by K. J. Dahlen
Franco was the first one to call in and Sal joined less than a minute later.
“Dante!” Sal exclaimed. I knew him as a ruthless businessman, but in that moment, he was a father. “How are they treating you? Do you have food and water?”
“Yes Dad. I have food and water. They are treating me well. Please tell Mom that I love her and that I’m sorry for all of this. I’m sorry Dad.”
I was a bit surprised at his apology. He didn’t seem the type to offer them.
“We can talk about that later. We’re here to negotiate terms for your release. Franco, are you ready to be reasonable?”
“I was being reasonable. I caught a thief trying to steal my things. You remember our days together. What was it you said we should do if we caught anyone stealing from us?”
“This is different,” Sal said.
“Different how? I had a shipment coming in. Dante and some men showed up and tried to take it. That’s stealing. By your rules, we should cut off his hands, cook them, make him eat them and then put a bullet between his eyes.”
Dante’s face paled.
“Would you like to have a dinner show?” Franco taunted.
“ENOUGH!” Sal said. “You made your fucking point. What is it you want? And don’t give me some bullshit about wanting to make things even. Let’s leave the past in the past. What do you want now?”
Franco kept his cool. “I want that shipment that’s coming in the end of the week. I don’t want to steal if from you. I’ll pay for it, but I get to move the guns.”
I knew that even paying for it, there was a huge profit to be made.
“It won’t cost you anything, just money not made.”
“And what else?” Sal questioned.
“The dock. It was my territory. You have the docks on the Northwest side.”
“And if I agree to this, then Dante is allowed to leave?”
“Yes, once we get the shipment in our hands, we’ll release Dante. We’ll leave him in a location and call you then tell you where he is. We’ll take your word on it that you’ll give us control of the docks.
“And I have your word?” Sal asked.
Dante looked upset. He knew he was costing his father a lot of money, and so much more.
“Yes, you have my word.”
“I’ll send you the details, Frankie, and I’ll see you Friday Dante.” Sal ended the call.
I turned to Dante. “Guess you’ll be checking out on Friday then?” I joked, relieved that it was all working out.
“Yeah,” he said.
I was shocked there was no snarky comment. I thought he’d be happy to be getting out of here. He wouldn’t be the first to leave alive, but he was the first to leave alive and all in one piece.
9
Annalisa
It had been the best two weeks of my life. Every night, once the house was asleep, I would sneak down to see my Dante. We would make love for hours and then I’d come back to my room to sleep for a bit. I’d started to nap in the afternoons making my mother worry I was getting sick. Lina was suspicious too. I wanted to tell her, to share what was going on with her, but it was just too dangerous for both her and Dante.
Each night when I’d left in the beginning, I worried I’d never see him again, now I knew I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him. I was in too deep.
I didn’t regret a moment of it though and I was glad I’d gone that first night I’d lost my virginity. I wasn’t going to go, but as I lie there in bed, I could faintly hear Lina and Marco in the room next door. I could hear the rhythmic thumping of the bed and the muted cries of ecstasy from both of them. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I’d likely be married before I ever even saw a penis other than on my computer.
It had been worth it too. That first night it had hurt a little, and it hurt a lot the next morning, but by the next night, everything felt great. He’d made love to me in so many different ways. Sometimes, he would take me hard and fast while others we would take hours finding our release. The first night I didn’t have an orgasm — maybe I’d been too nervous, but the second night, and every night after that it had been wonderful.
After another spectacular night and still feeling the effects of my orgasm, I crept up to my room. I opened the door slowly and entered my dark room. I stifled a scream when I saw Lina was sitting on my bed.
“You gonna tell me what’s going on? And don’t bother to lie. I can smell the sex from here.”
I didn’t lie, instead telling her everything from the details of my first time right down to tonight and how wonderful it had been. “Lina, I’m scared. I have feelings for him. I just can’t lose him. I want to ask my dad what’s going on, if he’s going to um—well, if Dante is going to be gone. But I can’t ask him. He will know something is up.”
“I can ask Marco what’s going on. Tomorrow, I’ll ask him how much longer I’m going to be staying here.”
I hugged Lina as the relief spread through my body, bringing with it the exhaustion I’d felt. Lina left me to sleep, saying that Marco liked her to be there in the morning. I fell asleep to dreams of waking up in Dante’s arms.
In the morning, Lina had talked to Marco and I got the best news ever. Apparently, there had been some sort of video conference call and an agreement had been made. There was a shipment of something coming in on Friday, and if all went well, Dante would be released the next day. I was a bit skeptical about it all, but Lina assured me that she had ways of making Marco tell more than he wanted to.
She’d also insisted that we go out and spend the day at the salon because now that I had a guy, I needed to look my best. I told her I’d just had my hair done and she laughed at me saying they weren’t going to touch the hair on my head.
Four hours later, after being convinced that Dante would love it, I walked in the door with freshly manicured nails, newly polished toenails, and a very smooth kitty. It had taken quite a bit to convince me to have it waxed, but Lina insisted that he’d like it.
