by Cora Reilly
“I thought I should stay until the high rollers arrive and introduce you to them. That way it’ll appear more official. I had Leo sent them invites for an early reception. You’ll have the chance to talk to them without the usual chaos of the casino and they get the chance to gamble in private for a while.”
I was grateful to Dante for making sure things went smoothly for me. Of course I knew at least part of it was because he liked things to be in his control. “Thank you.”
He inclined his head, then looked at me for a moment longer before he checked his watch. “Why don’t you prepare yourself some more? The first high rollers should arrive in one hour. I’ll talk to Leo and make sure everything is set up for the reception.”
When he tried to walk past me, I put my hand on his arm to stop him. Then I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek before I strode toward my desk and picked up a folder. After a moment, I heard the door open and close.
Fifteen minutes before the reception was supposed to start, I headed toward the main floor where a few tables with glasses and ice buckets filled with Champagne bottles had been set up. There was also a small buffet of canapées. Dante made his way toward me the moment he saw me. His presence set me at ease.
Soon the first high rollers arrived. Most of them were at least in their fifties. Old, rich men with expensive designer suits, tans from too many hours spent on the golf course, and smiles that spoke of overconfidence. These men thought the world was theirs for the taking. And yet I didn’t miss the look of respect that crossed their eyes when they faced Dante. The way they shook his hand, you could tell they were trying to pay him deference. Dante always quickly turned their attention to me, introducing me as the new manager and his wife. The last part always led to a wave of respectful praises of my beauty. While I certainly didn’t mind being praised for my appearance, it wasn’t something that would help me keep the casino staff in check. I steered the conversation away from my looks and involved the men in smalltalk. Luckily they let me, only too eager to share their stories about tricking the IRS, their achievements on the golf course, or the selection in their wine cellars, and it was obvious they were used to women hanging on their every word.
I led them toward the roulette table, all smiles, and soon they began to throw away money with hardly a notice, too busy bragging and impressing me. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Dante talking to Enzo before leaving the casino. I knew he was busy but I wished he’d stayed a little longer. I didn’t have much time for that thought however; I had to be the perfect hostess for another group of high rollers eager to schmooze the wife of the Capo.
It was past midnight when things had progressed enough for me to take my leave. Several of the high rollers had disappeared into back rooms with girls, or were too immersed in gambling to need my attention. I was exhausted, more exhausted than a few hours of talking and listening should make a person.
After I’d slipped into the passenger seat, I let out a quiet sigh of relief to be finally off my feet. My legs ached from standing for so long, especially in my uncomfortable heels. Men had it easier. They could wear their oxfords or Budapest shoes, and not squeeze their toes into pointy shoes.
I must have dozed off because the next thing I remembered was Enzo turning off the engine in the garage. I sat up, embarrassed. “I’m sorry I fell asleep. That was rude.”
Enzo shook his head. “I don’t mind.”
I was too tired to analyze that statement. I made my way into the house, my eyes sliding toward the door to Dante’s office, wondering if he was still in there. Deciding I was too exhausted to give him a recount of the evening’s event, I headed upstairs, wincing every time my feet hit the floor. I needed to get out of my heels as soon as possible or I’d go crazy. I walked into the bedroom and froze. Dante was in bed, reading something on his tablet. As usual his upper body was naked, but now as my eyes raked over the scars marring his skin, I couldn’t help but imagine Dante with fourteen being tortured by his father to toughen him up.
“Did everything go well after I left?” Dante asked, barely glancing up from whatever he was reading.
“Yes, the high rollers lost quite a bit of money.” I slipped out of my heels and could have wept from relief. “I’m going to grab a quick shower.” Dante only nodded distractedly. I was too exhausted to care about it. After the shower, I put on a satin chemise and matching panties, and returned to the bedroom where I sat down on the edge of the bed, my back to Dante. I wasn’t in the mood to make an effort. I lifted my foot and started massaging it. Maybe next time I should switch to ballet flats. They would still look elegant but not hurt as much. The mattress shifted and then Dante’s voice was at my ear. “Let me.”
