Made Man Dante

by Liliana Rhodes

  Sighing, I gave up. Hitting Sonny wasn’t going to solve anything, and Dante was already gone. He let go of my shoulders when I put my hands down and walked over to the Town Car.

  “Let’s go,” he said. “Dante told me to take you home.”

  He opened the back door for me, but I shook my head and opened the front passenger door and got in. As the Belt Parkway curved, I looked at the twinkling lights of the Verrazano Bridge as I tried to forget.

  We drove in silence, giving me the time to rehash my fight with Dante and make myself feel even worse. Ron’s words were quieter, but they still echoed in my mind. It didn’t matter though, I only wanted to be with Dante, and his leaving made me hurt even more.

  As I replayed the day, I kept coming back to Terry. Dante killed him but never once said he was sorry. Terry wasn’t a good person, especially in the end, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t my brother. My family might have had a warped sense of loyalty, but I still loved him.

  “Don’t take me home,” I said quietly.

  “Dante said–”

  “I don’t care what Dante said. I just need some time to myself right now. I need to think.”

  Realizing I repeated my words from earlier convinced me I did need time alone. I needed to grieve for Terry and for my family. And I couldn’t do it with the man who killed him by my side, no matter how much I loved him.

  “I’m not going against him,” Sonny said. “He said to take you home.”

  “You’re all something else, you know that?” I said, getting angry again. “This is me! I don’t want to go to the penthouse. I don’t care if he said I should go there.”

  “Gia, you’re in danger.”

  “No, I’m so tired of this! I don’t want to hear that. He’s a killer and I need some time away from him. And from you. You’re no better.”

  Sonny jerked the wheel to the right, cutting across three lanes of traffic. Cars swerved and blew their horns at us and I held onto the dashboard. Great, this is how I’m going to die.

  Sonny slammed on the brakes and put the car in park as it entered the shoulder. He turned towards me, fire in his eyes, his jaw clenched and set. I slid as far from him as possible, pressing myself against the door.

  “I wish I was half the man Dante is,” he said. “You want the truth? You want to know what happened to Terry? I’ll tell you. But remember, there are some truths you can’t unlearn.”

  His eyes narrowed at me. My breath caught in my throat as my heart pounded with fear. I didn’t know what to expect from him, especially with him so angry. But I needed to know about Terry. I had to hear the truth. I nodded, hoping that would be enough of an answer for Sonny.

  “Terry was a good-for-nothing piece of shit,” he said. “He was involved in so many things you have no idea about and I refuse to give you the details of. Let’s just say there was much more than just stealing and drugs. You saw how little he cared about you in the end. How he gave you over to those dirtbags. I know that wasn’t the first time he did that.”

  Sonny’s eyes were dark. His face was a mixture of anger and something I couldn’t help but think was pain. I wanted to reach out and hug Sonny, but part of me was still intimidated by how he pulled off the road and the look in his eyes.

  “Was it you?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

  His face hardened and he swallowed before answering. “Yes, it was me,” he said. “And don’t ever tell Dante I told you. Don’t ever tell anyone you know, or it could mean a lot of trouble for you.”

  Unable to speak, I nodded. What he said wasn’t a threat, it was just a fact of the life I was now living being so close to the Mafia.

  “I put a bullet in his heart because of all the heartache he caused you,” he said. “You’re a good person, Gia.”

  “No, I’m not. I should have tried harder, I should have pushed him to tell me everything. I could have helped him and then he’d be alive today.”

  “No, his time had come. You tried helping him, that’s more than anyone should’ve done for him.” Sonny looked towards the cars speeding past, then back at me. “It’s more than most people would have done,” he said.

  I thought about Carlo telling me none of my brothers or sisters would help Terry. And how he told me to get out of the house and move on, to just let it all go. Sonny was right, no one would’ve helped Terry. At least I tried.

