The key turned in the lock and took my stance. As the door opened, I leaped like a ninja onto the large man that entered the room. He was huge! I gulped as I wrapped my arms around his oxlike neck, and squeezed as hard as I could, the way Vinny had taught me.
“Ease up there, you madman! I’m saving your ass! The least you could do is leave me some feeling in my neck.”
“Vinny! I almost killed you! What the fuck? How did you find me?”
“First off, there’s no way a skinny runt like you could kill me, and secondly, they made the mistake of not killing me when they had the chance. Now, let’s get you the fuck out of here. We’ve got some ass to kick. Your lunch break is over princess; let’s roll.”
“Man, I’m glad to see you. Where’s Pisano?”
“The bastard wasn’t here when I snuck in. I’m sure he’ll get the message when he finds his gorillas toes up at the roller door. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.”
“Vin, I owe ya! Let’s go find that waste of skin and teach him a lesson or two. I hope he likes the taste of foot.”
***
CELINA
“Gina. What’s happened? Is Giani okay?” I couldn’t move. My legs wouldn't obey my brain, so I stood cemented to the floor.
“I’m not sure of the exact details, Celina, but it appears that your father’s men crashed into the car that Giani and Vinny were driving. Vinny’s men saw it happen but they couldn’t stop it. By the time they got to the car there was blood everywhere, and the two were gone.”
Was I saying something? I knew my lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear the sound of my voice. Gina came over to me and held me tightly. After what felt like a lifetime, she took my arm and led me to the kitchen. I sat down at the counter, like a zombie, while she poured something into a glass.
“Here, drink this. You’re in shock.” She shoved the potion under my nose and I obeyed. It tasted vile but anything had to be better than the angst in my chest.
“Ugh . . . thank you.”
“I know it tastes shocking, but it will do the trick. You need to stay calm, Celina. The boys are tough, and they have all the men looking for them. We’ve got this.”
“How can you be so calm, Gina?” I wasn’t being sarcastic; I really wanted to know.
“When you’ve been married to the mafia for as long as I have, you learn to grow a thick skin.”
We sat in the kitchen while I tried to keep the “tonic” from escaping, and Gina sipped on her coffee.
***
GIANI
Finding Pisano would be tricky at best. He was a rat, and rats hid themselves in holes where only fools dared to enter. Pedro was furious over the death of Pete. He was on the warpath, digging up snitches, old and new, calling in favors, and crisscrossing Chicago like a twister. Vinny and I were on our own reconnaissance mission.
As we drove, Vinny’s phone rang.
“Yeah, Johnny, what you got for me?”
I listened as he spoke to one of his men, who’d apparently picked up a red hot lead.
“Thanks, Johnny. Consider your debt squared.” He ended the call and smiled. “Gotcha, you fucker.”
“Where is Pisano?”
“He’s hiding out at his girlfriend’s house, the cockroach. He thinks he’s so smart. Everyone knows he’s been banging the singer in his club; hell, I’m sure even Pisano’s wife knows about her. I have the address. Buckle up, G.”
Vinny hit the gas hard, and the V8 engine kicked into high gear. I wondered if Celina knew about her father’s life outside his home. I remembered an argument when I was knee high to a grasshopper, where my mother was crying and yelling in between sobs at my father. Needless to say, “Aunt Linda” never came around again. I only realized what had happened when I saw her many years later and she explained the sordid affair to me. Fidelity and the sanctity of marriage had gone the way of the dodo bird.
“We don’t have time to call for backup, G. Are you up for this? It’s gonna get messy.”
“Don’t you worry about me, Vin. As long as I have a gun, my ninja moves, and my best buddy with me, I’m aces!”
“Good man. Let’s see those sniper skills of yours up close and personal.”
Pisano’s girlfriend lived in a swanky apartment near the club where she worked. Pisano was many things, but when it came to his women, he spared no expense. The woman was beautiful: long blonde hair, tits like rocks, and legs that went all the way up. She thought she’d arrived when she started screwing the boss, and the smug bitch lorded it over everyone at the club. She was as well liked as a brussel sprouts dessert. I couldn’t think of a better pairing—the egotistical mobster and his power hungry whore.
Vinny stopped a few blocks away from the mistresses’ apartment. We armed ourselves to the teeth, and mapped out our route.
“I’ll take the back of the building, Vin, you take the front. If he sees you coming, he’ll definitely make a break for the back. I’ll be there, ready and waiting for him.”
“Be careful, G. Pisano doesn’t go anywhere without his muscle. I’ve experienced your attempt at strangling giants—I don’t mean to insult you buddy, but stick to your day job.”
“You’re lucky I recognized you, or you’d be sitting on a cloud right now, playing the harp, and chasing around the pretty cherubs.”
Vin laughed and patted me on the shoulder.
We crept up as close as we could to the apartment block so we could get a better look. Pisano’s goons were downstairs at the entrance, flexing their muscles and resting their brains.
“Let’s kick this pig.” I moved towards the back of the building while Vinny took care of the bodyguards in the front. I never saw what he did to disarm them, but I knew it wasn’t something they’d come back from. Pisano had stationed two guards at the back entrance to the building. I had my sniper rifle with me, and in rapid succession, put the boys to bed, permanently.
