Silent Whisper

by ANDREA SMITH

  He must have done just that because later that afternoon I heard him on the phone, his voice raised talking to someone I presumed was Vinnie as I came into the office. I managed to hear him ask the party on the other end who Corallo was fronting for before he spotted me and immediately finished the conversation in Italian.

  When the call ended, I took the opportunity to inquire. “Is there a problem with the Corallo order, Dominic? Is Vinnie up to something? I wanna know.”

  “It’s been taken care of,” he replied brusquely. I don’t want you to concern yourself with the details, alright?”

  I nodded, and remained silent. It was clear that he was agitated, but not with me. He must’ve read the uneasiness I was still feeling.

  “Come here,” he ordered softly.

  I complied, walking over to where he was sitting on the corner of my desk, and allowed him to encircle my waist with his arms, as he pulled me in closer to him. I felt his hand cup my chin, and as he tilted my face upward, I allowed the sigh I’d held captive to be released.

  “I always stand by you, Karlie. You know that, right?”

  “Yes, Dominic,” I whispered, losing myself in the dark depths of his eyes. “I know that.”

  “Good girl,” he said, kissing my lips softly. “Now I have an appointment downtown so I will see you later, capisce?”

  “Capisce,” I replied with a smile.

  chapter 27

  It was the tenth of October. Dominic had left on the 3rd, saying that he’d be back in a couple of weeks. He had given me his mobile number, but cautioned me not to discuss anything of a personal or business nature when I called him. What the hell was the point then?

  He’d phoned me a few times and we did manage to talk about the weather and how the work was coming along on the big Corallo order. We were right on schedule and he was pleased.

  He told me he hoped to be back before the shipment went out to make sure that everything was in place for an order of this magnitude. I didn’t fully understand why he didn’t trust me to handle it. I’d sent international orders out before to several of Abigail’s boutiques located in various European locations, at least this shipment, though very large, was going to one location. He was probably concerned about that, and the fact it was going ocean shipment, which required more intervention from outsiders. Sherry was handling getting the shipping supplies required. The order was scheduled to be dispatched to the freight forwarder on October 21st, which meant Dominic would be back a couple of days before that.

  I was still uneasy about giving him the news on my pregnancy. Dr. Campbell had given me an April 15th due date. I realized the longer I procrastinated, the less there would be to tell. I was damn near close to being three months pregnant, though. If I waited too much longer, I’m sure Dominic—and everyone else would figure it out.

  I was mulling it over in my head when Sherry popped in, carrying a cardboard box. She’d been spending more time here than at the boutique helping me with the details for the Corallo order. We had kept Lisa (another one of Vinnie’s assistants) on at the boutique.

  “Look what was just delivered,” she said, smiling, “Earlier than expected no less.”

  “No,” I almost screeched, “Really? How did that happen?”

  The only thing holding up the final touches on the Corallo order had been the special shoulder pads I ordered for the suit jackets. I’d ordered two different sizes, and each one had a strip of Velcro sewn on the top, which adhered to the strip of Velcro that had been sewn inside the shoulder of the jacket. So each jacket came with two different shoulder pad sizes to allow customers to choose how much ‘power’ they wanted their shoulders to have, and to change sizes if they wanted, or not wear them at all. Sherry thought it had been a brilliant idea, and quite frankly, I was fairly proud of myself for coming up with it.

  “Hey,” she replied, setting the box on my desk, “I called and ripped into them. You know, you’re way too nice with these vendors.”

  “And that did it?” I asked.

  “Well, yeah. That and the fact I offered to pay a premium.”

  “Sherry!”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, not sounding apologetic whatsoever, “But I just hated having these things delay the shipment. Now the crates can go on the 15th when Corallo requested.”

  “Well, I guess it’s okay,” I said, reluctantly, “But you know Dominic wanted to be here to make sure every detail had been taken care of. He won’t be back by the 15th. Besides, how will their forwarder be able to get this booked on a vessel in five days?”

  “Nick just needs to chill,” she said. “Vinnie and I have your back, don’t worry. We’ve got things handled with the forwarder, as long as we can get the shipment dispatched to them by the thirteenth. The packing materials will be delivered tomorrow afternoon.”

  And that totally didn’t give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

  “Okay,” I relented, starting to feel as if I had no say-so in my ‘so-called’ business. “I guess you’ve got everything under control. We’ll do a final quality check on the garments in the morning.”

  I tried reaching Dominic on his mobile number later that evening, but he apparently had it turned off. I didn’t know enough about exporting goods to know if the issues Dominic had found when he was here last had been corrected. I decided I would do a bit of after-hours snooping since he wouldn’t make it back before the shipment left. With Sherry around, I always felt as if my every move was under her steady scrutiny.

  The following morning, Sherry and I inventoried the Corallo order, and I did a final inspection of each and every garment for quality assurance. I signed off on the packing list.

  “Sherry, I have an appointment right after lunch today and will probably be gone the rest of the afternoon. Can you handle things here?”

  “Sure thing,” she said. “See you later then.”

  “Oh, and make sure the box with the shoulder pads gets added to the packing list since they’re going to be shipped as accessories.”