  “I can’t help but think that’s why things got so bad for him,” I said. “Maybe if someone helped him when he needed it in the beginning, he could’ve turned his life around. Instead he kept digging himself further and further down.”

  “You’re right,” he said as he looked down. “Things could’ve been different, but you don’t know that for sure. Things became different for me. That’s why I’d do anything for Dante.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  His face relaxed more and he sank further into the leather driver’s seat. He eyed me for a moment, then gave a short snort before shaking his head.

  “I’m not the kind of man who does much talking. Especially about my past.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” I said with a smirk. “What if I told you about me, too?”

  “The Catholic school girl who wanted to be a nun? Yeah, lots of secrets there.”

  “I guess you’ll never know if you don’t ask,” I said with a sly grin.

  He laughed softly. “Okay, but you first. Did you really want to be a nun? Or were you running away from something?”

  His questions took me by surprise. I wasn’t sure of my own reasons. I thought about Ron saying the convent needed to cleanse me and in a sense, he might have been right.

  “Both. I only ever remember wanting to be a nun, ever since I was little. But looking back now, I don’t know if that was my desire or something I accepted because my family was so supportive of it. When I left home for All Saint’s, I had every intention of becoming a nun, but I think I just needed to get away.”

  “From what? What were you running from?”

  “No, no, your turn. Why do you seem so connected to Terry?”

  He winced then shook his head. “I’ll have to work on hiding my feelings more,” he said grimacing. “I was Terry. I was the fuck up in my family. I’m the oldest of three boys and my poor mother had her hands full. It was just the four of us. I never knew anything about my father until much later. I got into a lot of trouble and if Dante hadn’t intervened, I’d probably be dead right now.”

  He cocked an eyebrow at me and I knew it was my turn.

  “I was running from Ron, that man at the Gambino house. It was a bad situation and he…” I shook my head. “He changed me. I had to get away to find myself again.”

  I hoped that would be enough of an answer for him. I didn’t want to talk about my past with him, especially not when I was so afraid of telling Dante.

  “Okay, fair enough,” he said. “You’ve only got one more question though because I have to get you home. I don’t want to piss Dante off.”

  “Why did Dante help you? I thought he hated being part of the Mafia, but he brought you in.”

  He nodded. “He did, but it was the only way to get me out of my shitty situation. This life has a lot of benefits and once you’re in, it’s hard to get out. Not that I’ve wanted to. I’m proud to be a Gambino,” he said as he pulled back onto the highway.

  “So just because you work for Dante, you can call yourself a Gambino?”

  He laughed and glanced over at me as he switched lanes. “I’m Sonny Gambino, Dante’s half brother.”

  It never occurred to me that Sonny was related to Dante, but as soon as he said it, I knew it was true. Dante wouldn’t trust just anyone to drive him or provide security. I wondered how many other secrets the Gambino family was keeping, but I knew I would never find out most of them.

  We drove in silence for a few minutes. I looked at the lights in the buildings as the sun began to set and thought about everything that happened. My mind wandered back to th
e convent and how peaceful it was there. I missed it in a way.

  “You told Dante you needed time to think,” Sonny said. “That true?”

  Suddenly Sonny wasn’t just the guy I knew would protect me, he was Dante’s brother. Still, I was caught off guard by his question.

  “I uh, yes, that’s true,” I said, but felt I needed to explain myself. “I just–”

  “No, it’s none of my business. I’m sure you have your reasons. I know our family can be a bit much. Not everyone wants to be part of that.”

  His brows knitted together and in the car lights reflecting off his face, I thought I saw sadness. Just as I was going to ask him if he wanted to talk about it, he interrupted me.

  “So, where to? You already said you didn’t want to go back to the penthouse. I can take you to a hotel. There are some nice ones with views of the Hudson where I can keep an eye out for you.”

  I didn’t want to go back to the penthouse, but I didn’t want to go to a hotel either. I just wanted to go home. I needed to get my head back together and far away from the past that kept haunting me. I wanted to be somewhere I felt warm and comfortable, where no one would judge me.

