by Cassie May
She pales and bites her bottom lip, completely ignoring Rico’s compliment. “Yes, he mentioned that you would come by. Come in.”
We scurry inside and after closing the door Noemi puts the pig down that immediately tries to climb Rico’s legs. “Missy, let him be. They want to meet dad.” Noemi scolds playfully and I have to hide my grin when Rico tries unsuccessfully to disentangle himself from the small pig.
“Rico, Matteo. Come in my office. I am sorry for Missy, my daughter has totally spoiled her.” Our uncle stands in the door to a room and smiles affectionately at his daughter and the pig’s antics. He throws something to Rico who catches it easily. “Here, give her that. It should satisfy her.” Rico looks at the small treat and bends down to give it to the pig. That makes it immediately leave us to trail behind Noemi.
We enter our uncle’s office and he closes the door behind us. “I can’t say I am glad to see you to, concerning the circumstances, but I am glad that you both look good. What do you need my help with after all the time? After everything I gave to cut my ties with the Family?” He cuts straight to the topic and I sigh.
“I am sorry, uncle. I never intended to drag you into this, but I don’t know who else to ask. If you can recommend me someone else I happily ask them, but at this time I would prefer that it is you who helps us. Someone is stealing money from the clubs and I can’t find out how they do it and who it is. I need help for that.” My uncle opens his mouth to start speaking, but I lift my hand to stop him. “I know that you are worried about what might happen to your family if you get dragged back into the business, but I have a plan. You can work from here. I’ll give you a log in to the computers at the clubs and if you need extra information you can call me and I’ll bring you the files No one is going to know who you are and that you are looking for something.” Now that I know what it means that someone outside The Family is important to you, I understand what a tough decision my uncle had to make in the past.
He sighs and gives us a short nod. “I’ll do it, but if I get the impression that this work is going to endanger my family I am going to stop immediately. Are we clear?”
“Crystal clear. I don’t want to endanger anybody. I just want to find that damn person that dares to steal from us.” I shake his hand and nod to my brother so that we can leave.
Daniele tosses another treat to us and Rico catches it easily. “Take this. I don’t think Missy is going to let you leave without one. She seems to like you.” This time I can’t hide my snort and even Rico chuckles a little.
“Thanks. I think. I’ll see you, uncle. Call me if you need anything.” He tosses a card with a number on it on the table and we leave the office.
Chapter 7
Valerie
I am actually excited to go with Jess and Matteo to his club. Excited and curious about the step I decided to take. The step to a relationship that can shatter me completely and make me fall down the downward spiral I started the day my parents died. I haven’t puked since the day I met Matteo and even that hasn’t been his fault. That’s what I tell Jess when she asks me if I am really sure with Matteo.
“I can’t be sure of everything, Jess. This is the real life and not some scripted reality shit. I have to try it and hope that I am strong enough for all of his mob business.”
She looks worried. “Okay. If you say so, then I am going to support you and the mob prince. Just promise me, if you feel overwhelmed or if you need to relieve the pressure again, talk to me or to your therapist. You know she told you that you could call her anytime.”
Taking a deep breath I put the eyeliner down and look at Jess in the mirror. “I know, Jess and I really love you for looking out for me, but I need to grow up at some time. I will talk to my therapist when I have figured everything out, but that is not now.” I wink at her in the mirror and continue to apply my eyeliner.
Jess is already finished and looks like her usual slutty self. It’s always like this when she goes out. Artfully painted makeup that should hide the darkness that is inside her. I don’t envy her for her body or her beautiful face, not when I see the despair and sadness it has brought her. She keeps those secrets close, but one time when we got ridiculously drunk she spilled everything. It made me realize that other people have it way worse than me. I would give everything that I have to be able to help her, but she refuses every help I have to offer. I know that she is going to come to me one day and till then I am here for her when it gets too much and she needs to rant.
“Okay, I don’t want to steal your show, but would it be okay for you if I wear this? After all we are going to the hottest club in New York tonight.” She comes in the bathroom and carries a short silvery dress I haven’t seen on her before.
“Jess, as long as you don’t flirt with Matteo I don’t really care what you are wearing and this dress is awesome. I absolutely forbid you to wear something different. Maybe you find your Italian prince with this dress. Matteo surely won’t be the only mobster there tonight.” Jess snorts and her eyes sparkle.
“You know I don’t need a prince. A good fuck is all I need. What are you going to wear?”
“Oh, me? I think I am going to stick to this beauty here.” I lift a turquoise dress that lays on my bed up and show it to her. She claps her hands excitedly.
“This one’s great. When did you buy it? I thought you were not sure if you were really going?”
Throwing her a look over my shoulder I shrug. “Well, a girl has to be prepared.”
She laughs. “That’s my girl. Okay, I am going to get changed and then we are going to get a little buzzed before your prince arrives. You are going to need this.”
***
And buzzed we are when Matteo rings the bell. We stumble to the door giggling and clinging to each other. “And there is your prince, bestie. Hello, Matteo.”