  The other benefit of having the Velcro shoulder pads was that the garments could ship without them being inserted into the jackets so that they could lay flat in the crate. This would ensure the pads didn’t get crushed during the four to five week transit time, and the shoulders of the jackets didn’t get misshapen.

  “Got it,” she replied, already walking away with her clipboard. “Don’t worry about a thing.”

  chapter 28

  Dr. Campbell said everything relative to my condition was progressing normally. The truth was I felt pretty good these days, just a bit more tired than normal.

  After my doctor’s appointment, I drove back to Cherry Hill to my condo. I decided I’d wait until this evening to go back to West End. I wanted to make sure I had the place to myself so I could check things out without other eyes watching me.

  I had a message from Dominic on my answering machine when I got home. He apparently had called me at the office earlier and was told that I’d left for the day, so he called me at home. I could tell by his curt tone that he was agitated I wasn’t accessible to him at the moment.

  Friggin’ great.

  Anyway, he said he’d be tied up with ‘associates’ the rest of the day, and he’d try and touch bases with me the following day.

  Click.

  Oh hell, I guess he was the least of my worries for the moment. I needed to make sure that the Corallo shipment got dispatched per the terms of the contract since it was going early by nearly a week.

  I grabbed a sandwich and ended up taking a nap on the couch for the rest of the afternoon, waking up just as the six o’clock news was coming on.

  I figured now would be as good of time as any to run by the shop and check into some things without being watched. By the time I arrived at West End, it was after six-thirty.

  Damn.

  Sherry’s car was still in the lot, along with Vinnie’s and another car that looked vaguely familiar. And then I remembered from several months back—it
was Marco Trevani’s dark blue Lincoln. What the hell? I drove past the lot, and made a turn onto the first street to the left, circling around the block opposite West End, parking a little ways down a side street so that I could still observe the comings and goings at my little business without being seen.

  It must’ve been close to a half an hour later, when a dark van pulled into the parking lot at West End, pulling up to the exterior door of DBK.

  Ah hah!

  I watched as two females got out of the van and knocked on the door. They were allowed entrance immediately.

  Who the hell are they?

  I stayed parked across the way for another hour watching, but no one else came in or went out. It was starting to get dark, so I started my car up and headed out towards home, too busy contemplating what possible reason any of those people had for being at DBK after hours to notice as I pulled into my garage from the street in front of my condo that a dark colored Volvo was parked at the curb.

  I was still distracted as I walked up the concrete sidewalk to my back door, fumbling inside my handbag for my keys. I hadn’t noticed that someone had circled around to the back of the condo, and was a mere six feet away before addressing me.

  “Karlie Masterson?” the female voice said, causing me to practically jump out of my skin. “I think you might want to listen to what I have to say.”

  I turned abruptly, clutching my handbag by the straps as if it were a weapon or could be used as one if necessary.

  “I’m sorry,” the woman said, “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m Anna Maria Castellano, Nick’s wife. Can we talk?”

  Once inside the condo, I invited Anna Maria to make herself comfortable in my living room.

  “Oh, I doubt that either one of us is feeling very comfortable at the moment,” she replied, taking a seat across from the sofa. “But let me start by saying that I’m not here to cause any trouble or show any animosity towards you.”

  I relaxed just a trifle; pretty sure she wasn’t packing at the moment. She wasn’t what I’d expected at all. Let’s face it, after knowing Dominic in the biblical sense for more than a year now, I had wondered from time-to-time what Anna Maria was like, what she looked like, how her voice sounded, how she carried herself. Well, now I would finally find out.

  “Do you mind if I smoke?” she asked, pulling a cigarette case and lighter from her leather purse.

  “Go right ahead,” I squeaked, getting up to get an ashtray from the kitchen. I placed it on the table next to her chair, and took a seat on the sofa, tucking a leg underneath me.

  She lit her cigarette. Virginia Slim.

  She exhaled the first puff from her full, pouty lips. Anna Maria carried herself with an air of confidence, which at the moment, I seemed to be in dire need of.

  She had shiny black hair; it was thick and wavy and fell to just above her shoulders. She was a bit shorter than me, with more of a curvaceous, solid figure. She was busty with rounded hips—extremely attractive. Her skin was pale, not the typical olive-complexion of Italian heritage. She was dressed casually in slacks and a red sweater. I noticed her nails were well manicured and polished, and several impressive diamond rings adorned her fingers. Her wedding ring caught my eye. The diamond had to be four carats at least.

  She cleared her throat, and I quickly averted my gaze back up to her face.

  “I’ve been having you followed, Ms. Masterson,” she said. “I keep a P.I. on retainer. I think you’ve been keeping a secret from Nick, and I’m curious to know why.”

  “I’m not sure I understand, Mrs. Castellano,” I replied, showing no emotion. “And you can call me Karlie.”

  “Okay, Karlie,” she continued, “What part don’t you understand? Why I’ve had you followed? Or why I’m curious as to know the reason you’re keeping the news of your pregnancy from Nick?”

  Okay… that secret…

  “Both,” I replied.