  “Take me to Penn Station. I’ll take a train down to All Saint’s.”

  “No,” he said. “Dante told me to take you home. I understand you don’t want to go there, but I’m not leaving you at the train station. I’ll drive you down to Maryland.”

  Sonny switched lanes and took an exit with a sign that said ‘Lincoln Tunnel’. After four years at the All Saint’s Convent, it really was a home to me. I still wished I could go back to the brownstone in Brooklyn where I grew up and fall into my mother’s arms.

  I needed her now more than ever, but she was gone. Things had happened so quickly that I never really got to mourn her passing. It was then, as the darkened tunnel swallowed the car into a sea of harsh lights, that I buckled under the weight of her memory. I turned towards the window to hide my tears from Sonny. I thought of how Momma would have comforted me like she always had, then she’d probably tell me what an idiot I was being with the man I loved. I missed her so much.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Dante

  My family’s home looked dark, cold, and empty. Pushing the door closed behind me, the click of the door echoed through the house. The house was as lost without my father as I was.

  Why wasn’t there more security? How could this happen? Throwing open the doors to my father’s library, I was ready to kill whoever was behind this.

  “Who did this? Who does Bruno Vitale work for?” I said, my voice booming through the darkened room.

  “Calm down, Dante. I’ve had enough dealing with Roman.”

  Mitcham Liddell spun the desk chair around to face me. Even sitting down, Mitch had a dangerous but tempered quality that said you didn’t fuck with him. He was a no-nonsense kind of man, which came across by his shaved head and expensive pinstriped suit. When he spoke, his perfect white teeth gleamed against his dark skin.

  “Where is Roman?” I asked.

  “I sent him on an errand,” Mitcham said. “I had to get him out of here.”

  “You think that’s safe?”

  “If I didn’t, I might have killed him myself,” he said with a grin.

  “Sometimes it’s hard to believe that guy is my brother and you’re not,” I said, sitting across from him.

  “With how your father was, you never know.”

  “What do you mean was? You ever see him with the waitresses at Luigi’s?”

  We laughed and I felt better, more at ease. There was a reason Mitch had been my father’s consigliere, or advisor, for the past five years. The man could defuse any situation.

  With him sitting at my father’s desk, I knew Mitcham was acting Don while my father was in the hospital. It wasn’t a position I wanted, but somehow I felt I should be there instead of him.

  “How is he? Have you heard anything new?” I asked.

  “He’s out of surgery and they think he’ll make a complete recovery. They were worried the bullet might have damaged a nerve near his spine, but he got lucky. Your mother is there now with Toni and Connor.”

  Toni was the only girl in the family and smarter than any of us. It was a fact she liked to rub in my face like any little sister would. Connor was my youngest brother and home from college. He never said anything about the family business, and I suspected that, like me, he would try to avoid it.

  “Have you heard anything about Bruno Vitale?” I asked.

  “He’s definitely part of the Palumbo family, but I don’t know why he was asking for Gia. Even if they were making a move against our family, the women are kept out of it.”

  The front door slammed and loud footsteps echoed through the hall as they approached the library. I didn’t need to look to know Roman was back. Sighing, I leaned back in my chair and waited for him to erupt.

  “This is all your fault, Dante,” Roman said.

  Roman’s wavy light brown hair was parted on the side and brushed back. As he entered the library, he took off his suit jacket and threw it on a leather chair near the bookcase.

  “How is this my fault? You’re in charge of security,” I said.

  Roman’s blue eyes darkened and I knew he wanted to hit me. His jaw clenched and unclenched before he sat in a seat beside me.

  “The gun had to be a plant. There’s no way my men would’ve let him into the house with a piece.”

  “Then you have to check each of your men,” Mitcham said. “If someone didn’t let him in with it, then he got it somehow.”

