We can do hard things––together or not.
Being yours is the best gift you could have ever given me. I will look back on our love and know that it was my end game. And no matter where we both end up, I will know that the love I have for you will last until the day I die, and then some.
My peace, my love, my world.
Endlessly,
Scarlett
A single tear rolls down my cheek and lands on the paper as I fold it up and stick it in the desk drawer. As soon as he leaves tomorrow, I’ll pull it back out and lay it on his bed.
Then, I’ll pack my things up as quickly as possible and wait for Gio to get on a call or go up for his morning gym session. I’ll turn off my phone, just as Johnny instructed me to, and then sneak out the back gate.
I’ll meet one of Johnny’s guys at the corner of Bay and First, just like he said. And then I’ll learn the rest in the car.
In the quick five minutes that we met yesterday, he told me enough.
He told me when; he told me where. Most importantly, and most nauseatingly, he told me who I’d be spending the rest of my life with. And I barely heard him when he talked about his nephew. My heart shattered in my chest when I realized I had no other choice.
Telling Avie wasn’t an option, because she’d tell Dominic.
Dominic’s crew isn’t strong enough to fight against Johnny’s connections and what seems like half of Italy.
So, when I walked out of his office, I told Avie that he didn’t tell me much. Kept it under wraps. Still didn’t give me any indication as to why he hadn’t killed my father yet.
I didn’t mention that the reason he hadn’t killed my dad was because he was Johnny’s connection to me.
I can’t reach out to the other Delanos; they disowned my mother when she married my father, and we never kept in touch with them. I’ve only been in this “business” for about twelve hours, but I’m not seeing another way out. Not without risking the safety of every person I love.
Especially my Dominic.
Consider my business with both families done. All debts repaid. All bad blood laid to rest.
He can breathe again. He can do his business without wondering who is watching him or his family. He can make his father proud.
I sneak back across the hall and into his room, making sure to stop the door before it creaks, and climb back into the bed. He stirs gently as I curl up against him, right back where I was before, slipping under his arm as if I never left.
After tomorrow, it’ll be like I was never here.
Before I know it, he’s shuffling to slide off the bed, grabbing a shirt out of his closet and a pair of slacks he had hanging off the chair in the corner of the room. I watch him as he moves, so effortlessly perfect, that sandy hair making him even more irresistible than normal, all disheveled in just the right way. He pulls the shirt over his head as he heads to the bathroom, and immediately, a knot forms in my stomach. I miss everything about him, and I haven’t even left yet. I can’t imagine how excruciating it’s going to be in just a short while, but I can’t think about it.
I feel the lump forming in my throat, my breathing getting more and more shallow, and I’m trying like hell to fight back the tears that are pricking the backs of my eyes. When the bathroom door creaks back open, I swallow hard, quickly reaching a thumb up to catch the stray tear that snuck out.
I curl up tighter under the covers, pretending to stir from sleep. I feel his lips on my head as he kneels down, one of his hands reaching out to stroke my hair, and I melt into his hand. I open my eyes to get one more look at him, memorizing every corner of his face, the little wrinkle in his nose when he smiles.
“Sorry to wake you,” he whispers. “I won’t be late today, and Gio is upstairs working out. I just wanted to see those eyes.” He smiles as he bends down to kiss me, and I clutch onto his hair as I hold him close, savoring the last taste of him.
“I love you,” I tell him, and he smiles again, brushing another piece of hair out of my face as he looks at me.
“I love you, Scar. I’ll see you in a bit.”
I don’t say anything as he gets up and walks out. I just curl up into a smaller ball, savoring these last moments, inhaling his scent, drinking in my surroundings.
And then I hear the front door close.
And I know I’m on the clock.
I slide out of the bed and across the hall to my room, quickly changing out of his t-shirt and into my own clothes. I pack my things from the dresser into my suitcase, grab any belongings I still have laying around and shove them in an open pocket, and then look around. It looks almost as put-together as it did the first night I spent here. I walk to the desk and pull out the letter I wrote him, pressing it to my lips as I walk it into his room. I swipe another tear away as I lay it on his pillow, and then I pick up my suitcase and walk down the steps. I pause briefly at the bottom, making sure I can still hear Gio’s treadmill on. I look around the Castiano house, trying to imprint everything on my brain. All the places he kissed me, all the dinners we ate at the table, all the times he walked me up the steps to bed.
And then I turn around, open the front door, and run down the front steps. I keep my pace brisk until I reach the end of the block, turning down the first street and taking a little bit of a breath. My phone is off in my pocket, and I walk a few more blocks until I reach Andrews Park. The irony isn’t lost on me. This is the park where Dom and I first decided we were going to try and make it work despite our families, and now, it’s where I’ll meet someone who will whisk me off to my new husband. Where someone will take me away from here. Where I will face the rest of my life without Dominic.
