“Where are you taking me?” I asked.
“The only place I know you’ll be safe. My home.”
At that moment, I realized whatever he did, he did it for me. I replayed the night in my head and saw a ruthless killer who hid my face from the violence and protected me. He was alone, he could have died, but he put himself in danger to save me. I reached out and touched the hand I pushed away before, and he intertwined his fingers with mine.
***
The sky had the pale yellow glow of sunrise as Dante drove through Manhattan. I had been to the city many times in my life, but never saw it as quiet as it was this early in the morning. It seemed odd to me that such a large city could be so silent. It felt eerie, abandoned, and deserted. Thinking of my brother, I felt the city and I were one and the same.
We turned onto Central Park West and I was curious where we could be heading. Only the wealthy lived on the Upper West Side. How could a killer live among them? These were tall, beautiful buildings I always admired from the outside and daydreamed about their marble floors and fancy things.
Dante turned the car into an underground garage and parked, leaving the car running. He opened my door and helped me out as a younger man in a mechanic’s jumpsuit approached us.
“Get rid of it,” Dante told him.
He wrapped his arm protectively around my shoulders as I hugged the framed picture of my mother and I against my chest. As we walked, I didn’t think to question where he was taking me or where I would stay now that I didn’t have a home to go back to. He saved my life, so I trusted him with it.
Entering the building, the doorman in his uniform of a long green coat nodded and didn’t seem at all fazed by my robe and slippers. Dante led me down the rich marble and wood lobby and past the main elevators to a small alcove where a man around my height stood.
Wearing a plain black suit, he stood at attention in front of a smaller elevator door, his hands clasped behind his back. He had a strong jawline and a sharp nose that looked like it had been broken one too many times. His eyes were intense and so black, it made his dark hair seem light.
“Sonny,” Dante said, addressing the man. “Gia will be staying with me. Do not allow anyone in unless they’ve been cleared. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” he said, his voice gravelly.
Sonny moved aside and revealed a golden panel on the wall. Flipping the small lid up, Dante placed his thumb on a reader and the elevator door slid open with a hum.
Dante’s face relaxed as we entered the elevator, but he still didn’t speak. The ice in his eyes melted as he became the man I met and not the man who rescued me. I couldn’t help but stare at him. To say he was gorgeous was an understatement, but adding to it that he was a killer made him more complex than I could ever imagine.
Thoughts raced through my mind as I replayed the night. The heavy thumps I heard, the pops and flashes coming from my home, Dante was responsible for all of that. And yet there was something more to him, something underneath all of that. He was a good person. I was sure of it.
The elevator opened to a foyer with thick, plush cream carpeting and rust painted walls. My curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to look around, but I was tired. Dante noticed me trying to hide a yawn and led me down the hall to the open door of a bedroom.
The room was much larger than any bedroom I had ever been in. A king-sized bed with a thick upholstered headboard sat in the center of the far wall. Along the next wall was a dresser where I placed the frame and the rosary beads. Still wanting to explore, I realized I was too sleepy to notice anything else in the room.
“Sleep,” Dante said as he pulled the grey comforter back from the bed. “We’ll talk in the morning.”
I couldn’t argue. I could barely stand anymore. Everything from the night caught up with me and all I could think about was how I was safe and wanted to sleep.
Crawling into the soft cotton sheets, I felt small and alone in the bed. The door clicked as Dante closed it behind him and I settled into the cool pillow. As I closed my eyes, I saw the man with the red paisley bandana reaching out to grab me and my eyes flew open, my heart pounding.
Taking deep breaths, I calmed myself down and reminded myself where I was. But it was useless. Every time I closed my eyes, the man appeared again. I tried to push the image away, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Dante?” I whispered, feeling foolish.
He wasn’t in the room, so I didn’t expect him to hear me. I didn’t want to call for him, but I didn’t think I had a choice. I was more tired than I’d ever been in my life, but I couldn’t fall asleep if bandana man was going to invade my dreams.
The door opened and Dante’s muscular figure outlined the doorway. He didn’t say anything, he simply stood there waiting.
“Can you sleep in here? With me? I—”
“Shh,” he said as he entered the room. “Don’t say it, you’ll give it life.”
He lay on top of the bed, fully dressed, and I moved myself closer to him, but that didn’t help. Finally I lifted his arm and positioned myself alongside his firm body. His arm fit along my curves perfectly. As I rested my head on his shoulder, I listened to his breathing and closed my eyes. The man was gone. Dante saved me again.
CHAPTER FOUR
Dante
Gia’s soft body pressed against me as she slept. Her dark wavy hair framed her face, making her look even more angelic. The heat from her body radiating through her pajamas and onto my clothing made me want her more. It wasn’t fair that someone as pure as her would make me think such impure thoughts.
I never went against orders. I knew my rank as a Soldier, it was one I became accustomed to in the Army. But that seemed like a lifetime ago.
As I listened to her steady breathing, my cellphone vibrated in my pocket. I didn’t have to look to know it was my Capo, Robert. By now he knew what I had done. I had to answer.
