Love and War

by Jackie Chanel

  “Caprice,” Mahogany spoke sternly. “You are not going back to New York. I’ve already talked to Dean Sloaner at Stanford. He owes me a favor. You’re going to start your MBA program in California in the fall. When you’re done, you’ll run the company you started that I’ve been running for the last four years.”

  “You can’t control my life.”

  “Someone has to take control, since you have failed to do so.” Mahogany shook her head with disgust and anger written all over her face. “Running around New York like a common street thug. What is wrong with you? I knew I shouldn’t have let you meet those people!”

  “Those people are her family!” Domani’s deep voice boomed as he entered the room.

  Mahogany turned her head and glared at her former lover. She hadn’t laid eyes on the man in over twenty years, but at one time, she had loved him with every inch of her heart. Despite the age difference and his marital status, she had loved him. Seeing him warmed her heart…but only for a second.

  “Her family almost got my child killed!” she yelled.

  Caprice and Domani flinched at the same time. Yelling was definitely out of character for the soft-spoken beauty queen.

  “I trusted you to keep her safe! I should have known you’d let me down again!”

  Domani chuckled. “Let it go, Mahogany. That was twenty years ago. Caprice almost got her own self killed. She made a mistake. She’s lucky to be alive. That’ll teach her not to ignore the shit that I’ve taught her.”

  Mahogany stood up quickly. In her four-inch stilettos, she practically met Domani eye-to-eye. She moved towards him with the grace of a supermodel and the fierceness of a lioness on the prowl. Domani and Nico took a step backwards.

  “You arrogant bastard,” Mahogany hissed. “Your only job was to keep her safe and to do the one thing that you failed to do for eighteen years; take care of her. Instead, you put my child to work so you could have someone on the inside of some loser’s drug dealing operation.”

  “I volunteered.” Caprice tried to correct her mother’s assumption, but was met with an icy glare that shut her up immediately.

  “I am not talking to you, Caprice,” Mahogany replied before turning her wrath back onto Domani. “Not only did you put my child in danger, but the people that did this to her are still alive. How is that possible, Domani? I thought you ran New York City? I thought you were supposed to be the Boss?”

  Caprice waited for her father’s reaction. She had never head anyone speak to him the way Mahogany just had. In a way, Caprice was proud of her mother. Domani was the Boss, but Mahogany wasn’t afraid of him.

  “I'll let that slide,” Domani replied. “You’re upset. I’m upset. I didn’t want this to happen to Caprice. She got herself into this mess.”

  Domani patted Mahogany’s shoulder while staring at his bedridden daughter. “Don’t worry your perfect little head, dear. I always clean up my kids’ messes.”

  “You better fix it.” Mahogany placed her hands on her hips and glared at the father of her child. The painful memory of the night she told him she was pregnant reared its ugly head. In that instance, putting her hands on her hips was the only thing she could do to keep from slapping the smug expression off of Domani’s face.

  “If you can’t fix this, Domani, just say the word,” she continued. “I haven’t worked my ass off for all these years not to have friends in high places.”

  Domani frowned, starting to get a little irritated with his ex lover. Mahogany had no idea how he felt about seeing his daughter lying in a hospital bed. She had no idea of the heartbreak he felt when he received Rocco’s call. He almost had a heart attack when he saw his daughter’s broken and bloody body on her apartment floor.

  Mahogany had it easy. She didn’t hear Caprice’s cries as her father scooped her into his arms and lifted her off the floor. She wasn’t in the hospital when Caprice was fading in and out of consciousness and the doctors were saying she probably wouldn’t make it. In fact, she hadn’t known anything was wrong until Domani put his daughter on a private jet and flew her to Miami where she could recover safely.

  “Leave me alone with my daughter,” Domani said to Mahogany. “We have family business to discuss.”

  Mahogany stiffened her back and stood as straight as a board. Clearly, she wasn’t done with Domani but she didn’t want to argue in front of her injured daughter. Nico stepped out of her path as she swept past him. Mahogany gave the brother Caprice was so fond of a once over and turned her nose up at his rugged appearance. She just wanted them to leave. She wished she had never let them into her child’s life.

