“Just like that?” I questioned, as I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
“You didn’t tell him?” Antony looked at my dad and he shook his head.
“Tell me what?”
“Son, I just found out myself. It seems that Anise opened credit lines in several high-end boutiques under your name.”
“The fuck?”
“Yeah, to the tune of a hundred seventy-five thousand.”
“Dollars?”
They laughed.
“What the fuck did she buy?”
“The question should be what she didn’t buy. However, I’ve already put my guys on it. By the end of business today, Anise Michelino will get the shock of her life when she has several businesses asking for tendered payment or lawsuits will commence.”
“I had no idea it would come to this. The last time we talked, she was going on and on about me taking care of her. I flat out refused. That was after Dad said I could make up my own mind. I told her I didn’t choose her. Not too long after that I saw Christianna again and the rest is history.”
“Well, after tomorrow, Michelino is going to know that our families weren’t to be messed with,” Antony said before motioning to the table. “Enough about all of that, our friends put out this spread, so let’s eat.”
Antony raised his glass in toast, we all raised ours. “Saluto alla famiglia.”
“To family,” we all said in unison and clinked our glasses together.
We all ate as we sat around laughing at the stories Antony told about growing up with Christianna’s dad and my own. Some of the stories I would have to remember so I could tell Christianna later on so she could discuss them with her dad to see if there were any truths to them. Although I already knew all of what Antony said was true, he didn’t seem like the type of guy to make shit up.
The man put the fear into grown men, he didn’t need to lie.
When we separated, we agreed that we’d meet up tomorrow with Lanza after his meeting with Anderson. Oh to be a fly on the wall in that room. I predicted that it would go to shit really quickly and he wouldn’t have a chance to blink. I just hope that I get a chance to say my piece before he makes his disappearance from life.
I got home to find a plate of food waiting for me, Luke had gone out to meet Alexandra and Bobby had somewhere he needed to be.
Pulling out my phone, I needed to hear the sweet voices of my girls for reassurance. As soon as I heard her voice I was able to take a deep breath. My heart ached as I listened to her tell me about her day. I had just missed Layla, who’d gone down early for the night. She’d been cranky.
“Are you sure she’s okay?” I asked, curious.
“Yes, I think she’s cutting teeth. I love that you’re so concerned about her, but she’s okay.”
“You know me, sweetheart, I’ll always worry.”
Chapter Fifteen
Christianna
Lying in bed, listening to Nicholas’ nervousness tugged at my heart. Even though I tried to reassure him that she was okay, he wasn’t thoroughly convinced.
“I know you’ll always worry, you’ve got a daughter.” I laughed.
“Don’t remind me, beautiful. Especially since I know she looks like you, I’m going to have to hire her an extra security detail. Do you think we should look into an all girls’ school?”
“You’re being silly.”
“I’m not being silly, I’m being realistic. God, can you imagine if all the children we have are girls?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. I knew Nicholas wanted more children. He’d said it before. I humored him about it, seeing as how I wasn’t sure if after all of this trouble was over, he would want to remain in this relationship with me.
Even though he’d said this was what he wanted, he said it during a time when my life was in danger. Who knows if those feelings will be the same when there was no longer a threat to my life.
I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I wanted this, even though I wanted to fight this tooth and nail. I came to the realization that this is what I needed. A life with Nicholas, whatever that may be, and our children—I’d have a whole brood of them if I could be happy for the rest of my life.
Listening to Nicholas tell me about his day while he ate the dinner that Mrs. Phillips left for him made me yearn for me to be there with him like we had done previously. When Nicholas finished up, he was able to delve into the deeper parts of the conversations that was going on today.
“I met with Antony Balducci. He’s got a guy coming in named Jerry Lanza. Antony and Jerry go as far back as he does with our dads. Jerry actually knows them both so this made everything easier for him.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Anderson Michelino called Lanza. He’s the head of the family on the west coast. Michelino didn’t realize that Lanza was connected to Balducci and that they’re both on very good terms. I’m talking terms like brother, childhood friend terms. Everyone just expects east and west coast to be rivals, in this sense, it’s not the case.”
“Okay, I understand.”
“So when Lanza got the call, he immediately called Balducci, who in turn called Dad and that’s where we are now. Lanza is flying in and is set to meet with Michelino. He’s going to find out what the deal is. If he starts to make threats openly against you or me, Lanza is going to have his men deal with him per Balducci’s authority.”
“You mean, they’re going to kill him?”
“Well, yes and no. You see, we’ll be there to deal with him. We’ll be the ones taking care of this. I want to ask him why and how did you become a threat to everything and how dare he try to kill a child from one of the families. This is frowned upon, Christianna.”
“Honestly, Nicholas, I don’t know what the deal is. I don’t know about hierarchy as it relates to the whole mafia lifestyle, although I have seen The Godfather a few times, but I guess they take creative license with things like that.”