Before I could protest he made me lie back and put my feet in his lap. His fingers started rubbing my tired feet and calves with just the right amount of pressure.
“Tonight was an exemption. The high rollers needed to get to know you. You don’t have to stay that long in the future. Just make an appearance, greet them, make them feel welcome and then leave. Leo is a capable man.”
I hummed, my eyes closed as I relaxed under his massage. Now and then Dante’s finger strayed higher, stroking my knees or even thighs, and my breathing deepened. Dante, too, wasn’t unaffected. I could feel his erection pressing against my feet still resting in his lap. “Turn around,” Dante ordered.
I rolled over so I was lying on my stomach, knowing exactly what Dante wanted. Tonight I wasn’t even bothered by the fact that he never wanted to look at my face. I raised my butt when his fingers hooked under the waistband of my panties and slid them down my legs. Sighing into the pillow, I let Dante waken my exhausted body with his touch.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Dante was right. The next few weeks I made sure to be out of the casino by ten at the latest. I enjoyed the time I spent talking to the girls, the bartenders or the croupiers, but listening to most of the customers was strenuous. At least, Raffaele had made sure to stay away from me, which was a huge plus.
When Enzo took me home at night, I always checked the street for a sign of Frank, but the only person I saw regularly on the sidewalk was an elderly woman walking her Yorkshire Terrier. By now, I’d almost convinced myself that I’d imagined seeing him. Maybe my mind was unconsciously missing Antonio, and conjuring up Frank had been a way to cope with it. Dante wasn’t the presence I wanted him to be in my life. He took me every night, mostly in the dark, and always with my back to him, sometimes kneeling, sometimes lying flat on my stomach. Not that I was complaining. He always made sure I came at least once while he was in me, but I was starting to long for something else. This felt too much like mere fucking, almost like I was nothing more to him than a way to relief tension, but whenever Dante’s hand slipped between my legs at night, I promised myself to talk to him next time, too desperate for his touch.
As usual my eyes wandered over the sidewalk when Enzo steered the car through the gates to the house. But tonight I saw him again. Frank was strolling along the sidewalk across the street, trying to look as if he was only trying to catch some fresh air. He wasn’t succeeding. He looked suspicious to me, so I didn’t dare to think how he would appear to Dante’s guards. I would have to find a way to send him away. It was too risky. I headed straight up to the guest bedroom that allowed me to view the street, but like last time, Frank seemed to have disappeared.
My phone rang and for a moment I was sure it was Frank but he knew better than to call me. There was no saying who was tracking my calls after all, and I’d changed my number a few months ago. The screen flashed with Bibiana’s name. I picked up. “Hey Bibi.”
“Val,” Bibi said in a whisper. Her voice was shaking. She sounded terrified. “Can you come over?”
I tensed, turning my back to the window. “What’s wrong?”
“Tommaso, he…” She sniffed. “He was in a foul mood today.”
“What did he do? Is he still there?”
“No, he left because of a meeting wi
th Raffaele, but he’ll be back soon. Can you come over? I’m scared of what he’ll do when he comes back.” My eyes darted to the clock that said it was almost nine.
“I’ll be there in ten minutes, Bibi.”
I rushed out of the guest bedroom and down the stairs. I wasn’t sure where Enzo was. It probably would have been easy to find him, but I wasn’t in the mood to explain myself. Instead I grabbed the keys from the hook in the garage and took the SUV. Before the doors had glided up all the way, I pressed the gas and shot out of the garage, the car roof missing the bottom of the door by inches. I slowed only as I waited for gate to part for me. Dante would be furious.
As I turned around the corner at the end of the street, I spotted a familiar back and hit the breaks. Frank jumped, and threw a panicked look over his shoulder. He had his phone pressed against his ear but ended the call when he saw me. I checked our surroundings before I rolled down the window and gestured for him to come closer. “What are you doing here?”
