Page 11

10

GLORIA

A driano gives me a sidelong glance as we swoop around another corner, going a little too fast. It’s thrilling, though.

It would be a lot less scary, of course, if he wasn’t hung over. Possibly still a little drunk.

You’d never know it for looking at him, sitting there with his arm on the door, the window down, and the wind in his dark hair. His white shirt unbuttoned to show off his chest.

He’s captivating. Stunning.

I almost insisted that I drive, but things were…odd between us this morning. Like waters that are perfectly calm on the surface. That you don’t want to disrupt if you can avoid it.

Sleeping next to him was peaceful.

The best sleep I’ve had in months.

Even if he was comatose.

“It’s going to be a long morning. So maybe…”

“I promise, I’ll only have six mimosas to feel better, then only a few more when Dom starts giving speeches.”

Wrong answer, Adriano.

“I’m kidding …”

My scowl deepens. I hate playing the disapproving fiancée card, but I’m still miffed that he got out of hand last night. That he flubbed our first night sleeping together in the same bed.

“Gloria, I really am sorry. You shouldn’t have had to deal with?—”

“But I did.”

“Yeah, I just mean?—”

“Don’t say it unless you really mean it.” I’m being difficult. Impossible.

He huffs a little growl of frustration.

Ha. Chew on that for a little while.

We’re pulling into the parking lot when he looks at me, his eyes hopeful that I’ve cooled down.

“Well? Are you going to grovel, make promises, swear to make it up to me?”

“I—wha—yeah! No!” He scowls. “Are you really going to hold this over my head?”

I shouldn’t be messing with him so hard. Not like I haven’t made mistakes. Or treated him fairly since we’ve met, either.

On the other hand, I have every right to be frustrated with him leaving me high and dry to not only deal with Dom and his drunken entourage, but babysitting him too.

“No, I don’t think I have to. It’s a sunny day. Hot. Perfect for a brunch social, a picnic. Maybe some outdoor activities on the courts at the clubhouse. The sun will hang over your head just fine.”

“You’re evil.” And he’s definitely turning a little pale and green at the thought. “If I die, just hide me in the rose bushes and leave.”

“You better not leave me to deal with this party alone. Or the wedding!”

“Speaking of which …”

“Later this week. I’m supposed to go with some girlfriends to look at colors.”

“Oh. Okay.”

I leave it at that, to let him stew on it for a bit. Details are everything to Adriano, and I know planning, or pretending to plan without him will draw him in.

Way to channel your inner Domenico, Gloria.

I hide the flush of disgusted self-awareness as I step from the car, sliding on my sunglasses.

Who the hell thinks like that?

Apparently, me, now.

An hour passes with fake smiles and handshakes at the club, Dom reveling in the exchange of contacts, under-the-table dealing. You’d think he didn’t drink a drop last night.

More than that, he’s borderline jolly, which sends a shiver down my spine in the worst way.

I’ve seen him this way before. This near-manic state.

He thrives in this sort of environment. Putting on airs, conspiring with business partners, making them think they have some secret deal going that no one else knows about.

He loves being the go-to guy.

Which keeps the attention off of us.

Especially since my date is sweating pure gasoline.

“Gloria, have you met Senator Collins?” Dom rests his hand on my back, gently pushing me forward to shake the older man’s hand. He’s regal, distinguished. Handsome, in that poster politician sort of way.

“I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure.” In other words, someone I never would have, or ever would have wanted to meet otherwise.

“It’s all mine, Miss Vipera. Your father’s contributions to my last election cycle proved the deciding factor for my win.”

“He certainly keeps me busy with all of his generosity,” I smirk, sharing a phony, conspiring moment with Collins.

“And she’s a whiz with numbers too? No doubt the real brains behind the operation.” Senator Collins winks at me.

“Just a loyal daughter, doing her due diligence.”

Dom sniffs, pretending to not be offended by the man’s words and gives us a nod before wandering off to another table. One crisis avoided.

