Giovanni

by Dominique Butler

  “Felt like forever since we have seen you," Dom said, getting in the passenger seat. I get in first just as Danny is about to get in.

  “Y’all was gonna leave me," Amy screech walking up to the car.

  “Why is she here?" Angel asks.

  “Pop the trunk. She's my new CO," I tell him.

  “No one's gonna help," she said while her hands on her hips. Dom gets out the car putting her bags in after everyone got in the car Angel drives off.

  "Where to?" Angel asks.

  “Hilton," I tell him. The ride was quiet except for the radio playing. I look at the scheduled meetings that Lorrie set up for me. After twenty minutes, we pull up in front of the Hilton.

  “I’ll see you guys later, " Angel said after everybody got out of the car.

  We walk into the hotel going to the reception desk. "How can I help you?" ask the receptionist.

  "I have two rooms under Ricci," I say she instantly start looking thru the computer.

  "Yes, Mr. Ricci, here's your key to the penthouse and the other key," she said, handing me the keys.

  "Thank you," I tell her.

  "You’re welcome. Have a good stay," she said. We walk to the elevator first, hitting the fourth floor to the penthouse.

  "This is gonna be so nice staying in the penthouse," Amy says. Dom starts laughing then Danny too.

  "What's so funny?" she asks when the elevator stops on the fourth floor.

  "Amy, here go your keys to your room," I tell her.

  "What," she says.

  “I got you a room by yourself," I say, dangling the keys in front of her.

  “I need to be in close proximity to you," she says.

  "It's unbecoming for a lady to share a living space with three men," I tell her; she opens her mouth then closes it taking the keys out of my hand. "I have a meeting at eleven," I tell her.

  The elevator closes, and Danny and Dom start cracking up. “You're acting like she was ever a lady since she never been becoming of anything," Danny said. I just shake my head, getting off the elevator. I call Lorrie.

  "Mr. Ricci, your clothes should be there and along with everything else," Lorrie tells me.

  "Ok, is Allen on standby?" I ask, opening the door.

  “Yes, he'll be waiting by the conference room when you arrive," she tells me.

  “Thank you," I tell her before hanging up.

  I walk to the master suite of the house. It has a walk in the closet, seeing suits hanging up and dress shoes. I pick up a grey suit with a white shirt, black tie and shoes. I place them in the chair in the room then go take a shower after drying off and getting dressed. I go to the living room. Danny and Dom are sitting down watching Sports Center.

  "What's the plan?" Danny asks.

  "Trey, Dan, and Gabe rush the house taking both Camille and Devin to the safe house," I tell them.

  "What are we here for?" Dom asks.

  "Tying up some loose ends," I tell them, texting Angel it's ago. I look at the time, seeing that we have a couple of hours before the meeting.

  "Order room service," I tell them, taking a seat looking through my email.

  "Go get her," I tell Dom.

  "She’s so annoying. Can’t we just leave her?” he said.

  “No, go get her. We’ll be waiting in the lobby," I tell him.

  As we get on the elevator, "You owe me," he tells me, getting off the elevator.

  Angel texts me that he and Tisha will be at the safe house when Devin and Camille are there. Amy gets off the elevator putting a switch in her step.

  "Let's go. I don't have all day," I tell her walking to the car. Dom in the driver's seat with Danny in the passenger seat; me and Amy in the back.

  "What's this meeting about?" Amy asks. Nobody said nothing during the rest of the ride. She sits there, pouting. Dom pulls up to graphic arts building. We all get out, walking to the front desk.

  "Welcome to Graphic Arts. How can I help?" ask the receptionist.

  “I’m Giovanni Ricci. I have a meeting with Matthew," I tell her. She looks at the computer.

  "Yes. Mr. Butler is on the third floor, room 12," she tells me.

  "Thank you," I say, getting on the elevator. We walk to the room to see Matthew sitting down.

  "Hey G," he said, seeing me walk into the room.

  "Matt," I say, shaking his hand.

  "Danny boy," he says to Danny.

  "Mattie," Danny said.