We had also stopped at Victoria’s Secret to get me something sexy to wear. Honestly, I don’t think Victoria has any secrets, not with the kind of clothes she wears! But with Lina’s help, I chose a deep purple corset and black thigh high stockings. She also did my hair and makeup. When I’d looked at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t believe it was me. I looked beyond sexy.
Dante thought so too, because when I walked in his room, he couldn’t even speak. I’d been wearing my robe, but when I dropped it, he started breathing really hard and mumbled something like, “unfucking believable.”
He sat on the side of the bed and pulled me towards him. I stood there while he looked at me. “You are fucking perfect. Do you know that? Perfect. I don’t think you could get any better.” He ran his hands up my legs and over the stockings to the waistband of my panties. I held my breath as he pulled them down. “Shit. It just got better!”
In an instant, he lifted me in the air and threw me on the bed diving between my legs. I giggled at his playful nature but gasped as his tongue began to do amazing things. As he brought me closer and closer to orgasm, I involuntarily wrapped my legs around his head, digging the heels Lina had insisted he’d love into his back. When I started to take them off, he pulled back. “The heels fucking stay on,” he growled and went back to torturing me with his tongue.
He’d licked my pussy before and I’d loved it every time. Dante said he loved it because I’d go wild. I’d also learned to pleasure him with my mouth. I enjoyed sucking his cock and swallowing his cum, though he rarely came in my mouth. I’d blow him for a while, but he’d always want to fuck me. I didn’t mind because it felt so good when he did it.
We made love for hours, eventually I was naked in his arms, but afraid of falling asleep. “I’ve got to go. See you tomorrow.” I kissed his lips softly and left the room.
Once again, I crept from his room back towards mine. Just as I was walking through the kitchen, I heard a voice coming from right outside of
the window on the back porch. I recognized it as Vito’s and ducked down so I wouldn’t be seen.
“None of it’s going as planned. You said that Sal wouldn’t negotiate with us, but my boss says the deal is going down this Friday.”
It was quiet for a moment and I realized he must have been on the phone. “Yeah, I guess it would piss Sal off even more if he agreed to the terms and then his son was killed anyway.”
More silence.
“Well, after the deal, I could say he tried to escape and I had to shoot him. Then Sal will be pissed and he’ll come after Franco. I can leave him without any protection and you can come in and put one between his eyes. That should earn you a lot of points with Sal for avenging his son’s death.”
Vito was silent for a while and then started to laugh. “Yeah, he would promote you to Dante’s position. And, I have a few guys on my side here,” Vito continued. “But there is no way I’m gonna be able to turn two of his guys. Loyal to the core.”
I couldn’t believe I was hearing this. My heart was beating so hard and so fast, I had trouble hearing what Vito was saying. He’d gone silent and I was afraid he could hear my heart beating, but he started speaking again. “Good idea. I’ll tell them where to find Sal, then after they kill him for bumping off Franco, you can pop them. Then there will be no one to stand in our way, and you and I can declare a truce and run this fucking town together.”
More silence. I hated the fucking silence.
“Yeah, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I’ve gotta go get laid. I spend half the night listening to Marco bone his girlfriend. Chick’s a fucking freak in bed. I swear, the first thing I’m gonna do after we bump him off is fuck that little cunt.”
Vito’s voice trailed off and I realized he was probably leaving. I didn’t waste any time and ran back down to Dante startling him.
“Jesus Annalisa!” he shouted, then noticing my appearance, “What’s wrong Baby girl?”
“They are going to kill you!”
He looked at me like I was insane. “Baby, we’ve always known that was a possibility, but I’m actually thinking there is a chance I can get out of here. There was a video chat yesterday. It went really well.”
“I know about that. This is different.” I took a deep breath to try to calm myself and to give me a moment to gather my thoughts. “When I left I heard Vito, one of my dad’s men, talking on the phone about how he was mad Sal was cooperating. He said he was going to shoot you trying to escape.”
I told Dante the rest of what I’d heard.
“I’m going to tell my dad in the morning. Then he can get rid of Vito and let you go.”
Dante pulled me into a hug. “It’s not going to be that easy Baby. Even if your dad believed you, which he might not, this is one of his most trusted men, he would wonder why you cared. Then, if you told him about us, he would think it’s a trick. Besides Babygirl, you said Vito mentioned having other men. Do you know who they are? They might hurt you for outing them. And I can’t take that chance. I also need to know who the traitor is on my side too.” He shook his head and exhaled loudly. “This is fucked up. We need a plan.”
He was right, it was fucked up. “We just need to get away from here.”
“Yeah, but as you can see, I’m not exactly free to go.” He looked at the door and the block walls all around him.
“I can get you out of here.” My voice was barely a whisper, but his head snapped up like I’d shouted it.
“You’d do that? That’s sweet of you Baby, but I’d never let you take the heat for that. Daughter or not, in your father’s eyes, you’d be going against the ‘family’. You’d be risking your life.”
“What if he didn’t know it was me? It could be anyone, or you could have escaped on your own.”
His eyes looked hopeful for a moment before his brow furrowed. “It’s still dangerous. I don’t like the idea of leaving you here, especially with traitors in your ranks.”
