Black Tears A Marchetti Family Novel

by Nyx, Angel

  “We are going shopping.” I set his plate of pancakes in front of him, along with a glass of juice, then took the seat across from him with my own food. “I've got some really good news. I was promoted at work, to manager. I'll only be working late three nights a week, with a fourth late night every other week.”

  “Does that mean you'll be able to tuck me in bed more?”

  The excitement in his voice at that thought tore at my heart. Had my son really been missing me that much? It made me feel like a horrible mother. “It absolutely does,.”

  “Yes! What are we gonna go shopping for?”

  I couldn't help but smile at how happy he was over it all. “You'll just have to wait and see. Eat your breakfast.”

  Hours later, after our shopping trip, which included getting him the game he'd been wanting, I readied myself for work. Risa had already come down to the apartment and was sitting on my bed talking with me while I dressed.

  “I’ve been wondering something, Carly.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Well, I know you said that your mom is Latina and your dad was Creole, but I’ve noticed you use Italian endearments for Eli. Yeah, I looked Vita Mia up because I was curious about it. Anyway, why don’t you use Latino endearments for him?”

  I turned my attention to her. “Eli’s father, Rico, was Italian. Since he can’t be here with us, I wanted something that would connect Eli to his father. I gave him an Italian name for the same reason. Elia is the Italian form of Elijah.”

  “Huh. That actually makes sense now that you’ve explained it. Okay, I’m gonna go make sure the squirt is getting his homework done and let you finish getting ready for work. Have a good night.”

  “Thanks, Risa.” I turned back to the mirror and finished applying my makeup.

  Why did it feel like I was readying myself for the firing squad? It was just work. It was better than when I had to strip – now that I was manager there was no reason for the nerves. I told myself that the entire walk to work. Maybe if I repeated it enough times I'd start to believe it.

  Chapter Twelve

  Gio

  Anyone who thinks being part of the Mafia is glamorous hasn't a fucking clue what they're talking about. They must have gotten all their information from movies and books, and we all know that shit's not real. It's dark, it's dirty, and it's dangerous, but I wouldn't change mi famiglia if I could. I love them, even when they piss me off. Like now. I'd planned on spending my Saturday at Dangerous Curves, keeping an eye on things, and watching Carly, but instead I'm stuck dealing with the idiocy of my younger brother. Why was I dealing with it and not Pop? Because I was the one who had given Amadeo the chance to prove himself.

  “What were you thinking? I put you in charge of the shop because you gave me your word you could handle it. Do you have any idea the kind of mess you've caused?”

  “It's not my fault, Gio. He came at me with a knife.”

  “Because you ran your fucking mouth, Deo. I watched the damn security tape. You couldn't deal with the problem with a cool head – you had to go off half-cocked. Now we've got a dead body and it's my ass on the line with Pop.” I rubbed a hand down my face in frustration. “I've got the cleanup crew on their way. You better hope this asshole doesn’t have someone who will miss him, someone who knew he would be here.”

  “I'm sorry, Gio. I didn't mean to screw this up. You gotta believe me.”

  “That's the problem, Deo, you never mean to do it, but it happens anyway. Just go. I'll deal with you, later.” When he hesitated I narrowed my eyes at him. “Get the fuck out of here, Amadeo.”

  I watched him slink out the door, head down and shoulders slumped. I knew he meant well, but this wasn't the first time he'd fucked up. This was just the worst. Pop was going to go ballistic when he found out. Fuck.

  “Hey, Boss, cleanup crew's here.”

  I looked up to see my right hand, Enzo, standing by the door. “Send 'em in. We need to get this done quickly, before the cops show up. I do not need that hassle right now.” With any luck everything would be done in time to hit the club.

  When my phone rang and I saw it was Pop calling, I knew the chance of making it to Dangerous Curves was shot. It wasn't happening tonight. At least, not until late. I might make it by closing time. I hit the answer button on my phone and prepared myself for an ass-chewing. “Hey, Pop.”

