by Grace Hugh
“What’s the meaning of this? Lou’s a made man, you can’t do this shit to a made man! He’s mine, you can’t do this shit to my man!” Vinnie screams.
Tony closes with him. “You telling me what I can and can’t do, you slimy fuck? How about telling me about the fix you put in? How about you tell all of us about that?”
"What fix?" Vinnie yells looking at the other bosses.
"We know all about it Vinnie," Tony says. "Your boy here brought it to me."
"My boy? It's a fucking lie. He's trying to get out from underneath me. Something wrong with that boy, hell, he's banging his sister."
My eyes widen and my mouth forms an ‘oh’ as I look from Vinnie to Jans. He knows? How long as he known, how does he know? My arms fly to cover my stomach protectively as a wave of nausea passes through me. I can't believe he knew. Why didn’t he stop us? Was he going to? Was that what this entire plan was about? Is that why he decided to marry me off? Jans shakes his head subtly side to side. I don't know exactly what he's trying to tell me. Did Jans know Vinnie knew?
"Yeah," Tony says. "He talked with me about that, too. Told me about the things you been doing in your house. The threats you been making and he's not the only one. I've had more than one guy come to me talking about you wanting to do sick things to your own daughter."
"She's not my daughter! She's just the wild spawn of my piece of fucking arm candy," Vinnie sputters.
"Exactly what I told Jans here," Tony says. "She ain't his sister. Not even a stepsister since you can't be a man enough to marry your woman. Now how about that money?"
"Fuck! I'll get it for you," Vinnie says.
"Now," Tony says and the other men in the room mutter agreement.
"I'm gonna need a few days," Vinnie says.
"You see that just doesn't work for us," Tony says.
"You can't do nothing to me. Chicago won't have it. I'm head of a Family."
"I've already taken care of that. Goodbye, Vinnie. It hasn't been a pleasure."
Four men in suits close with Vinnie. I let out a sigh of relief as they took Vinnie. It's over, at last I can relax. We’re going to be safe!
Two of the men reach for Vinnie's arms and he bursts into action. He swings taking one man in the jaw with his right while his left hand dives in and grabs the man's gun. The gun echoes loudly off of metal lockers and my ears are ringing. People scream and yell as more guns come out. The echoing reports sound faster as everyone fires. I spin around confused, I can’t get my bearings.
Suddenly there’s an arm around my throat and a gun against my head. Vinnie has me. He's holding me tight, it’s hard to breathe. He backs towards the door yelling but I can't make out the words through the ringing in my ears. Every man in the room has a gun and they’re all aimed at me. I look around desperate, where’s Jans!
"Don't shoot," Tony says. "The girl’s innocent."
"Fuck you, Tony," Vinnie yells backing out the door.
Suddenly I'm free and stumbling forward. I spin around and see Vinnie on the ground with Jans on top of him. Jans is wild, swinging and growling as he beats Vinnie. Two men in suits come up and pull Jans off. They pick Vinnie up and carry him away. Jans runs to me taking my face in his hands and looking me over.
"Are you okay?" he asks.
Tears mix with Vinnie’s blood from Jans’ hands on my face. I nod unable to speak coherently. My heart’s beating too fast and I’m sobbing. He wraps his arms around me and at last we’re safe.
"You sure about this, kid?" Tony asks from behind me.
Jans releases his grip on me and I move to his side putting my arm around his waist while he has his arm over my shoulders.
"Yeah," Jans says.
"Well, you saved us a lot of money and a lot of trouble. I'll get you your cut, and then you’re both free."
"Thanks," Jans says.
"Is this for real?" I ask, looking between Jans and Tony.
"Real as it gets kiddo," Tony says. "Jans isn’t a made man. He's not part of our thing and now he never will be. For what he did tonight, he has my blessing and the blessing of the other heads of these Families to walk away. We know he'll keep his mouth shut."
