“That would be great.”
“Time to board,” Sergeant Walls said to the group.
I picked up my duffel bag and put it on my shoulder.
“Look for an apartment while I’m gone,” I said. “I’ll miss you.”
She mouthed the words ‘I love you’ before I turned and walked away to join the rest of my troop.
Present Day
“Two months had passed and they still couldn’t tell us when we’d be going home,” I said as Gia hung on to every word. “Everyday there was another problem, another mine field or a bomb found in a building. At night, we tried to make things as close to home as possible.
“The eight hour time difference made things difficult. I would only get time to call Marianne in the morning before work, which meant I was calling her in the middle of the night. She wasn’t always happy to hear from me, and sometimes she wouldn’t even answer.”
“Oh no,” Gia said.
I could see her mind jump ahead, fitting together the pieces she already knew.
“Then one day I called her at a different time and I heard a man’s voice in the background. I hung up. I didn’t ask her who it was. I didn’t wait for her to say anything more. I had heard so many stories of guys losing their girls while they were away. I knew I lost mine.”
It seemed strange to tell Gia, the woman I knew was the love of my life, about my first love, but there was a point to it all. She needed to understand how I got to where I was when we met.
“I wasn’t myself anymore in Afghanistan. I went numb. The day I got injured was my own fault. Normally I would have seen the set up and known what was going to happen, but I was lost. I didn’t care. My heart was broken and I thought my one chance at a normal life had left me. I should have died that day, but I didn’t. After, I let the darkness envelope me again.”
“That’s when you came home?”
I nodded. “I came home and everyone treated me like I was some kind of hero. I wasn’t. I was stupid and I got lucky. Once I was better, I needed to do something. I wanted a job, but my skills didn’t translate to anything useful. The Army had only made me a deadlier killer.” I laughed as I shook my head.
“Eventually I gave in and went back to the way of life I left. It didn’t matter anymore. I lost my chance for a normal life when she cheated on me. I thought love was something a man like me didn’t have the luxury of. I stayed in the darkness, I let it overtake me, and I did horrible things in the name of my family. Then one day an angel rose from the murky depths of the subway.”
I smiled at her as I thought back to the moment I first saw her. She looked so sweet, so full of life.
“You saved me, Gia, but I’m still just a killer. It’s something I’ll always be.”
“No, you’re not just a killer. You’re Dante Gambino and I love you,” she said. “Like you said, no one is perfect, but you’re perfect for me and to me.”
“Gia, you know I moved up to protect you. Well, I can’t turn back now. I have to think about my family as well. They need me right now. I love you so much more than you’ll ever know, but there are things I need to do that I’m not proud of and I know you won’t approve of.”
“I love you and I’ll always be here. No matter what. You’re a good man, don’t forget that.”
I was a killer. I didn’t have the heart to correct her. Even if I was only giving the order, I was still a killer.
She was so sweet and innocent, I couldn’t imagine loving anyone more than I loved her. I wanted to tell her more about the Palumbo family and the other crime families that could become problems down the road so she could understand my world better, but I couldn’t. The less she knew, the safer she was. Some secrets weren’t meant to be spoken.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Four Months Later
Gia
Standing in the bedroom, I crossed my arms over my chest as I looked at the furniture. A new bedroom set had arrived earlier that afternoon. Something was wrong, and it was driving me crazy. I lay down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling fan. Nope, not right.
It was a king-sized upholstered sleigh bed in grey linen. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it in the store. Because Dante wanted a king size bed, we had to wait twelve weeks for it to be delivered. I didn’t mind the wait, but now that it was here, I kept thinking it didn’t look right and lying on it, it didn’t feel right, either.
Getting off the bed, I smoothed my purple t-shirt and black yoga pants down as I walked to the balcony and looked down at the backyard. Dante, wearing jeans and a black t-shirt that I thought made him look even more muscular, was talking to the gardener, pointing to the roses and then waving his arms dramatically.
I didn’t have to hear to know what he was saying. I had been trying to grow roses since we moved in almost four months ago and wasn’t having any luck. If the gardener couldn’t get them growing, Dante said he would find another one who could.
I smiled, thinking about how lucky I was to have someone fight for something as simple as roses in a garden for me. Ron and my returning to All Saint’s were just memories now, nothing more. I had never been happier.
Turning back towards the room, I grimaced, seeing the bed again. I loved the bed and couldn’t wait for it to be delivered, but now that it was here, it didn’t look right.
With Dante busy, I figured I would move the bed myself. The bed wasn’t that heavy and since I hadn’t found a rug I liked yet, it should glide across the wood floor easily. I put my hands on the headboard and pushed.
“What are you doing?” Dante said as he rushed over to me.
“Moving the bed. It’s not right.”
“You’re going to hurt yourself. Let me move it.”
“It’s a bed, I was moving it. I wasn’t pushing it on top of me,” I said with a smirk.
He shook his head and looked at the direction I was going in. “Against that wall?”
I nodded and he easily slid the bed over to the wall facing the balcony. Hopping up on the bed, I patted the spot beside me, then lay down. Dante lay down beside me and I looked up at the ceiling fan again. Everything was perfect.