Careful to not wake Gia, I slowly slipped out from under her. I pulled the phone out of my pocket and answered as I closed the door behind me.
“Yes?” I said.
“I’m on my way. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
Robert’s voice was more business than usual, which meant he was pissed.
“I’m home,” I said.
“And you brought the girl, didn’t you?”
“You know the answer to that,” I said before hanging up.
I didn’t want to get involved in this mess. The Lords of Vengeance were like any street gang, no one knew what to expect from them. Protecting Terry had been my punishment for trying to escape this life. I was always looking for an out.
That is, until I saw Gia. Protecting her was like breathing. I didn’t have a choice. Something in her called to the part of me I buried within myself many years ago. She could see the person I once was; the person I still wanted to be.
Sonny notified me that Robert was on his way up so I waited by the elevator for him. As the doors opened, I moved him towards the living room where we could talk without waking Gia.
The sunken living room was filled with sunlight from the large windows. I motioned for Robert to sit on the white leather sectional, but he ignored me and paced instead.
“What were you thinking, Dante?” Robert said as his eyes narrowed at me.
“She’s innocent, Robert. I couldn’t leave her there to get raped and killed. You know that’s what they would’ve done to her.”
“They know it was you. Blowing up that house was the wrong move. You left your calling card.”
“I was buying us time and leaving them a message.”
Robert shook his head. “Well because of that message, they think the family is protecting that scumbag now.”
“They’re not stupid, they’ll figure it out. They’ll realize he left soon enough.”
“No, Dante. They want blood. Right now they don’t care who it is, and your antics have put the family in the line of fire. You need to fix this.”
“Fi
ne, who?”
I had been involved in this my entire life, I knew what fixing something meant. Robert didn’t have to tell me who, but I didn’t kill without my orders. At least not until Gia.
“Terry. Find him and take care of him. Make sure he’s not a problem anymore.”
I gave him a quick nod. Taking Terry out not only cleared the family of involvement, but it also kept Gia safe. I didn’t like killing people, but it was what I did best. Finding and getting rid of Terry would be easy. The hard part would be dealing with Gia when she found out he was gone.
Without another word, Robert left. I wasn’t worried about myself, but I had been reckless the night before when I set the bombs. I knew when the Lords pieced it together they would trace it to the Gambinos.
I didn’t want anyone to die because of my foolishness, but I did what I had to do to make sure Gia was safe. Hearing her movement in the bedroom, I entered the kitchen and began making breakfast. After all the excitement from the night before, I needed a good breakfast and she needed to eat.
As I cracked eggs two at a time into a bowl, she entered the kitchen with her robe wrapped around her like a cocoon. Her face was full of questions I knew I couldn’t answer.
“Sit,” I said. “Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. Scrambled eggs and pancakes okay?”
Her face lit up as she smiled, and it melted the ice around my heart a little more.
“Yes, that’s great, but I could’ve made them myself.”
“You’re my guest.”
“So,” she said hesitantly, “this is where you live?”
“This is one of my homes, the penthouse. I own the building.”
Her brow furrowed briefly and I knew she didn’t believe me. She only sees me as a killer, I thought. She probably thinks I’m no different than those maggots I protected her from.
I pushed those thoughts out of my head for the moment and looked at her as I stirred the eggs in the pan. I would do whatever I could to make her trust and believe in me. Maybe she was the one thing that could get me out of this life for good.
CHAPTER FIVE
Gia
I bolted upright as I woke up and looked around, trying to remember where I was. As my eyes adjusted to the room, everything came back to me when I saw the framed picture and my mother’s rosary on top of the dresser.
Tightening the robe I had slept in, I got out of bed and looked around the room. The furnishings were expensive rich woods and I remembered Dante pulling back the down comforter for me to get into the bed. It had to be his bedroom, but there wasn’t anything personal in it except for my two things.
Wondering where Dante was, I quietly opened the door and peeked into the hall. The scent of melting butter filled the air and my stomach grumbled with hunger. I followed the sizzling sound and arrived at the kitchen.
Dante was standing in front of a five-burner Viking cooktop making breakfast. My heart did little flips as he broke eggs into a bowl with confidence. There’s nothing sexier than a man who can cook, I thought.
He was still dressed in all black from the night before. The sleeves of his fitted dress shirt stretched and hugged his large biceps. While I never liked men with facial hair, the shadow of his beard made him even sexier.
The kitchen was modern with sleek grey cabinets and a wide built-in refrigerator. I felt like I stepped into a page of a fancy magazine. Over the granite island hung shiny pots, and at one side of the island were two high backed black leather chairs.
I couldn’t believe this was where Dante lived. Thinking about my life at the convent, I kept thinking that a killer shouldn’t have such a nice life. But I had to stop thinking of him as only a killer, just as I didn’t want people to judge me for almost becoming a nun.
Dante had already shown he was more complex than a simple stereotype. Seeing how he lived and everything I had been through in the past week only made me more aware of how sheltered I had been my entire life. As much as I wanted to stay in Dante’s beautiful home, I thought I was better off going my own way. He didn’t need someone to babysit.
