by Brynne Asher
“What does that mean?” Charlotte chimes in again.
“Are you specializing in poultry?” Rosa asks.
“It doesn’t matter what it means,” Sophia elbows Charlotte again. “She gets name recognition, builds her brand, it will be better than coming up with some lame catering title making it obvious she’s a caterer,” looking back to Paige she adds, “I love it.”
“Thank you again,” Paige says to Sophia.
“I’ll start your paperwork tomorrow,” Tony says from beside me. I almost forget about the smoldering rings in my pocket long enough to smile up at him. He and Paige can go at it like crazy siblings but they still love each other.
She gives him a small smile and says, “Thanks, Tone.”
“Now can we eat?” Nic asks this time. “All this talk of catering is doing me in.”
“No, no!” Gabby shouts. She’s biting her lip trying to cover her huge smile while almost bouncing up and down and says, “Um…Tony has something to say, remember?”
I feel Tony’s arm constrict around my waist and my heart starts beating yet again at the speed of light. I have to close my eyes and breathe deep to concentrate on not hyperventilating.
“Yesterday, something important happened,” Tony starts and I feel him give me a little shake. I open my eyes to look at him, “Something important to Leigh and I.”
“You’re engaged?” Paige guesses hopefully.
We both look to Paige and I let out an almost silent groan but I know Tony heard because he gives me another squeeze and says, “No, we aren’t engaged.”
I look at Tony, but he looks to his parents when he proclaims in his big strong voice, “Leigh and I were married yesterday.”
A stagnant moment of silence blankets the room, which is honestly the quietest I’ve ever experienced the Carpinos. I look straight across to Tony and Lizzy, my new in-laws, as they soak up this news. They’re both statue still staring at Tony and I as the room finally erupts with both hurrays’ and surprised shrieks. The eruption breaks Tony’s dad out of his shock and he looks over to Lizzy, taking her hand and squeezing it.
But Lizzy doesn’t move.
She finds my eyes and we hold each other’s gaze. Even through the chaos going on around me, excited and shocked Carpinos congratulating us and pulling us in for hugs, Lizzie and I don’t lose eye contact. She remains stalk still. Tony’s dad finally releases her hand and goes to his son. I feel my new father in-law put his lips to my cheek welcoming me to the family.
Through all this, Tony’s mother doesn’t move and she doesn’t break eye contact with me. I feel like I’m in this weird zone, held in Lizzie Carpino’s trance with the commotion close but it feeling removed and far away. Those around us finally realize Lizzy hasn’t moved or said a word, which isn’t like her since she’s honestly one of the loudest of all the Carpinos. The room starts to quiet and I feel Tony’s arm come around my waist as the room again falls lifeless.
Tony’s dad grabs her hand again and mutters, “Liz.”
She doesn’t look at her husband, but pulls her hand from his and finally moves.
And she moves straight to me.
My heart, banging in my chest like one of those huge drums that are the biggest of all the drums in a marching band, won’t slow down.
Taking my hands in hers with only eyes for me, she states in the quietest voice I’ve ever heard spill over Lizzie Carpino’s lips, “He loves you.”
I exhale a puff of air and pull up the courage to respond, “And I love him.”
I see the tears that were pooling in her eyes finally spill over as she gives me a small nod. She releases my hands and brings hers up to cup my face saying full of promise, “He’ll love you fiercely. I know he will. He’s just like his father. You’ll never know anything but love, Leigh. Not for the rest of your life.”
This makes my tears spill over and I nod my head in her hands. She finally pulls me into a motherly embrace. How I know it’s motherly, I have no idea because I’ve never felt anything like it in my life and it makes my breath hitch with a little sob.
“Welcome, Leigh,” she whispers for only me to hear as she gives me a final squeeze.
She releases me and gives me a small smile as she brings one hand up to cup my face one more time. She steps back and all of the sudden her face changes as she looks to her son.
Oh shit.