“Hello Valerie. Jess, nice to see you again.” Oh. My. God. He looks great. He is wearing a dark suit and a light blue shirt and looks one hundred percent the successful business man he is. But I see the danger still lurking in his eyes. They are aware of everything that happens around us and the neighborhood and yet manage to heat up when he sees me. He motions to his flashy sports car. “Are you ready, ladies?”
We both nod, grab our coats and leave the house. “Give me your keys, cara.”
“What? Why?”
He presses a kiss on my lips and smiles. “Because this is New York, you are two women that live alone and it is dangerous to leave your house open like this. You don’t know when you are going to be back.” He lowers his voice and whispers in my ear. “If you are even coming back tonight…“
A shiver of excitement runs down my spine and I smile at Matteo before pressing the keys in his hands. “There you go. Thank you for looking out for me.” He smiles and I feel myself falling a little bit more for him when his eyes soften a fracture.
We drive through the dark city that is already bustling with people ready to party. The closer we get to the club the more people are on the streets. Jess is really excited and bounces up and down in her seat when Matteo turns into a dark parking lot. He parks the car and helps us out of it and to a closed door. He pulls his phone out and makes a call. “We are here, let us in Domenico.”
Immediately the door opens and I hear the bass thumping. The music is still muffled, but obviously some R’n’B number is playing right now. Jess starts shaking her hips as soon as she gets the rhythm and engages the man that opened the door for us in her dance. He smirks at her, obviously not nearly as entranced by her as other men are. “And who are you bella ballatrice?”
She stops dancing immediately and stares at him in surprise. Normally she would already be licking his tonsils, but obviously he has other plans. Looking over to Matteo and me he extends his hand to me. “Hi, I am Domenico, you must be Valerie. Welcome to Sin.” I shake his hand and wait till he has greeted Matteo. We enter the club and the men take Jess and me in the middle while walking over to the actual club.
&nb
sp; The dancefloor is huge and already filled with gyrating bodies. Jess’ eyes grow wide and she turns around to me. “This club is awesome! Why haven’t we ever been here?” She motions to the high pedestals where beautiful women dance in gorgeous underwear. They are seducing the masses and I see more than one man stumbling, because he doesn’t look where he’s going. Domenico and Matteo don’t even steal a glance at those women. Instead they guide us toward a secluded booth where nobody is sitting. Matteo pushes me in first and slides next to me.
“What do you ladies want to drink?” Domenico looks at Jess who jumps up and down in her seat and me, still amazed at how cool this club actually is.
“Gin Tonic for both of us please.” I have to shout over the music, but he obviously understands me, nods and leaves for the bar. Jess is behaving like a rabbit on crack, her head turning left and right while her feet twitch with the beat. She smiles and I know I won’t have her around much longer before she leaves for dancing. I just hope she gives me a little more time till I am at least somehow acclimated and gathered the courage to actually dance with those beautiful people in here.
Thankfully Domenico comes back and hands us our drinks which occupies Jess’ for a little while. Soon they are in a deep conversation and I can’t help but be curious. Turning around to Matteo I try to whisper to him, but actually have to shout since the music is so loud. “Is Domenico gay?”
Matteo chokes on his whisky while his eyes go wide. “Why would you think something like this?”
Shrugging I try to hide my blush, but Matteo’s eyes fix me in a way that makes it hard to look away. “I don’t know. He never reacted to Jess’ flirting which is highly unusual in my experience. Normally she is already engaged in really heavy petting at this time. Talking is… unusual behavior for her.” Oh man, I don’t want to make her sound like a slut, but I think I am failing. She really is not a bad person, only bad things happened to her and having meaningless sex is her way of coping with it.
Matteo’s eyes twinkle with joy when he looks at Domenico and then at me again. “No, cara. He’s not gay. Far from it, but he doesn’t like to be pursued by a woman. He pursues the women he wants and if you look close enough you’ll see that he is definitely interested. I think he can guess that something bad has happened to your friend, though…” He trails off and looks unsure all of sudden as if he didn’t want to say that.
I’m not surprised that he has obviously researched me and Jess. He has to. In his position. “So you think he’ll be careful with her? Jess always acts like nothing could hurt her, but I know better. I know that she hurts inside and I want her to stop. I love her so much and it destroys me that she is punishing herself for something she couldn’t influence.” I feel tears rising in my eyes and try to will them down. Stupid. I am so stupid. How can I blurt this out in a place like this to a man like Matteo? I am sure this has to be the worst date in the history of dates.
When he wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer I take a deep breath. “Shh… It’s okay, cara. I’ll take care of you two. Don’t you worry. I am sure Dom is going to be careful. He has history of his own.” He pushes me back a little and wipes two tears away. “Come on, enjoy this evening for now. Go and dance with your friend. I’ll make sure no one is going to disturb you.” He presses a soft kiss on my lips and helps me up.
Jess is already waiting for me at the entrance of the booth a huge smile on her face. “Come on let’s go and have fun!” Her excitement fuels my own and before I know what happens we are both on the dancefloor shaking our asses.
Jess keeps sneaking glances over my shoulder and finally I can’t stand it anymore. “What’s wrong? What’s there going on behind me? Who are you looking at?”