I walk toward the first bench to the right, just like Johnny’s instructions had said, and take a seat, my leg thumping anxiously as soon as I sit.
After about two minutes, I see a black Lincoln pull up on the street, right next to the park entrance, and I know that’s my guy. I grab my bag and walk to the car just as the passenger side window comes down.
“Miss Melucci?” the driver asks. I nod. He hops out and around the car, opening the door for me and taking my bag.
“Here you are,” he says.
“Thank you,” I say, trying to calm myself down. He gets back in and closes the door, peeling away from the curb almost as quickly as he pulled up.
“I’m Troy,” he says. “I work for Johnny.”
“Hi,” I say back, my voice shaking with anxiety. “Where are we going?”
“Johnny’s place, downtown,” he says. “That’s where you’ll meet Collin.”
“Collin?”
“Johnny’s nephew,” he says. Ah, Collin. My soon-to-be husband.
I nod and turn back to the window.
It’s going to be a long rest of my life.
20
Dominic - Present
I’ve been gone for a half-hour, and I already can’t wait to get back to her.
“You okay, boss?” Wes asks me as he turns onto the parkway. “You haven’t stopped bouncing that knee since ya got in.”
I put my hand on my leg to hold it still and nod.
“I’m good, Wes,” I tell him. “Just itching to get back home.”
He smiles and nods. Wes doesn’t talk much, but he sees a lot. In fact, none of the men in the crew talk a whole lot. I think a lot of that had to do with my sister, when she ran this crew. With my father, we were one big family, laughing, lots of meals together each week. Our family knew their families; their wives knew my mother.
But my sister had seen a lot of darkness before she took over. She’d been through hell and back, and it showed in the way she ran the crew. More like a drill sergeant than an approachable boss. I can’t blame her. I don’t think any of us could. The men knew what she needed to feel safe, and they rose to the challenge. I will be forever indebted to them for that.
“You are sweet on that girl, aren’t ya, boss?” he asks. I smile.
“I am,” I say with a shrug. “I gue
ss I have been since I was seventeen.”
“When you know, you know,” Wes shrugs back. I sigh as I watch the skyline grow more and more crowded.
“I just wish I knew how to end all this, ya know?” I say. “I wish I could figure out how to squash all this shit with Johnny. Once and for all. If Sal weren’t her father, I’d let him take the fall for all the bullshit he’s brought on himself. But I can’t do that because of her.”
“I know. It’s a tough spot to be in,” Wes says. He thinks for a minute and takes a breath like he’s going to say something, but then he pauses.
“What are you thinking?” I ask. He shakes his head and shrugs.
“Nah, it’s...it would never work,” he says.
“Wes, I’m out of ideas. There are no stupid ones at this point,” I say. He turns to me.
“I’m just thinkin’, you kids have been in this city your whole lives, and it’s brought ya nothin’ but trouble. I know this crew is your whole life, but what if you could...I don’t know...get away for a while? Just the two of you, ya know? Get out of the city, stay away until the madness dies down. I don’t know what would happen to Sal, but at least you’d know…”
I pause for a minute, chomping down on my thumb.
“At least I’d know she’d be safe,” I say.
He nods.
“We could even put a detail on Sal, if you wanted,” Wes says. I nod slowly as the plan comes together in my head. Scar and I can skip town for a few weeks, lie low somewhere. Gio will stay here and man the house, keep tabs on Sal until this is all settled.
Visions of Scarlett in a tiny bikini on a beach somewhere skip through my head, and suddenly, I can’t wait to share the plan with her.
“You might have figured this whole thing out, Wes,” I tell him with a slap on the shoulder. I pull my phone out of my pocket and send a text.
Got a plan. I think you’re gonna like it. I’ll see you in a bit. I love you.
I click my phone off, but it vibrates in a moment. Then, I see the notification that reads: message failed to send.
I try to send the message again, but I get the same error message.
I try to call her, but it goes right to her voicemail.
Weird.
I hate the immediate panic that sets in when I can’t get a hold of her. I can’t wait to take her away from here—this looking-over-your-shoulder life.
I dial Gio to check in.
“Hello?” he asks, breathy from his workout.
“Hey,” I say, “what’s Scar doing?”
“I just got off the treadmill,” Gio says.
“Okay, well, can you go check?” I ask. I can practically hear him roll his eyes.
“Jesus, Dominic,” he says. “You’ve been gone for twenty minutes.”
“Thirty,” I say. “And I’m sorry that my girlfriend is currently on the radar of every fucking gang in New York.”
He scoffs.
“Hold on,” he groans, and I hear him jogging down the first flight of steps to the second floor. I hear him knock on a door. Nothing. I hear another knock. “Scarlett?”