  “I know,” Roman grunted before looking back at me. “They’re after your girl. She’s more trouble than she’s worth if you ask me.”

  Leaning towards him, I swung my arm, backhanding his cheek. He stood, ready to fight, but he must have recognized the look in my eye and sat back in his seat, rubbing his cheek as it turned red.

  “Next time you say something negative about Gia, you’ll be wishing for that slap,” I said. “Now tell me why they’re after her.”

  “Why else?” Roman said. “That fool brother of hers. Ends up he was getting hot and heavy with one of the Palumbo girls, Vicki I think. I guess he was using her, thinking he could get some cash or who knows what,” he said with a shrug. “Anyway, he was driving her home one night and had a little too much to drink. There was an accident and she wasn’t wearing a seat belt.”

  “Fucking Terry,” I muttered as I shook my head. “So why Gia?”

  “Some warped idea of an eye for an eye is my guess,” Mitcham said. “My bet is Phil Palumbo is behind this. I heard when Vicki Palumbo passed away he was torn up. They were very close and despite being a Boss, he’s not very stable.”

  “Well, Phil wants to meet with Dante,” Roman said. “I said they could talk to me, but that wasn’t good enough for them.”

  Roman went silent and turned away. He crossed his arms over his chest and clenched his fists tightly, turning his knuckles white.

  “What’s your problem?” I asked.

  “You know what my problem is,” he said, looking at me straight in the eye. “You moved over me. I’ve worked my ass off for the family, this is all I ever wanted to do. And all you do is show up, decide you’re in, and he made you Capo. It should’ve been me!”

  “You’re hotheaded and impulsive, Roman,” I said. “How could you be a Captain? Something like this would happen and you’d do something impulsive and get us all killed.”

  Roman turned away, his face a combination of anger and hurt. I felt for him, I really did. He was my brother, just a few years younger than me, but he was right. His interest in the business never waned. He was as reliable as they came.

  “Show your father you can control your temper, Roman,” Mitcham said, “and he’ll move you up.”

  “I know,” he said. “Trust me, I do. When Papa got shot…I know I did the right thing, but I wanted to run out the door and go after all of the Palumbos.” He shook his head. “
I know you sent me out to cool off, Mitch, and I needed it. But on the way back, one of my associates called me and said he heard the Palumbos want a sit down. I called Joseph Vivandi, their consigliere, and he said they want it with you and Dante. They don’t want me.”

  “You take things too personally,” I said, searching for the right words. “You’ll make a great Capo one day. Papa has high hopes for you, you know.”

  “They think we’re weak,” Mitcham said. “They know Robert is gone and your father leaned on him a lot. They don’t know what to expect from Dante, but they think he’s soft. You know, wounded war hero with no interest in the family. Like the bomb took your balls,” he scoffed.

  I nodded. “You’re right, Mitch. I’m sure they do think that way, but we have to meet with them. I want to know what their terms are and how we can end this.”

  “Terms?” Roman said, moving to the edge of his seat. “You want to negotiate with these assholes? All they’ve ever wanted was to get rid of Papa and take over Gambino territory. There’s no negotiating with them.”

  “If they won’t negotiate, then I’ll kill them,” I said.

  “They won’t let us in with anything,” Mitcham said. “We’ll have to be clean.”

  “If they can get a gun in here for their man, then so can we.”

  “No,” Roman said, “now you’re sounding crazy like me. You know you don’t need a weapon to protect yourself, and they won’t try anything in broad daylight.”

  I nodded. “You’re right, Roman. I’m letting my emotions get the better of me. Mitcham, arrange for us to meet them somewhere public. No guards, nothing. Let’s see what they have to say for themselves. Roman, I want you to stay at the hospital and make sure no one comes in or out of Papa’s room without being properly inspected. I’ll arrange to get him moved home in the morning.”

  “I’ll go right now,” Roman said before walking out of the room.