He crept closer, eyes darting around nervously. I understood his anxiety only too well. He was risking too much by being here. “I need to talk to you in private.”
I frowned. “About what?”
“About Antonio, about the Outfit, about everything.”
I checked the rearview mirror again. “I can’t talk right now. Meet me tomorrow around 5:30.” I explained the way to the street where the storehouse was that hid the casino, but didn’t tell him about it.
“That’s where one of the underground casinos is, right?”
I stared. Antonio had told him? Damn it. Why couldn’t Frank have stayed away? “We’ll talk tomorrow.” I let the window slide back up and pulled away. Nobody seemed to have followed me, or at least I didn’t see anyone. I hoped I could sneak out of the casino tomorrow undetected. I needed to clear things up with Frank. But what if he really wanted to blackmail me somehow? I knew he’d leave me no choice but to tell Dante about it if he did.
Why did today have to turn into such a mess?
It took me less than ten minutes to arrive at Bibi’s house. As always a guard was sitting in a car in front of it. He gave me a curt nod when he saw me getting out of the car. I almost ran toward the door. Bibi opened it before I even got the chance to ring the bell. I had to stifle a gasp when I saw her face. Her lower lip was busted open and dried blood stuck to her lower chin and her shirt. A bruise was already forming on her left cheek and the eye above it was starting to swell shut. She ushered me in, then quickly shut the door. Before I had time to say something, she threw herself into my arms. I embraced her but she winced when I touched her ribs and I loosened my hold on her. I pulled back to look at her face. “Why did he beat you up?”
Bibi shrugged, then winced. I didn’t even want to know what her body looked like under her clothes. Finger marks bloomed bluish-red on her throat and her collarbone. “He’s been in a foul mood all day and when I told him I still wasn’t pregnant he lost it.” Something tickled at the back of my mind but I pushed it aside for now.
“Maybe it’s his fault. Maybe the old fool is infertile,” I muttered. I didn’t like the word ‘hate’ or the sentiment behind it. Hate always only led to more hate, but I definitely hated Tommaso. Dante wasn’t sure I was capable of taking another person’s life, but I did.
“He can’t be. He got a few of the whores in Club Palermo pregnant.”
My eyes widened. Bibi had never told me. “So he’s got children with other women?”
“No, he forced them to get an abortion. Nobody wants to fuck a pregnant whore, that’s what he said.”
“I’m so sorry, Bibi.”
“I feel so bad for calling you away from Dante on Valentine’s Day.”
I’d completely forgotten about that. Not that Dante had given any indication that today was special during our breakfast together.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You know I’m always there for you. What can I do?”
A small sob escaped her and she clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes huge and full of fear. She lowered her hand. “I don’t know. I just don’t know, but I was so scared and didn’t know who else to call. You are the only one who seems to care.”
“I do care, Bibi. You know that.”
“I’m scared of when he returns. He told me it wasn’t over. And he’s always more brutal after he spent time with Raffaele. They are both disgusting sadists. Oh, Val, the things Tommaso sometimes does to me, the things he forces me to do, I can’t even tell you.”
I grabbed her hand. “Come. Spend the night at my place.”
“I can’t run away from him. You know they’d never let me. They’ll always force me to return to him no matter what he does.”
I knew. How could I have felt self-pity for my loveless marriage when Bibi had it so much worse? “I know, and I didn’t mean that you should move out. But you could spend the night with us so Tommaso has some time to cool off, and tomorrow after breakfast I’ll take you back home.”
Bibi nodded slowly. “Are you sure Dante won’t mind? I don’t want to impose on your time together.”
I almost laughed. “He won’t mind, don’t worry,” I said. “Do you want to leave now?”
She shivered, her thin arms coming up to wrap around her middle. There were bruises on her wrists too. If my fury alone could have killed Tommaso, he’d be dead now.