  “Gio. A little birdie tells me there has been a problem at the shop.”

  “I've got it under control, Pop.”

  “Someone is dead. How is that under control?”

  “I've got the cleanup crew here. The body will be taken care of so no one will be able to connect the disappearance to us.”

  “You better hope not, Gio. I left you in charge of that operation. You made the decision to put Amadeo in charge.”

  “I thought he was ready, Pop. I was wrong. But I am handling it. This won't come back on la famiglia.”

  “See that it doesn't. I expect to see you once the cleaners are done.”

  “Yes, sir.” I wanted to throw my phone against the wall by the time I hung up. It would be a long fucking time before I let Amadeo be in charge of anything again. He just didn't have the right attitude to be in charge of such a delicate operation. In a city that didn't have a large mafia population, we had to keep our heads down. It would be different if we were in Chicago, but here in New Orleans, we had to be extra damn careful.

  “Boss. We got a problem.”

  My eyes narrowed at the man in front of me. “That's not what I want to hear.” The growl in my voice made him wince.

  “The dead man is related to a cop.”

  Fuck. “Alright. Change of plans. We need to make it look like he got mixed up in a shady deal and got himself killed for it. In no way can this be traced back to la famiglia. Understood?”

  “You got it.”

  I stayed to make sure it was done, and then the cleaners went through and made sure there wasn't even a stray hair in a corner that could bring the heat down on us. The last thing I did before heading to see Pop was make an anonymous call on a burner phone to 911 to report hearing a fight.

  Pop was waiting for me when I reached the house. I knew he would be. “It's handled.” He said nothing, just motioned me to follow him into his office.

  “What happened?”

  “Deo lost his cool and ran his mouth. The bastardo ran at him with a knife. It was self defense, but we both know the cops wouldn't see it that way.”

  “Amadeo should never have been in charge of the operation.”

  “I know that now, Pop. I was giving him the chance to prove himself. He blew it, but I'm the one who fucked up. I thought he could do it.”

  “It's handled though? The body is gone?”

  I knew what I was about to say wasn't going to go over well with Pop. “About that. The dead man is related to a cop. We had to make it look like a drug deal gone bad.”

  “The entire operation had to be moved then.”

  “Yes, sir. It's already done. The cleaners went over every inch of the building to make sure nothing was left behind. Not even a stray hair.”

  “If something was missed and this comes back on us...”

  “It won't.” I hoped to fuck I was right.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Carly

  Two days. That's how long it's been since the last time Gio was at the club. I don't know why I keep looking for him. He's my boss. I shouldn't want him. But I'd be a damn liar if I said I didn't. The man could make me wet with a look. And when he calls me Bella? Oh, fuck. Talk about melting the panties off a woman.

  “Ciao, Boss Lady. Me and Gio were supposed to go through the inventory but he's gotten tied up with something. Care to give me a hand?”

  I'd just entered the club when Tony called out to me. What I wanted to do was be home with my son but here I was. It was Camille's night off and I wasn't calling her in unless I had to.

  When I'd left the apartment, Eli was running a slight
fever but Risa was supposed to call me if it got worse. Days like today I wished my mama was still here. She'd gotten remarried two years ago and moved to Florida with her new husband, leaving me struggling even more. “Sure thing, Tony. Just let me put my shit in the office.”

  “No problem, Boss Lady.”

  “Everything okay, Carly?”

  We'd been at the inventory for almost an hour and I knew I'd been pretty quiet. “Just worried about my son. He was running a slight fever when I left for work but his sitter is supposed to call me if it gets worse.” I pulled my phone from the pocket of my pants. “That's why I have this with me instead of leaving it in the office like I usually do.”

  “Shouldn't you be home with him?”

  The look Tony gave me made me bristle. “I don't have the luxury of not coming to work, Tony. Camille has the night off tonight. It's the first one she's had in two weeks. If his fever gets worse, then I'll call her in to cover, but not until then.” I watched as Tony held his hands up as if to appease me.

