Scarlett and the Feds

by Baker, S. L.

  Victor put two steaming steaks on a plate and placed them on the table. Scarlett had a bib on and her sleeves rolled up, she was starving. The sun was starting its descent and the sky was pink.

  “What a perfect night. Amazing food, wine with the man I love, and a breathtaking sunset,” I toasted.

  Our glasses clinked and we both devoured our dinner like ravenous animals. Scarlett was on her knees praying to God almighty that somewhere in the house was chocolate cake, or brownies. She had a wicked hankering for chocolate.

  I picked up both of our plates and headed into the kitchen with Scarlett hot on my heels. She was jonesing for sugar and she was on a mission to score some. I giggled as I envisioned her in a seedy part of town, handing some sketchy dude fifty bucks for a bag of chocolate laced with mint.

  I rinsed off the dishes as Victor played grab ass with me. I squirted him with water and we laughed. I enjoyed these light hearted moments with him, free of every care in the world. The mob, the Feds, and Nelson’s agenda would all still be a reality when we returned to the East coast, but for now I wanted to savor ever minute I could.

  Chapter 14

  Waking up surrounded by vineyard, the birds singing, and fresh warm air filling the bedroom was an intoxicating mixture. It was the first night Victor and I slept in this tranquil paradise, and I was thrilled. I wandered downstairs the next morning; Scarlett had on her robe, bunny slippers, and looked like hell. Only one thing was important to her at that moment and that was coffee. She made a mental note to herself to get cracking on her patent of a portable I.V. that dispensed coffee in the morning and various cocktails throughout the day.

  I wandered through the house. It was empty. A brief moment of panic hit me, where is Victor? Had the Mob taken him and I was next? Then I saw him out in the herb garden.

  “I learn something new about you every day, Mr. Salvatore,” I said smiling. “I didn’t realize you had a passion for gardens.”

  “Something else I inherited from my grandmother. She was a phenomenal cook and only used ingredients that she grew herself. When I was a little boy and we’d go visit, she’d send me out into her garden to pick tomatoes. They were the largest and most flavorful tomatoes I’d ever tasted. All her herbs for her sauces she grew. Do you know which herb this is?”

  Scarlett raised her hand, she didn’t have a clue, but the coffee was kicking in so she’d guess.

  “Basil?” I said. Pulling from my limited knowledge of cooking spices that consisted of salt, pepper, basil and maybe, if I was living on the wild side, garlic.

  “Close, it’s oregano. Smell it.”

  I leaned down and took a whiff. Scarlett instantly began humming in Italian.

  “It smells delectable,” I said stealing another whiff.

  Victor handed me several leaves of varying spices. We went into the house and he showed me the steps to make fresh spices. My stomach was setting off fireworks in anticipation of the masterpiece Victor would whip up.

  “Both your grandmother and Mother sound like strong amazing woman.”

  Victor smiled, his adoration plastered all over his face.

  “Yes. They were, and I regret that they never had to opportunity to meet you. They both would have adored you.”

  “Unlike Vivian who tried to kill me,” I seethed shuddering at the memory.

  Victor froze and the corners of his mouth turned down at the shear mention of her name. “She will be taken care of soon enough, and it won’t be pretty. I will enjoy taking her out.”

  Chills ran up my spine with the brutality of Victor’s tone. Scarlett put a save the date on calendar for that day. She even highlighted it. She wouldn’t miss that chance for anything.

  Trying to lighten the mood I asked: “What’s on the agenda for the day?”

  Victor snapped out of his planning for operation eliminate the gold digger and grabbed my hand.

  “How about a tour?” he asked.

  I hesitated. “Okay, but its approaching eighty and all I have is my biker gear,” I said.

  “Stay put I’ll be right back.”

  Scarlett rubbed her hands together in anticipation. Usually his surprises resulted with me lying in a marinade of my own juices and Scarlett puffing on a cigar.