Only to turn my gaze to the man standing next to me.

Adriano’s been quiet, watching everything.

Staring right at me.

“Oh! And this must be your fiancé I’ve heard so much about.”

“Adriano Diamante.” He smiles and I can almost feel his teeth grinding.

“Ah. Of course. I was so sorry to hear about your brother. Alessandro was a good friend.”

Good friend, my ass. The way Adriano’s eyes cloud over gives me images of his fist connecting with the Senator’s face.

“Honey, you look a little peaked…have you had any water today? Excuse us Senator.”

“Of course, we’ll speak again later.” The salt and pepper head tilts, hitting me with a pearly white smile that probably works all the time. “I hope.”

Another crisis averted …

Until my father’s man, Cal, catches us heading toward the pool.

“Come here. Now. Dom’s flipping his shit.”

A thrill of panic whips through me. What did we do?

Adriano shakes his head once, pulling me along.

The gazebo is off a ways, just out of earshot from the rest of the gathering, but I make out sharp words halfway there, shouted words.

“You think you can sneak one past me, Vito, you fucking prick?” Dom’s voice rises.

“I would never?—”

“Bullshit. I saw you talking to the district attorney!”

“Because he is a member of this club, I was being polite.”

“Oh yeah. Real polite. That’s why several hundred thousand dollars were transferred to him without my approval last week?”

“Dom, please, let me explain?—”

Adriano’s stepping forward as we arrive, placing a hand on Dom’s shoulder. “Sir?—”

“Finally!” Dom flinches as Adri touches him. “I wanted you here for this, thought you’d appreciate it.”

“Dom, take it easy.” Adriano scowls, clearly trying to assess whose side to take. I got the impression last night that he’s not too fond of Vito.

“I’ll do no such thing. This fucking weasel is backstabbing us.”

“I would not do that!”

“Ha! You expect me to believe you? Once a traitor, always a traitor. Adriano and his brothers know that all too well, right?”

“What is he talking about Adri?” I ask, unable to subdue my curiosity.

“Tell her, Vito. You too Adriano. May as well come clean, air all of our dirty laundry.”

“I did what I had to do. You didn’t give us a choice.” Vito’s round, wrinkled face is red, his eyes rimmed, like he’s on the verge of tears. “And I made a terrible choice.”

“You did what you had to do, Vito.” It’s all Adriano says, like he just made up his mind about something. Or like he’s checking out of the situation before he can do something he’ll regret.

“Always so forgiving, Adriano! Unlike me.”

“Dad…” I start, terrified of what might happen next.

“I’m sorry you have to see this, Gloria. But it’s for the best. You need to learn what happens to people who cross me.”

“It’s fine, just…don’t do anything rash.” My voice. Someone else’s words. Someone calm. Certainly not the voice of the screaming panic in my brain, locking my legs up.

“That’s my daughter. The voice of reason.”

“Listen to her, to reason, then, Dom!” Vito begs.

“Fine. Here’s some rationale for you: you’re always first to lead a coup aren’t you, Vito? I should have known from the start. You were so eager to give me Alessandro to save your own skin. The first to support me when I took back what was rightfully mine. I should have guessed you were waiting in the wings to stab me in the back too.”

“It’s a lie!” Vito’s fist hammers onto the table. His wife and other family members all stand stock still around him, some with hands-on weapons. But Dom’s men outnumber all of them.

“Just say you’re working for the feds, and I’ll make it quick.”

“I would never work with them. Not even to overthrow you…you snake!”

Dom grins, ear to ear, nodding. “There he is. The real Vito Carlote. The coward.”

“You come in here, to my daughter’s birthday celebration and accuse me . This is an outrage.”

“Outraged? I am absolutely outraged. That I let you stay a part of this family for so long. But I’m in a good mood today, and it is your daughter’s special day.”

An ominous shadow darkens the grounds as he says it.

