Luke waved a sticky note at me. “I got your message right here.”
I was so relieved to get a response from him that I snatched the paper quickly from Luke’s hand. “Thank you so much.” I hoped my excitement and gratitude would be enough for Luke to excuse my rude behavior.
His note was sweet and simple, much like mine.
“Bothering you alone, shirt the in pond, paving stones, s’mores, proper blankets, I’ll clap soon, so will you.”
“What did he say? Why are you crying? I’ll kick his ass if he…”
“No, Santino, I’m sorry. I understand his note, that’s all. He misses me, too.”
Luke scrunched up his face. “That made no sense. I guess it being so vague and confusing is a good thing, though. Would you like to write him back?”
“Yes, please.”
He pulled a pen out of his suit coat. “Lay it on me.”
“Bothering you like crazy, pond in the closet, birdhouse, god save the queen, misplaced forks, can’t wait for a standing ovation.”
“Jesus, you should write messages for the military,” Luke laughed.
“Sergio said no one should be able to decipher it but us.”
“You got that right. No one would have a clue if they came across it.” Luke looked down at the note, as if he was trying to figure it out.
“You get to go home with Santino tomorrow. I want to keep an eye on you, to make sure there are no lasting effects from the coma. Otherwise, everything has closed up nicely. The risk of infection is minimal. Just let the scabs fall off by themselves.”
“Yeah, don’t pick at ‘em,” Santino added. He still looked worried for me.
“Where’s Victor with everything?” I was anxious to know if I would see Daniel sooner rather than later.
“Not sure. He had me deliver a messed-up note to some chick for him. I didn’t know what the hell that one said, either. From what I could tell, she called some other guy to pass it on. I’m sure Victor will come check on you soon.”
I sat up a little more, moving slowly. My back felt tight, but didn’t pull like I worried it would.
“How’s the back feeling?” Joey asked concerned.
“Not too bad, just tight. It doesn’t feel like anything is trying to tear.”
“Wonderful, just don’t push yourself. Let things heal up all the way, before you try and stretch your skin again.”
I nodded in agreement. I had a feeling that wouldn’t feel too hot when the time came. I finally got a good look at the rest of the room and noticed it was full of flowers. “I thought no one was supposed to know I was here?”
“Yeah, well, Victor sent you some, then me, ‘cause you know, you’re my wife. I’d be an ass if I didn’t. Then Luke here brought you that over there. Sergio saw us all buying flowers and didn’t want to look like a shit and got you some, too.”
Luke kicked Santino’s foot. “He wanted her to get better, too. Sergio don’t give a shit if we all gave her some.”
I giggled a little.
“Anyway, Ann Marie found out you were here, so that’s hers over there,” Santino pointed to a huge bouquet. “Then that one over there is mine, too, ‘cause my flowers should be the biggest, not hers.”
“Thank you, Santino, they’re beautiful.” The silly man blushed. “Thanks for the flowers, Luke. It was sweet of you to think of me.”
“Yeah, well, aroma therapy and all.”
“Aroma therapy? What the hell is that?” Santino teased.
“It’s a real thing, right, Joey? Back me up here.”
“It is a real thing. I’ve got to go check on my other patients,” he waved goodbye with a chuckle.
The mention of Ann Marie made me worry about her husband and son. “Did you find Marky and Marcello?”
“Yeah, we got there in time, baby girl, nothing to worry about on that front.”
“So, they’re alright?” I had to be sure.
“They will be. Like I said, we got there in time,” Luke grimaced.
“What happened, where are they? Are they here? Can I go check on them?” I shot off my questions, making Luke laugh and Santino frown.
“Junior took a bullet, and Marcello had one in his arm, but only after he did a number on Ant. Ann Marie is a mess, but Joey patched them up and said they’ll be fine. I was able to get there in time, thanks to your tip.”
“I’m sorry.” I felt horrible for causing so much trouble.
“Hey, it’s not your fault Ant’s bonkers. Everyone knows that, too,” Santino petted my hair.
