JOE
Abriana Ferrari was a tall woman with blonde hair. Her eyes were dark brown, and so was her soul. She was a menacing presence, one who seemed hell-bent on hurting my father. By the time I’d joined the conversation, my father was white with anger.
“Darling, what’s going on?” My mother looked at her husband with quiet panic in her eyes.
“Well, if it isn’t the whore who stole my fiance. You look well, Bella. Then, why wouldn’t you, after stealing what was meant to be mine.”
“Abriana. Still as vile as ever, I see. What can we do for you?”
“I’ve brought you a wedding gift,” she said, clearly enjoying every word.
“We don’t want anything from you, thank you, Abriana.” I’d never seen my mother like that before. She was a gentle woman, kind and pleasant. Abriana had to have done something awful for Bella Coli to not like her.
“I think you’re going to like this gift. It’s to all of you from me.”
The young man who’d been standing next to her moved closer. Abriana had a wicked smile on her face when she looked at him.
“Antonio, meet Gino. Gino meet your father.”
The sudden silence was deafening. My mother walked away and sat at the closest table to us. My father stared at Gino then back at Abriana.
“What?” He looked confused.
“Antonio, this is your son. Joe, meet your brother, Gino.” She beamed and Gino smirked.
The air was sucked out of my lungs. If this was a cruel joke, it wasn’t funny. Everything around me went black, tunnel vision grabbing me by the short and curlies. What the fuck was this woman talking about? I was an only child. I’d believed that all my life. Surely, if my parents knew, they would have told me. This was the cruelest thing that could happen on my beautiful day.
“What the hell are you talking about? What son? He can’t be mine.” My father backed up and looked at Gino.
I couldn’t speak. Horror was an understatement of epic proportions.
“Abriana, what the fuck are you talking about? We broke up long before Bella and I started dating. Don’t you think that if you were pregnant with my son, I’d know about it?”
“Oh, but you didn’t, Antonio. You didn’t know because I didn’t want you to know. You were off and I was alone. Now, it’s time for you to know your son.”
“You mean, you waited until you could punish me. I knew you were a cruel woman, Abriana, but this is a new low, even for you.”
“Be that as it may. He’s your son and he wants to know you. I can prove it. I have his blood work if you think I’m lying.”
“You bloody better prove it.” Abriana threw a piece of paper at my father. He looked at it in silence, and when he looked up, his face was gray. He gave her an acid stare and walked over to where my mother was sitting, staring into space.
I didn’t have the faintest idea what to say to the man standing next to me. Gino was impeccably dressed but seemed a little rough around the edges. He extended his hand to me in greeting.
“Hello, brother,” he said. “Congratulations on your wedding.”
As I took his hand, Ella appeared next to me. She heard Gino introducing himself as my brother and looked at me with shock and surprise, but she said nothing. The man was my brother, allegedly, and I didn’t want to be an asshole. I shook his hand, excused myself, and took Ella with me to talk to my father. What had started off as the best day of my life, had suddenly turned into a nightmare.
Gino stood next to his mother. The two were smiling like a couple of cats that had cornered a mouse. You could almost see their tails slapping as they grinned at the delivery of their wicked surprise.
ELEANORA
I heard the words coming from Gino’s mouth, but it took me a few seconds to compute. Joe’s brother? Why had I not heard about him before, and why wasn't he invited to our wedding? I had so many questions, but I knew that Joe wasn’t ready to answer any. He took his father by the arm as they walked off to a secluded spot to talk.
Bella, still as white as milk, sat silently, stunned.
“Are you okay, Mama? Can I get you something?”
“Sambuca . . . make it a double.” She wasn’t smiling in her usual jocular fashion. She was serious.
“Si, Mama.”
I watched as Joe and Antonio spoke. Neither one of them looked particularly comfortable. I went over to the bar and ordered two double Sambucas—I too was badly in need of liquid courage.
“Here you go, Mama.” Bella took the drink from me and downed it. Wow, you go girl.
My mother came over to see what all the excitement was about. She sat down beside Bella and took her hand.