Dante rolled onto his side, facing me, and propped his head up on his arm. He pushed my hair back off my cheek and slid it behind my ear. His touch, just his presence was electric. Nothing had changed since that first bolt of lightning I felt when I first saw him earlier that year. He still took my breath away with the slightest touch.
“I have to do some work later,” he said.
“It’s okay, I know you have a lot to take care of right now.”
Dante shifted his gaze away from me for a moment, his eyes looking sad.
“Just know that whatever I do, I do to make sure you and the rest of our families are safe.”
“I know. And I know if you could, you would do anything else in the world.”
Leaning forward, he kissed my lips and my entire body melted. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and wiggled myself closer to him.
I slid my hands down his massive arms, to the hem of his fitted shirt, and started to lift it. He pulled it off his body in one swift motion, throwing it aside as his lips found mine again. My fingers traced the cuts of his muscles on his back, imagining each branch and bird in his large tattoo.
He lifted my shirt up and I raised my arms as he took it off. As he gave me a crooked smile, he lifted himself up and began removing my pants. I couldn’t help it, but with the sun streaming in through the windows, I felt a little insecure being so naked.
“I swear every time I undress you, you get even sexier,” he said, his voice husky and full of passion.
“No,” I said, unable to stop myself from giggling as the blood rushed to my cheeks. “That’s just not possible. One day you’ll notice my hips are a little too wide, or that my legs are fat.”
“Fat?” he said, looking at me like I was crazy. “What have I always told you?” His voice was sharp and demanding. “You’re a gorgeous woman, Gianna Carlisi. Don’t you d
are believe anything less than that.” He kissed my thigh and slowly his lips made their way up to my hip. “You’re curvy and beautiful. I wouldn’t want your body any other way.”
Dante took any insecurities I had and swept them away. He had the ability to make me feel so sexy, I thought I could do anything.
I could barely breathe as his lips traveled up my body. My heart raced wildly in my chest and thumped so loudly I couldn’t think about anything except where his lips or hands might go next.
With his fingers wrapped around the thin elastic of my panties, I lifted my bottom as he slid them off. He kissed my hip again then playfully bit it. I jumped slightly from the mixture of pain and tickling.
“Stop that!” I said, giggling more.
Looking at me with his intense pale blue gaze and a crooked smile that said he was thinking naughty things, the world seemed to stop. As he moved up closer to my face, he stopped to kiss my stomach, my side, then my breasts as he smiled.
“I love these most of all,” he said as he easily unhooked my bra and removed it. “They’ve beckoned me since the moment we met.”
His warm tongue passed over my nipples, drawing circles, before he blew cold air onto them, making them even harder. My body trembled from his touch and as he slowly sucked, my core pulsed with the rhythm of my heart. I didn’t want him to take his time, I needed to have him now.
Swiftly unbuttoning his jeans, I slid them down his hips as he moved up and ran his tongue up my neck. My neck was always very sensitive and he immediately gave me goose bumps.
With him naked, I let my hands finally have free access to his body. He felt strong, but even though he was muscular, his skin was soft and smooth except for some hair on his chest. I loved the feel of his muscles rippling as our lips met again and we hungrily kissed.
As I shifted my body underneath him, his tongue still slowly moving with mine, his hand slid down the length of my body, then his fingers stroked my inner thigh before he lifted my leg and I felt his manhood pressed against my wetness.
He pulled away from our kiss as our eyes met. My heart raced and my mind spun as I lost myself in the depths of his eyes. When he slowly entered me, the world seemed suddenly at peace. Everything was perfect. There was nothing more I could ever want and no other place I would rather be.
I wrapped my arms around his back, feeling the long cuts of his muscle and tracing them down to his strong ass. Dante intoxicated me, and feeling his cock entering me made the room spin as my body vibrated.
My body quivered and shook as he shifted his thrusts and rubbed my stiff clit at the same time. Leaning down, he sucked on my neck, and that pushed me over. The room spun as waves overtook and shook my body. As I tightened my arms around him, he held me close.
Out of breath, we lay together, our bodies still entwined. I couldn’t help but start laughing because everything felt so good, so right.
After we got dressed, Dante took me outside to the small rose garden. A new orange rose bush had been planted next to my withering red and white roses.
Dante lifted my chin with his finger and kissed my lips. He looked at me for a few moments as a smile spread across his lips.
“Gia, I’ve been waiting for the perfect time, the perfect moment, but every second with you is always so wonderful. You’re everything I ever wished for. You make my life normal and real when I never thought it could be. And whenever I think I can’t possibly love you more, I do. Will you spend the rest of your life with me?”
Every ounce of me screamed ‘yes!’ except for my mouth. I hugged him tightly and tried to say yes, but I felt so happy I was too choked up to speak.
“Is that a yes?” he asked.
I nodded, still unable to talk, and jumped up to kiss him. I wanted to scream and dance and yell to the world that Dante Gambino was going to be my husband, but I couldn’t. He hugged me tight and kissed me again, his lips sending currents through my body.
