by Wendy Rosnau
“No. That’s not what he wanted for me.”
“Why not?”
“Because Carlo knew Grace was important to me. To go behind Vito’s back, I had to care about her. Maybe he even knew I loved her. So instead of killing me, he wanted me alive so that I would suffer every day for the rest of my life. He wanted all of the capos and soldiers to see me stripped and broken. He wanted them to know what it would cost them if they ever tried to cheat him or steal from the famiglia.”
There was a moment of silence, then Frank turned to face Joey. Slowly his hand drifted to the patch over his eye. “I became Carlo’s walking billboard that night. Vito took my eye while Vinnie and Carlo held me down.”
Joey stared at his father’s patched eye. He was nine years old when his father had arrived at Lavina Ward’s house to pick up him and his brother, wearing the patch. He had never said a word about what happened. A day later, when Joey had gotten up the courage to ask, he’d been told it was none of his business and never to mention it again.
“Your eye was the price?”
“Yes. For looking at another man’s wife. Carlo said, the punishment fit the crime. I also lost my territory. Carlo gave it all to Vito as restitution for his loss and humiliation. And since Vinnie had gotten out of bed to help clean up my mess, he was entitled to something, too. Carlo asked him what he wanted from me, and he said he wanted my eldest son to marry his daughter when the time came. Sophia was only one year old at the time.”
And what about the deal? Sophia’s words, and her smug grin, came back to Joey.
Frank must have seen the disbelief on Joey’s face. He said, “I didn’t have a choice. And at the time I didn’t think it was such a bad deal. You were nine years old, and it would be years before you would be expected to marry her. A lot could happen in that time. I thought there had to be a way out of it, I just hadn’t come up with it yet. For the next several years I watched Sophia grow up, determined to get you out of the deal I’d made with Vinnie. Then, as she got older, I started to convince myself that maybe it wasn’t such a bad deal. She was smart and she was beautiful. That’s when I came up with the idea to get you to fall in love with her. I thought if you two were together enough, you would eventually fall for her, and then—”
“I wouldn’t have to know the truth.”
“Carlo and Vinnie never knew that I didn’t tell you about the deal I’d made with him. There was no time line, so as long as you looked like you were eventually going to fulfill the deal we’d made, no one suspected you didn’t know what was expected of you. Then you two got engaged, and I thought everything was going to work out. That is, until you started seeing Rhea secretly and broke off the engagement.”
“How did you explain that to Carlo and Vinnie?”
“I told them that you were involved in a heavy business deal that was worth millions. That it was going to require you to be single for a while longer. They understood what that meant. In fact, Vinnie said he appreciated your consideration for Sophia. I said you were still planning to marry her as soon as things got settled. Vinnie’s as greedy as Carlo when it comes to money. I knew if I mentioned millions, they would agree that the marriage was secondary. It bought us some time.”
“And that’s when you decided to send Rhea to Santa Palazzo?”
“Once I learned she was pregnant, I couldn’t chance Carlo and Vinnie finding out. Your sleeping with her would have been fine. But the child was a problem. Vinnie chose you for Sophia because he wanted the money tie. A child by you and Sophia would merge our families.” Frank started to pace. “It was just like I’d stepped back into the same nightmare I’d created years ago. Back then, Grace paid for my mistake, and now your son was going to pay for yours. Even though you had no idea what had transpired years earlier.” His father stopped and leveled Joey a look. “That’s why we have to get Rhea and Niccolo back to Santa Palazzo as quick as possible.
“I’m not afraid for myself, Joey. Yes, Carlo will come after me, but Vinnie will come after you and Niccolo. Rhea, too. They will be made examples of for the good of the famiglia. They’ll cut you, Joey. Where you’ll bleed the most. And like I said, it’s always the innocent who end up getting hurt.”
Joey felt like someone had ripped his guts out through a pinhole. He turned away, and this time he was the one who went to stand at the window.
