by Nicole Fox
Now I had his full attention. He set his phone down on a small side table next to the day’s newspaper and an ashtray. “Go on.”
I spread my fingers wide as I tried to grasp the whole story in one concise paragraph. “You remember when Joe used to bring his wife to some of the parties? Sophia?” Even in the position I was in, I couldn’t help but envision the way she had looked in that little, black cocktail dress with its plunging neckline and flouncing skirt.
“Sort of.”
“Well, I might have slept with her a few years ago while she was still married to Joe.” I scrunched up my shoulders and tipped my head as though to show I couldn’t help myself. And I couldn’t have. Sophia was a goddess.
Tonio’s laugh echoed out over the pool and scared a few birds out of a nearby palm tree. His belly shook as he reached over and slapped me on the arm. “Well, of course you did! She was hot, right? Son, you don’t need to worry about such things. We’re Santora men. We get what we want. If it isn’t given to us, then we take it. I’m sure this Sophia girl was happy to give it to you, though. You’ve always been a good-looking young man. You get that from your father, you know.”
I had to smile at his carefree attitude. If it had simply been a quick fuck in an upstairs room and that was the end of the story, then I would never be telling him about this. “Yeah, I know. But the thing is, he’s finally figured it all out. They’re divorced now, but he came down to the docks today to talk to me about it. He wasn’t very happy. You see—”
“Doesn’t he understand who you are?” my father interrupted. “He should be honored that you screwed his wife. It shows he has good taste in women. And if it took him all this long to realize it, then he’s not the kind of man we would want on the payroll anyway. It all works out.”
I couldn’t believe he was still talking about us as though we were the kings of the city. He was the one who wanted to make everything legal and set aside our traditional roles. How could he believe that we could really just take what we wanted and get away with it when he was giving up so much money and power with his stunts? “Dad, you don’t understand.”
“Sure, I do. He’s pissed and he doesn’t want to work with us anymore. We don’t need him, so it’s fine. You killed a couple birds there for me, son.” He picked up his phone and tapped the screen.
I took it out of his hands and set it down. He looked as though he might murder me, but this was important. “Just listen. He knows I slept with Sophia because I got her pregnant. I have a son, and there’s no doubt that he’s mine.” I pulled out my own phone and showed him the picture I’d taken of Christopher before I’d left Sophia’s apartment. He looked happy and sweet, sitting on the couch and enjoying his shows.
“Oh.” Big T sat up a little more in his chair, shifting the bulk of his weight so that he could attend to more serious business than relaxing by the pool. He took my cell and held it close, studying the picture. “Oh, I see. Well, no wonder Joe’s pissed. You made a much better-looking boy than that ass-faced bastard ever could. Don’t worry. I’ll increase your salary so you can afford to pay child support. You say they’re divorced? She’s on her own?”
I nodded. This wasn’t going at all the way I had imagined it. My father used to listen to me, but anymore he thought it was only his opinion that mattered.
“We can afford to keep her on her feet and make sure the child is taken care of. And you won’t have to lose any of your own cash, Ciro. This isn’t the first time one of my men knocked up a girl. I’m surprised it took you this long.”
I shook my head and sighed. “I’m not worried about the money. I’ll gladly give it to her, although I’m not even sure she would take it. The point we have to address right now is that Joe knows about it. Not only is he leaving the fold, he plans to take all our secrets to the police. I explained to him how foolish that was on his part, but I really don’t think he cares. He’s already embarrassed about his wife cheating on him, and I’m not sure that he’s thinking about any of this rationally.”
My father’s face took on a more serious look, with his head leaning forward on his shoulders and his lips pursing as he thought about it. “That’s troubling, for sure. It’s the last thing we need right now, especially since we’re working so hard to make everything right.”
“Exactly. Which is why I think our best plan is to put a hit out on him. We’ll eliminate him from the picture, and then we won’t have to worry about him anymore. Of course, we’ll have to be careful, since he’s a cop. It’ll take our best man to ensure there are no mistakes.” I rubbed my hands together, eager to get the contract drawn up and handed over. Joe wouldn’t be able to threaten the Santora family, but neither would he be a threat to Sophia and Christopher. This would be a huge step in ensuring their safety.
“A hit? Absolutely not!” Tonio’s eyes were wide with the idea. “Think about what a bad reputation that would give us, and right at a time when we’re making everything legit. It’s too risky, Ciro. You just lay low and let him get over it. Nobody will believe him anyway, and he stands to get himself in quite a bit of trouble if he goes to the authorities. He’ll never do it.”
My teeth ground together in frustration. “This isn’t the time for restraint. Pitera doesn’t have anything to lose but his career, and I doubt that’s high on his list of priorities. The fact that we’re getting legal is all the more reason to whack him right now. We need as few people around as possible who can testify to what we used to do.” It pained me to think that our way of life was over, but there it was. There was no getting around it. No matter what else was going on in our lives, we were still turning these companies into genuine businesses.