  Ignoring the sour expression on Mahogany’s face, Domani stepped past her and sat in the chair next to Caprice’s bed.

  “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

  “I’m fine,” Caprice insisted. She didn’t want to appear weak in front of the two toughest men she’d ever met.

  Nico walked over to his sister’s bed and kissed her bandaged forehead. He had failed and the bags under his eyes, the tightness of his jaw, and the fury in his eyes showed Caprice that the only thing on his mind was payback. The wrath he was going to bring down on Aries and the Black Diamond Mafia was unprecedented. They had no idea of what they had started.

  “Don’t you worry about a thing, sis,” Nico assured her. “Me and Rocco got plans for Aries. You just worry about getting better.”

  “I want to help,” Caprice stated calmly. She could only move her lips but Nico recognized how serious she was. Her eyes flashed with determination and hatred.

  “Do ya think I’m a fool?” Domani shook his head and laughed loudly. “You’ve played gangster long enough.”

  “What am I supposed to do?” Caprice tried to argue. “They tried to kill me.”

  “They didn’t want you dead or else you would be,” Nico stated. “They did this to send me a message.” He leaned close to Caprice’s ear. “Don’t worry, little sis,” he whispered low enough so their father couldn’t hear. “I’m going to kill every one he loves. No one fucks with you and gets away with it.”

  Nico gave her a sly wink and instantly Caprice felt better. She could temporarily put her vendetta on the back burner and focus on getting better knowing that Nico wasn’t going to make any moves until she was back on her feet. He wasn’t going to do anything until she was a fully functioning member of his team.

  Domani eyed his children’s exchange with suspicion. With their secret hand and eye signals that no one else could interpret, they acted like they had grown up together.

  “I don’t know what that was all about,” he spoke angrily. “But I do know that you only have two choices at this point, young lady. You’re not coming back to New York, that’s for damn sure. You can go work for me in Atlantic City, or go to California like your mother wants. That’s it. What’s it gonna be?”

  Caprice tried to shake her head, but the energy the small movement took and the pain it caused wasn’t worth it.

  “What’s in Atlantic City?”

  Domani grinned snidely. “Your new job. We’ll discuss it more in detail when you’re better and that thing is off your mouth. For now, you’re safe here. I got some guys putting in a better security system in your house, but don’t tell your mother yet. And Rocco is gonna stay down here to keep an eye out for ya. At least until your casts are off.”

  Caprice fought hard to suppress a giggle. She wasn’t in the best shape, but the idea of Rocco staying in Miami and taking care of her without Domani and Nico around exhilarated her. It had been too long since she laid eyes on the man.

  No one had told her that Rocco had been by her side from the moment he found her passed out in her apartment until Domani put her on his plane to Miami. She had no idea that her father and brother knew about them. She just wanted to see him.

  Chapter Eleven

  Two weeks after being wheeled into her mother’s lavish South Beach mansion, Caprice was irritated and restless. With one arm and one leg in casts, the only t
hing that brought her any kind of joy was the fact that her jaw wasn’t wired shut anymore.

  She complained about everything she could think of.

  Mahogany had reluctantly agreed to let Rocco stay at her house to ensure Caprice’s safety, but his constant babying was annoying. She didn’t need help going to the bathroom. She just wanted to know what he knew about Atlantic City and Aries, but Rocco was doing everything he could to keep her mind off either of those things.

  Therefore, she spent her days sitting outside by the pool researching graduate programs in New York because she wasn’t exactly in love with either of her parents’ plan for her future. She also spent hours texting and emailing anyone who might have an idea where Keisha was hiding out. No matter what happened to Aries, Caprice had something so much worse planned for his cousin.