Yesterday he’d been furious with his father; today he realized that even though Frank was ultimately responsible for everything that had happened, three years ago his father had rescued Rhea and Nicci from certain death. Everything was making sense now, and the reality of it all was too bizarre not to believe.
“Joey, please. Send them back. You can’t protect them here. Not against Carlo.”
“It’s too late for that, Frank.” He turned from the window. “It’s too risky at this time to send them back.”
“What do you mean, it’s too risky? They haven’t been here longer than a day. I know for a fact that Carlo’s in Detroit for a few days. If no one knows they’re here, we can get them back and keep Niccolo a secret.”
Joey shook his head. “Last night, at least a hundred people at the Stardust saw Rhea … and my son. Included in that hundred was Sophia D’Lano. This morning she came here to see me. Not knowing anything about your deal with Carlo and Vinnie, I told her I didn’t intend to marry her. She left my office making heavy threats. I figure by now, Vinnie D’Lano has made a call to Carlo with the news.”
Frank collapsed onto a chair as if he’d been sucker punched. The color drained from his face. “You’re right, it would be too risky to move them now. I’ve been able to keep Santa Palazzo a secret for twenty-four years, and if they discover that I…” Frank stopped himself from going on. “Carlo can never know that—”
“Grace is alive. Is that what you were going to say, Frank?”
When his father simply stared at him, Joey walked back to his desk and slid open his top drawer. As he hit the switch on a tape recorder, he took his chair, then watched more color drain from his father’s face as the conversation he’d had with Rhea an hour earlier began to spill into the room.
After the tape had played out, Frank stated, “You bugged your penthouse.”
Joey shook his head. “No. I bugged Rhea.”
“How?”
“She’s wearing a dime-size microphone. It’s in the back pocket of her jeans. So let’s start over, Frank. And this time, why don’t you dig a little deeper into the past and tell me everything? Tell me how you managed to keep Grace alive, and how nine months later she gave birth to my sister. Elena, right?”
* * *
Chapter 6
« ^ »
”You’re right. The word on the street is that Vinnie wants your balls in a jar, and Carlo wants Frank’s throat slit.”
Joey looked up from his desk the next morning as Lucky walked into his office. “What else?”
“How do you know there’s something else?”
“There’s always something else with Carlo Talupa. Let’s hear it.”
“He flew in late last night from Detroit. This morning he put out a contract on Frank. He’s offering money and … Rhea.”
Joey felt his world tilt. “Rhea…”
“That’s right. He called Mickey Norelli out of Philly and Carmine Solousi in Detroit. They don’t like each other ever since Carmine stole Mickey’s girlfriend. Carlo’s playing one against the other to get the job done faster. They also have an appetite for blondes, remember? That means we’re going to have to come up with something quick.”
“Where’s Frank?”
“In his suite, pacing and cussing. Did Jacky call?”
“He called. He’s doing what he can on his end. What’s the consensus on the street?”
“The soldiers are talking. Carlo’s the boss and they know he’s got the muscle to back whatever action he takes. I don’t think we’re going to get much support unless we can shake things up big-time.”
Joey studied
the way Lucky was standing and wondered how many drinks it had taken to get his brother out of bed. Since yesterday everything had gone to hell, and there was a lot to consider. Where Lucky was concerned, he worried that Carlo would see him as an easy target. Everyone knew that since Lucky’s stint in the hospital he was fighting a battle with pain.
“I know what you’re thinking, fratello. You got plenty to deal with, without worrying about me. I can take care of myself.”
“Make me feel better and get a couple of the men to watch your back. Carlo will hurt us anywhere he can. If he plans to take over Masado Towers he’ll need to get rid of you, too.”
“You know I prefer to work alone.”
“Make an exception this time.” Joey leaned back in his chair and watched Lucky head to the bar. “You got guards on Frank?”
“Three. I sealed off his floor. He’s not happy about it, but that’s the way it has to be for now.” From behind the bar, Lucky looked at Joey. “I don’t agree with the way Frank handled the situation twenty-four years ago. He should have told you what went down. Not right away, of course. But when you were older.”