“What’s happened, Bella? Is there anything I can do to help?”
Bella’s eyes were glistening. She was fighting back tears, and I thought she was being ridiculously brave. I’d have lost my shit for sure if that had happened to me.
I left Bella and my mother to talk. The poor woman had been violated enough—she needed someone her own age to confide in. My mother was just the woman for the job. Alicia had a way of bringing calm and reason to an otherwise chaotic situation. My mother had studied psychology as a young woman, but she gave it up when I’d come on the scene. She insisted that raising a child was akin to psychoanalyzing a room full of nutjobs. She wasn’t wrong.
My father was talking with Joe and Antonio. I waited patiently for Joe to come back to me. I had no idea what I would say to him. My poor husband. My heart ached for him. The wedding guests were laughing and drinking, making merriment, but the Coli family had just been lowered into the bowels of hell.
***
“Are you ok, my love? What’s going on?” I looked up at Joe who looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“It’s a fucking mess is what it is. I have a brother, Ella, a brother!”
“Are you telling me you didn’t know?” I hadn’t considered that possibility.
“I had absolutely no clue. Neither did my parents, obviously.”
“How is that even possible? And why wait until now to drop the bomb on your family?”
“Abriana has a score to settle, I guess, and what better timing than on the day of Antonio Coli’s ‘only’ son’s wedding. The bitch has been planning this for years. How’s my mother holding up?”
“She’s taking it pretty hard. I can only imagine what she must be feeling. My mother is with her now. She’ll take care of her; don’t worry about your mother. Bella is a strong woman. She’ll recover from this. It’s not like your father betrayed her. He seemed just as shocked as the rest of us. How’s your father?”
“Apart from super pissed, he’s stunned. Poor Mama, she must be devastated.”
“We’ll get through it. Are you okay, my love? This is not exactly what we saw happening when we set out today, is it?”
I wrapped my arms around him. I could feel his rigid body relax as I held him tightly. My poor, beautiful Joe. I was furious with Abriana for not only upstaging our wedding—but for being so cruel as to hurt Antonio and Bella on their son’s special day.
“I don’t want to seem insensitive about your family’s pain, my love, but I think you and I should get back to our guests. Are you up to it? I refuse to give Abriana the satisfaction of ruining our day completely. We deserve to squeeze as much joy from this day as possible. I don’t want us to look back one day and only remember the bad.”
“You’re right, gorgeous. I’m so sorry that this happened to you on your big day. How are you, my love?” He took my face into his hands and looked into my eyes as I spoke.
“Don’t worry about that now, Joe. My dreams have all come true. I just married my soulmate; how can I be anything but elated? Sure, I wish Abriana hadn’t spoiled it for you and your family today, of all days, but I’m fine.”
Joe and I returned to our guests and tried to forget the chaos for a moment. Antonio’s friends and close associates showered us with envelopes, as is the tradition, with more cash in them than I�
�d ever seen. The single ladies gave their fallen hunk a last hug and eyelash batting, and pretty soon, it was time for Joe and me to leave. We were more than ready to be alone.
“I’m so happy I found you, Ella. You are a rare jewel, my gorgeous woman.”
If I had known what was to come, I would have been less joyous and more careful. But life doesn’t always work out the way we plan.
JOE
I promised myself that I’d put the disastrous day out of my mind as Ella and I left on our honeymoon. I hadn’t explored my Italy since I was a child traveling with my parents. I wanted to share her rare beauty with my rare beauty, Ella. We traveled along the Amalfi Coast to Naples, Rome, Florence, Tuscany, and Venice. It was perfect. Ella was perfect.
Our days were filled with good food, laughter, and sightseeing, but the nights were my favorite. A mere touch of Ella’s skin on mine sent me soaring. Her salty olive skin shone in the moonlight as we lay naked, hungry for each other each night. Her breasts, round and hard, boasted pink nipples erect at my touch. She’d moan as I explored every inch of the body with my fingers and my tongue. When she arched her back as she climaxed, I would spill into her with utter abandonment. Our dance of love was rhythmic and perfectly in sync. How I loved this woman.