“Yes! Yes! Oh yes!!” I said, finally able to speak. “You make me happier than I ever thought I could be, Dante. I can’t imagine my life without you.”
He pulled a sparkling diamond ring out of his pocket, took my hand, and slipped it on my finger. It was an oval solitaire that sparkled in the sunlight.
Sitting down on the patio, he put his arm around me and I nestled in close to him. In the back of my mind I knew Dante needed to work, but as long as he didn’t seem in a rush, I wasn’t going to remind him. I wanted to savor this perfect moment with him. I wanted it to last forever.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Dante
Gia made me the happiest I had ever been when she said she would marry me. I bought her ring shortly after moving her into the penthouse. That was how confident I was that she was the one.
I held her close in my arms as the sun set and the sky made its brilliant change from blue to orange and yellow. We had a home together, and one day we would have children. The only way things could have been better was if my father was still alive.
“Are you okay?” Gia asked.
“Yes, of course,” I said.
Gia looked up at me and frowned. “You’re thinking about your father, aren’t you? I miss him, too.”
“I wish he could have been here for our wedding. I know he would’ve been really happy about it. He loved you.”
She rested her head against me again. I loved feeling her so close, but it didn’t change where my thoughts had gone. My mind was on my father.
After my father was shot months ago, he had been sleeping alone while he slowly recovered. We knew the Palumbos were behind that shooting, but we didn’t realize how deep into our own organization the Palumbos had gotten.
Just a few weeks ago, someone had entered my father’s home in the middle of the night and shot him in his sleep. I didn’t want to think about what would have happened if my mother was in the bed with him. Her sleeping in the next room was the only reason she was still alive today.
No one could explain how someone was able to get in and out of the house unnoticed, but I knew it had to be an inside job. None of the guards on duty were new though, they had been part of the family for years. Did the Palumbos put one of our own on their payroll? I had a hard time believing it, but that’s how it looked.
I had Mitcham increase security on the house where my sister Toni, along with my brothers Connor and Dominic, still lived with my mother. All guards worked in teams now. There was no way I was going to lose any more of my family.
Gia sighed softly and I squeezed her against me. I still didn’t understand why the Palumbos were after her, but it didn’t matter. Her security was my top priority, and I would stop at nothing to make sure she was safe. Unfortunately that meant I didn’t have the luxury of relaxing for too long. I had to get back to work.
We went inside and I left her in the kitchen with a kiss before going down the hall to my study. It was a small office towards the front of the house with only my desk and a few chairs, but it had everything I needed.
After closing the French doors, I sat behind my desk, hit the speaker phone, and dialed Mitcham. With the engagement, I wanted to make sure we got things rolling with my plans.
“It’s me,” I said when he answered the phone. “You have a few minutes?”
“Of course,” he said. “I also have those updates you asked me about.”
“Good, gimme a sec.”
Tapping a key on my keyboard, the large screen on my desktop computer came to life. With a few quick taps, I changed the frequency of the call so it was not only untraceable, but unrecordable, too.
“Did what I suspect happen?” I asked.
“Yes. My associates tell me it was the Palumbos again. They’re not following the code. Good thing you had Sonny up in Connecticut watching Carlo, looks like he was a mark, too.”
I gritted my teeth hearing that. Sometimes the last thing I wanted was to be right. The Palumbo family was out of control.
“And you’re sure it was them in Connecticut?
”
“Sonny found the gun that killed your father tossed in the bushes. So not only was it them, but it was the same person making the hit. Sonny didn’t want to bring too much attention to the house since it was the middle of the day so he lost him, but he got a good look at him.”
“He’s doing good work out there, but this has to stop,” I said. “Wounding my father was bad enough, but to kill him in his sleep…”
Anger consumed me as I imagined what happened. Deep inside, I felt my darkness remind me that I could take the Palumbos out myself, but I had to control it.
“Once I find the rat, the Palumbos are going to regret ever hearing the name Gambino. They thought killing my father would cripple us, but they don’t realize who they’re dealing with.”
“Dante, you know your father wanted you to take his place one day.”
Drawing in a deep breath, I looked at the photo on my desk of Gia, my father, and I. It was taken just a few months ago while he was recovering from the first shooting. Thinking of how quickly he died reminded me of how precious life was.
I spent part of my life running from being a Gambino, but I couldn’t run anymore. My whole family was in danger. I understood why my father did what he did–it was the best way he could think of to provide for and protect the people he loved the most.
I wouldn’t disrespect that. I made a silent promise to my father to make things right. That was what I did best. I brought justice to those I loved.
“Mitch, I’ll only move up if you stay as consigliere. I need you with me.”
“I’d be honored to, Dante. You didn’t need to ask. Anything else?”
“Despite this mess and losing my father, one good thing came out of it. Gia agreed to marry me.”
“Congratulations! That is happy news.”
I looked out the glass doors and into the kitchen. Gia was talking on her cell phone as she admired her engagement ring. I knew she was talking to my sister Toni. They had grown even closer over the past few months since we lived nearby.
“Thank you, Mitcham. I want to get married as soon as possible. I don’t see any reason to wait.”
Made Man Dante Page 14