She loses the small smile and soft look, narrowing her eyes on Tony. She pulls in her brows and her jaw becomes hard as she glares at my new husband, her one and only son. Her Golden Boy. It’s no secret in this family her son can do no wrong in her eyes…
Apparently until he gets married behind his mother’s back.
She continues to glare at Tony, working her lip in her mouth before she turns on a heel and marches toward Gabby’s kitchen.
“Oh no,” I hear Gabby whisper from somewhere close.
I quickly bring my hands up to my face to wipe my tears away and turn to Tony in complete freak out mode to whisper my own exclamation, “I told you!”
Tony looks across the room to his mother who has her back to us while starting to unearth the mountain of food Gabby prepared for tonight. “I’ll talk to her. She’ll come around, gem,” he says quietly looking back to me.
I barely get a chance to glance back at Lizzie because I’m attacked from the side by Paige screaming, “Sistah! Yippee!”
I hesitantly smile down at Paige as she pulls me into a big hug with other Carpinos following suit. Tony digs into my pocket and I feel him pulling out our rings. He slides mine on my finger before putting his own on.
Leaning into kiss me before he grins a knowing grin, he says, “Welcome to my family, sweetheart. It’s too late to run now.”
*****
“He’s missing?” I ask into the phone.
“We thought we should let you know since he was agitated the night we arrested his father. Almost had to take him into custody that night he was so upset about his dad’s charges and arrest. His mother finally called it in today. Apparently he took off Saturday night after we hauled his dad off and she hasn’t seen him since. He’s an adult, twenty three years old. But his mom says he isn’t well, even unstable. Some kind of chemical imbalance. He’s fine when he’s on his meds, but she doesn’t think he’s had them for days. She’s freaked out, not to mention the shit storm brewing around her husband and they’re dragging her in for questioning to see if she knew about the money.”
I look across the room at Leigh in the middle of my family, talking to my aunts and uncles with Rosa. The night has flown by in a whirl of energy. All positive energy, except from my mother. I’m going to have to figure out what to do about her and soon. It’s stressing Leigh out even though my mother made it clear she’s pissed at me.
“Thanks for the call,” I say into the phone to the detective assigned to the case. “I’ll let my client know. I’d appreciate it if you could keep me up to date if you find out any new information on him. A picture and description wouldn’t go amiss, either.”
“Will do,” he says.
I put my phone away and move to my dad and Gino to fill them in. Once we move away from the group, I start, “Richard Blaton’s son, Cory, is missing. Remember he went ballistic when his dad was taken into custody? He took off that night and his mom hasn’t seen him since. I guess he’s not well when he’s not on his meds. The detective didn’t go into detail, but it doesn’t sound good. I’ll call McCurdy when I get home tonight and fill him in.”
“That’s great,” Gino huffs. “One more thing to worry about.”
“It’s getting late,” my dad says. “You’d better go if you’re going to make that call tonight.”
I sigh and look across to the kitchen again but this time at my mother, who’s busy helping Gabby clean her kitchen that already looks pretty damn clean.
“You’d be doing me a favor if you talk to her before you go,” my dad says from my side and I turn to look at him. “I have to go home with
her. I’m happy for you son. I even understand why you did it on some level. But she’s hurt, you need to smooth that over.”
Sighing again, I silently agree with a lift of my chin and walk to the kitchen. Leigh catches my gaze as I walk across the room when she sees where I’m headed. She gives me her big eyes and bites her lip. I grin back at her and go to my mom.
She’s got her back to me again, cleaning something that’s already clean, so I move in and put my arm around her neck from the back pulling her to me.
Surprised, she lets out a little shriek before realizing it’s me, grabs my arm with her hands and yells, “Tony!”
“You can’t ignore me all night, mom,” I say in her ear.
“Ignoring you is better than the alternative, trust me,” she bites out.
“You have to talk to me,” I push.
She pulls away from me, forcing me back and swings around to look at me, probably more pissed than I’ve ever seen her and says, “What do you want me to say?”