“I could come with you.” My voice was almost inaudible.
He took my chin in his hand. “Do you even know what you’re saying? They would know it was you for sure. We’d have to go into hiding.”
I looked at the ground, not wanting him to see the tears forming in my eyes. I knew he wouldn’t want to give up his life, his family for me. He barely knew me really, and I barely knew him. It had been only about two weeks, but the time we spent together, each night felt like a month. It was more than the sex. I cared about him, deeply. I looked up into his eyes to find he was looking back into mine.
“Baby, I have a safe house in the upper peninsula of Michigan. We can take one of my boats and head north on Lake Michigan. We’d be halfway there before anyone knew we were gone.”
My eyes were wide. He was considering this? He was considering giving up his life here to spend the rest of it with me? When he saw my shocked look, his face fell. “Oh, I didn’t mean to assume you’d be ready to leave your family. I know leaving mine would be hard. I shouldn’t have assumed. What was I thinking?”
“I do. I want to go with you. I’d miss my parents, but I can’t imagine being without you. I, um, I love you.” I bit my lip as the words hung in the air for a second.
He pulled me into an embrace. The kiss that followed my declaration may have been the most intense kiss in the history of the world. Every part of me felt alive and I had no doubt that I was doing the right thing. It would be hard leaving my parents, but living without Dante would be impossible.
“I love you too my Angel. I never thought I could feel this way. I was going to tell you earlier, but I was afraid to admit it. You’re the first non-relative that I’ve ever said it to.”
My heart was racing again. This time out of joy rather than fear. We kissed again until I pulled back. “Should we go now? It’s almost two in morning.”
“No baby. We wouldn’t get far. I need resources. We have to go tomorrow night. You can pack a few things. We need to travel light. I’ll bring money and we can buy anything you might need. It’s not going to be forever, once we get things straightened out here, maybe there will be a way we can come back.”
“Wait! What about our dads?”
“We can leave messages for them from a disposable cell once we are on the lake warning them.”
“Do you think they’ll believe us?” I asked. “Like you said, Vito is one of his most trusted men. And why would your dad believe you? They would think it was some sort of trick. He might even think my dad still had you or even that we’d killed you!”
“We’ll just have to talk to them long enough to convince them. We have to make them listen, but we can’t do it from here. Even if they don’t believe us about having traitors, their guards will be up, and they will be looking for tricks. That should be enough. They’re grown men and I have to think that they can take care of themselves. They chose this. I chose this, but you…” He grabbed my chin and lifted it slightly. “You didn’t choose this. You didn’t choose the mess I’ve made. I have to make sure you’re safe.”
I leaned into his hand. “I did choose this though. I chose you. I’m choosing you.”
He leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips. “I’m a lucky man. I do have one condition though.”
“What?” I asked.
“You have to let me go by myself first. If I get caught leaving, I don’t want you with me. I’ll tell them that I escaped myself, or implicate Vito. It doesn’t matter, what does is that you’d be safe. I have to get a few things before we go. You can wait until I’m gone, and if no one notices, you can leave and we will meet at the dock at midnight. Baby, are you sure, you want to do this? Our families might not forgive us.”
“I’m sure.”
He smiled. “I’m going to need my sister’s help. She’ll be able to get me the things that I’ll need.”
“Should we call her?”
“They took my phone Baby.”
“We can use my phone,” I offered.
“Yeah, but I don’t know her ph
one number. She programmed it in like two years ago. I’ve never actually dialed her number.”
We were silent for a moment, each of us trying to think of a solution.
“Every evening she jogs in the park. You could catch her there.”
“Won’t someone be with her?”
“Rita’s not that type of girl. She’d never let somebody take care of her. She’ll be by herself but don’t let that fool you. She’s tough. Just tell her I need help and to get the blue duffel bag from my closet. Have her meet me down the street from here at 10 o’clock tomorrow night”
“Dante, there’s no way she’ll believe me. I wouldn’t believe me.”
“Can you go get some paper? Maybe she’ll recognize my handwriting if I write a note.”
“I’ll do better than that. I’ll go get my phone, so you can record a message on there. That way she’ll see it’s real and she’ll help you.”
“Us - she’ll help us.”
I smiled at his words at how easily he called us, well, us.
“And Baby, if at any point it seems dangerous, just forget it. We can go without the bag. It’ll just be a hell of a lot easier if we have it. It has my passport for one, and a fake. Do you have one?”
“A fake passport?”
Dante chuckled. “No, I meant a real one, unless you have a fake one, of course.”
“I do have one. It’s in my dad’s safe though. It’s with all of my papers. I could see if I could get it.”
Dante was already shaking his head as I spoke. “No, that’s way too dangerous. He’d suspect something.”
Dante was right. There would be no real reason to ask for my passport.
“I’m sure we can get you one if we need it. That’s why I need my sister to help me get that bag.”
“Let me go get my phone,” I said, giving him a quick kiss and leaving him for the second time that night. There wasn’t anyone awake in the house, and I was able to return in less than five minutes.