There was a knock on the door, and both men pulled out their guns. Luke leaned against it at the ready. “Who’s there?”
“Your granny,” said a deep voice.
Both men relaxed, and Luke opened the door to Marcello. “Look at you, all awake. You had us worried.”
He had a bandage on his arm, but looked fine otherwise. “Looks like you’re doing better, too,” I pointed at his bandage.
“This is just a scratch in the butcher business,” he winked at me.
“How’s Marky?” I asked.
“He’s gonna be fine.” He grabbed Luke’s shoulder and squeezed it, saying a silent thank you. “Joey says we’re past the scary part.”
“I’m sorry I got you both hurt.”
“You’re sorry? Not a fucking chance, kiddo. That shit was on us. I’m sorry I couldn’t find you sooner.” He pulled up a chair next to me, bumping Santino out of the way, who glared down at Marcello, but Marcello didn’t care. “Marky wanted to make sure you knew he’d never hurt you like…that.”
“You sent fuckers to nab her a couple of months back.” I could tell Santino wasn’t happy about him being here.
“He wouldn’t have done anything she didn’t want. You didn’t see the way things were with them. Tell ‘em, sweetie.”
Everyone waited expectantly for my answer. I realized Marky’s frustration in front of Anthony, his stopping when we were out in the middle of nowhere, and his complete lack of touching me anywhere inappropriate, other than some kissing, made it clear he wasn’t as much of a sick bastard as I’d thought. It had all been an act to save me. It was the history of my shameful behavior that had instigated the whole mess. My cheeks bloomed a hot red. “That was before I met Daniel.”
“See?” Marcello patted the bed. “Now, quit with the glaring, especially you, Santino. God knows Daniel will flip his shit if you touch his girl.”
“I haven’t touched her!” he threw up his hands.
“Nah, but you’re being a pushy fucker. He didn’t want anyone here when you woke up,” Luke griped.
“She’s my wife, my responsibility. I didn’t want her feeling overwhelmed.”
There was another knock on the door, and all three men jumped to attention, pulling out guns. “It’s just me, your grandma.” I realized that had to be a code of some sort.
Luke opened the door to Victor. He walked in with a big smile. “There’s my little Fort Knox. It’s good to see you with your eyes open.”
“Thanks.”
“This nut makes it nearly impossible to see you. Those sandwiches you made must’ve been laced with coke or something, the way you got him addicted,” he smirked at Santino.
“I’m just looking after my wife.”
“You were married for her safety.”
“And I’m keeping her safe from you fuckers wearing her out. Her body’s still healing. She needs her rest.”
There was another knock, and all four men pulled guns. “I’ve got more guards than the President.”
I heard Marcello snicker a little.
“Your nonna’s here,” Sergio said and came in with a grin.
“My grandfather must be a polygamist with the amount of grandma’s I’ve acquired,” I laughed.
“The bastard liked tail, no reason to hate on him,” Sergio teased.
“He must like his women sturdy.”
That caused everyone to laugh except Santino. He was holding the same p
out since Marcello had sat next to me. I poked him with my toe, giving him a grin, and he smiled back.
There was a hurried knock, and then the door was swinging open fast. My whole body tensed, because only Luke and Sergio had pulled their guns fast enough. “It’s nonna coming in.” It was Joey, and he looked worried. “Marcello, your brother, Alfonzo, is here, and he brought in Dora.”
“What the fuck?” was the mutual consensus.
“What happened?” Marcello asked, much cooler than the rest of the guys in the room.
“It was Ant. He’s going after everyone who ever went to visit Daniel,” Joey grimaced.
“I’m gonna kill that fucker,” Luke snapped. “Why the hell is he risking messing with the wives? He sure as hell knows better than that.”
Joey ignored the ranting going on around him and spoke directly to Marcello. “I don’t know, but Alfonzo wants a side of beef.”
“Hell yeah, he’d better,” Luke added.