The three weeks flew by, and soon, it was time to return to Palermo. With mixed emotions, Ella and I drove into our hometown. Fabio and Bria were the first to come over.
“Hey, you lovebirds! How was the honeymoon?” Fabio was a sight for sore eyes. He had been a great comfort to us after our disastrous wedding day. Bria was her usual bubbly self, and Ella and I were glad to be home.
We were exhausted after our travels across Italy. When Fabio and Bria left, we were thankful to be alone. The phone rang as Ella and I sat down to dinner.
“Ugh, I hope that’s a wrong number,” Ella said as she flopped down onto her chair.
“I’ll get it, my love. Hello. Papa! So good to hear from you.”
“Hello, my son. Did you and Ella have a good trip? We missed you.”
“It was amazing, Papa. We visited all the places you and mama took me to as a child. I’ve forgotten how spectacular Italy is.”
“She is, indeed. Mama and I were hoping to see you and Ella tomorrow morning for breakfast. Are you up to it?”
I was hoping to stay in bed with my wife, but my father sounded excited about seeing us so I agreed. “Si, Papa. We’ll see you in the morning.”
“Sleep well, son. Give our love to Ella.”
Ella and I hit the hay early and slept soundly. Morning came too soon. With our new favorite, a knee-buckling quickie, done and dusted, Ella and I left my apartment to meet my parents for breakfast.
ELEANORA
My orgasm was mind-blowing. I wondered if I would ever grow tired of Joe’s touch. I hoped not! After a decadent soapy shower that lasted a tad longer than expected, we hit the road to meet my new in-laws.
We arrived at the mansion to see my parents’ car there too. I was nervous, hoping that nothing was wrong. The four of them were chattering happily as Joe and I entered the living room. The room was huge, beautifully decorated. The walls boasted paintings of the greats of Italian art, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Modigliani, and Morandi. The Coli family was a great patron of the arts, and it was evident in their taste.
“Ah, there they are, the new couple. Don’t the two of you look tanned and relaxed.”
What followed was a frenzy of hugging and kissing, Italian style.
We were served coffee and savoiardi, as we told of our picturesque journey across Italy. Afterward, Joe and I moved toward the dining area, as we always did, when Antonio said, “We’d like to show you and Ella something before we eat, son.”
“Really? Okay, what have you guys been conspiring?” I asked as I looked at Joe.
“You’ll see,” said my mother.
“Alicia Lastra, what are you hiding?” I whispered in my mother’s ear as we followed them outside.
“Follow us in your car, Joe,” my father said as the parents got into his car.
“What’s going on?” I asked Joe as we followed them.
“You’re guess is as good as mine, my love.”
We drove for a short while. Papa’s car turned into a long driveway, leading to an impressive white house.
The four colluders emerged from the car, looking pretty pleased with themselves.
“Okay, what’s going on?” Joe was holding my hand.
“We’d like to introduce the two of you to your new home,” Antonio announced.
“We hope you will be very happy here, my darling,” my father chimed in.
Joe and I were speechless. “What?” I was staring at the stunning house, not sure if I was dreaming or not.
“It’s yours, my love. We hope you and Joe will be very happy here.”
“And our grandchildren too.” Bella smiled. “Come on, let’s show you around.”
Never in my wildest dream did I expect such a grand gesture. Our home was already furnished. Bella and my mother hired the top decorator in Italy to furnish it for us in the latest trends. Joe and I walked through the rooms with our mouths agape. Even the pantry and fridge were filled with our favorites.
“You guys are incredible! Thank you so much!” I was excited for Joe and I to have our own home, but this was way beyond anything I could have dreamed.
“Thank you. I don’t have words to describe my joy. What an extravagant gift.”
I had my suspicions that, after the disastrous start on our wedding day, our parents felt that this would wipe the slate clean. They weren’t wrong! The house was magnificent. Italian tiles, marble everywhere, a gorgeous garden, plants to make any botanist weepy with envy. The folks had done good!