She blushes fiercely which surprises me even more. She doesn’t blush. Ever. “They are both looking out for us. Domenico. He… He is nice. Different, don’t you think?” I feel myself nodding and before I can help it my thoughts stray to the other man in the booth. My man. At least for as long as he wants me. It’s then I remember his blood oath and a shiver runs down my spine. I still don’t know what to do with this situation and if I am being honest it scares me shitless. Being the best friend that she is, Jess pics it up immediately and stops dancing to grab my shoulders.
“What’s wrong? Did I say something weird? You looked lost for a moment and then even a bit frightened.” Without looking back to our booth I pull her with me through the crowd to the women’s toilets.
Thank god there’s no queue and we can go inside. Locking the door I press my back against it and take a deep breath. “What am I doing here, Jess? I feel like I am dancing over a tightrope and under me there are the flames waiting for me to fall so that they can swallow me up.” My whisper is frantic and my breath comes in shallow gasps.
Frowning Jess pulls me up and forces me to look at her. “Okay, obviously something happened with your mafia man and you are going to tell me what happened, like right now. I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me, sweetie.”
Her concerned voice makes this even harder. “He swore a blood oath to protect me from his family, Jess. I don’t know what to do with that. I mean, we didn’t even have sex. What does he want from me? I saw his brother’s wife on Christmas and she is beautiful. Matteo could easily score someone like her, yet he is with me. Why? Why did he swear that oath? When did my life get so fucking complicated? I liked it how it was.”
A gasp and her wide eyes show me that Jess is as shocked as I was, but she needs less time to put herself together again. “Okay, firstly. Your life was miserable before you met him. You were not living, you were only existing. You haven’t barfed again since this first day when you met him and you look more confident and sure of yourself than ever before. He makes you smile again and by that I mean a real smile, not your fake customer smile. And second. Wow, just wow. Blood oath, huh? Must be really serious for him, not that I doubted it before. That man is so smitten with you, it’s almost disgusting. He wanted you to trust him with this oath, because you don’t trust him. Like at all. And he trusts you. Probably more than he should with his background.” She takes a deep breath and I use the opportunity to defend myself.
“I do trust him.”
“Bullshit! You don’t even trust me completely. Ever since your parents died you shut yourself off from everyone and everything. Have you ever thought that you might hurt him with your distrust? I know that you hurt me, but with him you could start something incredible. For once in your life, please just live, no matter how it might hurt. It might be the best thing that’s ever going to happen to you and I will be damned if I let you push him away like you did with so many other people. Me included!”
Stunned I look at my best friend. Is she right? Have I pushed her away? Have I not lived? I try to think of the last few months and years. Jess is waiting patiently, seeing that I am lost in my thoughts. Finally I realize that she is right. I have pushed her away, even though I let her closer than anybody else. Wrapping my arms around her I hug her hard. “I’m sorry, Jess. I’m sorry that I hurt you and I promise to do better. With you. And with Matteo.” The last thing I add hastily when she raises one eyebrow at me.
“Good. Everything okay then? Let’s go outside and look for your man.” She opens the door for me and I run straight into a hard chest.
Chapter 8
Matteo
The moment I lose the sight of Valerie and Jess I am on alert. “Where did they go? Have you seen where they went?”
Relaxing in his seat Dom smirks at me. “Oh man, you are so whipped. They can’t go far. I made every security guy aware of those two and what they mean to you. I’m sure they are only going to the toilet.”
Standing up I see a flash of turquoise and see that he is in fact right. Jess is dragging a pale Valerie in the directions of the toilets. Something must be wrong. Before I realize what I am doing I already am halfway over the dancefloor. When someone holds me back I turn around to glare at Dom. “Matt, you can’t go after them
right now. They obviously need to talk about something concerning you or me, otherwise they would have come back to us. Give them some time.”
Taking a deep breath I try to control the anger at my friend that is rising inside of me. I am not used to other people telling me what to do and yet after calming down a little I see that Dom is right. Doesn’t mean I have to like it. “You are right. I am going to wait for them, though. I’ll make sure no one disturbs them.” Shaking his head while grinning Dom goes back to our booth. I think I hear him say pussy whipped again, but I am not sure and right now I don’t really care. I take my place in front of the toilet and glare at every girl that threatens to knock on the door. If Valerie needs her time she’ll get it.
After a while I hear raised voices inside and my muscles tighten. Even though Jess is her best friend, she has no rights to shout at my woman. Stepping closer to the door I make myself ready to forcefully open it when it swings open and Valerie runs in my chest. Pulling her closer I steady her so we don’t fall on the floor and glare at Jess. “What happened? Are you okay?”
She snorts and shakes her head. “Geez, calm down, Hulk. I just put the head of your woman a little straight. You can thank me later for that. I need a drink.” With that she stalks away tossing her hair in my direction and not bothering to look back at her friend.
“What did she mean with that, Val?”
Valerie looks up at me, her brown eyes wide with a hint of fear and sadness in them. The urge to swipe her from her feet to make everything better again is strong, but I resist and look at her instead. “Am I really holding myself back from you, Matteo? Do you feel like I don’t open up enough?” Her voice is quiet and I can barely understand her over the loud music and thumping bass in the club.