  When Caprice befriended the girl, she had no intention of hurting her; she just needed Keisha to introduce her to Aries. They were far from BFFs, but betrayal was betrayal. Keisha had acted without confirmation that Caprice was up to something. For all she knew, Caprice could have been perfectly innocent. After all, you don’t get to choose your family members. Instead, Keisha let her emotions get the best of her and was going to die a slow painful death because of it.

  “Caprice, you want somethin’ from Nunzio’s? I’m goin’ out,” Rocco yelled from the guestroom balcony.

  Caprice frowned and looked up from her laptop. “No. I’m not hungry.”

  “You need to eat. I’ll bring you back a meatball sandwich.”

  Rolling her eyes, Caprice picked up her phone that was vibrating on the table. Despite the display reading UNKNOWN, she answered it anyway.

  “Who is this?”

  There was a profound sigh then, “Caprice, it’s me. Diesel.”

  Caprice heaved a deep sigh of relief. She’d been worried out of her mind about him. Mentioning his name in front of Keisha and Aries had been a huge mistake. Since she regained consciousness in the hospital, she feared that he was dead.

  “You’re okay,” she breathed into the phone. “Tell me you’re okay.”

  “I’m fine.” Diesel paused.

  “What?”

  “What the fuck happened, Caprice? Tell me Aries and Keisha made a mistake. Tell me that you are not Nico Bonatelli’s sister. Don’t lie to me either.”

  “I am,” Caprice answered weakly. There was silence on the other end. Caprice closed her eyes to hold back the tears filling up her eyes.

  “Fuck!” Diesel yelled. “I’ve seen some shit, but I never expected that from you. What the hell were you planning to do?”

  “I’m not going to tell you that,” Caprice replied. “It didn’t concern you. It still doesn’t.”

  She didn’t want Diesel to hurt, but she was loyal to her blood. No matter what her father thought, she still had a job to do. She wanted Aries to bleed, but she still didn’t want Diesel involved. The more questions he asked, the more answers he demanded would only bring him one step closer to Nico blowing his head off his shoulders. She wouldn’t let that happen.

  “Diesel, I never wanted you to get caught up in my shit with Aries. I’m sorry. Did he try to hurt you?”

  “No.” Diesel’s small laugh was grim. “Aries thinks you set us both up. Which you did.”

  “I never asked you anything about him,” Caprice argued. “What you told me, you did on your own. I would have found out either way.”

  “So that was your plan, huh? To find out who our connect was and cut off our supply? What else?”

  “I just said I wasn’t telling you that. I’m sorry you think I set you up, but you were never in my scope. I did what I had to do for my family. Aries wanted my brother dead and still does. I’m not going to let that happen. You, of all people, should understand that.”

  “Why?” Diesel growled. “Because I told you about my family? What the fuck do you think Aries is? He’s like my brother! Do you think I’m just going to sit back and let you and your brother take him out?”

  “You’re not going to have a choice, Diesel. I have four broken ribs. I’m in a wheelchair for at least another month. My jaw was wired shut. If you think he’s getting away with that, you are sadly mistaken. I understand that you want to be loyal to him,” Caprice said sadly. “Just don’t get caught in the crossfire.”

  “So it all comes down to loyalty, huh? You’re loyal to your family. I’m loyal to mine. Therefore, we can’t be loyal to each other.”

  Caprice sighed. “What do you want me to say?”

  “I just wanted to know that you were okay,” Diesel admitted after a long moment of silence.

  Caprice’s heartbeat quickened. He still cared. Despite knowing who she was, despite knowing what she was going to do, and knowing that what they had was over, Diesel still cared. Up until he said that, she hadn’t realized that was her major concern. She didn’t want him to hate her.

  “I’ll be okay.”

  “At least you’re alive. You can’t come back here. You know that, right?”

  “I’m not. I’m going out west.” Caprice felt horrible for lying, but she had to ensure her own safety.

  “Well, I guess that’s that,” Diesel replied. Caprice cringed at the hurt in his voice.