“I want you to think about it and then I want you to say that you understand.”
As she raises her voice, I realize the room behind me has again grown quiet and she bites out, “All I can do is think about it, Tone. I’ve thought and wondered all night. What you said, the look on your face when you took your vows, to see you kiss her. All of that, Tony, are things I would’ve liked to catalogue in my head for the rest of my life. Mothers like that kind of thing, you know.”
“Please, mom,” I lower my voice.
“Please what? What do you want from me?” her voice, laced with sarcasm now.
“I want you to be happy for me.”
“Of course I’m happy for you,” she says exasperated.
Lowering my voice for only her to hear, I add, “I’m sorry. She didn’t want a big to-do, she finally agreed and I didn’t want to wait.”
“That’s what everyone is saying,” she says through narrowed eyes.
“Mom,” I start and dip my head to look into her eyes. She’s as tall as Leigh, maybe even a bit taller, she doesn’t have to look far to glare up at me. “Try and understand, after all she’s been through. I was only thinking of her, doing what she needed. I’d never cut you out to hurt you.”
Looking away, she huffs and says to my shoulder. “I understand that.”
“She loves me, mom. She makes me happy. I’ve never been more sure about anything.”
She looks me in the eyes without glaring at me. Her look is finally resigned when she says, “You’ll be a good husband and I can tell she loves you. What more could I want in the end?”
I smile at my mom because I can tell she’s coming around even if it’s halfhearted. I pull her into me to hug her, feeling her hug me back, the arms that have loved me my whole life and could never hold a grudge for long. Feeling guilty, I decide to throw her a bone and say, “I think Gabby videoed it on her phone.”
My mom pulls back immediately, “She did?”
Seeing at the hopeful look on my mom’s face, I add, “She even made us stand for pictures, too.”
My mom finally smiles a small genuine smile, saying, “Of course she did. I can’t wait to see them. I’ll treasure them, Tony.”
“Are we good?” I ask.
She sighs this time, completely resigned now, “I guess. Or we will be eventually. I love you. I only want you to be happy.”
I lean down to give her another hug and hear my freaking little sister say, “And all’s good on the home front again.”
I hear my mom laugh as I let go of her and turn to find my wife. She’s standing across the room smiling a relieved smile at me, knowing we averted Carpino disaster, albeit narrowly. But averted it all the same.
Chapter 23 – Where Is She?
“Here’s your mail, Tone,” Paige says as she walks into my office with a buddle of envelopes in various sizes.
“Thanks,” I look up at her as she flops the pile on my desk in front of me. I grab a file on my desk for her, “Wait, I have papers for you to sign for your LLC.”
“Thanks. I’m clueless about this part of running a business but I wasn’t about to admit that the other night. Charlotte can be such a pain in my ass, why she has to be negative all the time, I will never know.”
“She’s not negative, Paige,” I defend my big sister who’s most like me. “She’s a realist.”
“Well, she’s a negative realist,” she spits out.
“Look who’s being a negative optimist,” I grin at her.
“Shut up,” she says, trying to hide her own grin. “Where do I sign and what does all this mean?”
“We’re setting you up as an LLC, the business will be taxed at your personal tax rate but will give you the flexibility to be taxed as a corporation later if it financially benefits the company. It’s a good setup for small companies with only one or a few owners and not many employees. It also prevents you from paying taxes twice, by the company and you personally on your income,” I explain. “Go through and sign everything highlighted.”
“Okay, I’m all about not paying taxes twice,” she mutters as she flips through the pages, quickly signing everything.
“Congrats, pest. You’re the proud owner of Birds of a Feather, whatever in the fuck that means,” I say raising an eyebrow at her.
“You’re just jealous because you’re dry and boring and I was blessed with all the creative fun loving genes. Don’t be bitter, Tony, just accept yourself for who you are and make the best of it,” she smiles saccharine sweet, as fake as the day is long. I can’t help but chuckle at my little sister. She goes on, “Why didn’t you bring my new sister-in-law in today? This is my last week and I was having fun hanging out with her. Now my last day is going to be long and boring.”
