Page 18 of The Boss

Robbie: [Gailo has been added to the conversation]

[Command has entered the conversaion]

Command: I know who our untouchables are.

Command: As always, you will have to trust me.

Zander: Roger

Gailo: Roger

Robbie: We should clear comms until the wedding

Zander: Gladly

Mark: Van? You’re not going to back me up on this?

Van: Clear as Day

Command: Dark as Night

[Command has terminated the conversation]

CHAPTER 12

Luna

I grin as I take the three steps to mount the stage at the front of the ballroom. The band is setting up behind me, so I climb over some chords and around a couple speakers on the floor. Once I reach the center, I look out.

The ballroom is plain but gorgeous, it’s the Park Hyatt after all. But you can barely see it, a mere blank canvas behind what I’ve created with the event company.

There are real vines and tropical plants, actual parrots and other Caribbean birds. I can’t believe the event planner actually pulled off a small pond with a waterfall in the corner. Bright colors decorate every table, since I didn’t go with one color theme. Of course there are the leis and palm trees and a huge pig turning on a spit, complete with an apple in its mouth.

It’s the tackiest thing I’ve ever seen.

My grin turns into a wide smile.

Then it dies.

Not only because reality catches up to me…this is my engagement party. I’ve been so focused on making the night terrible that I’ve blocked out the actual cause for the dinner…but because I’ve also blocked out this nagging feeling, the one that comes up at birthdays and holidays.

Mama.

If she was here, I probably couldn’t have done this, gone through with this…abomination. Or maybe she’d be totally on board with my zany plan. Maybe she would love the massive paper mache jaguar by the entrance. I don’t know, since she died when I was four.

Papa never spoke about her personality. He’s never shared memories after the car accident, that I can remember. There is one photo of her in the living room, and a few framed pictures in my room, but that’s all that remains.

My phone buzzes, pulling me out of my gloom. Ellie is almost here. I reply, telling her to meet me in the bathroom off of the lobby. I can’t wait to see the look on her face.

I make my way down from the stage, heading to the restroom to change. But my thoughts remain behind. Maybe if Mama had had a sister I wouldn’t feel so different, so alone. Ellie, she has her mamaplusaunts and female cousins that love her. The Delgados actually function somewhat as a family.

Papa’s organization is morethefamily in the stereotypical mafia way. Worse, my family just happens to breed men. Nonno had brothers, he had my papa and my zio, they all had sons. Insecure, brutal neanderthals who, so far, have married weak, catty women. Zeno is the exception but he’s not interested in settling down with just one woman anytime soon, that’s for sure. With Nonna and mama gone, I can’t think of one maternal connection in my life.

Maybe that’s why Ellie is so dear to me. When we met at fifteen, my dress had gotten hitched up on one side, about to show my underwear. Despite having passed many of my cousins, she was the only girl to tell me about it. We’re the same age, but she’s been taking care of me from the beginning.

I slip into my tight, short, red leather dress with some effort. It better stay cool in that faux jungle out there or I’m goingto go from hot to melting, and not in a good way. The outfit, complete with matching heels and bold gold jewelry, covers my chest with a halter neck and cinches in the waist to accentuate the small curves I have. I usually push the edge of what could be considered elegant but this…this is as close to inappropriately obscene as I could let myself get.

“Lu—” Ellie stops short in the doorway. She looks elegant as ever, if not a bit matronly. She’s always dressed more conservative than I think she should, with her banging hourglass figure below a perfect face, dark brown hair and sparkling hazel eyes. Her brows above said eyes raise and her jaw falls open. She’s the surprised emoji in real life. I laugh and do a twirl as her eyes go up and down and back, like she’s not sure what to focus on first. “Is…is that your real hair?”