Annette placed a hand on either side of his face. Her warm brown eyes looked him over, insuring everything was intact in her motherly way.
“My boy, how are you?”
“I’m good, Ma.” He leaned in, pressing a kiss to each cheek. “Really.”
She eyed him skeptically before finally letting him go from her embrace. “Okay, then.”
“Annette, dear, why don’t you and Enzo go get our spot, hmm?” Carlo asked her, and she obliged, taking her younger sons arm and heading into the massive church.
“How’d it go?” Carlo asked, leaning against the beige bricks.
“She’s thinking it over.”
Carlo nodded. “You gave her all the options?”
“Yeah, pa. She gets it, I think she’s just scared.”
“That’s understandable. A girl in her situation should be.” Carlo paused for a moment. “You still sure this is what you want, son. I want you to get married, I’m more than ready to retire and hand this whole damn thing over to you.” He waved his hand gesturing to New York. “But, you’re my son, and I want you to be happy. You don’t have to do this.”
“I know, pa.”
“But you still want too?”
“Yeah, there’s something about her.”
“Yeah son, some women just have something about them. Gets under our skin.” He chucked, patting Lucian on the shoulder. “She’ll come around soon, son.”
“I know.”
◆◆◆
The Luchese’s attended Sunday mass religiously to atone for their sins and find a sense of spiritual belonging. Lucian abided by his families requests every Sunday since he was a boy, but his spiritually was found somewhere else entirely. He trained hard at a Martial Arts gym a block from his condo in Manhattan. He had been immersed in Martial Arts since he was 12 years old and now he made sure to come here 3-5 times a week.
Lucian had practiced various styles of Martial Arts over the years, but lately he’d been practicing taekwondo, a Korean version of Martial Arts that emphasized the spiritual development of the practitioner. He started his practice with ten minutes of meditation before heading out to the gym.
Most of the men he worked with would say mediation is for girls, but Lucian debunked that type of thought. A man of his stature should have a clear head. You wouldn’t want your leader running his empire with emotions, right? So, you don’t want your streets run that way either.
His practice helped his clear is mind and focus the negative energy into something productive. And with it, came strength. Lucian had never been weak, not in his mind or body, but taekwondo strengthens everything. By the end of his session he was dripping in sweat, muscles sore from the training, and stronger than the day before. He was lean, but his muscles were tough.
“Thought I’d find you here.” Enzo’s voice invaded Lucian’s inner thoughts.
He slammed his hands into the punching bag he was working with. “What do you want, Enz?”
Enzo sighed. “I just haven’t seen you in a while, wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
Lucian sighed, chugging water from his bottle. He loved his little brother, he really did. Enzo had been his best friend and right-hand man since the day he was born. But sometimes, Lucian just wanted a few minutes away from everything la famiglia related. “I’ve been in Providence.”
“I know.” Enzo smiled. “Tell me about her.”
“Not much to tell.”
Enzo chuckled. “Come on! Is she hot? Do you like her? Let me in, bro!”
“She’s beautiful.” Lucian finally told him. “Even without the makeup, hair un-done, she’s gorgeous.”
“I feel a “but” coming on.”
Lucian shrugged. “I don’t know if she wants me, or if she feels obligated.”
“Does she have a choice?”
“I gave her an out.” Lucian tapped his leg nervously.
“But you don’t want her to take it?” Enzo asked.
“I don’t know. I mean no, but…”
“But?”
“Say she says yes, I move her out here and then what? She’s not the type of girl who is going to be happy sitting in my penthouse cooking dinner and washing dishes. I don’t know if I can give her everything she wants, or deserves.”
Enzo smiled. “That’s sweet bro.”
“Shut up.” Lucian growled, throwing a light punch into his shoulder.
Enzo laughed. “Honestly, Luc. She’s lived through so much shit, New York might be the fresh start she needs.
Lucian thought about that for a minute.
Was New York the fresh start that Adelina needed?
Chapter Seven
“Addy?” Theo yelled.
“In here!” she called back. She was marveling over the new piano her father had bought the family. The black body was shiny and smooth to the touch and the white ivory keys made beautiful noises. She had no idea what this magical instrument was or how to make the notes flow together in perfect harmony, but she was mesmerized already. Vinny had immediately written the thing off as dumb, but Adelina was obsessed. She couldn’t wait to learn to play.
◆◆◆
The piano had always felt like home to Adelina. She found comfort in the ivory keys, her soul pouring through her fingers and the vibrations bringing her to life. The piano played the sounds of her feelings, her thoughts. Every emotion ever felt has been poured into these keys.
Her father bought the piano when she was 6. “Every young girl should have a trick up her sleeve.” He told her. This was hers. She played terribly at first, like most kids, but she practiced daily and soon enough she got the hang of it. By her middle school years, she was playing recitals and that’s when she started to sing. By high school Adelina was could be found during her free periods in the music room. She wrote her first song at 16 and hadn’t stopped singing yet.