Vin and I moved closer to the apartment—he from the front and me from the rear. This wasn’t my first rodeo; I knew how to move without being seen, and Vin employed his special forces moves. I took care of the guard at the front door of the apartment, and Vinny dragged him away and stashed him around the corner.
Bursting blindly into any situation was one of the cons of our business. Vin and I listened at the door for voices. From my reckoning there were two men in the apartment other than Pisano and his girlfriend.
Vin nodded to me and kicked in the door like it was made out of plywood. Chaos ensued. Pisano’s men started firing on us, Pisano’s girlfriend gave her pipes a good go, and Pisano himself ran to the bedroom and locked the double doors.
I made quick work of the guards, and Vinny clocked the noisy woman as she leaped onto his back and scratched him in the face with her expensive gel nails. She dropped like a stone. Pisano was cowering in the room like the lily-livered fool he was.
“Not so brave now that your army of goons are out of commision, are you, Pisano?” I glowered at him as he sneered at me.
“Where is my daughter?” he spat out at me.
“What do you care? She’s safe. That’s all you need to know.”
“You’re a dead man, Giani. I’ll be sure to put you in the ground myself.”
“Big words for someone staring down the barrel of my gun, Pisano.”
“Let me guess. Your coward of a boss, Dominick sent you to do his dirty work, did he? Doesn’t he have the stomach to face me head on?”
“Dominick is a busy man. He doesn’t have the time or inclination to concern himself with the likes of you, Pisano. I’m doing this one for free.”
“Similar to what I did to your father? I sent out a lackey to take care of him, too. What a loser he turned out to be.”
It took every ounce of strength I had not to punch the fucker out right there and then. But I knew that was what he wanted.
“And Tony and Pete? What was your excuse for those two?”
“No sniveling snitch gets away with sticking it to me. Ask your
father. Oh, that’s right, you can’t—he’s dead.”
“You’re a class act, Pisano.” Vinny smacked the snot out of Pisano with an open hand. The indignant gangster lay back on the bed holding his bleeding nose.
That’s where it all went pear-shaped. The busty blonde stormed into the room pointing a gun at Vinny, who dodged when he saw the shine from the metal. The bombshell had her eyes closed as she fired in rapid succession, two bullets hitting Pisano square in the chest, and two ricocheted off the steel bed frame. The stray bullets ripped holes through Vinny, who dropped to his knees, holding onto his chest.
I dropped the bitch with one bullet to the leg. She lay there squealing like a stuck pig. I wanted so badly to put the woman out of her misery, but I held fast to my “no killing women” policy, no fucking idea why.
Pisano was as dead as disco. He lay back with his lifeless eyes staring up at the mirror on the ceiling. The woman’s screaming drove me nuts, so I hit her with the butt of my weapon and knocked her out. The only noise left was the shallow breaths from Vinny.
Fuck! Please, no. I can’t lose another friend. Please!
Epilogue: One Year Later
GIANI
I drove to work. Dominick insisted that I hang up my sniper rifle and get into something a little less hazardous. Gina agreed vehemently, and before I knew it, I’d traded in my polonecks for cotton shirts and expensive suits. I smiled as I recalled the conversation my “parents” and I had after the Pisano debacle.
“Although I appreciate your loyalty and insistence in protecting us, Giani, I want you to use that brain of yours for something other than taking out the trash.” Dominick, Gina and I were sitting around the dinner table, enjoying one of Gina’s culinary triumphs and a bottle of Merlot.
“I agree, Giani. We don’t want to bury you before you’ve had a chance to live a good life, raise a family, and enjoy love.”
I couldn’t argue with their logic. It had been a difficult year after Vinny was gunned down and Pisano lay dead on the bed in his girlfriend's apartment. The woman was so spooked she developed selective amnesia when the police asked her what happened. It may have had something to do with the kind words I whispered into her ear before I knocked her unconscious. No longer the up and coming lady friend of the Pisano Boss, she packed up and moved away—address unknown.
So, here I was, driving to work in my fancy suit, listening to the news, and planning my day. A much more sensible career move for sure.
***
CELINA
The house was empty without my father there. Mother and I decided that it was silly for her to roam around in such a big house all by herself; besides, she needed fresh memories. With the money from the sale of the mansion, she bought an apartment in the same building as Viola’s and mine. It was wonderful having her a few doors away. She’d decorated it with all of her own art and sculptures; it was beautifully done. After my father’s death, she and I had a heart to heart.
“My darling, I’m sorry you lost your father in such a violent way. I never wanted that for you.”
“Mama, I’m so sorry that you lost your soulmate. Are you going to be okay without him?”
“He was never my soulmate, Celina. He lied and schemed his way into my heart. I realized it too late. But then you were a baby, and I didn’t have the heart to let you grow up without a father.”
“I had no idea, Mama. I always assumed from our conversations that you loved him deeply.”
“I tried to leave him once.”
“What? When?”
“When you were two years old. He found us and dragged me back home. He put a gun to my head and told me if I ever tried to leave him again, he’d kill you and me. I knew he meant it, so I stayed and made the best of a bad situation.”
