Made Man Dante Page 15

  “What about the Palumbos?”

  “The Palumbos are going to get a response from me very soon. And so will some of the other families. I need to make a point. They think we’re weak without my father, but I’m going to show them they’re wrong. I’ll hit them when they least expect it. They’ll learn to respect the Gambino name.”

  The darkness was still surrounding me, but with Gia by my side, I was in control of it. No one would harm her and if they tried, they would be begging for their death. This wasn’t just business to me. Nothing would ever come between me and my angel.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Gia

  I was so happy I thought I might explode. When Dante came inside to work, I waited until he was behind closed doors before pulling out my cell phone. I had to tell Toni. I knew from the moment I met her that we’d become close, and I was right. She was the sister I always wished I had.

  “Hey Gia,” Toni said as she answered.

  “We’re engaged!” I said, the words flying out of my mouth.

  “It’s about time!” she said, laughing. “You have no idea how long he’s been carrying that ring with him.”

  “You knew?”

  “Gia, if there’s one thing you’ve gotta learn, it’s that I always know everything.”

  I laughed, but then I felt the small hairs at the back of my neck stand up. I had the feeling I was being watched. I turned around and saw Dante looking at me through the glass doors of his study. After things with the Lords and then reliving what I went through with Ron, I was still uneasy at times.

  I was thankful it was only Dante and quickly felt myself relax again. I waved, but he didn’t respond. As I looked at him, his face slowly hardened then went blank.

  A chill ran up my spine. I had only seen that look a couple of times, but it wasn’t something I would easily forget. It was the same look he had when he rescued me.

  Tuning back into what Toni was saying, I realized she was on another topic already.

  “I’m sure it was totally mutated and nasty looking, too.”

  “What was?”

  “The body! Geez Gia, thanks for ignoring my captivating conversation,” she teased. “I just told you a body washed up on shore a few days ago.”

  “A dead body?”

  “Duh, seriously, Gia, did that diamond make you lose some of your smarts?” she said, laughing. “A dead body washed ashore. They think it had been in the East River for months. Anyway, they were finally able to ID the guy. His name was Ron Mendoza. Why is that name familiar? Anyway, they think he was killed then dumped in the East River. The coroner said he died from a gunshot wound to the heart.”

  That was how Terry died! Toni continued talking, but I lost focus again. Dante was still facing me with his blank expression, and I couldn’t help but think again about his being a killer. I remembered telling him that I used to wish Ron was dead. Did he kill Ron for me? I didn’t know what to think.

  Slowly it dawned on me that even though Dante gave the word on Terry, it was Sonny who did the deed. He even explained why he shot him in the heart. Because of all the heartache he caused you. Did Sonny kill Ron? I wished I had a way of reaching him in Connecticut. I couldn’t ask Dante about it. He wouldn’t tell me if he ordered the hit.

  I waved again at Dante, hoping the blankness would go away. He had been working more since Papa was killed. It practically destroyed him, but now weeks later he seemed back to his old self. I knew he was planning something though.

  “How are you holding up?” I asked.

  “Eh, I’ve been better. I think living at home makes it harder to get over Papa being gone. Usually I’m good, but sometimes I’ll run into something that reminds me of him. Maybe I need to get away.”

  “What happens to the family now without your father?”

  “They’ll find a replacement soon. Papa always wanted Dante to take his place, but until recently I didn’t think that was going to happen. Now it seems like it’s a done deal.”

  “Dante? You’re saying he’s going to move up again?” I asked, surprised he didn’t tell me anything about it.

  “Yup! My big brother is next in line to become Boss. They might do a vote, but no one in their right mind would vote against him.”

  “Boss?” I said, my mind going blank as I felt even more in the dark.

  “Yeah, you know, mob boss, Don, Godfather. It’s all the same thing.”

  I let her continue talking as I thought about what it meant. Dante once told me he didn’t want to be part of the family business, but as time went on, he was accepting more and becoming more powerful. I would support him no matter what he chose to do. I knew he had his reasons for doing it. And for keeping me in the dark.

  Hanging up with Toni, I looked at my engagement ring and how it sparkled in the warm light of the kitchen. I couldn’t believe he had been holding onto the ring for a while, and I wondered how long it had been it in his pocket. When did he decide he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me?

  Thinking back, despite how much I pushed him away and thought he was too good for me, I always wanted to be with him. I never believed in love at first sight, but from the first moment I saw him, I knew he was the one for me.

  I met him as Dante Gambino, Soldier. I was engaged to Dante Gambino, Capo. I was going to marry Dante Gambino, Boss. Soon the good girl, an almost nun, would marry into one of the biggest crime families in New York. It was strange how life worked, but I wouldn’t change a minute of it.

  Boss

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Dante

  “Where is she?” I demanded.

  My voice boomed in the empty reception hall. I knew taking Gia out of the house was a bad idea, but I couldn’t lock her away forever. She wanted to see La Terrazza and I let my guard down. Now she was gone.

  Earlier That Day

  In the backyard of our house in the Hamptons, I converted a guesthouse into an office. Today I had been sitting in my office for hours. This office was a way for me to have meetings without Gia knowing exactly who was coming and going. I didn’t have anything to hide from her, this was strictly for her own protection. The less she knew, the better.