“That’ll make our job easier,” Marcello nodded. “We have to get to work, while we still have his support. Now we only got to worry about Leonardo and the twins. Everyone else should fall in order when I take over. We need to move Gabby into Marky’s room, until she can safely leave the hospital. Santino and Joey will stay with them. Sergio, I want you to get my girls and grandson to safety with everyone else. Don’t forget your parents. Victor, take your family with them and stay there. I don’t trust anyone but you. The move we gotta make has to be fast. I’m gonna need you two with me,” he pointed at Sergio and Luke.
“What about Daniel?” I worried.
Marcello squeezed my hand. “He should be alright.”
“I’ll send him a message before we go,” Victor tried to reassure me.
Luke handed over my sticky note message to him. “She wants to send this back. It might help him settle down if he hears from her.”
Victor nodded and took the note from him.
“Well, get a move on, we got shit to do,” Marcello ordered, and everyone got to work. Joey went straight to adjusting my bed to move me. I thought there would’ve been more planning, but everyone silently got to work.
Victor took off out the door with Luke, but Marcello, Santino and Sergio followed Joey down the hall, as he quickly pushed my bed. They rapped on the door before they opened it. “It’s your sister,” Marcello called, as he opened the door. I was surprised to see it was Ann Marie holding a gun pointed at the door.
“Gabby, sweetie, are you alright? What’s going on?” she asked, as Joey parked the bed.
“There’s been some changes. You, Vanessa, Luisa, and the baby will go with Sergio. Santino will stay with Junior and Gabby.”
“No, no way,” she protested.
“Don’t fight me on this. Joey will be here, too. They’ll be fine.”
“Like hell they will. You send our little girl, but I’m not leaving my son. Not when that bastard is still out there.”
Marcello pulled her into his arms and kissed her head. “I know you’re scared, and you don’t want our boy left behind, but you know he’s in no shape to move. I need to know you’re safe, baby. You know the drill, this ain’t the first time we’ve done this, and it won’t be the last.”
“I can’t leave him, Marcello. I almost lost him. I’m not leaving him behind.”
Marcello hugged her tightly, hiding his face in her hair. “Don’t you dare leave this room, you hear me? I don’t want you to step foot in the hall, you treat this like a prison cell, you understand me? No one, and I mean absolutely no one, leaves this room, except for Joey, and when he opens the door, you stay out of sight. Joe Schmoe is who’s in this room, not Marcello Valente, Jr., not Gabriella Bartoli, and I don’t want anyone to suspect otherwise. You got me?”
We all nodded yes, even though he was talking to Ann Marie.
Marcello turned to Sergio, “My daughter’s playing at your house with your little girl. Make them think it’s some kind of vacation or retreat. The less they know the better.”
“You got it, boss. I’ll pick up my family and meet up with Victor. I’ll call you after I make the drop and I’m out of range.”
“How long is that gonna take?”
“To rush the packing and get them out there and back will be about four hours. That should give you plenty of time to feel out Leonardo and make a plan.”
“Take Luke with you,” Ann Marie begged her husband.
“I will.” He kissed her with a big wet smack and did the same to Marky’s forehead and mine as well. “You’re all gonna be fine. You brought a deck of cards, right?” he asked Ann Marie.
She gave him a weak smile and nodded.
“Good, teach Gabby a few card tricks and call it a night. This won’t take too long. You’ll see. I’ve got Alfonzo on my side.”
“Alfonzo?” she asked.
“He brought Dora in. Ant got to her.”
“Christ, Marcello, if you don’t kill the son of a bitch, I’ll do it right now!”
“Should I have her moved in here as well? It’ll be a tight fit, but maybe a little easier to defend,” Joey suggested.
“Nah, Alfonzo’s got his boys. I’d rather them not know where we are. Do not answer the door, unless it’s your grandma or your sister. If shit goes down, I want Joey to stay in here with Ann Marie, and Santino, you help from a distance. Man the hall, cut off the tail of whatever the hell might go down, but I don’t want that door out of sight,” he pointed sternly to the room door.
“You can count on it.” Santino looked like a sentinel, taking his place by the door.
Marcello gave the room one last look, before he pulled Ann Marie into his arms. “It’s gonna be okay, baby, I swear. I love you.” He gave her a hard passionate kiss.