And I brace myself for him to grab a gun, to murder the man right here in the open.

“I don’t have to sit here and take this,” Vito forces out, his whole body shaking in fear.

“No, you don’t have to sit there and take this. You could get down on your knees and beg, though. Or just gather your people and get the fuck out of my city.” Dom slams his whiskey glass on the table, shattering the glass, cutting his hand.

Vito flinches, throwing out his arm to block his wife from the shards.

The grounds are dead silent as my father’s hand drips blood on the stones.

“This. This is what we were. No more. I never want to see your face again. Everything you can carry with you. Take it and go. If you’re still in New York tomorrow night, you’re all marked for death.”

Without another word, Dom turns and leads his crew away, leaving me and Adriano standing there, stupefied.

Until he storms off, across the grass, his fists clenched at his sides.

One glance back shows me Vito’s family, frozen in shock, like a horrid, peaceful tableau painting.

This is reality. My reality.

So I chase after the only source of safety, security, that I have in this raging storm.

Adriano.

My hand thrusts out, reaching for him, needing to feel his presence. We make the side of the clubhouse before Adriano jerks his arm out of my hand.

“What is your problem?!” He rounds on me.

“My problem? You’re serious?” I’m backing up a step, clasping my hands at my chest.

“I am very serious. And very …done! With all of this!” Adriano stomps toward the nearest building, the pool shed out behind the hedges.

And like a fool, I follow.

“What are we doing, Gloria?”

“Trying to hold it together, mostly.”

“You’re doing a hell of a lot better a job than me. This…this whole thing . Flirting with Senators, getting involved with bureaucratic power plays. Why? Why are you here?”

“Why are you here, Adriano? We’re all doing everything we can to navigate… him .”

“No. I am doing this to keep my brothers alive. To keep my family’s legacy, the members of my family as safe as I can. What the fuck are you doing here, Gloria? This isn’t you .”

“And you know me so well?”

“I know who you really are. Who I met in Paris. But I’m having a really hard time reconciling the two people you show me!”

“Says the man who breaks knees for his brother’s killer? Who stays out all night and keeps secrets from everyone around him. Who talks in his sleep, says things that scare the shit out of me.”

Adriano’s eyes flash at that, a flinch of a snarl.

“Whatever I said, whatever you heard, I was drunk. Don’t put much stock in it.”

“They betrayed you. All of those people you call family. They threw you under the bus.” It’s a show of my hand, how much I’ve figured out, how much I’ve researched about the Diamantes.

I have to pray Adriano doesn’t use it against me.

“Yeah. They did. But my brother wants me to stay. Wants me to forgive. Because they are family.”

Wants? It almost shoots by me, the way he says it.

“And what, you just fall in line for him? A man who isn’t here fighting for them, or you?”

He clamps his jaw shut, his eyes widening at the slip.

“Please, Adriano. Talk to me.”

“I can’t. I can’t trust you. You’re his family.”

“This is all an act. I thought my father was dead until just a few months ago.”

Adriano’s brow drops. Confused. Unsure.

I take a step toward him, scared. Desperate.

“Is this…?” His facade breaks, his shoulders slumping. “Is this real, Gloria?”

In a second I’m there, holding his face between my hands, looking into his eyes.

“Is this?” And I kiss him, hard, passionately, recklessly.

His body locks up, only for a split second. Right before his arms enclose me, crushing me to his chest, our lips, our hands, our entire beings pressed against each other.

It escalates, my fingers tearing at the buttons on his shirt, his palms gripping my hips, then lower, scooping one leg up his side.

“Adri—”

“I-I?—”

“Yes, yes?—”

I’m ready. I need him. Now. Like I’ve never needed anyone.

And he’s halfway to the table with me in his arms when the door slams open loudly. We freeze.

“Uh. Sorry.” The pool boy blushes.

And dodges out of the way as Adriano runs out the door.

Leaving me standing there, a hot fucking mess.