Music was her safe place.
Now, she was relegated to a keyboard in the privacy of her dorm room rather than the beautiful one back home, but it didn’t matter much to her as long as she had something to play.
She mostly practiced in the middle of the day when Gemma was in class and most of the dorm was out. He fingers danced along the keys. She had been writing this song for some time. It came and went as inspiration did sometimes. There were days that the words poured out of her and others when she never gave it a second thought.
You entered my life in a golden haze
Revered like a god
But I fell from grace
She spent as much time changing the lyrics as she had writing them. She’d written a lot of songs about her father, about loving him and losing him. Theo, though, he was a different beast. She’d written about the things he’d done to her, but writing about him was harder. She couldn’t find the words to describe him.
I lost myself
In your false prophesies
My religion, your body
“Addy?”
She jumped at the sound of Gemma entering their room, her fingers hit the wrong notes and the keyboard made an angry sound. It was 1:50, she had class for another 10 minutes.
“Sorry, you scared me. I thought you were still in class.”
“Got out early.” Gemma leaned against the bed, taking in the sight of Adelina at the keyboard.
There was an awkward silence. Adelina didn’t normally sing the songs she’d written for others, with the one exception of Max. Especially the ones about Theo, and especially not to Gemma. Gemma was the rare person in her life who called her on her shit. She’d know immediately the song was about Theo and she’d be angry, livid even.
“How was class?” Adelina tried to divert the attention off of her - a plan that rarely failed when it came to Gemma who loved to talk about herself.
“No,” she wagged her finger menacingly. “What was that?”
“What?” Adelina asked casually.
“That song, those words. Who was that about?” Gemma asked, her hands waving around with the
words.
“Nothing, no one.”
“Liar.” She grimaced. “Tell me, Ads.”
In all their years of friendship, Adelina never lied to Gemma, except about Theo.
She was terrified of facing the wrath of Gemma. What she would think if she had known, what she would have done. It would have created problems, and the DelGado’s didn’t need an Adelina sized problem on their hands, so she kept it to herself.
She was a big girl.
She could take care of herself.
Now, she was just too embarrassed to admit everything to Gemma. Besides, Theo was long gone. What good would come of it now.
She sighed. “Just feeling sad. Can we get some food?”
Gemma eyed her skeptically. “Sure.” She grabbed her purse
◆◆◆
The Verney-Woodly dining hall was packed for 2:00 pm on a Thursday. Gemma and Adelina found open seats at a wooden table to eat their selected meals. Gemma had a plate of fried food that would miraculously not cause her to gain a pound while Adelina opted for an apple. She was still on edge about Lucian’s offer and the churning in her stomach didn’t make her enthusiastic about food.
There was a part of her, deep inside, that wanted to say yes. She was interested in the guy, plus the drunk sex was great. If there weren’t so many strings attached she could see herself with him. Going out, drinks, staying up all night in the penthouse suite.
But there were strings attached.
He was a made man.
And she was broken.
This life just didn’t fit her anymore.
But if she said no, Vinny would probably kill her. He was pushing so hard for this arrangement she wasn’t sure what would happen if she said no. How would he take that? Would he blame her?
Instinctively her hand moved to the scar covering her left ribs.
Could she handle any more pain?
Plus, Lucian made her a promising offer, would anyone else care enough to do that?
“Ladies,” her thoughts were interrupted by her friends joining the table. Max sat down next to her, draping an arm easily over her shoulder. Max had been one of her closet friends since freshman year at Brown. They met in a music history class and quickly discovered they both had a passion for music. Max played the guitar and sang every chance he got. Soon, he was dragging Adelina along with him. They sang at old-folks home, open mic nights, at any Brown event that would have them. They became known for it, people would ask them to sing and Max thrived on it.
She had loved singing for her father when she was little. He would sit on the couch, a smile stretched across his face. Her mother and Vinny couldn’t bear to listen to her poking at the piano keys while her voice cracked as she sang, but her father would listen for hours.
He loved her like that.
For a while, she thought her love for music died with Theo and her father that night. Until she met Max, and he helped channel her pain into music. She wrote what felt like a million songs that first year, pushing all her pain and all this hate she felt into the songs. One after one she scribbled them on lined paper while belting out the lyrics. The she sealed each one in an envelope and stuck it in the box under her bed.
“Max,” Gemma greeted. “What’s on the docket for tonight?”
“Open mic?” He had a toothy grin, and he smiled right at Adelina.
Yeah, he knew what she needed.
Music.
Chapter Eight
On Thursday nights in Providence there was an open mic night at the Blue Door Cafe, which contrary to its name, actually had a red door.
The place was packed with locals and college students alike. Deep red brick walls were lined with posters for upcoming events and there were black cafe tables scattered about. The lights were dimmed and stale cigarette smoke lingered in the air.