My tears flow like rain. Tears of joy and tears of relief. Jans’ plan worked. We’re free and we’re going to be able to raise our child without being on the run.
"What about Vinnie?" I ask.
"You don't worry about him," Tony says.
"He won't come after us?" I ask.
"Let it go," Jans says.
I take his advice. What else can I do? He's my hero and the love of my life.
The helicopter bounces and I grab the ‘oh shit’ handle with one hand and Jans’ arm with the other. He lays his hand over mine and pats it.
“We’re fine, just a little rough air,” he says.
How quickly we get used to things like this. Hiring a private helicopter to take us around and meeting with big shots. Vinnie had money but he had to hide most of it. We have money and Jans loves to spend it on things for us. Well, mostly for me. Anything he thinks will make me happy. Honestly, I don’t care about the money. It’s nice, but as long as I have him, it doesn’t matter if we have money or not.
“Have you talked with Axel?” I ask to make conversation and take my mind off the threatening air sickness.
“Yeah,” he says.
“How is he?”
“An idiot,” he says.
“Is he still going after Julia?” I ask.
Jans shakes his head. “Yeah. Moron. He thinks he can make it work but there ain’t no fucking way. Big Tony will never condone my brother and his daughter getting together.”
“Why not? Vinnie’s gone, he’s the one Tony had the problem with.”
“It’s not that simple. A lot of years of really bad blood lie between our families. Hell, this shit goes back to the old country or some crap like that.”
“Are you serious?”
Jans shrugs. “Yeah.”
“Wow. That’s pretty messed up.”
“You lived this life, did you expect anything else?”
“But he let us out,” I say.
“Yeah, well he didn’t have much of a choice did he?”
He’s right of course. Jans had them over a barrel. The helicopter banks around and I grab my stomach with my left and the handle with my right. Alexander doesn’t like this ride at all. No more helicopters until after the delivery, I decide right then.
We’re at the top of the mountain now and the restaurant comes into view. It’s built so that half of it hangs off the side of the mountain supported by massive beams. Floor to ceiling glass windows give a full view of the city below. Diners are on the balcony looking out over the twinkling lights to the ocean. The helicopter lands on the roof and two men in suits come up and help us to the ground.
“Welcome to Merde Fantaisie,” one of the men says taking my hand.
“Thank you,” I say as we’re lead to a door.
Inside the door is a small room with an elevator that Jans and I enter.
“I can’t believe this,” I say, trying to smooth my expensive dress and make certain it’s wrinkle-free as we descend to the main floor.
“You look great,” Jans says.
“I look like a whale.”
My belly is huge, Alexander is due in two months but I feel like I can’t get any larger. The elevator opens and we exit and the Maître d' is waiting. He speaks softly to Jans before leading us into the restaurant. I feel completely out of place. The diners are quiet and dressed so nicely. None of the other women are pregnant which makes me feel even worse. It feels like every eye on the place is not just on me but on my bulging belly. I cover it protectively with my arms as I walk. Jans places his hand on the small of my back and my nerves calm. The host leads us to a table where two men already wait for us. A bottle of wine sits in a chiller next to it and the two men both stand as we approach. They hold their hands out smiling with perfect teeth.
“Jans,
Clay Seller as you know, this is John Canden who I mentioned to you on the phone. He’s our VP of Talent and very excited to meet you. This must be LeAnne,” Clay says looking at me while Jans shakes the other’s hand. “You’re even more beautiful than Jans said, a real pleasure to meet you. Oh, and Alexander, also.”
He nods at my belly and I smile. Jans holds my chair for me then pushes it in seating me before taking his own. Under the table he takes my hand and we all order while making small talk. I can’t believe we’re here. It seems more than a bit unreal, like maybe I’m dreaming. As we eat our dinner, Clay nods and as we finish, he sets his fork aside.
“Jans, you know we want you. We’re prepared to offer you a very lucrative deal if you’ll sign with us but there’s a catch.”
