Made Man Dante

by Liliana Rhodes

  Days ago, I had Jayden place bombs underneath the pews in the chapel. They were chemical bombs and it was unlikely anyone would be able to trace their signature. I had connections in the military and was able to get my hands on stuff no other civilian knew existed.

  La Terrazza would be a pile of rubble before the fire trucks and police could get there. No one at the wedding would have survived, but anyone with connections to the five families would know exactly who was responsible and the message being sent.

  EPILOGUE

  The Next Day

  Dante

  “Where the hell is he?” I said angrily. “Where is Sonny?”

  I paced the carpeted windowless room waiting for someone to answer me but only got silence in return. My mother was busy moving from each of my brothers as she placed the orange rose boutonniere on each of their tuxedos. The only one missing was Sonny.

  Mitcham entered the room looking dapper in his tux, a similar one to the one I wore. He smiled at me as he walked over.

  “You’re more nervous than the bride,” Mitcham said. “FYI, she looks stunning.”

  “You went over there?” I asked, a little annoyed.

  “Of course. This is the one time I get to do something you can’t,” he said with a chuckle.

  Gia had taken the whole wedding tradition thing to the extreme. I hadn’t seen her since yesterday when she sprung on me that I couldn’t see her the day of the wedding until she walked down the aisle.

  Her timing was perfect though. She didn’t know I was behind the La Terrazza explosion, and I know she would have suspected something if she noticed the information coming to me before it hit the media. I knew the wedding would clear us of any guilt, but Gia’s sticking with tradition kept her even more innocent.

  “We’re running out of time,” I said. “Where is that sonofabitch?”

  “I’m here,” Sonny said as he walked into the room carrying his tuxedo jacket over his shoulder. “You know I wouldn’t miss my own brother’s wedding. I was just checking on the bride.”

  “Nice of you to join us,” I said, annoyed that he got to see Gia, too. “Anything else you’d like to tell me?”

  “Have you seen the view?” he asked.

  “You really are a son of a bitch,” I said.

  “Hey, hey!” my mother said. “He might not be my son, but you don’t talk about your brother that way. I’m sure that puttana of a mother of his is a perfectly nice woman.”

  “Mother,” I said, “not now.”

  “Alright, alright,” she said. “I’m going to take Nonna and look in on Gia. At least she has a sense of humor.”

  After my mother left, Sonny approached me as he slipped his jacket on. He looked around before looking back at me.

  “I’m sorry about how things went down yesterday,” he said. “She was there and I…I couldn’t. You understand?”

  “Is that situation under control? There’s a difference between the families thinking it was us and them knowing, capisce?”

  “Everything’s fine. She’s not talking. I think she’s been around long enough to know better.”

  “Good. One less thing to worry about,” I said.

  “I’ll still keep an eye on her though.”

  “I’m sure you will,” I said with a laugh, but Sonny didn’t find it very funny.

  Sonny would find out soon enough that there are things in life you could not control. Falling in love was one of them.

  Toni peeked in and then entered the room. It was the first time I had seen her since involving her in my plan. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but if she was upset, she was hiding it well.

  “How are you holding up?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I got duped and put the family in danger. Papa is dead because of me.”

  “No, Toni. You had no way of knowing he was with the Palumbos. Don’t disregard how smart those people are. They played you, but if it wasn’t you, they would have found someone else. At least you got to settle the score.”

  She nodded. “Trust me, it won’t happen again. I’m done with dating. I’m going to head back to Gia and help her with her veil. It’s almost time.” She smiled as she started walking out the door. “Oh, and Dante? Very cool of you to bring us all out to California. I could get used to this weather.”

  ***

  Two weeks ago

  Gia

  Sitting on the balcony outside our bedroom in a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, I stared out at the ocean. The grey sky made the ocean a sad, dingy color, but it didn’t matter because my mind was blank. Since Toni, her mom, and Nonna had left, I couldn’t think. With the dress now taken care of, I didn’t know what to do next. I was stuck.