“Not everything is negative in our lives, you know that. We actually do more good than harm, so to speak. We don’t have nor do we condone illegal activities on our end of the family. Now what the others do is their business, we just keep everything straight. We don’t touch other places like drugs, sanitation, or guns anymore. We let other people handle that and we don’t step on any toes in the process.”
“Then why do you stay as a family like this, this whole Mafia organization type life?”
“Sweetheart, it’s just a name. It doesn’t define who we are. Consider us the Robin Hoods of the world. We do good things for good people. So, if there is a bad person that comes along, they get dealt with.”
“So you’ve killed people.”
Nicholas let out a deep sigh. I knew that whatever he was about to tell me was going to be deep but I was prepared. “I have in the past, yes. The people that I killed weren’t for merciless reasons. They were killed because they did something that deserved the punishment of no longer breathing the air you and I do. I’ve had men work for me that were so vile, one had raped his young daughter. One had pimped out his wife and teenage son. I don’t condone it, these men went so far as to try and use my businesses to launder money, trying to make it a front for drugs. It was just a long list of things that made up my decision to take their lives. I did not do anything that wasn’t justified, I can assure you of that.”
I listened as Nicholas went over all the lives he’d taken, each one of them seemed like men that were granted some form of justice by their lives being taken in that way. Even though I myself didn’t condone violence, I did understand his reasons.
“Enough of all of that, I didn’t want to have this intense conversation with you right now. I originally called to check on my girls, but I had an ulterior motive.”
“And what was your ulterior motive?”
“Well, seeing as how after tomorrow Michelino would be on notice about me and the family, he’ll also know that we know he’s connected to the stuff behind you. I don’t see tha
t there will be any more problems out of him in the future. I want to take you out to dinner. More importantly, I’m ready for you and Layla to come home.”
“You think everything will be okay, we’ll be safe?”
“Yes, I guarantee that after tomorrow you’ll both be safe.”
I couldn’t contain the smile I was wearing. Even though he couldn’t see me, I realized I was smiling like a loon and nodding.
“Sweetheart, are you still there?”
“Oh Nicholas, I’m sorry. I’m just so excited and happy. Yes, we’d love to come back.”
“I’m so fucking happy to hear that.”
Nicholas and I talked until the early hours of the morning. I was packing up our things and teasing him about what I may or may not be wearing for our dinner that night. He’d told me that he would get me back for it in one way or another and I anxiously looked forward to it.
We lay in our respective beds, he was singing to me as I began to fall asleep. I told him that I loved him before I was out for the count. When I woke up the phone lay on the pillow next to my face. I hit the screen and it lit up, notifying me it was a little after eleven in the morning. I never slept that late, I hoped I wasn’t getting sick. That was the last thing I needed.
I found my mom and Layla downstairs in the living room playing. Layla was desperately trying to move her little legs as she stood up using the coffee table.
“Good morning, Mom,” I said, leaning in to hug her.
“Hi Angel, did you sleep well?”
“I did, thank you. I’m sorry I slept so late.”
“Don’t worry about it. Layla and I had breakfast with your dad, we did a little bit of online shopping, and she’s been talking to me all morning about her likes and dislikes with my fabric swatches.”
“Fabric swatches? Really, Mom?” I questioned.
“Don’t believe me, watch this.”
My mom opened a binder full of two by two inch squared fabrics, pulling out a couple of them.
“Layla,” she called and I watched as Layla’s head turned. “Do you like this?” she asked, holding up a pink glittery square.
Layla laughed and smacked a hand against the coffee table she was leaning against before doing a little knee bob in excitement. Could be a coincidence, I thought until she pulled out another swatch. This swatch was an orangey pink swirled fabric and Layla stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at the sight of it before turning her face.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight before me. Every single day this little girl amazed me by leaps and bounds. I laughed a little more before scooping her up in my arms and kissing her beautiful face.
“See, I told you. That little one is going to be my protégé. She may become the new head of Evelyn Thomas or branch out on her own. Either way, that little girl is talented.”
“Well, any sane person would have made a face at that ugly orange fabric.” I made a face, simultaneously rolling my eyes, which earned a laugh from Layla.
“Was Mommy funny? I asked, and she laughed again.
We sat around chatting for a few minutes. I explained to Mom what Nicholas had told me. I remembered to tell her the names of the men who were involved and helping. She seemed pleasantly pleased when she heard them. I guess she trusted them, which was a good thing.
Telling her that I would be moving back with Nicholas and that everything was going to be okay was well received. She even told me I didn’t need to pack and take everything with me. She told me she’d handle it and that they’d bring me the things later. She also told me that tonight after dinner I didn’t have to worry about Layla, and that they’d be happy to keep her for the night in case I wanted to spend some time alone with Nicholas.
I got the distinct impression that my mom was trying to get me laid, which made sense now that I thought about it. I did overhear her and my dad talking one evening about how they wanted a house full of grandchildren and knew that Nicholas and I were itching for another baby.
When I heard the whole “itching for another baby,” I shook my head at the thought. I wanted to get to know Nicholas, I wanted to let us get comfortable with the family we had before we progressed any further. No matter how much I loved him, we needed time to see if this was a fluke or not.