“She insisted on staying home. I think I was lucky to get her here the last two days. She’s got the alarm set and said she wouldn’t go anywhere. The police have no leads other than Preston, who insists it’s not him making the threats. At least I kept her from working this week,” I explain.
Paige gets up and moves to my door saying, “I guess. Hey, are you going to take me to lunch for my last day?”
I shake my head but say, “Sure. As long as you don’t eat half my meal.”
“It depends on what you order, but thanks! I’ll think about where I want to go,” she says grinning. But before walking out, she turns one more time and calls, “Tony?”
“Yeah?”
Then my little sister, who as much as she annoys me, even I can’t argue the fact that she’s beautiful, swings her long dark hair over shoulder to look at me with her equally dark eyes. Before she says anything, her face goes soft and her smile turns genuine, “I’m happy for you, Tone. So happy for you. But I can’t help being happier for Leigh, and that’s all you. She’s very lucky and I’m lucky I got to watch it all happen from the start. A girl couldn’t ask for anything more than what you’ve given her.”
I pull in a breath and exhale, “Thanks. Although I feel like the lucky one.”
“You both are,” she says with another soft smile. “I’ll see you at lunch?”
“Lunch,” I affirm.
As much as Paige and I go at it, she loves her family, there’s no denying it. Almost to a fault. As far as I know she hardly dates and most of her good friends share the Carpino blood line. For an extravert, she weirdly never strays far.
I look back to my desk and leaf through my mail before getting back to work, but freeze when I see another manila envelope. An envelope that looks eerily similar to the one on my doorstep Monday morning. This time my name and office address is scratched on the front with no return address.
Coming unstuck, carefully this time so it can be brushed for prints later, I take a letter opener to slice open the top. Holding it by the edges, I shake the contents out on my desk. More pictures, the same pictures that were delivered to me last time, but today they’re slashed, cut, scraped through. I use the eraser of a pencil to move the contents around on my desk fin
ding another note in the rubble of pictures. This one in the same plain font as before reads, “You can’t hide forever.”
Fucking Preston. I push off from my desk and though a haze of rage, I storm out of my office. I pass Paige at the front desk and I bite out, “Call Jude. Tell him I got another letter and pictures, they’re on my desk. Do not go in there and do not touch anything until the police get there. I want it dusted for prints. Tell him to call me, I’ll be back.”
Without looking back and before Paige can respond, I pull out my phone to call Leigh and make sure she’s okay as I prepare to make a surprise visit.
*****
“Sir, you can’t go in there. He’s in a meeting. Sir, stop!” the receptionist yells, on my heels following me through the halls until I find the door with Preston Briggs name on it.
Throwing the door open, I am in fact interrupting a meeting as he has three other people sitting at the small conference table in his posh office. Ignoring the other three, I step through and say directly to Preston, “I need a word.” Looking at the other three, I add, “Alone.”
“I’m sorry, I tried to keep him from coming in,” I hear the exasperated receptionist say from in back of me.
Preston levels his glare on me, “It’s okay. If you all would excuse me, let me take care of this and we can continue our business.”
The three, with the receptionist, shuffle out of the large office space and pass me as Preston and I never lose eye contact. The minute I hear the door click, I bite out, “You leave Leigh the fuck alone.”
Preston, crossing his arms to stand up as tall as he can, narrows his eyes to say, “I thought I was done with this. You need to contact me through my attorneys.”
“I’m not here as Leigh’s attorney. I’m here as her husband.”
He slightly flinches but recovers as quickly as he can, barely able to cover his shock of what I just said.
“That’s right,” I add. “My wife. Right about now the police are showing up at my office to dust the pictures and note for prints. Your ass is going to jail if you were stupid enough to leave any evidence behind.”