  My sweet spot had made a full recovery and was on high alert. Victor returned with his trademark box with a red bow. I greedily unwrapped it and pull out a sun dress and sandals. His sense of style was impeccable and I loved everything he picked out for me. Scarlett was modeling it in the mirror and did her best Southern girl twirl. I stripped smack dab in the middle of the living room throwing my jeans on the coach.

  Before I even got the dress out of the box, Victor was behind me and kissing my neck. He picked me up and sat on the couch still holding me. My sweet spot mimicked a California wildfire burning out of control. His lips savored each kiss like the grapes in the vineyard. He stood up and slid off his linen shorts. Pulling me up off the couch, he bent me over the arm of the couch and began licking and kissing the nape of my neck to the top of my ass. His finger did its own tango inside my ass, my sweet spot was now on the brink of a volcanic eruption. I came as his manliness thrust in my sweet spot and his finger still tantalizing my ass. Scarlett doused me with a cup of water in case the intensity of the orgasm was too much and I passed out. Victor let out a primal growl and came all over my ass.

  I lay over the couch panting and drooling, Victor’s lips made short work from the small of my back to my neck. Scarlett signaled for us to stand back 1-2-3- Clear, she shouted, shocking my sweet spot for round two.

  “Holy hotness, Victor. That was awesome and I feel honored to have helped you christen the couch.

  Victor laughed. “There are several other places in the house that need to be christened.”

  “I can’t wait for that, but this girl needs a shower,” I said.

  “I will join you.”

  “Hell yeah,” I said. Scarlett was outside in the front yard standing in a vat of grapes smashing them with her feet.

  I dried off, changed, and was ready for the tour in record time. No matter what I did with Victor, it was exhilarating and exciting. Even watching paint dry with Victor would be fun.

  ***

  The door in foyer led to the garage, Scarlett’s heart skipped a few beats when she saw her true love, the Harley, parked. She ran over and kissed the handlebars running her hands on the leather seats. Victor helped me into the Jeep Wrangler and opened the garage door.

  “Wait, I thought we were doing a walking tour?”

  “It’s thirty acres, so it’s a large property to walk and we need to go back to the beach house in a couple of hours. I’d prefer we go at dusk and return here at night, it’s easier to be incognito. We can slip in, grab what we need and slip out.”

  Scarlett squealed in delight, she’d never ridden at night and this would take riding to a whole new dimension.

  The next few hours Victor gave me a lesson about different grapes and their color and size and which ones made sweet wine or dry. Scarlett was stuffing her face with grapes and looked like a chipmunk.

  The last stop on the tour was a medium size barn that was bigger than it looked like. It looked as though it had been there for a thousand years. The stone architecture resembled the ones on the porch balusters.

  The barn housed equipment for the production of wine.

  “Wow, this is impressive.”

  “Every piece of equipment is unique in its ability to produce exceptional wine,” Victor said admiring the idle machines.

  “How many bottles of wine does this vineyard produce?”

  “None at the moment. The grapes are still maturing and I want to do a few trial runs before I private label any bottles.”

  “You’re going to manufacture wine out of this vineyard? Won’t that bring unwanted attention to the house?” I asked confused. Scarlett was scratching her head with the deer in the headlight gaze.

  “No, I’m not going to mass produce it,
just make it for us and family for now. Most of the vineyard is still immature.”

  “You amaze me. Is there anything you can’t do, Mr. Salvatore?”

  “Yeah, laundry.” Victor smirked.

  “Where did you learn to make wine?”

  “My grandfather was the biggest producer of wine in Italy. It’s how he made his fortune. He started in a building smaller then this and grew to a multi-million dollar enterprise. I was their only grandson and my grandfather taught me everything he knew. I spent most summers with them growing up.”

  “How did your parents meet?”

  “At a wedding. They dated three months and were married. I was born a year later.”

  “So why didn’t they have more kids?”

