as she personally escorted them out. Finally, the last customer left and Joey B. secured the doors. His hulking size almost blocked the entrance. Gina closed out the register and I grabbed the gun check cash box. Gina and I went through the side door to Miranda’s office. She wasn’t there so we walked through and out the other door that lead directly to the club, right by Dominic’s bar. I looked up eager to see his handsome face and was disappointed to find him absent. Then I noticed that several employees had gathered around Allegra. She was sobbing uncontrollably and Brittany had her arm around her in an attempt to console her.