“Thank you for letting me stay,” I said, “but I’ll have to call one of my brothers and see if they’ll let me stay with them until I find my own place.”
“No, you’ll stay here,” he said as he flipped a couple of pancakes. “I brought you here so I could protect you. There are people out there who will do things to you that you can’t even imagine. You’ll be staying here until you’re no longer in danger.”
I couldn’t argue with him, and I didn’t want to. I never felt safer than when I was near him, but I still thought I was holding him back somehow.
He sat next me on one of the stools and as I reached for the warm syrup, he picked it up to hand it to me. A little spilled onto his shirt.
“Oh no! I’m so sorry,” I said, feeling bad for being so clumsy. “Take that off and I’ll rinse it out.”
He unbuttoned his shirt and handed it to me. I had never seen a man so sculpted and fit before, he had muscles in places I didn’t know existed. I knew it was rude, but I couldn’t stop myself from staring. My eyes soaked in every inch of his shoulders and chest, including his tattoos and a horrible scar across his chest.
The scar was large, starting in the middle of his chest and extending outward like a star. I wondered if it hurt him still and I winced, imagining what terrible thing might have happened to leave such a big mark.
His left shoulder was covered with a large tattoo of a black Labrador retriever. It was just another thing that made me realize there was more to him than just being an assassin.
On his right shoulder was a military tattoo of a bomb with lightning bolts and stars in the middle of a wreath. I was dying to ask him what the tattoo was. I wanted to learn as much about him as possible. As I rinsed his shirt in the sink, I summoned the courage to ask.
“What’s that tattoo of?”
“Which one?”
I blinked, wondering if he thought I was too stupid to recognize a dog on his shoulder, then realized he might have more.
“You have more than the two on your shoulders?”
“You can say that,” he said, but didn’t volunteer anything else.
“Well, I only noticed those, and I know what a dog is.”
He smiled and nodded as if he was done toying with me. “I’m not supposed to have this one. I shouldn’t have any tattoos at all, but they’re reminders. This is an exact copy of my EOD badge.”
“What’s EOD?”
“Explosive Ordinance Disposal. That’s what I did when I was in the Army.”
“What does Explosive Ordinance Disposal mean?” I asked, wondering if I had to drag every answer out of him.
“We need to get you some clothing. I don’t know how long you’re going to be here, but you need more than just your pajamas.”
I wanted to push him more about the tattoo, but it was obvious he didn’t want to talk about himself. I’d have to wait for another time.
“I can go to the store and pick up a couple of things,” I said. “I don’t need much.”
“You can’t leave here without me. Tell me what you’d like and I’ll arrange for clothing for you.”
“I had a navy cardigan I really loved. I’d like to find something like that.”
“I saw you in that sweater,” he said. “No, you don’t need to dress like that. You’re young. You shouldn’t hide yourself.”
I shook my head. I couldn’t tell him the truth about why I dressed like I did. He wasn’t talking about my plain clothing, he was talking about the fit. He was gorgeous, hot, absolutely perfect. He couldn’t understand what it was like to be me.
“I can’t waste money on clothes I’ll never wear. I don’t even have a credit card.”
“Who said anything about money? As long as you’re here, you’re not paying for anything.”
“No, I can’t let you do that.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
There was no arguing w
ith him. I nodded my head and accepted my fate. “Fine, but I’m going to get what I want.”
“You’ll get some pretty things. Clothing you can’t hide in.”
“But I’m–”
“Beautiful. And you should dress that way. I know women, I have a sister and a mother. None of you see how truly beautiful you are. I’m a man. I’m supposed to be strong,” he said as he flexed his muscles for emphasis. “Women should be soft and delicate. Like you.”
My face felt so hot it must have been a hundred shades of red. I squeezed the excess water from his shirt and handed it back to him as he stood. When he turned around, I saw his other tattoo.
It was a large tree, completely bare without any leaves. Surrounding the tree were crows. Some were in the air, others were perched, and a few were on the ground underneath the branches. The tattoo was eerily beautiful.
“Tell me, why did you go to the convent?” he asked.
As if his telling me I was beautiful wasn’t amazing enough, him asking about myself made me float on air. I wanted to ask him more about himself, but I never had anyone ask about me before. I didn’t think I could stop smiling if someone forced me to.
“Being a nun was all I ever wanted to do. I can’t explain it. I just wanted to help people and teach children.”
“You’re a smart woman, you know you don’t have to be a nun to do that,” he said.
“I know. I’m sure some of it was my parents’ influence. They thought it was an honor to be part of the Church, and of course I agreed. I loved all of my teachers in Catholic school, and most of them were nuns. I looked up to them and wanted to be like them.”
He grinned and I crossed my arms in front of me. I couldn’t believe he thought that was funny.
“Did I say something funny?” I asked in my most intimidating voice.
“No,” he said, laughing. “I was just thinking how sweet you are. I couldn’t wait to get out of school and you were thinking of ways you could stay there. Not only that, but leaving all worldly possessions behind. You really are a saint.”
Made Man Dante Page 3