  “Well, you must know that you’re not Nick’s first…indiscretion. We’ve been married for eight years. We came to a mutual understanding a few years back, so rest-assured, I’m not a jealous wife out for revenge, I promise. But I have found it to be in my best interest to check out, shall we say, his love interests? It’s only prudent. Nick’s worth a lot of money, and well, I don’t want to find myself on the receiving end of a stray bullet that’s intended to make my husband a widower.”

  She took another drag from her cigarette and waited for me to respond.

  “Dominic’s made it clear to me that divorce isn’t in his future. I’ve never had an issue with that. I realize I’m the encroacher here, Mrs. Castellano, and under the circumstances, I admire your tolerance. Rest assured I have no delusions where that is concerned. But now I’m curious. If there were others before me, did you arrange for one-on-one conversations with them as well?”

  She smiled wryly, butting out her cigarette in the ashtray.

  “There was never the need,” she replied. “It’s different with you and I’ve known that for a while. He loves you…a lot. He mutters your name in his sleep, he’s set you up in what appears to be a legitimate business, and he’s allowed you to distract him from his family and the family business, which is causing a major rift. And that’s not a good thing you must know. So why haven’t you told him he’s to be a father?”

  I was uncomfortable now under her gaze. Her dark eyes were watching—and waiting for an explanation “How do you know that I haven’t told him?”

  She folded her hands and leaned forward in her chair. “My husband and I may not be intimate any longer, but I can still read him like a book. If he knew he was to be a father, he wouldn’t be able to contain his joy and happiness—not from me, not from anyone. But you do realize that it wouldn’t change a thing between us, don’t you?”

  “Of course,” I replied, running my fingers through my curls. “And I didn’t do this as a means of trying to change that. In fact, it was at Dominic’s insistence.”

  “I see,” she conceded, quirking a brow, “Then why not tell him?”

  “Why do you care?”

  She shrugged her shoulders, taking another cigarette out to light. “You’re afraid to tell him, aren’t you? You sense that something’s coming apart within the family and your instincts are waffling between the ‘fight or flight’ reflex. Am I right?”

  Oh God…

  I sat across from her, watching as she lit the fresh cigarette and calmly exhaled smoke. How could she be so calm? Why did she feel so safe when I felt so exposed and vulnerable?

  I nodded. “Something like that.”

  “Then let me give you some assurance, and some advice while I’m here. You can take it or leave it; the choice is yours.”

  “Go on.”

  “Your secret is safe with me, I promise you that. But let me tell you what you can expect should you choose to stick around and bring your child into the Castellano family, because rest assured, he or she will be accepted into the family, but you? No, you will never be accepted, which means further issues will strain your relationship with Nick. And as much as he will try to convince you differently, because he does love you I promise, he will never succeed in breaking away from the family ties, because they are just that strong. It may even get to the point where the child will be taken from you to be raised under our roof, or maybe even under Salvador’s roof, because this will be their first grandchild. Think about that and about the ramifications of it, and then think about how Little Sal and Vinnie will feel about that grandchild coming from the outside.”

  I shivered at the implication of what she had told me. I felt the doubt seeping in, outweighing everything else inside of me.

  She ground out the barely smoked cigarette and stood up.

  “Right now you still have time to make your choice,” she said. “You are still in control of your destiny. You won’t be much longer though, Karlie. There are certain things taking form now that can’t be undone.
I hope you don’t get caught in the crossfire. I’ll see myself out.”

  chapter 29

  After Anna Maria’s departure, I felt myself sink even deeper into uncertainty and confusion. I re-played the conversation in my mind a hundred times, dissecting each fragment of it, as I attempted to establish her true motivation for stopping by.

  Why would she care about me?

  While her demeanor came off candid and sincere, I was not in a position to assimilate her true motive from a hidden agenda, because I simply did not know the woman. And unfortunately, as she had so succinctly pointed out between the lines, time was not on my side.

  My mind raced back and forth all evening as I showered and got ready for bed. My brain and my heart were at polar opposites. I was so unraveled by the visit that I didn’t answer my phone the three different times it rang, even turning off my answering machine because I knew if I heard Dominic’s voice right now, I would crumble. There would be no way he wouldn’t know that something had happened, and that I was keeping something from him at the same time.

  I played Dominic’s words back in my mind. The times when he mentioned my lack of trust in him; or when he assured me that he’d always stand by me, and protect me—why did I still question his sincerity? I felt guilty that my brain was giving more credence to Anna Maria’s words than his, but my heart was trying to convince me otherwise.

  I couldn’t sleep all night, tossing and turning and feeling like my life was dissolving into a million pieces. There was something to be said for Anna Maria’s words: I needed to control my own destiny, and right or wrong, good or bad, I knew that I couldn’t do that if I remained here.

  I finally gave up trying to catch some sleep at around three in the morning. I got dressed and then tossed some extra clothes into an overnight bag. I took the leather pouch containing my stash of cash from the top drawer, tossing it into the bag with my clothes.

  As I went out into the chilly October darkness, I looked around to make sure that no one was watching me, or lurking in the bushes ready to pounce.