“I’m starving,” said Antonio. “Let’s eat.”
The dining room table was filled with a delicious spread. We ate, laughed, and celebrated with each other. It was a wonderful start to the day. Afterward, Joe and I went back to our apartment to fetch a few personal items. We didn’t need much. Clothes, toiletries, some photos, and that was it, we were officially married and on our way to marital bliss, plus a house to die for. Could life get any better?
“Our parents are incredible people, Joe. I’m so happy.”
“They truly are.” Joe held my hand as we left our apartment behind. I felt such hope for the two of us. I was with the man I loved and he was perfect. Our parents were perfect. Life was pretty damn good for Eleanora Lastra.
Chapter Six
ELEANORA
Amid the excitement of being married and moving into our new home, Joe and I had to put up with Gino, who had interjected himself into our lives. Bella was getting used to the idea, albeit begrudgingly.
Antonio, livid with Abriana, was nevertheless a fair man who didn’t take his rage out on his son, Gino. He became a permanent fixture in the Coli family. Joe tried his best to get along with his half brother, but it wasn’t easy.
Gino harbored a great deal of animosity toward Joe that came out every now and again in the form of snide remarks and a pissy attitude. Joe kept making excuses for him, telling me that had he been deprived of his father’s love and recognition for so long he’d most likely act like that too. I didn’t believe that he ever would or could be that unpleasant. But Gino was a part of the family, and we tried our best to welcome him.
Abriana on the other hand was thankfully absent from the new arrangement. Joe’s mother wasn’t exactly a wallflower. I’d hate to be anywhere near the two women when the shit hit the fan. Alicia would rip Abriana a new one for sure. For all her sophistication and grace, she was a lot of woman in a small space. Thank God she loved me.
Joe was knee-deep in the daily operations of the family business, and I was hard at work, finishing my studies. Not to toot my own horn, but I was speeding through the workload. Pretty soon, I was a few weeks away from graduating. Life was good.
Fabio and Bria hit a speedbump in their relationship, but it didn’t last
long. Before we knew what had happened, they announced their plans to marry. Joe and I ragged them for days on end. They had always been adamant that theirs was just a “fun, no commitments” relationship, but Joe and I knew better. We were thrilled for them. Our foursome was complete.
I was dying to know what happened to change Bria’s mind, but all she said was, “When you know, you just know.” She was so adorable.
JOE
Life was busy. I was learning the family business quickly, and Ella and I were truly happy. Fabio and Bria’s wedding plans kept the girls very busy. Between her studies and crisscrossing the town looking for Bria’s wedding gear, my poor Ella was like the walking dead. My parents had returned to a solid place in their relationship. My mother had taken the news of Gino very hard, but she understood that Antonio wasn’t to blame.
Abriana kept her distance. I wish I could say the same about Gino, who was fast becoming a colossal pain in my ass. I’d always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling, but this wasn’t what I had in mind. Pissy and quick to snap at me, I tried my best not to knock him on his ass.
His friends weren’t the most savory of people, either. Gino hadn’t exactly grown up in the slums; his mother came from a super-wealthy family, but they were nasty. No amount of money could fix that. That was one of the reasons my father had decided to break it off with Abriana and chose my mother instead. Mama’s family wasn’t wealthy, but what they lacked in money, they’d made up for in unconditional love. Warm, personable, and kind, they were my favorite grandparents.
Ella’s graduation was a proud moment. The whole family attended, cheering loudly, celebrating her accomplishment with her. She had done so well, in fact, that the university offered her a position in their botany research department. She would also teach a few classes. My darling wife was so pleased and accepted their offer.
It would be a few weeks before the university started up again after summer break. Ella’s parents surprised her with an impressive graduation gift—a cherry red Lancia Montecarlo with all the bells and whistles. She squealed with excitement as they presented it to her. Sexy, Italian engineering . . . the car wasn’t too shabby either.
Hidden Deceit: A Mafia Romance (Corrupt Minds Book 2) Page 6