  “She lost a baby girl at thirty-six weeks. She really never recovered from her loss and didn’t want to keep trying. My parents drifted apart. My father’s status and power grew so did his temper and indiscretions with other woman.”

  “Why stay? She was worth millions, she could have taken you and vanished.”

  Victor scoffed. “My father would have stopped her before she reached the Jersey border. You don’t just walk out on the head of the Mob with his son. My father is a cold hearted, sadistic bastard to anyone that crosses him or threatens his power. He would have killed her without a second thought and she knew that.”

  “I’m sorry, Victor,” I said stroking his arm. I reached up and kissed him. Scarlett was even more fired up to have another crack at Joe Salvatore. She wasn’t scared of him. That made one of us.

  ***

  The sun was setting as we headed back to the Tuscany house. We both slid into our biker gear and Scarlett was straddling the bike, wind visor over eyes and a cheesy grin on her face.

  The Harley roared to life and I assumed my usual place wedged in between Victor and Scarlett. Riding at night was both terrifying and electrifying. The only light was from the moon, oncoming traffic and houses whizzed by. The sounds at night were different as all the nocturnal animals awakened for the night and becoming moving targets as they darted into the road. I buried my head in Victor’s back and he gained speed, swerving around slow moving traffic. Scarlett was standing up, arms waving in the air. Turning down the road to the beach house, I smelled that soothing sea air and inhaled. The gates opened to the house and Victor gunned it up the driveway. Scar giggled. I held on for dear life.

  Chapter 15

  Scarlett and I wiped away tears as the house disappeared and the soothing symphony of the waves crashing into the shore became silent. I knew it meant my four days of bliss and relaxation were over. It was back to being the Mob’s most wanted. I sat quiet and let the reality sink back in that in a few short hours I would be immersed back in the shit show that had become my life.

  I sighed as the door to the jet closed and the engine roared to life. Victor held my hand. “Thank you, Victor, for these last four days.”

  “My pleasure. It was incredible.”

  Scarlett had her face pressed against the window of jet the hoping to catch a glimpse of some-one brag worthy.

  The jet was gaining altitude as I sank into my seat, unable to shake the feeling of dread. I so wanted to stay in California and start a new life with Victor without worrying about looking over my shoulder for a bullet with my name engraved on it. Or being surrounded by the Feds who wanted to throw us both in prison for the rest of our lives.

  “Victor, promise me, if I don’t make it out of this alive that you will scatter my ashes between the beach house and the vineyard,” I said, just barely audible.

  Victor looked like I had just punched him in the gut. “I refuse to even allow my thoughts to go there. You will survive. I’ve told you there is no way in fucking hell anyone will ever hurt you. We will come out of this whole.”

  “Promise me,” I said.

  “Yes,” he said refusing to make eye contact.

  I turned and looked out of the window trying to snap out of my state of hopelessness and get my head back in the game. I couldn’t just give up. I was in too deep and too many lives, including my own, depended on me holding my shit together. Scarlett arrived with a triple scoop hot fudge sundae minus the cherry, she couldn’t resist; cherries were her favorite. She had learned to twist the stem into shapes while I was in college, an example of education at its finest. Her tongue was working overtime and she revealed a stem in the shape of heart. I smiled and my mood lightened. I unbuckled my seat belt, and sat in Victor’s lap. My lips devoured his and I felt his manliness stiffen. He just held me.

  “I promise you. It will be okay,” Victor said, urgency dripping from his tone.

  “Ok,” I said, pretending to sound convinced. “Promise me we can come back to California very soon?”

  “Yes.”

  ***

  Scarlett wanted to throat punch Mother Nature when we landed back in Jersey and it was 39 degrees and spitting snow. She re-fastened her seat belt and held onto the arm rests with her death grip. Nope, there was no way in hell she was getting off the plane. She was on the next flight back to California and would see me when I visited. I had to lure her off the plane with a promise that we would go car shopping and I’d consider the pimped out Escalade with the rocket launchers mounted on the side. She flipped me the double bird, unbuckled her seat belt, and sulked off the plane. The cold air bit into my skin and instantly wished I was lying back on that beach. Scarlett gave me one last death stare as she climbed into the waiting Escalade.