Lucian checked his phone for the third time.
Blue door cafe.
Nico, one of his oldest friends and the enforcer he secretly had tailing Adelina had never led him astray, but Jesus he wished this was a mix up.
He hated dive bars, little holes in the wall with their sticky floors and dirty bathrooms. Lucian would much rather be in the bar at the four seasons or back in New York at one of his own clubs.
In the front was a small stage with a keyboard currently home to a college aged kid strumming a guitar and singing a pop song. Another thing Lucian disliked: pop music. It all sounded like bubble gum and sunshine even when the words were saying something else.
Call him a stereotypical ganster, but he’d prefer to be listening to some Sinatra.
The bar was crowded for a Thursday, but Lucian found a spot at the end with a good view of the stage far enough back that he was nearly unnoticeable.
His other problem with this place? The bartenders didn’t know him. Maybe he was spoiled in New York, but everyone knew him and no one made him wait.
“Whiskey.” He snapped when the bartender finally got to him.
Bubblegum, the name he had kindly given the kid on stage, was just finishing up his song. Most of the bar gave a low rumble of applause except for the group with several black tables pushed together, who were screaming for him. Downright screaming for this average bubblegum pop singer. They were all young, college age probably. Among them Lucian spotted one familiar face: Adelina DeMarco.
“Thank you! Thank you!” Bubblegum cooed into the mic. “That’s it for me, but next up is my favorite friend,” he winked at the group, “and a special treat for you! Addy, you’re up!”
The group cheered again, whistling and chanting her name.
She was wearing a pair of ripped up jeans, a loose white tank top and white converse. Her hair was falling in loose waves and Lucian couldn’t tell if she had just rolled out of bed and naturally looked this pretty or if this was the result of effort.
He loved her in the mini skirt and heels he first met her in, but he didn’t hate the ripped jean look either.
She was blushing when she got on the stage, he could tell from the back of the bar. She sat at the keyboard and took a deep breath. “Uh,” she mumbled in to her microphone. “This is Superficial Love by Ruth B.” Her fingers began to dance over the piano keys playing a slow melody.
She had mentioned that she was a musician but Lucian assumed she dabbled and was just average, but Adelina was much more than average, she played beautifully. The song was slow and she moved her head as she played, and then she began to sing.
She had a throaty sound, a little raspy, but sexy as fuck. Definitely not what he expected. He had an odd suspicion that this song resonated with her more than she would admit.
“She’s good, huh?” Lucian was ripped out of his thoughts by the bartender who was leaning on the bar across from him.
“Yeah, she is. Is she a regular here?”
The guy smiled, “Yeah, every Thursday she’s here. Mostly plays that piano and sings.” He gestures to the other men sitting at the bar. “I think just about everybody here comes for her. Don’t know what old Joe will do when she graduates, that girl keeps us in business.” He laughed. “Take it you’re a fan then?”
“Something like that.” Lucian slapped a fifty-dollar bill down on the bar. “Thanks.” He wanted to move closer to the stage, and farther away from the other men. The thought of them watching her, his girl, made him want to punch someone.
“Wait till she comes out behind the piano,” the bartender whistled as Lucian stood from the stool. “When she’s not so shy, she’s brilliant.”
Lucian couldn’t imagine Adelina more brilliant than she was in that moment.
He moved closer to the stage as her song was coming to an end. The group in the front corner were swaying with their phones up, he assumed this was what kids used instead of lighters now.
He sensed the song was reaching its ending as Adelina looked out to the crowd for the first time. Her voice hitched as she made eye contact, she stared right at him as she finished.
The crowd was cheering
again, louder than they did for bubblegum. Her group of friends were whistling and chanting.
She held the eye contact. “I think that’s all for me.” She spoke lightly into the mic. There were sounds of protest coming from the crowd but she ignored them waking right to him.
She didn’t speak at first, just eyed him suspiciously as she stood nearly pressed against him, so close he wanted to reach out grab her.
“What are you doing here?” She asked in a near whisper.
Up close Lucian could smell her perfume it reminded him a fresh flowers and honey. He took a deep inhale.
“Checking in,” He told her. “Haven’t heard from you on my offer.”
“Maybe I haven’t decided.” She was smirking, like she was enjoying making him chase her.
“Mmh. Well, how can I help you make a decision?” He wanted to lean in to kiss her, or to just grab her and take her right to New York. It took all he had not too, but he wanted this to be her choice.
She dropped the eye contact and was silent.
“Hey,” he used his fore finger and thumb to lift her chin up to him. “Tell me what you’re thinking?”
“What’s your last name?” she asked thoughtfully.
He chuckled. “Luchese.”
“Lucian Luchese.” She tested out the name like she was trying to see how she felt about it.
“Is that all that’s bothering you, bella?”
“No.” she replied. “What exactly do you do Lucian Luchese?” His name on her lips was exquisite, but he couldn’t help but wince at the question.
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