  Matthew straight faces him. "Don't call me that," he says.

  "Who's this lovely lady?" Matthew asks, walking in front of Amy.

  "Amy Williams," she said.

  "Matthew Butler," he says.

  "Good that we all made introductions. Let's get to business," I tell them, taking a seat at the table. Everyone takes a seat.

  "Amy, this is a business matter. Can you sit outside of the room?" I tell her.

  "G, that's bad manners. You can't leave a lady such as herself outside by herself like that," Matthew said. I look at him.

  "I'll get Allen to keep you company," he said, pulling out his phone.

  Camille POV

  It's been a couple of days since I have seen Chris. I don't know if he was telling the truth about me ending up here, but I hope that he finds some way to help me. Devin was nice enough to leave some books here for my entertainment each day he comes in here counting the days until I leave. He tells me each day that I can always join the Ferrari family, but I can't do that to Gio, knowing they are enemies. I lay on the bed reading an old Nikki Turner book that I read five times since Devin said he was gonna out to grab food and other things. I finish the first book then start reading the next when I hear the car pull up. Thank the Lord this man was about to starve me, I thought of putting the book down. I sit up, waiting for him to walk up the steps, but I hear some commotion downstairs. I walk up to the door, putting my ear to the door.

  "What room is she in?" I heard a man say.

  "Fuck you," Devin said, a loud smack is heard. I walk away from the door.

  Shit, I gotta get out of here, I thought. I put on my shoes, then opening the window, start shaking the bars I hear someone walking up the steps. Shit. I start shaking the bars harder. I let the bars go climbing under the bed a few seconds later, the door opens.

  "Camille, I'm a friend of Giovanni Ricci," the man said, standing in front of the door. I still stayed under the bed, not moving.

  "Love, I need you to go with Trey," Gio says. My heart stops for a second, hearing his voice. I get from under the bed. I see a nice looking black man holding his phone out to me.

  "Gio," I say.

  "Yes, love. I need you to leave with him and go to the safe house," he tells me.

  "Okay," I say, handing the phone back.

  "We have to hurry up before someone comes," Trey tells me. I shake my head, following him downstairs into the living room. I see two white men standing around a tied up Devin. I look around the living room seeing family pictures. They really kidnapped me and brought me here, I thought looking around the living room.

  "Let's go," Trey said, walking out the front door. I follow behind him to an all-black charger with tinted windows. He opens the back door for me. I get in, then he gets in the driver's seat after closing the back door. The other two put Devin in the trunk of another car.

  "Where are we going?" I ask.

  "To a safe house," he tells me driving.

  We drive for two hours, pulling up to the bougie side of Atlanta. He pulls into the garage, and we get out going into the house. Trey's phone rings; he pauses for a minute."It went well. She's right here," he said then hands me the phone.

  "Hello," I say.

  "Camille, my girl," Angel said. I start laughing. "Good to hear your voice," he says.

  “Good to hear yours, too," I tell him.

  “Give me the phone," I hear Tisha say. "Bitch, I was worried about you," Tisha said, being all dramatic. “I can't wait to see you and get away from your family," she said.

 
"We’ll talk about that later, "I tell her.

  "How are you?" she asks me.

  “I’m fine," I tell her.

  "We'll talk when I see you," she said before hanging up. I give Trey back his phone back.

  "There are clothes for you in a room upstairs," he says. I shake my head, following him to the room upstairs. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything," he tells me before he leaves the room. I sit on the bed, letting everything that happened process. Chris really came through, I thought, getting out of bed, going to the closet.

  The closet had damn near has every color in the rainbow. I know Gio told whoever got these clothes to grab everything in the store. I open the drawers to see different color lace panties and bras. This man, I thought, as I grab a matching pair. I grab a black T-shirt and black leggings with some long socks I place them on the bed then walk to the bathroom. The bathroom is something you see on MTV Cribs. It has a showerhead hanging from the ceiling, his and her sinks, and TV by the tub.

  This man is really trying to make me feel at home, I thought, looking around the bathroom again.