  “I have an idea. Let’s blunt the effect that we’re back in the arctic tundra of the East Coast,” I said.

  “What’s that?”

  “Let’s stop at a couple of dealerships on the drive home and buy me a car,” I said hoping Victor would go for my plan.

  “Sounds good, except that your still on California time and it’s after seven so there all closed. Besides I set up an appointment with my contacts so we shop in private.”

  “Of course you do,” I quipped. “I’d be worried if you didn’t know a guy that could hook us up,” I joked. Scarlett still looked like she had just sucked a lemon and refused to make eye contact with me.

  Victor laughed. “I’ll arrange an appointment for tomorrow night. Have you decided what you want yet?”

  “Not really,” I said. Scarlett shot heat seeking missiles in my direction. I had promised her I’d buy her choice. “Maybe another Civic, there great on gas and my last one was so dependable.” Both Victor and Scar looked at me like I’d lost my mind once and for all.

  “No!” Victor said flatly. “Not happening. Too small and not all-wheel drive for bad weather.”

  “Or covered in bullet proof glass and fortified steel that tanks are made out of, correct?” I said arms folded, I raised my eye brows. I knew I would have to comprise because it was me against Victor and Scar. Traitor, I mumbled to Scarlett. She stuck her tongue out at me.

  “Would you consider the small Cadillac SUV? Something that size?”

  “What is it with Mobsters and Caddies?” I asked. “It’s like you can’t be one without the other.”

  “My car tastes, as you have seen, are all over the board. The Escalades have proven the easiest to accommodate my security needs.”

  “My Uncle Sid only drove Chevy. Nothing else. I bought my Honda for $800.00 from a friend in college my freshman year and it’s lasted a long time. What’s important to me is what I can afford and what is dependable.”

  My gaze fixed on Victor’s. The corner of his mouth dropped and his lips clenched together. His shifted so he was facing me and grabbed my face in between those massive hands.

  “Please let me buy you this car. It is very important to me, Angelina. I respect your opinion and independence and I admire that. But let me do this.”

  Scarlett was on her knees hands grasped reciting the Hail Mary that I’d agree.

  “I will think about it, but only if I can choose what I want?”

  “Ok.”

  “Set up some appointmen
ts for tomorrow.”

  “Done,” he said flashing me a big smile.

  I had an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I really felt uneasy about Victor buying me a car. It was so much money. I had come up with a solution I hoped we both could live with. I’d buy the car and if it was more than I had, he could pay the difference. Scarlett winked at me. That plan may work, but if not, she still wanted the pimped out SUV with all the cool gadgets.

  ***

  Hawke waited for me at the car after work. I climbed in the back of the Escalade. Scarlett was bouncing off the walls all day like a toddler on a sugar high. She was so excited about going car shopping.

  “Hi, Hawke.”

  “Ma’am,” he replied.

  “Where’s Victor?” I’d expected him to meet us in the parking lot.

  “His last meeting ran late. We’re heading over to his office to get him.”

  “Ok,” I said, realizing that I hadn’t been back to Salvatore Industries since that day I was investigating Philip Snyder’s murder.

  Hawke entered the parking garage and pulled into a space. He was at my door before I’d grabbed my purse. He walked next to me his eyes constantly scanning the area. He hurried me to the elevator, the doors opened, and he slid in a card and pushed eight. The anticipation was killing me and Scarlett was on the verge of losing her mind. Neither of us had ever been in Victor’s office. Scarlett rubbed her hands together at the thought of being in the epicenter of Victor’s empire protected by snotty, well-dressed, skinny receptionists and security guards with inept social skills.