  I had so much to plan for with the wedding, but my heart wasn’t in it. Every detail reminded me that Momma wouldn’t be there and that I didn’t care if the rest of my family was. Except for Carlo.

  Carlo and I had grown closer since Terry’s funeral. We regularly spoke on the phone and I looked forward to that. As I watched the waves crash onto the beach, I thought about him and reached for my phone.

  “Carlisi Construction. This is Carlo,” he said, answering the phone.

  “Hey, it’s Gia. Are you busy?”

  “Of course not. Everything okay? You sound…weird.”

  I sighed. I hated that my voice gave up so much of my emotions.

  “I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head even though I knew he couldn’t see it over the phone. “It’s this wedding. I just feel like it’s out of control and not what I want.”

  “Is it Dante?”

  “Why do you always go there? Dante is perfect. I want nothing more than to marry him. It’s just this whole wedding business.”

  “You’re still planning on having it at La Terrazza? Even after what happened to you?”

  “Yes,” I said, sighing. “I’m not going to stop going places just because something bad happened there. The place is nice and it’s big enough for everyone.”

  “Big enough?”

  “Yes, big enough. We’re up to three hundred guests. I don’t even know ten people outside our family. My list is our family. I swear it’s like this wedding has a life of its own and it keeps growing. But it’s more than that. I keep thinking about Momma and how I wish she could be there. And I don’t even have a father to walk me down the aisle because he died so long ago.”

  “I’ll walk you down the aisle. I’m your big brother, it’s my responsibility, and it would be an honor to do it.”

  Tears welled in my eyes, but I blinked them away. I wanted to ask Carlo to walk me down the aisle, but I was so afraid he’d say no that I didn’t. Everything was coming together, but it still didn’t feel right.

  “Gia? You still there?” Carlo asked.

  “Yes, I’m sorry I got quiet. I just–”

  “Let me be blunt. If this isn’t what you want, then you need to talk to Dante. It’s your wedding, you shouldn’t do something you don’t want to.”

  “You’re right, you’re right. I’ll have to talk to Dante. Maybe we can do something different.”

  “Talk to me about what?” Dante said as he stepped onto the balcony.

  “I’ll call you back,” I said to Carlo before hanging up.

  I had to talk to Dante and if I pushed it off, I’d never do it. I knew myself too well.

  “Can you sit down?” I said, looking up at Dante.

  His pale blue eyes darkened briefly before he pulled over a matching cushioned chair and sat down facing me.

  “What’s wrong? Is it your mother? You’re still thinking about her, aren’t you?”

  He took my hand and closed his hands around it gently. He held my hand so delicately it made me think of catching fireflies as a child and worrying about squishing them.

  “Yes, of course I miss her, but there’s more,” I said. “It’s about the wedding. I just don’t feel like it’s right.”

  He hung his head, and I knew what he was think
ing.

  “No, Dante, not that. I want to marry you. I want to be with you forever. I’m just talking about the actual wedding.”

  “Then we can change that,” he said. “Whatever you want to do, wherever. Maybe you’d feel better if we went away.”

  I looked out at the beach and wished the sky wasn’t so dismal. The cloudy sky mirrored my mood. Unfortunately the weather was beginning to get colder, so the sunny days and blue skies were gone.

  “Where would we go?” I asked.

  Even as the words left my lips, I started to feel better. My shoulders felt lighter and my head less cloudy. Getting away from New York was the perfect idea. I imagined warm air and sunny beaches, a world completely different from the one where I was in constant danger.

  “We can go wherever you want, my angel. I don’t need the big wedding. I just want to marry you. Let me call Betsy and cancel everything,” he said.

  He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed. After a quick nod, he placed the phone on the small table between us where my mug of green tea sat, then tapped the button for the speaker.

  “La Terrazza, this is Betsy Rizzo.”

  “Betsy, Dante Gambino. Gia is here with me, and we’d like to cancel our reservation.”