  There was a lot of business that needed to be taken care of before the wedding, but my heart wasn’t in it. I wanted to marry Gia more than anything in the world. That was the only reason I made my decisions as Boss, but I knew those choices would haunt me.

  It was midday, but the room was dim and shadowy since the sun shifted to the other side of the guesthouse. Gia insisted on repainting my office a sunny pale yellow she called cheerful. I didn’t mind the color, but it contrasted my general mood so much that I only put the lights on when it was absolutely necessary for me to see.

  Leaning back in my chair, I stared out the window and sighed. The window faced the pool and the rear of our house, which was mostly glass. I was close enough to see people moving around inside, but I couldn’t make out who they were. It didn’t matter, I had a list of exactly who could come and go, and I trusted Jayden to make sure everything was all right.

  The private line rang a quick two rings, then a break, then two rings again. I had each of my associates programmed to have a custom ring. The double ring was Sonny’s.

  “Yes?” I said, answering the phone.

  “You know I don’t like complaining…” Sonny said.

  “But you’re going to.”

  “How much longer am I going to be stuck out here? Carlo is in a quiet suburb. I’m running out of ideas for blending in without drawing attention. This isn’t the city.”

  “Then get creative. Nothing is happening until the wedding. After that, you can pull out of Connecticut and never go back.”

  He sighed quietly, a sound I knew was something he didn’t mean for me to hear.

  “It’s a girl, isn’t it?” I asked.

  “I must be crazy,” he said. “I just need to get away from here. I know better.”

  “One more month, Sonny. Be
patient, you’ve been through worse.”

  Hanging up, I looked out the window again towards the house. I didn’t want to wait a month, but Gia had an idea in her head of what the wedding should be like. I couldn’t rob her of the chance to have whatever she dreamed of, but I only had so much patience. The month was a compromise.

  At this moment, Gia was surrounded by event planners, chefs, dress designers, and my sister. Since we got engaged, I found myself being forced to share her more and more. I didn’t like sharing.

  My final words to Sonny repeated in my head. They were words I needed to listen to as well. In one month, I’d have Gia all to myself again.

  The private line rang once, paused, then rang two quick times. Mitcham.

  “Yes?” I said.

  “I have the report of all the people who had access to the house on the weeks leading up to and on the days your father was shot and later killed,” he said.

  “Good. Cross-reference that with the family. I want everyone’s name who isn’t a Gambino on a separate list.”

  “If you don’t mind my saying, just because they’re a Gambino doesn’t mean they weren’t involved. Your father was killed in the middle of the night.”

  “I know when he was killed,” I barked at the phone. “Trust me, I’m being more cautious with the family than I am of anyone else. I know there’s a rat among us, and he’s closer than we think.”

  “And the Palumbos?” he asked.

  “I know whoever it is is working for them. It was a bad idea for Palumbo to threaten Gia, even if he said someone else was after her. I’ll make sure he never thinks about her again.”

  Hanging up, I forced myself to calm down and not let my dark thoughts take over. I had to remember my position now. A Boss doesn’t get his hands dirty. I needed to be strategic and figure out the best time to strike. Once I made my move, the members of the five families would learn to never fuck with the Gambinos again.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Gia

  “No! I’m done with this, Dante,” I said, throwing my hands up, the wide sleeves of my top fluttering, adding emphasis. “It’s impossible for anyone to plan a wedding like this. I can’t go out, I can’t visit places, how am I supposed to even find a location? It’s bad enough everything is so rushed.”

  A darkness passed over Dante’s face, clouding his eyes before he slammed his fist down on the marble top of the kitchen counter. He turned and looked at the chef making hors d’oeuvres for us to sample, his sister Toni, and a florist who clutched her portfolio nervously to her chest. No one dared to meet his gaze, except for me.

  Folding my arms over my chest, I waited as he paced the kitchen. Dante expected me to plan the entire wedding from our house. I knew why, he was trying to keep me safe. But I was tired of living my life in fear and in hiding.

  His pale blue eyes shot over to the chef, then past everyone else before they settled on me.

  “Come,” he said. “I don’t like an audience.”

  He placed his large hand on the small of my back and guided me out of the room. We walked down the hall and into his study where he closed the French doors behind us. Looking into my eyes, he cupped my face and tilted it up to his.

  “I don’t know how to do this,” he said. “How do I give you what you want and make sure you’re protected at the same time?”

  Sighing, he turned away and sat on one of the leather chairs in front of his desk. He leaned forward and rubbed his forehead with his fingertips, then shook his head.

  “Maybe we can just run away,” I said. “Let’s go to some tropical island where no one knows us and get married on the beach.”

  He laughed and patted his knee. I sat on his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. He thought I was joking about running away, but I wasn’t. I didn’t care about having a big wedding, I just wanted to marry the man of my dreams.

  “This is about Luigi’s, isn’t it?” he asked.

  “No. Well, maybe part of it is. I just have all these ideas for our wedding. I want it to be perfect, and Luigi’s isn’t. Even your mom thinks that’s not the right place for a wedding. If we’re having it somewhere, it should be special.”