“Yes, he should have. And he should have told us about Grace, too,” Joey added.
“Damn right, he should have. Still, I’m not going to let Carlo take him down. Frank screwed up, but we’ve all done that. He’s suffered enough, fratello.”
Joey’s jaw jerked. “I still want to wring Frank’s neck for taking Rhea to Santa Palazzo without telling me, but I know why he did it. Maybe that’s enough for now.”
Lucky uncorked the scotch. “Frank said Vito refused to kill Grace.”
Joey nodded. “Frank said he passed out after they took his eye, and when he woke up, he found Grace laying beside him; she’d been beaten and her face cut. Grace was in the middle of having another stroke the other night when we arrived at Santa Palazzo to get Niccolo. That’s why Rhea wasn’t in her room at midnight. That was the family emergency your men reported.”
“Yeah, I figured that out, too. That’s why Frank flew to Florida so quickly. It was only after he arrived that he learned we’d been there and taken Niccolo.”
“You never saw Grace or Elena the four days you were there taking pictures, right?”
“No, I never did. Frank said Grace doesn’t leave the house much. So we have a sister.”
Joey detected a note of sarcasm in Lucky’s voice. He caught his brother staring, and asked, “What are you looking at?”
Lucky carried the bottle back to Joey’s desk and hooked his hip on the corner of the desk. “Frank told me what was on the tape. What Rhea said.”
Joey said nothing.
Lucky raised the bottle to his lips. Two swallows later, he said, “Did you talk to her about it last night? Did you tell her you know everything? Did you tell her you know how she feels about you?”
Joey had been waiting for his brother to hit on that subject. He came to his feet. “No. I haven’t had time to—”
“That’s bull, Joey.”
Joey scowled at his brother. “Okay, so how do you suggest I go about bringing it up?”
“You just come out and say it.”
“‘I bugged you with a microphone, darlin’. Yesterday when you confessed that you love me, that you’ve always loved me, I got it on tape.’ You think that’ll work, do you?”
Lucky scratched his rugged jaw. “Women hate being manipulated. Even if it’s for their own good. They got that tunnel-vision thing going most of the time. Still, you’re going to have to talk to her. Maybe if you start out telling her she’s not alone…”
“Not alone?” Joey’s scowl deepened.
“You saying you don’t love her?”
“I never said that.”
“I figure you do. Jacky thinks so, too. He says you’re acting like a man struggling at both ends.” Lucky’s gaze dropped to his brother’s crotch to drive his point home. “He says it’s frustrating as hell, but once a man faces the truth, the perks are hot sex on a regular basis, buying condoms by the box instead of singles in a public rest room, and someone to wash your back in the shower.”
Joey jammed his hands into his pockets and stared at his brother from the other side of the desk.
“I told Jacky I had already experienced hot sex,” Lucky continued. “After all, there’s a fireplace in the old house. That I’d been buying my condoms by the case, not by the box, since I was nineteen. And that my long-handled brush in the shower reached everything just fine.”
“Sounds to me like you and Jacky need a new hobby besides discussing my personal life,” Joey groused.
Lucky corked the scotch, slid off the desk and set the bottle in a chair, then eased himself into the one next to it. “Frank called it messy … you making a baby with Rhea. He doesn’t know you like I do. You’ve never made a mess in your life. Not Joe Cool. Not as long as I’ve known you. Neat as a pin, Vina used to say. You still fold your socks together before you throw ‘em in the laundry hamper?”
“Where’s this going, Lucky?”
“We’re an unbeatable team, fratello. But only if we level with each other. I need to know just what we’re fighting for. I need to know what you can’t live without and what is expendable before we go any farther with this war against Carlo. I need you to be honest with me and Jacky. Honest with yourself.”