  “Oh no! I hope everything is okay.”

  “Everything’s perfect. I know it’s short notice so of course I’ll cover all expenses.”

  “Actually, I think I have someone who will take it. I got a call from Phil Palumbo the other day. It turns out one of his daughters is in the family way,” she said, dropping her voice to a whisper. “He was hoping she could get married right away before she started to show.”

  “Really? Phil Palumbo?” Dante said, his eyes darkening. “Do me a favor and don’t tell him it was my reservation.”

  “Of course, Dante.”

  He clicked his phone off and turned to me. His eyes were soft as he looked over my face, and I wondered if he was trying to read my mind.

  “Have you ever been to California?” he asked.

  Today

  Gia

  Nothing could be more perfect than today. I was marrying a man who would do anything for me, even change our plans at the last minute to get married on a cliff in Southern California.

  I couldn’t help it. Things in New York were depressing me. The weather had grown cold and the skies grey, everything I did reminded me of what I didn’t have instead of what I should be happy for. I needed a change of scenery, and I didn’t realize it until Dante suggested it.

  Looking out the window of the bride’s room, I was in awe of the view. Purple and red wild flowers grew around the church. They reminded me of All Saint’s Convent, but it was the only thing that made me think of the East Coast.

  Beyond the flowers was the cliff so the flowers looked like they were kissing the ocean. The dark blue water curved along the shoreline, lightening as it approached the coast with its white froth brushing against the sand. In the distance, a surfer sat on his board looking towards the sun over the ocean.

  “Snap out of it, Gia,” Toni said as she stepped in front of me with a big grin.

  Toni wore the dark purple strapless dress I chose for her as my maid of honor.

  “I see you got the dress,” I said as I tried to keep myself from grinning too much.

  “Yes, and I’m happy to say it wasn’t the golden olive one you told me it would be. I mean of course I would’ve worn the Gone With the Wind throwback,” she said cheekily. “And I would’ve rocked it too, you know.”

  We both laughed, but then I remembered the news from the day before. Yesterday, there was a massive explosion at La Terrazza that destroyed the entire building. Toni’s boyfriend had been at that wedding.

  “I’m sorry about Chance. I can’t believe what happened. You sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, shrugging. “I was getting tired of him anyway. You know me.”

  “I can’t help but think maybe that’s why I felt so weird about the wedding. Maybe somehow I knew something bad was going to happen. I think my mother was looking down on me, protecting me.”

  “I’m sure that’s exactly what happened, Gia,” she said, smiling at me.

  Toni’s mother slipped into the room with Nonna moving slowly behind her. Mrs. Gambino looked at me, clapped her hands together, and smiled widely. She had the same pale blue eyes as Dante and Toni and even though her hair was a bottled light brown, I could easily picture her with the same black hair.

  Mrs. Gambino was dressed in a simple mauve dress with a matching cropped jacket. Her hair was pulled back into a chignon.

  “I knew that dress would look beautiful on you,” she said.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Gambino,” I said.

  With her mouth pulled to one side, she squinted and shook her head playfully at me.

  “Nah uh uh, Gia. What did I tell you?”

  “Mom,” I said, feeling embarrassed.

  “Get used to it, Gia,” Toni said. “When we were growing up, she had everyone in the neighborhood calling her ‘Mom’.”

  “Well, with how your father was–”

  “Mom! Not now!” Toni said, then let out a dramatic sigh. “You’ll get used to this soon enough.”

  Nonna shuffled her way closer and Toni wrapped her arm around Nonna’s stooped shoulders.

  “Doesn’t she look beautiful in your dress, Nonna?” Toni asked.

  “Molto bella,” Nonna said as she kissed the tips of her fingers then swept them up into the air.

  Mom Gambino steered Nonna to a nearby loveseat while Toni picked up the long lace veil she had ordered for me. It was an old-fashioned style veil that draped over my head with a lace edging that matched the dress.