My breath hitches as he says ‘but’. There’s always a but. It’s the hook inside the bright lure being dangled in front of you.
“Okay,” Jans says, his voice calm but under the table, he squeezes my hand. “Let me hear it.”
“Jans, I’ve heard your story,” John says, wiping his mouth with a cloth napkin then setting it aside. “It’s incredible, I’m serious. All our fighters have a story, that just comes with the territory, but yours is, well, let me just say, it’s almost unbelievable. We hired a team of investigators to verify it for us and they’re convinced it’s true.”
“I don’t lie,” Jans says, his hand clenching on mine almost painfully.
“No, it’s not that, Jans, it’s just…” Clay jumps in.
“Jans, no one thought you were lying but to do what we we’re thinking, well, we had to be sure. Had to have facts to back it up. You understand,” John says.
“I do?” Jans asks.
“Well, no, but you will,” John says unperturbed.
It’s clear these men don’t know Jans. The one thing he learned from his father, Vinnie, is that yelling gets you nowhere. When his voice is quiet, like it is now, he’s the most dangerous.
“Okay,” Jans says.
If this guy doesn’t get to his point soon he may be on the receiving end of why Jans is one of the greatest fighters of all time.
“Let me put it another way,” John continues. “Picture this -- The Dragon, Origin of a Fighter -- in bright lights, on the marquee outside of every theater in the country, hell the world! It’s going to be huge.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, leaning forward.
“It’s brilliant, isn’t it?” Clay asks, all but bouncing in his chair. “John came up with it and our marketing department is in love with it, too.”
“I’m not sure what we’re talking about here,” Jans says, shaking his head.
“Well, you know we’ve got a lot of our guys moving over into the action hero business, but what we don’t have is any of them who are stars in their own right. They’re B movie guys or supporting roles at best. Your story, Jans, your story is unique, brilliant really. We want to make your life into a movie.”
“A movie?” I ask, my mouth falling open.
“Yes!” John and Clay exclaim together.
Jans looks at me with uncertainty. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him uncertain before. It’s incredibly endearing.
“Your story is perfect! Growing up in a mob family, forced to fight by your blood-thirsty father, it’s a thing of beauty,” John says.
“My brother, Axel, he can’t be part of the story, not even a name change or some shit. He can’t exist in it. He’s not free of that life, I can’t expose him.”
“That’s not a problem,” John says.
“What about LeAnne?” Jans asks.
“She’s the best part! It’s her that makes the entire thing work. Thrown together in a life of crime and violence, only each other to cling to, then the climax! Your stunning plan to betray your father to the other mob bosses and cutting a deal with them to not only take a portion of the pot but to walk away from a life no one walks away from! It’s bloody brilliant,” Clay interjects.
My cheeks grow warm as he talks animatedly. Jans looks into my eyes and in that moment we discuss it without words. He won’t move forward without my blessing so I give it to him freely and fully.
“Okay,” Jans says. “What do we have to do?”
“Well there’s paperwork, of course, but I prefer to keep things old school. A handshake between gentlemen,” Clay says.
“How much?”
“How much what?” Clay asks.
“How much is my cut?” Jans asks.
“Oh, your signing bonus to become a pro in our network is two point five million. You sign the rights to the movie deal and we double that plus you get five points of the movie.”
“Five points?” I ask.
“It’s like a percentage based on profit,” Jans says to me. “Same way the loan sharks work, basically.”
“Oh,” I say, surprised it’s all so similar.
Then it hits me how much money we’re talking about. Five million to sign? Plus the two million we have in the bank that Jans saved up and his cut of the profits from his last fight? We’re multi-millionaires! I look down at my belly and rub it softly. Alexander, your life is going to be so much better than ours was but I wouldn’t change a moment of it. It was hard but that life is what brought me to this. It brought me, Jans, and you, my beautiful baby boy.
Alexander kicks my hand hard enough I can see his foot through my dress and I smile, he agrees too. Life is going to be great.
THE END
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