“So, you suffered all of those years for me? I don’t know what to say, Mama.”
“There was an upside to our marriage my darling. If I never married your father I wouldn’t have you, and you’ve always been the light of my life. I was happy to give you a good life, with a good education, and the illusion that your parents were happy. I’m sorry it was all a lie, but I did what I thought best for you.”
“Thank you, Mama. You are the bravest woman I know. I’m so proud of you.”
“One day when you have a child, you’ll understand the sacrifices mothers make for their children. I’m glad my decisions worked out for the best. It was touch and go for many years.”
“I love you, Mama.”
“I love you too, my darling.”
“Are we set for dinner?”
“I’ve got it covered, Mama. You just arrive, and I’ll take care of the rest.
***
GIANI
My office downtown was pretty impressive. Working for the Coli business certainly had its perks. I was in charge of the property development division, which was a good fit for me. After all, who knew the streets of Chicago better than I did?
I sat at my desk, signing papers and looking over documents for a new development I had worked on for six months. I finally managed to get the deal signed off on, so the crucial contracts and paperwork were coming to an end.
There were things from my old life that I missed. Clubbing wasn’t the same when I had to get up early in the morning for a meeting. Then, there were the spontaneous lunches with Vinny and the boys; I really missed those. I missed spending time with Vinny, in particular.
The night when he was shot was traumatic for all of us who knew and loved him. Seeing him in the back of the ambulance with tubes dangling from everywhere and listening to the beeping of the heart rate monitor was hell. They wheeled Vin into the operating theatre as soon as the ambulance pulled up to the ER side of the building.
I sat outside in the waiting room for what felt like hours. I kept pouring coffee down my throat to stay alert. It was heartbreaking seeing the mountain of a man so vulnerable. The bullets ripped through his chest, narrowly missing his heart, piercing his right lung. Vin was drowning in his own blood by the time they wheeled him into the operating theatre. I had no idea how I survived that day. All I kept seeing was Tony’s lifeless body in the foyer of the Coli home. The knife pinning the note to his chest would haunt me forever. But time heals all wounds, physical and emotional.
The phone on my desk rang. It was half past four, and I was ready to head home.
“Hello.”
“Hey, you. Got some property I can invest in? I hear you’re the guy to talk to.”
“Sorry, Vin, you’ll scare off the buyers with that large scar on your chest. I can’t afford to lose this deal, not even for you.”
“You’ve become such a pussy, G!”
“Yeah, yeah. You still coming around for dinner?”
“Sure am. I’m bringing a bottle of my finest whiskey, too. So tell your PA you won’t be in until noon tomorrow.”
He laughed and ended the call. Still the crazy mountain. I packed up. It was enough for one day.
***
CELINA
“Stella. Where are you hiding?”
“I’m here at the back. Making a few copies of the Anderson file. This guy is a real pain in the ass. Didn’t he do math at school? You know the basic stuff—like if you earn upwards of two hundred grand per annum and you buy your wife a Mercedes and your mistress a condo, you may find yourself a little cash strapped come Christmas time.”
“Not everyone has an ivy league education like you, Stella. It’s harder for some to grasp the basics of finance.”
“I guess so.”
“Are you and your new beau still coming for dins?”
“Yeah, wouldn’t miss it. Randy probably forgot to RSVP. He’s been a little distracted since he started having real good sex with me. The poor thing says I dehydrate him. Isn’t that adorable?”
I laughed from my gut. Stella snagged herself a professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago. A more unlikely pair there never was. He was as smart as a whip, which incidentally attracted him to
the Amazon woman, Stella. The whips and the brains. They were very much in love. He was too scared to step out of line and take a beating from the tall drink of Australian water. Another reason why he was a smart man.
“Cool, I’ll see you at my place at six.”
“Will do. I’ll bring cocktail mixers.’
“You do that!”
Our company was doing really well. Despite all my efforts to “go it alone” in the world of finance, the Pisano name was a drag. While my father was alive, many wealthy clients were hesitant to entrust their money in the hands of the Pisano Boss’ daughter. My mother and I gave it a think, and we agreed that taking her maiden name would be the best way to put pay to such nonsense. Truth be told, it was a wonderful “fuck you” gesture to the man who was never happy with a daughter rather than a son. Unless he had a bastard son running around somewhere, the Pisano dynasty died with him.
Stella had no qualms with changing the name on the door. She was all about the numbers and the returns. We could have called it Dumb Dames for all she cared, as long as it afforded her independence and as many cocktails as she could handle, she was happy.
“Okay, see you later. I’m off.”
On my way to my car, I called Viola.
“Yes, yes, I’m still coming. I’m just finishing off a monster article, and the deadline is all over my ass like white on rice.”
“Just checking, Miss Workaholic. You bringing that beautiful man of yours tonight?”
“Shane came back from Paris this morning. His shoot went great, so he’ll be in a party mood tonight.”
“Oh goody. Bring your finest Italian boots baby, we’re gonna party.”
“Can’t wait. Can’t talk now.”
Ruthless Captor: A Mafia Romance (Corrupt Minds Book 3) Page 14