  “Diesel.” She spoke softly around the lump in her throat. “I’m a Bonatelli and we both know what that means. But there is a lot that you don’t know about me. My life in Miami is very different than New York. When this is all over, if you ever decide that you want out, come to Miami. Bring your family. I’ll take care of the rest.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “All I’m saying is, if you ever want something better for yourself, come here. That’s all I can say. I just want you to know that my feelings for you were real. It hurts that the situation isn’t different, but what I feel for you is genuine. I don’t want to see you hurt, and if I never hear from you again, I’ll understand. Bye Diesel.”

  As difficult as it was, Caprice cut the connection before he could say anything else. She clutched her phone to her chest and exhaled loudly. She had rolled the dice and lost. She may have Rocco at her beck and call now, but she knew in her heart that the man she really wanted, she would never have.

  ****

  “Nico is flyin’ in tomorrow,” Rocco stated while he and Caprice were lying on her bed watching reruns of South Park.

  “Good. We need to strategize. I finally got a lead on Keisha. That bitch is hiding out in Rhode Island.”

  “He’s not coming to take you back to New York, Caprice. You still have a month before your casts come off. Then it’s physical therapy after that.”

  Caprice shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t care. There are physical therapists in New York.”

  “Your mother isn’t going to let you go anywhere.”

  “I’m an adult. I don’t know why everyone keeps forgetting that. If I want to go back to New York, fuck what anyone else says; I’m going!”

  “You got your ass nearly beat to death, but now you got balls? You think you and Nico can do this now? After your first plan failed? I’ve met some ballsy chicks before, but you take the cake, babe.”

  Caprice ignored his sarcastic comments and sulked quietly on her side of the bed. What Rocco thought didn’t matter either. What her father and mother wanted was irrelevant. She and her brother had a job to finish. God dammit, it was getting done!

  ****

  When Nico, Domani, and Paolo walked into Mahogany’s study the next day, Caprice took one look at their faces and knew she wasn’t getting the reunion she had been hoping for.

  Domani was wearing an expression that Caprice hadn’t seen before. He looked like he had been pissed off for a week. Paolo was forlorn, but his eyes told a different story. They were damn near jubilant.

  “Don’t get up,” Nico joked and hugged his little sister.

  “What’s going on?” Caprice asked. “I wasn’t expecting all of you.”

  Domani sat behind Mahogany’s desk and wai
ted until his children stopped talking before he spoke.

  “We have a little problem,” he said to his children. “I gotta leave the country for awhile.”

  Nico immediately panicked. “What? Why? Is it the Lucchetti Family? I can take care of Luca if that’s the case. Just say the word, Pops.”

  “It’s nothing like that. It’s the FEDS and the goddamn IRS!” Domani balled his hands into fists. His face turned a brilliant shade of angry red.

  “Those merciless fucks been after me for years. Now they’re claimin’ some bullshit called tax avoidance.”

  “You pay your taxes,” Caprice stated matter of factly. “Don’t tell me you haven’t been paying taxes, Dad.”

  Domani was a shrewd businessman. He had a knack for making dirty money clean as a whistle. The idea that he wasn’t giving the U.S government a hefty chunk was absurd.

  “Of course I’ve been payin’ those dirty sons of bitches!” he spat. “They just want me dead or behind bars. I won’t let them do that to me. I’m no Fausto Bonatelli. They’re not going to lock me up and forget about me! Fuck them and their grand jury and their special investigation. I’m gettin’ the hell out of here.”

  “So you’re just going to leave?” Caprice asked. “Leave and never come back?”

  “I’m coming back,” Domani corrected her. “I got the best tax attorneys money can buy on this shit. But I’ll be damned if I sit in any dirty ass jail while they fix this shit. I’ll be in Greece or Spain until it’s over. Maybe I’ll even visit the family in the Old Country. I could use a vacation.”

  Nico slumped in his chair. He looked like his entire world had come crashing down around him.

  “What about Mom?” he asked. “Is she leaving too?”

  Domani shook his head slowly. “You need to have a conversation with your mother. She’ll tell you her plans. It’s not my place.”