  “Sorry, Boss Lady. Not my place.”

  “No, I'm the one who should apologize. I shouldn't have snapped at you. That doesn't change what I said, though. Camille needs this night off with her kids.” Something in Tony's eyes made me arch a brow. “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Bullshit. There's a look in your eyes right now. So spill it.”

  “I didn't know Camille had children.”

  “Well, she does. Their asshole father skipped out on them, leaving her to provide for them by herself. She's earned a day off.”

  After that, conversation died off and we finished with the inventory in silence.

  “Either my math is off or we're missing some stock.”

  “I got the same numbers you do, so your math isn't off. We're missing stock. The question is, was it already missing before Gio took over or did it go missing over the last couple of days,” Tony countered. “Damn, I knew I should have gone over everything the first night.”

  “Chances are it happened before the club changed ownership. If it didn't, we'll know it now and we can address the problem.” It would mean one of the others was taking booze home at the end of the night and that shit would stop.

  Two hours after the doors opened, my phone rang. One glance at the number had me scrambling for the back of the building and my office. “Risa? What's wrong?”

  “Hey, Carly. It's Eli's fever. It's spiked to 102.6. I've tried everything I can think of to get it to come down and nothing is working.”

  “Shit. Okay. Get him ready to go. I'll be home as soon as I call Camille to come in.” I hated having to call her. Absolutely hated it. I hung up, but before I could call Camille there was a knock on the office door. “What is it?” Please don't let there be a problem.

  “Hello, Bella.”

  “Gio? What are you doing here?”

  “Have you forgotten I own Dangerous Curves?”

  “That's not what I mean. I didn't think you'd be stopping by any time soon. You haven't been here in a couple of days.”

  “Did you miss me then, Bella?”

  The smirk he gave me made things low in my body tighten. Fuck. “As much as I enjoy the flirting, I don't have time for it. I was just getting ready to call Camille.”

  “That's why I'm here. Tony called me and told me your son is not well. If you're calling Camille, he must have gotten worse?”

  “Yeah. His fever spiked. I have to take him to the emergency room.”

  “Let me drive you.”

  “No, it's fine. I can get a cab. Or an Uber.”

  “Non, Bella. I will drive you. You shouldn't be alone.”

  When he took my elbow, I could have argued, but damn if it wasn't nice to have someone want to look out for me. For so long it was just me. It was...comforting to lean on someone else for a change. “Fine. I have the feeling you aren't going to take no for an answer anyway.” His chuckle made me want to smack him. Instead I grabbed my bag and made my way to the door.

  “Tony. You're in charge tonight. See that things are locked up.”

  I narrowed my eyes at Gio. He was undermining my leadership. “There's no need for that. I'm calling Camille in.”

  “Didn't you tell me she's not had a night off in two weeks?”

  I wanted to hit Tony for the question. “That doesn't...” Before I could finish, Gio cut me off.

  “Tony will lock up. There is no need to disturb Camille on her night off. Come, Bella, your son is waiting for you.”

  Part of me wanted to tell him to go fuck himself. I didn't need his help, I didn't need him to take me to the hospital. The other part of me felt warm at the thought that he wanted to be at my side. I'd just met him, for fuck's sake. Maybe I just needed to get laid.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Gio

  I watched Carly out of the corner of my eye as I drove. I could tell she was worried and it took every ounce of willpower I had to not run any lights. It was obvious she loved her son very much. “Where is your son's father, Bella?” I saw her tense and cocked a brow.

  “Dead. He died before Eli was born.”

  “I'm sorry, Bella.” I could hear the pain in her voice. Her son's father must have meant a great deal to her.

  “It was a long time ago. I was sixteen when he died.”

  “So young.” I looked over at her once we stopped in front of her building. “Not many could have handled being a mother at that age and succeed.”