Joey spun away from his desk. When he turned back, he hit his chest with his fist. “Okay, she’s still renting space in here. Is that what you want to hear, Lucky? I wish it was different, but it’s not. I wanted to hate her for lying to me, but I can’t. She’s been in my head and in my—” again, he fisted his chest “—in here since I saw her that night at the hospital. And now that I know she cares about—”
“Loves you,” Lucky helped out. “She used the word love, fratello.”
“Okay, Lucky! Loves me.” Joey started over. “Now that I know she loves me, I’m damn well going to find a way to send Carlo to hell for the misery he’s caused all of us.”
Lucky reached for the bottle of scotch. “See, that didn’t hurt too bad, did it?”
Joey nailed his brother with a black look.
“Let’s drink to sending Carlo to hell.”
“I don’t think so, bro.”
Lucky’s hand stilled. “What now?”
“I agree I want Carlo on his knees, and I agree we’re an unbeatable team … if we level with each other.” He pointed to the bottle. “So my question to you is, how many of those did it take to get you out of bed this morning? How many to get through the day? You look like you’re hurtin‘ bad. Just how bad, Lucky?”
“I don’t need the booze to do my job, Joey, if that’s the question behind the question. It makes it easier, but I don’t need it. Not to shoot straight or to rip a man apart.”
“Are you sure?”
Lucky slowly got to his feet. “I spoke with the doctor a week ago.”
Joey was surprised to hear it. Lucky hated doctors as much as he did. Surprised, but encouraged, he said, “What did he say?”
“He tells me that my scar is crowding the blood vessels along my spine.”
“Is there something that can be done?”
“Surgery.”
“So have it.”
“I’m considering it. But right now, taking Carlo off at the knees is more important. So what’s this plan you mentioned on the phone? The one you said I wasn’t going to like? Why the hell not?”
* * *
Rhea found the electronic bug in the back pocket of her jeans just before lunch. At first she had no idea what it was. Then she remembered the gold disk on Norman Gates’s lapel and suddenly realized she’d been played for a fool.
Faced with the truth, she now knew that yesterday’s kiss, the one she had thought was so open and honest, had been nothing more than a calculated scheme to plant the tiny microphone.
The truth stung her pride, but she had no one to blame but herself. She had made it easy for him. Her confession that she’d been wi
thout a man in her life for three years must have made it hard for him to keep from laughing while he gathered her into his arms to rescue her from her pathetic plight.
Yes, easy is what she’d been. She’d melted against him, and in his arms she had remembered everything. But more important, he had remembered, too, and that knowledge had made it all so simple for him. Now he not only knew how vulnerable she was with him, but he knew why—he knew she was in love with him, he knew about Grace, and he knew about Elena.
She needed to call Frank, but on the heels of that decision came the overwhelming urge to face Joey first. And that’s when she had called Opal Carvino.
In spite of her plan not to like Opal, Rhea was more than a little impressed when the nanny came through the door an hour later. Opal was sixty-two, and wore her rouge a bit too high and her glasses a bit low on her nose. But she came ready to work, her handbag full of books to read to Nicci, and sugarless treats.
Rhea learned that Opal was a retired nurse with credentials that made her better suited to run a children’s hospital than to take care of one little boy. But the best part of all was that Nicci liked her. He laughed at the older woman’s enthusiasm, blushed at her praise when he’d had the courage to try a new vegetable for lunch, and had fallen asleep in her arms while she read him a story.
If Rhea wasn’t so angry with Joey, she would have been able to appreciate the great pains he’d taken to find a woman of Opal’s caliber in such a short time. In fact, Opal admitted that Mr. Masado had promised her a bonus if she would move out of her apartment and into a suite at Masado Towers within twenty-four hours. Opal had gladly accepted the offer, and now resided five floors below them.
“I hope to be back by dinnertime,” Rhea told Opal. “But if I’m not, go ahead and feed Nicci. I’ve left a menu in the kitchen.”
“It wasn’t necessary to go to the trouble of a menu, Ms. Williams, but if it makes you feel more comfortable, I’ll follow it to the letter.”