  I see that there are towels and rags on the sink. I walk to the tub turning the water on seeing bath bombs on the ledge of the tub throwing one in. I turn the TV on to some old music channel. I get in the tub, relaxing listening to Avant. I sing along with him while washing up. After two more songs, I get out of the tub, drying off. I let the water out of the tub then walk to the room, putting on clothes. I walk back into the closet, looking for tennis shoes to see heel, sandals, flip flops, and boots. I know this man spared no expense on me. I grab a pair of brown UGGs on my feet. Walking downstairs. I see that Trey is in the living room on the phone.

  "Yes, boss," he said, then pauses. I walk into the living room; he looks at me. "She's right here," he says, giving me the phone.

  "Hello," I say, taking a seat on the couch. Trey leaves the room.

  "Love, how are you doing?" Gio asks.

  "Good now," I tell him looking around the living room.

  "Tonight you'll be getting on my private plane going back to New Jersey. Trey will take you to my penthouse," he tells me.

  “I just want to go home," I tell him.

  “I know, but with your family, we don't know if they will have any of the Ferrari family looking for you, so I need to keep you somewhere no one can find you, " he tells me.

  “I understand," I tell him, closing my eyes. “When is this shit gonna stop?" I say.

  "I'm making sure that after today, whatever is going on with your family that it never happens again to you," he tells me. We pause for a minute, just hearing each breath. "Love, I'm gonna talk to you later," he says before hanging up. I end the call placing the phone on the table in front of me. I lean back on the couch.

  "You hungry," Trey asks, making me jump a little.

  "I can go for some ribs," I tell him. He shakes his head. I give him his phone, and I follow him to the front door.

  "Camille, you need to stay in the house. I don't want anyone to see you," he tells me. I walk back to the living room. I turn on VH1, seeing that Love and Hip-Hop have a marathon going on. I kick off my shoes getting comfortable watching the drama go down. After watching a couple of episodes, I start getting worried about Trey. We in the south damn near every corner have a rib place, so what's taking him this long, I thought. I get off the couch, looking through the window, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

  "Damn, where could he have gone?" I said, going back to the couch. Ten minutes later, I hear the garage door open. I pause the TV and walk to the kitchen to see Trey walking in with bags of food.

  "Bitch," I hear Tisha say, running to me. We hug for like five minutes.

  “I missed you," I tell her.

  “Me too. I almost set your grandma's house on fire," she tells me.

  “What are you doing here?" I ask her.

  “Girl, we leaving with you tonight," Tisha tells me, walking to the kitchen table. I look across the kitchen to see Angel and Trey talking. They lookup.

  “Camille, your family, is something else," Angel said, giving me a hug.

  “I know," I tell him. Trey hands me two bags. I walk to the table, giving Tisha a bag.

  "Girl, why I almost fight your cousin," Tisha said.

  "Which one?" I asked, picking up a fork full of yams.

  "Keisha," she tells me, and I scrunch up my face.

  “What happened?" I ask after Tisha drink a little of her orange crush.

  "Girl, so I'm asking your family is there anywhere you would have gone or someone that you might have kept in touch within the A. No one didn't know shit, but here she goes Camille probably laid up with Devin since he been gone too. She said I look around the room. I walk up to her I don't know who you're talking about but not Camille maybe you referring to yourself it seems like you sleep with anyone that has a little bit of money I tell her. Then she starts calling me fat and saying that Angel only with me because Gio wants you, I snap girl grabbing her by her shirt. It took Angel and a couple of your cousins to break us apart," Tisha tells me. I shake my head.

  "She was always jealous of anyone that gets more attention than her," I say, finishing my food.

  I can tell," Tisha says.

  Giovanni POV

  After spending three hours in the conference room meeting with all my distributors in the A and keeping tabs on Camille, we leave the room walking to Matthew's office.

  "He should be in his office," Matt said, opening his door to see Allen and Amy slobbing down on the desk.

  "What the fuck," Matt said, making Allen and Amy break apart.

  "Sorry, bro," Allen said, wiping his mouth.