I spent the rest of my day hanging out with Layla. She got a late nap so she’d be awake when Nicholas came by. I packed up the rest of my things and Layla’s so we could move at a moment’s notice. As much as I loved being with my mom and dad, it was nice to have my own space to do things. I missed my office area, my computer, and my books. If I didn’t jump back in it quickly my publisher was going to be pissed.
Looking over a few emails, I was reminded of that signing in the city at the end of the week. I would make sure Mom and Dad could watch Layla, as I’d love for Nicholas to see what it is I do.
As it got closer to the time Nicholas was going to pick me up for dinner, I rushed to get a shower and do my hair. I wore it down because he loved me like that. I wore a modest little black dress that hugged my curves but didn’t show too much skin, and I paired it with some strappy silvery grey sandals. The same silvery grey that matched his eyes, boy how I love his eyes.
Hearing the doorbell go off, I slowly looked over myself. I made sure that I looked presentable, trying hard to shake off all the nerves I was beginning to feel. I headed downstairs slowly. I could hear Nicholas and Layla in the living room. My dad’s roar of laughter every time Layla said “da” made me laugh. I stood in the opening of the entryway and watched as Nicholas rolled on the floor and Layla crawled all over him. You’d never know that this man had killed people before, you’d never know he was feared. All you could see was this man loved his little girl.
***
Nicholas
I didn’t care how foolish I might look to an outsider, I was a man who loved and missed his daughter terribly. Layla jumped on me and yelled “da” and I couldn’t resist scooping her up and kissing her chubby cheeks. Something moved from the corner of my eye. I looked to see who’d entered our little party.
To say that my breath was taken away by what I saw would be an understatement. There the love of my life stood in a black dress, her brown hair falling down around her shoulders like a waterfall. She was wearing the sexiest pair of shoes I’d ever seen in my life. I wasn’t into anything like that but damn, everything about her was perfection.
“Ma,” Layla said, breaking me from our staring contest.
As I would have expected, Christianna put her purse down and walked over to me, kissing my stunned cheek before picking up Layla. I watched as she spoke to her. Layla seemed to be attached to her mom. She laid her head on her shoulder and started to close her eyes. I wanted to pat myself on the back for helping get my little girl tired out so she’d go to sleep.
I wrapped my arms around the both of them, I kissed Layla’s forehead before I kissed Christianna’s. I don’t know how long we stood in this embrace before Evelyn stepped in and took our now fast asleep daughter from Christianna’s arms. She kissed us both, practically shoving us out the front door. I laughed at their blatant display of getting rid of us for the night.
I guess they knew how much we needed this too.
Escorting Christianna to my car, I stopped her as soon as I opened the door just so I could get a good look at her. She was a breathtaking sight and I was so fucking glad that she was all mine.
Looking up at me, she smiled big and bright. “What?” she asked and I chuckled.
“I’m staring too much, aren’t I?”
“A little bit, but it’s okay. We haven’t seen each other face to face in a while, I’ll probably stare at you a bunch too.”
I laughed, leaned in, and kissed her lips. “As long as we’re staring at each other that’s all that matters,” I said as I helped her get into the car.
Holding her hand the entire way, I wanted to stay connected to her. I felt as if she would disappear at any moment if I didn’t. We drove to the littl
e Italian bistro my mom and dad loved so much, at my mom’s suggestion. She told me it was a wonderful place to have a romantic dinner. I didn’t realize it until we walked through the front doors.
There was a fireplace burning off to the side and there were candle centerpieces on the tables. The chairs were seated close together, so when we sat down, she was practically on my lap. I really did love being this close to her. The waitress came over and smiled at us. She described the specials and Christianna let me order for the both of us. When the waitress said there was a family style option that fed two, I ordered that.
I laid my arm over the back of her chair as I inched closer, and she placed her hand on the inside of my thigh. My whole body shivered at her touch, it felt like it had been so long that it was taking everything I had to hold onto my composure. Nuzzling her hair, I blew hot breath over her exposed neck, causing her to let out a low moan while her hand gripped my thigh harder. I leaned in closer and ran my tongue up the column of her neck. Before I could comprehend what it was doing to her, her hand moved from my thigh and landed straight on my cock, squeezing it.
Placing my hand over hers to halt her stroking, I chuckled lightly with my head on her shoulder. “Easy, I’m sorry I didn’t know it would affect you so much.”
“What did you expect?” she whispered back. “It’s been a while since we’ve been together, you know.”
“Okay, I’ll be better. Well, as better as I can be until we’re out of here, that is.” I placed a kiss against her temple while rubbing her back slowly.
The waitress arrived with our food a few minutes later, a big bowl of spaghetti with marinara with fresh shaved Parmesan on top. She even placed a basket of fresh garlic bread on the table before giving us a polite “enjoy” before stepping away.
“Now, I’ve never done this before. It’s supposed to be romantic so—” I said before she cut me off.
Can't Walk Away (The Thomas Family Chronicles #1) Page 18