“I love you, too,” she whispered with tears in her eyes.
“I know, stay safe.” He slipped out the door and left us in silence.
Joey checked over Marky and then peeked under the bandage that covered my burn. “You both are fine for now. Do as Marcello said, take it easy, play some cards, and in a couple of days, you’ll get to go home again. Everything is gonna be fine.”
I might have believed him, if he didn’t look so nervous. For a minute, it looked like Santino might not let him out of the room. He took his door guarding seriously, and I had to thank God for that.
Chapter 37 – Lockdown
We had been in the hospital for two days, waiting for word on if things had settled down yet or not. Joey brought in a duffle bag of clothes. Ann Marie and I were now sporting his sweats, and Santino was wearing a shirt that was a little too tight. The man was ripped. Marky was in his hospital gown and drugged to high heaven. He did a lot of mumbling about a kitty named puppy, or a puppy named kitty, not sure which, but he was definitely down for the count. He had been shot in the gut. It missed all his major organs, but they had done a lot of repair work on his intestines.
Aside from the occasional text Ann Marie got, we were in the dark. She never said what they meant, they were all in some kind of code, but she said they all meant the same thing, sit tight and wait.
We went from card games, to card houses, to card flicking. The hospital TV only had four channels, and two were informational. We all knew the proper way to care for a newborn baby and how to do CPR, the Heimlich maneuver and basic first-aid.
Santino dug into the supply cabinets and made gauze balls to juggle and play hacky sack. We were in the middle of such a game, when we heard a crash against the door and Joey yell, “Sister!” as it flew open. Ann Marie had her gun out, but that didn’t stop the mess of a man from charging at me full force and lifting me into his arms. I whimpered, when he hugged me too tightly, but refused to let go of him.
“Daniel,” I breathed out in relief.
“Christ, Danny, I almost shot your head off!” Ann Marie scolded.
He set me down on the end of my bed and started to check me over. I kept a tight grip on his shirt, not letting him step away from me and kissing him
softly every time he got close enough. He peeked under the bandage by my ear, and he grimaced, when he took in the healing scabs from my bindings everywhere else.
“She’s alright, little Fort Knox is what we’re calling her,” Santino tried to reassure him with a grin.
Daniel exploded. He flew right at Santino, hitting him so hard it knocked him across the room. “YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY! They take my girl, my wife, and torture her, and you think this is something to laugh about, to joke about because she’s alive?”
“Daniel!” I tried to get his attention. I was pushing him back, not letting him advance on Santino, and Ann Marie was doing her best to hold Santino back from getting revenge. “Daniel, look at me.” I was about ready to knee him if he went after Santino again. “He had nothing to do with this.”
He was pushing me forward, like I wasn’t even there, on his way to Santino. This wasn’t going to end well if I didn’t do something fast. Balls it was.
Daniel looked up me shocked, as he hit the floor cupping himself.
“Settle down,” I growled at him.
Santino went from snarling to laughing, but my glare told him he would be next if he didn’t shut up. I knelt down next to Daniel on the floor and kissed his head, pulling it into my lap. “Santino’s not the enemy.” I brushed his hair back from his forehead. “This was not the greeting I was expecting. I thought some big sloppy kisses, maybe a little groping, but you go off and deck Santino, and then I have to rack you in the balls, before you got yourself beat half to death. I’ve got enough scars for the both of us. I don’t want either one of us to get hurt anymore.”
Daniel turned his face into my stomach and wrapped his arm around me. I took it as forgiveness.
“Technically, she’s my wife,” Santino added.
Daniel’s grip tightened.
“Just on paper and not for long,” I promised.
“I’m calling Victor. There’s a little chapel in the hospital, you two should finally get it done for real, before anything else happens.” Ann Marie had her phone out dialing. It was the first call she had made since we had been put on lockdown.
I helped Daniel make it to the bed and kissed his face all over. I saw hints of yellowing from where bruises had healed. “What happened, baby?”
Straight Up Interfererence Page 26