  “Let me guess, my mother told you about a place, didn’t she?”

  “Well as a matter of fact, she did,” I said, laughing.

  “You think it’s sweet now, but just you wait. Eventually you’ll see who really runs the family.”

  “I already know. She’s giving me pointers.”

  “Great, I’m in big trouble,” he said with a laugh. “Where did she suggest?”

  “La Terrazza. She said she knows the owners and they’d be more than willing to do whatever we wanted. She even said they had Saturday the sixteenth available.”

  He groaned. “That place gets booked years in advance. It sounds like she pulled some strings.”

  “Well, whatever she did, we should take a look at it. I’ve never been there and I want to see it before making any kind of commitment.”

  Dante sighed, sounding frustrated, then reached over and turned the phone on his desk towards him. He dialed a number, pressed the speaker button, and after a moment the number he called started ringing.

  “Thank you for calling La Terrazza. How can I help you?”

  “It’s Dante Gambino–”

  “Oh good morning, Mr. Gambino. It’s Betsy Rizzo. Are you confirming your tour for this afternoon?”

  “Tour?”

  “Yes, Mrs. Gambino made the appointment. She said you would be calling to confirm.”

  “Mrs. Gambino?” he asked, raising his eyebrow at me.

  “Yes, the mother of the groom,” Betsy said.

  “I should have known,” he said. “What time?”

  “We’ll be expecting you at 2pm.”

  “Thank you,” he said before hanging up. “I need to make some arrangements before we go.”

  Understanding that he needed to call his associates and arrange for guards, I stood to leave. Dante’s warm hand closed around my wrist and he pulled me back into his arms.

  “When this is over, I’m never letting you leave the house again,” he said jokingly as his mouth covered mine.

  His kiss made my heart pound and my blood rush through my body. He slid his hand up my leg, underneath the long skirt I was wearing, but I forced myself to stop him.

  “You know I want to wait until we’re married,” I said. “I know it doesn’t make any sense, but it would mean a lot to me.”

  He nodded his head as I stood and I blew him a kiss. I couldn’t help being old fashioned, even if we were living together and sharing a bed every night. I wanted to wait so our wedding night was even more special.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Dante

  I had been to La Terrazza so many times in the past that I normally didn’t notice anything. But today was different. Every detail of the place jumped out at me. The place had been secured by Jayden and some of his associates before we arrived, but as he drove the Town Car into the venue’s underground garage, I was on edge.

  La Terrazza was a three-story building made to resemble an Italian-style villa. It was so large that it was the only building on the entire block. The first level was for parking, something that was necessary in this section of Long Island. On the second floor were the reception halls.

  The place was called La Terrazza because of the terraces and balconies off the second floor. They were only accessible from certain rooms and had sliding glass doors that disappeared into the wall. The height and location of the building gave its guests a view of the river, which added to the venue’s popularity.

  We arrived at La Terrazza in a line of cars. Gia and I rode ahead of the group, Toni and our mother rode in another, and in the last car were several trusted associates. It wasn’t like me to have an entourage, but with such short notice, I wanted as many men around to protect my family.

  Gia looked out the window taking it all in. I sometimes forgot how sheltered she was.
She seemed so worldly and knowledgeable yet underneath it, she was like a child seeing things for the first time. I had to remember that and not become overprotective, but I was afraid of losing her.

  As the car came to a stop, I noticed the underground oasis near the stairs. La Terrazza rode the line between fancy and tacky, as many of these reception venues did. With its marble columns, water fountains, and the view, it was a popular locale for weddings and sweet sixteens.

  Jayden parked near a pillar towards the entrance. For the first time, I realized the sweeping double staircase and elevator were blocked from view by the large water fountain and statues. I knew the place had been secured, but something was gnawing at my gut. I had a bad feeling.

  I opened the car door, took Gia’s hand, and helped her out of the car. She gave me a look, which I knew meant I can get out of a car myself, but I only smiled in response. What she didn’t know was that the simple touch of her hand was enough to put me at peace. And even though I was still worried about touring La Terrazza, her warmth set me at ease.

  Darting my eyes, I noticed several of Sonny’s associates standing watch over the garage. I was glad that even with him away in Connecticut, I could rely on him to instruct his men as needed.

  As we stepped towards the fountain, Gia was quickly swarmed by Toni and my mother. They continued their chatter from earlier and I tuned them out to save my sanity. I let go of Gia’s hand and toyed with the idea of placing a guard to run blockade so I could get some time alone with Gia, but I knew I needed to be patient.

  By the elevators were a few of my personal associates. I nodded at them as they opened the elevator doors. When we arrived on the second floor, another of my men was waiting for us and others lined the wide marble hallway.

  The clicking of high-heeled shoes approached and I turned to see Betsy Rizzo in a pale blue dress carrying a clipboard. Betsy was the oldest daughter of the family who owned La Terrazza and my mother’s goddaughter. My mother grew up with Alfredo Rizzo, the owner. Alfredo gave his wide eyes and sharp nose to his daughter, who tried to hide them with her long, straight black hair.