He rested his hand on my knee. His gold rings dug into his pudgy fingers. “Ciro, think about it. What happens if we get caught? Killing a police officer will bring so much heat on us that we’ll never see the other side of it. There will be no way we can ever go clean. No, son. There are other ways around this.”
“Like what? If we don’t kill him, he’ll always be out there waiting for his chance to turn us over. Joe’s the kind of guy who likes that. He wants to be in control and have the upper hand. We’re giving it to him by not doing anything.”
“We’ll pay him off. Hear me out,” he said to stave off my protestations. “Every man likes money, and Joe likes it more than most. He has a price we can afford, I’m sure of it. We pay him off, and that’ll keep him happy for a while. By the time he runs out of cash, he’ll have become someone else’s pain in the neck and he’ll have forgotten about us. It’s happened before, and it will happen again.” He gestured at the pool in front of us and the house behind us. “Look at this place. It’s merely a symbol of the successes I’ve had in my lifetime. It lets me know that we can move on and create more successes. It doesn’t matter what side of the law we’re doing it on. I know you don’t agree with the direction things are heading, Ciro, but I’ve got this.”
I ran my hands through my hair. I wanted to believe him, but there was so much at stake now. This wasn’t just my future position as Don. It wasn’t just our family. It was Sophia, and it was Christopher. They were more important than anything, but my father wouldn’t see it that way. He thought everything could be taken care of with a wave of the hand and there was no point in worrying. I would just have to take care of things myself. “All right, Dad. All right. I’ll let you handle the payoff, though. He’ll never take it from me. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him right there in my office.”
“Watch that temper, son. You don’t want it to get you in trouble.”
“No. Of course not.” I stood up and turned back toward the French doors. “I’ve got to get going. I’ve got business to finish up.”
Tonio nodded and took a sip of his drink. “Working hard is part of it, son. But just think—if you’re running an honest-to-God shipping company, someday you’ll be able to retire. You’ll get to come and sit by the pool and tell everyone else how to run their lives.” He gave another belly l
augh as I went inside.
Chapter Seven
Sophia
“You doing all right, Sophia? You seem like your head is in the clouds.”
I turned to face Janet, another waitress at the Pancake Shack. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I just have a lot on my mind.”
She flicked her dark ponytail over her shoulder and gave me sympathetic gaze. “I know. It’s hard being a single mother. There’s always something to worry about. I was lucky enough that my second husband came along just a few months before I found myself living in a cardboard box. Trust me, it does get easier. As Christopher grows up, he won’t be so physically demanding.”
I laughed to keep the tears back. It was so much more complicated than that, but nobody needed to know just how fucked up my life was. “And then how will I feed him? I’m already shocked at how much he eats.”
Janet shrugged. “Well, he’ll just have to get a job mowing lawns. And if you still work here, at least you can still take home the send-backs.” The owner of the Pancake Shack wasn’t big on throwing away food. Anything that got sent back to the kitchen was set aside for any employee that wanted it, free of charge.
“That’s true enough.” Christopher and I had eaten many a pancake that was cold when it reached the table or sausages that were supposed to be bacon. “I thought things would be easier without Joe. It’s nice to not have to worry about how drunk he’ll be when he gets home or how angry he’ll be about the bills. But I just don’t know if I can do it all on my own.”
“You can, honey. I know you can. Just keep plugging away at it. That’s the only thing any of us can do. Coming!” Janet bustled off to the corner table where a customer was waving to her.
I stretched my toes inside my shoes. My feet hurt terribly after being on them for so many hours straight. The Pancake House, a tiny building where coffee was served in random, mismatched mugs, was open twenty-four hours a day. I was lucky enough that the owner rarely made me work a night shift, but I was ready to get off and get home in time to tuck Christopher into bed. I rang up the checks for my last few customers and headed out the back door.
The gravel lot behind the restaurant was well lit, but I always felt as though someone was watching me from the darkness as I unlocked my car, glanced in the backseat, and climbed inside. I watched the headlights behind me on the road, wondering who they belonged to and where they were heading. I chastised myself as I pulled up to my building. “Don’t be ridiculous, Sophia. Nobody is stalking you. Nobody gives two shits about you, and they certainly aren’t going to follow you all the way home.” I got out of the car and ran inside.
“Thank you so much for watching him,” I said to Maggie as I took a sleepy Christopher by the hand. “You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”
The old woman nodded and smiled. “Yes, I do, dear, and that’s just fine. It’s nice to have his company. He’s an absolute darling.”
Bidding her a goodnight, I turned toward our apartment. I hated that Christopher had to be up so late while he waited for me to get home, but at least he hadn’t started school yet. I might have to do something different come the fall.
“Let’s get your pajamas on, and then you can brush your teeth.” I set about getting ready for bed myself. I changed out of the sea-foam-green dress and frilly apron I wore at the diner and pulled my feet out of those terrible shoes, stretching my toes on the scratchy carpet. Pulling on an old t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants, I heard Christopher calling me from the bathroom.
“What do you need, baby?”
“I forgot my teddy bear at Aunt Maggie’s.” He had toothpaste foam on the corner of his mouth and his eyes were red and droopy.