  “Okay now,” Toni said as she looked me up and down, “you need something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. The dress covers old and borrowed, the veil new, did you bring something blue?”

  I nodded and pointed to my bouquet, which was sitting on a nearby table. She picked it up and admired the orange roses and stargazer lilies, my mother’s favorites, before handing it to me.

  “I don’t see blue,” she said, looking confused.

  I turned the bouquet on its side to show her the stems. The stems were wrapped with a white and pale blue ribbon similar to the shade of Dante’s eyes. Wrapped around the ribbon was Momma’s rosary that Terry got back for me and I rescued before Dante blew up the house I grew up in.

  Carlo knocked on the door and squeezed through, not wanting to open the door too much. He had been doing that all morning, and each time it made me laugh.

  “They said it’s time, Gia,” he said as he walked in with a tall box with a large bow. “Gosh, you look absolutely stunning. Also, someone just dropped this off for you.”

  Toni took the box from Carlo and eyed it suspiciously. “Were you expecting anything?” she asked as she put her ear to the box.

  “Give me a break,” I said. “It’s a wedding gift. Only our closest family knows we’re at Monarch Beach.”

  I took the box from her and pulled the ribbon, and a small card slid onto the floor. Picking it up, I read it aloud.

  To Gia,

  May this gift bring you warmth and comfort.

  “Who’s it from?” Toni asked.

  “It doesn’t say,” I said. “It’s also only addressed to me.”

  I put the box on the table and slid my finger under the tape to pop open the lid before looking inside.

  “It’s a plant,” I said as I carefully pulled it out of the box.

  “How’s a plant give you warmth and comfort?” Carlo said snidely.

  The plant had thick dark green leaves and white flowers with yellow centers. I turned it around, looking for a clue as to what kind of plant it was.

  “Ahh,” Nonna said, perking up. “Camellia.”

  “Oh, is that what it is?” Mom Gambino said. “It’s a tea plant. You can make your own tea from it. What a thoughtful gift, sh
ame they didn’t sign the card.”

  Touching the soft petals of the flowers, I smiled. There was only one person the tea plant could be from - Vic Capuzzo. I would get many wonderful gifts that day, but by far the plant was my favorite. Vic was still alive, and I hoped he was finally happy.

  Toni fixed my veil after I picked up my bouquet from the table, and we lined up ready to leave the room. The church we were in was beautiful. It was a modern looking Catholic church with a high cathedral ceiling and tall stained glass windows.

  I would have been happy to get married in there, but I wanted to be outdoors in the sun where Momma could watch from heaven. I had her favorite flowers and her rosary with me as a way to keep her near. It was the closest I could get to having her there with me, but for the first time in a long time, I smiled as I thought about her instead of feeling sad.

  We walked to the glass doors at the entrance of the church and I looked down the white linen pathway they laid down for the ceremony. At the end, in front of the flowers and before the cliff was the priest in his white and purple robe. Standing beside him was Dante with Mitcham, his best man.

  Nonna and Mom Gambino took their seats towards the front. Once they were seated, Toni straightened my train behind me. The butterflies in my stomach flew around like crazy, but it wasn’t from nerves. I was excited to marry Dante, and I couldn’t wait to say our I do’s.

  As Toni walked down the aisle ahead of us, Carlo looked down at me and smiled. For the first time, I noticed how much he looked like our father. Carlo and his family were the only Carlisis at the wedding, and it made me happy to not have to worry about any drama.

  When I thought about it, I realized what was really important was having those people who really cared about us and wanted us happy. Our family didn’t have to be blood, we could make them out of the people who touched us and were brought into our lives for good reasons.

  “You sure about this?” Carlo asked as he held his arm out to me.

  “More than anything,” I said, wrapping my fingers around his elbow.

  The sky couldn’t be more blue and beyond it, the ocean looked so beautiful it was like looking at a picture. The small crowd stood from their seats in the grass and I felt so much love from each person there that tears began to fill my eyes.