  "Supposed to be a lady, my ass," Danny said. I just laugh, taking a seat in front of the desk. Amy walks to the side of the room, fixing herself.

  "I am a lady you dimwitted fool," she tells him.

  “Shut up, go sit outside the room," Danny tells her. After Amy and Allen leave the room.

  "What would you like for me to do?" Matt asks.

  "I need for you to get Allen to spend some time with Amy tonight and get some of your men to meet me at that address," I tell him.

  "I can make that happen. Just call me with the time," Matt said.

  “Good, I'll call you later tonight," I tell him before leaving the office.

  "What are you thinking about?" Danny asks while we got on the elevator.

  "How we're gonna make Rico pay for what he did to Camille,” I tell him when we leave the building getting in the car.

  "Where to?" Dom asks.

  “Find somewhere for us to eat," I tell him, going through the texts that Trey and Angel had sent me.

  After fifteen minutes, we pull up to a Mexican restaurant.

  "I don't want this," Amy said.

  "Then stay in the car," I tell her, walking into the restaurant. We get a seat with Amy making faces at the menu. We all order drinks some tequila.

  "What’s the plans for tonight?" Danny asked.

  "Got to meet with Dave at the club tonight," I tell him.

  "No, you're not allowed out after ten," Amy said. I take a sip of my drink.

  "You shouldn't be kissing on random strangers while on duty," I tell her. She shuts her mouth.

  "Like I said, I need to talk with Dave. I might see his brother too," I tell them before eating.

  Chapter 23

  Camille POV

  " Girl, we should have stayed our ass in Jersey. Your family is a whole nother crazy," Tisha said.

  " Trust me, I know," I tell her, taking a seat in the living room.

  " How have you and Angel been," I ask, changing the subject.

  " We have been doing good. He's been my rock during your whole disappearance," she said. I look at her face seeing her glowing and a little smile.

  " You must really like him," I tell her she smiles more.

  " I like him, but we are taking it slow, no titles or nothing yet," she tells me.

  " I see you over there try
ing to settle down with the Italian stallion," I tell her laughing.

  " I know you are not talking getting the head of the family getting that coin sis," she tells me.

  " You took it a little too far," I tell her Tisha pouts a little

  " I'm sorry," she says.

  " Be glad you're my girl, or we would be fighting," I tell her.

  " Don't play. I'll stomp you out like I was about to do Keyshia," she tells me.

  " You mean the windmill," I tell her laughing she sides eye me then her phone rings she pulls it out.

  " Hey James," Tisha said she paused for a minute.

  " She's right here," Tisha said handing me the phone

  " Camille I finally got in touch with you," he said

  " What's wrong," I ask him.

  " Camille, I'm sorry to say, but you're under investigation," he said.

  " About what I have been gone for the past two weeks," I tell him.

  " The FEDs think that you and Ricci had a romantic relationship while he was incarcerated," James said.

  "Fuck so what's gonna happen," I ask.

  " You'll still be on leave for the next couple of weeks without pay until this investigation is done," he tells me.

  “Thanks for telling me, James," I say.

  “Kiddo. Stay away from Ricci. He's bad news, especially for you,” he tells me before hanging up. I give Tisha her phone.

  "What happened?" she asks.

  " I'm under investigation," I tell her.

  " For what?" she asks.

  " The FEDs think that I was involved with Ricci while he was locked up," I tell her. If it ain't one thing, it's another, I thought. "I'm gonna go to lay down," I say her getting off the couch.

  I walk to the room I occupied earlier lying on the bed, thinking about what James said to me. Are they doing this because I didn't want to set Gio up? Then they found out that my family owes Ricci money, but the only way they would know that if they know someone on the inside. I get off the bed, walking to the living room.

  "Tisha, let me see your phone," I ask her. She hands it to me, and I call Chris. After a minute, he answers.

  " Hello," he said.

  " Chris, where is Uncle Dre?" I ask.

  " You were supposed to leave and not contact me," he says.

  " Answer my question. Why wasn't Dre at the reunion?" I ask.