My heart went out and wrapped around him. “That’s okay, sweets. We can get it tomorrow. Aunt Maggie has probably gone to bed by now, and I don’t want to disturb her. For tonight, you can sleep with Mr. Woofy.” I stepped into his room, retrieved the stuffed dog off his bed, and made it wiggle its ears at him.
“Okay, Mommy.”
I tucked him in bed. It was strange how a child could be such a burden and such a blessing, but as I kissed his cherubic cheeks I knew I wouldn’t trade him for the world. He was the one man I could safely love.
Padding back out to the kitchen, I was just sitting down at the table to do the bills when a gentle knock came at the door. I smiled, knowing it was Maggie come to return the teddy bear. I swung open the door without looking through the peephole.
“Hi, Sophia.” The flickering fluorescent lights in the hallway made Joe look like someone out of a horror movie—someone who had crossed just to the other side of sanity. He wore his uniform, but it was not a symbol of service and protection. “I’m surprised to see you up so late.”
“I—I worked late,” I stammered. “What do you want? Christopher is asleep.”
“That’s fine.” He stepped over the threshold. I kept one hand on the door, trying to keep him from coming any further inside, but he kept coming until he hovered in my face. “You’re the one I want to talk to.”
“I don’t have anything to say to you, Joe. Things are over between us, remember?”
He laughed softly as he shoved his way past me and into the living room. He looked around, taking in the old tube TV and the ramshackle furniture I’d picked up at a church charity sale. “This is a shitty little place, isn’t it? I bet you miss our old place.”
Feeling stuck, I closed the door. “Not as long as you’re living in it. I do the best I can, you know.” I braced myself for yet another threat to take Christopher away from me.
“And you don’t have any help from your underboss lover? He’s rich. Why does he let you suffer like this?” My bills were still on the table, and he flicked them across the surface with his fingers. “I mean, you ought to get something in return for fucking him.”
I sucked in a breath. Did he know? Had he been spying on us that afternoon? No, there was no way he could have known. He was just trying to get under my skin. It was his favorite pastime. “Would you let that go already? We’ve talked about this.”
He advanced on me so quickly I barely had time to back up. “No. I want to hear it from your own mouth. I have all the proof I need in Christopher’s face. But I want you to say it. I want you to admit you fucked him.”
“No, that’s not …” I paused. This was the same game we played every time. He would pick a fight, but I was always so desperate not to argue that I cowed down. But there was no reason to play along anymore. We were already divorced. He already knew about Ciro. It was time I stepped up and became a stronger woman than I’d been in a long time. “You know what? Yeah, I fucked him. I fucked him hard. And he had a huge dick. It was the best sex I’d ever had in my life, and it made sleeping with you feel like a chore. Is that what you want to hear?” I shook with adrenaline.
Joe’s face turned red and then purple. “I knew it. You little bitch! I should have left you a long time ago.”
“As I recall, I’m the one who left you,” I snarled. “I was sick and tired of your bullshit. You’re nothing but a drunk and a shitty cop to boot. You’re not good enough for me or Christopher. You don’t know how many nights I prayed that you would fall in the line of duty and never come home again. That way I wouldn’t have to deal with you anymore.” The truth was falling out of my mouth now, no longer willing to be bottled up. He might as well hear it all. “Yeah, I slept with Ciro. I felt guilty about it at the time, but I sure don’t anymore. It’s not as though you had been faithful to me, anyway, and at least I got to know what good sex was like for once.”
That was more than he could handle. He grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around, tripping me over his foot and throwing me to the floor. His weight was on top of me, pinning me. “Good sex? As if I ever had any from you! You just laid there like a doll, stiff and unresponsive. You think Ciro is such a good fuck? I’ll show you what it’s like from a real man.” His rough fingers grabbed at the waistband of my pants.
“Stop!” I tried
to curl up my legs or fight him away with my hands, but he was too strong for me. Joe was fueled by rage and alcohol. The back of his hand smacked into my nose, sending my head backward and bringing sparks up in front of my eyes. “I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore, you sick bastard! You raped and beat me for years, and I’m done.”
He had to take his weight off my legs to get my pants off, and I took advantage of the opportunity. I yanked up my knees and made contact with his gut, but I still couldn’t get him off me. He slammed his fist into my face while his other hand yanked at the soft fabric. I heard the stiches rip as he twisted them off my ankles. “Oh, now you’re going to accuse me of rape? It’s not my fault I had needs, and you were my wife. But if you want me to be a rapist, then I’ll fucking be one.” He snagged my panties in his hand, wrenching the fabric away from my body until it split.
The waistline dug into my flesh, and I suddenly had nothing on but my shirt. “No! Stop it! I don’t want to!” I struggled fruitlessly as he reached for the zipper of his pants.
A knock came on the door. Joe froze, his eyes narrowing on me as though I had summoned the visitor. He twitched his head toward the door without taking his eyes from me. I opened my mouth to scream again, but his free hand went to his gun. I would never be able to protect Christopher if I was dead.