I helped Bibi pack a few things before I led her out of the house. The guard looked up, then started, obviously unsure of what to do. Tommaso had probably told him Bibi wasn’t allowed to leave the house, but I was the wife of the Capo, who was his main boss. Bibi tensed in my arm but didn’t stop walking. Not even when he picked up his phone and called someone, undoubtedly Tommaso. I felt the childish urge to give him the finger rise in me, but I’d passed the age where I would have considered acting on it. Bibi plopped down into the passenger seat and I slipped behind the steering wheel. “You are without a guard?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t want to waste time looking for Enzo or Taft.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me,” she said miserably.
I started the car and pulled away from the curb. Bibi’s guard didn’t try to follow us. He knew where we were going anyway. “I won’t.”
“Does Dante ever beat you or force himself on you?”
“No. He’s not violent. Well, at least not in our marriage. Of course I know that he’s perfectly capable of atrocious acts. He told me he doesn’t believe fear or hatred belong in a marriage. That’s probably why.”
“He’s a good man.”
“I wouldn’t say that. If you want a good man, you have to go looking outside of the Outfit.”
“Remember when we were young and dreamed about finding our Prince Charming and marrying him? I was obsessed with Disney princes. They were all so gallant and good.”
I smiled at the memory. “We were young and stupid. I’d give everything to be that clueless again, if only for a few hours.”
“Yeah.”
It was almost ten when we finally stepped into my home. “Do you want to grab something to eat or would you like to try to get some sleep?”
“I’m not really hungry,” Bibi said hesitantly. “But I don’t think I can fall asleep right now.”
“We could sit in the library and talk a bit. Or I could run you a bath so you can relax.”
“I think I’d rather talk. I don’t want to be alone.”
“Okay, I…” I trailed off when I saw Dante heading our way. Bibi stiffened beside me, her terrified gaze darting to me. I wasn’t sure why but I positioned myself between Dante and Bibi. He noticed of course and gave me a searching look. “Good evening, Bibiana,” he said politely.
“Evening,” she said quietly. Dante’s cool blue eyes scanned her bruised face and arms briefly before they fixed on me. “Tommaso called me to ask if his wife was here. He said you’d picked her up at their house without his permission.”
“His permission?” I hissed. “She’s not a dog
. I don’t need to ask him permission for anything.”
“That’s what I told him,” Dante said calmly, startling me.
“You did?”
Bibi watched us with wide eyes.
“Of course, you are my wife. If you want to have a word with one of the wives of my soldiers, you have every right to do so.”
We both knew that wasn’t the reason why Bibi was here. Dante wasn’t blind. I hoped he could see how grateful I was for his support. “So he’s okay with her staying the night?”
“I didn’t know that’s what you’d planned as you didn’t inform me,” he said simply. I could hear the hint of a reprimand in his tone. He knew I’d left without a guard – again.
“I didn’t have the time,” I said. “But I think Bibi should stay here, so Tommaso can calm down.”
“If he comes here and asks for her, it would be against our traditions to deny him. She is his wife.”
Bibi nodded. “He’s right. I shouldn’t have come.” The defeat in her eyes and voice almost brought me to my knees. I shot Dante a pleading look.
Dante pulled his phone from his pocket and pressed it against his ear. After two rings, I could hear a deep voice on the other end but I couldn’t hear the words.
“Yes, Tommaso. I want you to accompany Raffaele when he checks out the new goods. I trust your judgment, and Club Palermo could use fresh blood. I want your report tomorrow.” Dante listened to something Tommaso said. “My wife and Bibiana have plans. Don’t worry. She’s safe here. I’ll have my driver take her home tomorrow.” Dante lowered the phone and put it back in his pocket.
“Thank you,” Bibi said in a shaky voice. I stayed silent, overwhelmed by Dante’s kindness.
“You realize I sent your husband out to sleep with our new prostitutes, but I suppose you don’t mind.”