  “I don't know that I would have if my mama hadn't helped until she got remarried and moved away two years ago. She didn't let me lay around and feel sorry for myself. She made me face my choices and accept responsibility.”

  “Sounds like a good woman.” This time I didn't let her argue with me about escorting her up to her apartment. “I'm coming up with you. It's non-negotiable, Bella.” The rolling of her eyes made me smirk.

  “You can be a bit of an arrogant prick, sometimes. You know that, right?”

  I laughed. I couldn't help it. “Ah, Bella, you have no idea. Come, let's get your son to the doctor.”

  I hung back a little as she entered her apartment. I was taking in everything, including the flimsy locks she had. Anyone could easily break into the apartment and that put both her and her son at risk. That wasn't acceptable. “You need new locks, Bella..” The look she gave me, oh, it made my cock twitch. Defiant and stubborn.

  “Risa, this is Gio. Gio, my best friend, and awesome sitter, Risa.”

  I nodded at the other woman and moved to take the boy from Carly's arms. “Let me carry him down to the car. Please.” I tacked the last on because of her glare. She was a protective mama bear; I wasn't going to demand she let me do it. I watched her face soften with a sigh as she put him in my arms. “Grazie..” I murmured the word in her ear before bundling her son close and heading down to the car with Carly right on my heels.

  As soon as she was settled in the back seat of my car I set her son next to her, got him bucked in, and we were off. Why was I so worried about a child that wasn't mine? Because he's a kid. Kids are to be protected. It helped that I was attracted to his mother and I didn't like seeing her upset.

  By the time we reached the hospital I could tell Carly was worried about something other than her son being sick. The frown between her eyes as she answered the receptionist's questions spoke volumes. “What's wrong, Bella?” The look in her eyes cut me. “Carly? What is it?”

  “It's nothing.”

  “Lying is unbecoming, Bella. Something is wrong.” I had to fight the smirk her sigh elicited.

  “I'm trying to decide which bill I'm going to have to ignore to pay for this.”

  She muttered it so softly I almost didn't hear her. “None. I'll take care of it since the insurance for everyone is still being set up.”

  “I can't...”

  My finger against her lips stopped her from finishing her sentence. “None of that. You worry about your boy- I'll worry about the bill.” It would come out of
my own pocket. Pop wouldn't approve of me using famiglia money to pay for it.

  Hours later I was sitting at Carly's side, holding her hand, when the doctor finally gave his diagnosis. “Ms. Ballentyne. I'm sorry to keep you waiting. Your son has an ear infection in both ears. I'm going to put him on some antibiotics for the infection. Continue giving him Tylenol for the fever, make sure he drinks plenty of fluids, and follow up with his pediatrician in a week to check his progress.”

  “Oh thank God.”

  The relief in her voice coupled with the gleam of tears in her eyes had me reaching for her. She looked a little shaky and I didn't want her hurting herself. “See, Bella, it all worked out.” My lips brushed her temple and I felt her tense. I did more than that the other night and she responded with interest. The only thing that was different was her son was watching us.

  I gave her some space while the nurse went over the doctor's orders before we were finally able to leave.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Carly

  Why did he have to be such a damn gentleman? That was the thought that kept going through my mind as I waited for the nurse to finally give me Eli's release papers so we could leave. When Gio's lips had touched my skin, I'd wanted to melt into him, but I couldn't in front of Eli. I would not, could not, put my son in a situation where he could get hurt, not even inadvertently. If he saw me getting close to Gio he might get the wrong idea.

  I was quiet on the drive back to my apartment. Anytime I looked into the rear view mirror- from where I was sitting in the backseat with my son- Gio's eyes would lock with mine briefly and I'd have to look away. He did things to me that made me weak in the knees without even trying. I felt worn out by the time we pulled up in front of my apartment. Glancing at the time I groaned. It was nearly 4 am, no wonder I was so tired. “Thank you for tonight, Gio.” I kept my voice soft as I moved to get out of the car.