Nothing. I hear the creak of the door. Then I hear another knock. “Scarlett?”
My heart begins rattling in my chest.
“Where is she?” I ask.
“Let me check downstairs,” Gio says. I hear him jog down the next set of stairs, opening and closing doors, his feet padding across the hardwood. My heart rate increases with every step he takes.
“Gio,” I growl, “where the fuck is she?”
I hear him open the back door, quick pause, and then he’s back.
“She’s...she’s not here.”
“Turn around,” I tell Wes. “What do you mean? Where could she have gone?”
“I don’t know. She’s just...she’s not here.”
“Go check the cameras,” I tell him. I hear him run back up the steps to the study where we have the computers connected to the security system we have all over the house. “Anything?”
“Jesus, can you give me a minute?” he snaps. I close my mouth as Wes whizzes back toward the house.
“Fuck,” he says after a moment.
“What? What do you see?”
“She...she left.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, about, uh, thirty-four minutes ago, she walked out of this house. On her own. With her suitcase.”
My heart sinks to my stomach, and I feel my veins go cold.
“She...she left?” I say again. “Do you see anything around her? Is there anyone outside waiting?”
“No. No one.”
“Check her room. See if there’s anything left or if she took it all. Wes, get Avie on the phone.”
Wes picks up his phone and dials as I wait for Gio to get into Scarlett’s room.
“Everything is gone,” he says just above a whisper. I wait a beat as he walks across the hall to my room. “But there’s a...there’s a note. On your bed. Do you want me to––”
“Yes,” I tell him. “Read it. But not out loud. Just tell me if she’s gone.”
There’s a little bit of a pause.
“Fuck.”
“What? What is it?”
“She’s gone. And it has something to do with Johnny.”
My mouth goes dry.
“We’ll be there in five.”
When I hang up with Gio, Wes holds his phone out to me.
“It’s your sister.”
“Ave, I need you to come to the house. She left...and it has something to do with Johnny.”
Pause.
“Fuck,” she breathes. “I might know something. I’ll be there shortly.”
Before I can interrogate her, she hangs up.
I chuck the phone down onto the dash as I pound my fist against the window.
I don’t know what Johnny Dexter has that made my girl walk out of my house and out of my life. But I’m going to stop him.
21
Scarlett - Present
Johnny’s place is exactly what I would expect someone as infamous as Johnny to live in. It’s across town, but if you’d dropped me here from the sky, for a moment, I might think it’s the Castianos’ neighborhood. A tree-lined street lined with magnificent brownstones that have been here for decades yet never seem to age.
Troy pulls the car in front of the third house from the end of the row and parks it. He gets out and comes around to my side, and my heart rate ticks up again. I close my eyes as I brace for him to open the door to the street, to the house, and to my new life. And when he closes it, he’ll close it on my life up till now. He’ll close the door on my life with Dominic.
He opens it and reaches down for my bag then sticks out a hand for me. I take it and let him pull me out, and as I stare up at the house, my knees start to buckle. Troy looks down at me, and I actually see worry in his eyes.
“You okay, Miss Melucci?” he whispers. I nod slowly, exhaling through pursed lips. He nods back. “I know you’ve probably heard differently, but the Dexters…they really ain’t so bad. Johnny’s decent.”
Despite the fact that I want to throw up, I appreciate Troy showing me some empathy. I squeeze his hand a second longer before he lets go to guide me up the front steps. Just as he raises his hand to knock, the door opens, and I’m surprised to see Johnny himself standing behind it.
“Miss Melucci,” he says, a smile spreading across his round lips. “You don’t know how happy we are to see you.”
I nod slowly and force a quick smile that doesn’t reach my eyes.
“Collin should be arriving any second,” Johnny says, holding out a hand for me, “and then we can walk through the plans.”
“Plans?” I ask as he leads me into a large sitting room. He nods.
“Wedding plans,” he says. “We’ll need to have everything taken care of by the end of the week.” I swallow. I figured we’d be getting married soon, but not this soon. I thought I’d have some time to come to terms with everything. To mourn
my old life.
As the doom starts descending on me, I hear my mother’s voice.
Un passo alla volta. One step at a time, baby.
I nod to myself, trying to slow my breathing down.
First, I’ll take a seat on this giant leather couch. Then, I’ll meet my future husband. Then, I’ll get married.
One step at a time, no matter how heavy my feet feel.
Johnny sits on the armchair across from me after I take a seat and offers me a glass of wine. I politely decline and ask for water instead. I need all my wits about me right now. After a few more moments of awkward silence, the front door opens again, and I hear Troy greet someone.
“Welcome back, bud,” he says with a smile. “We haven’t seen ya in a few weeks.”
Then, a man steps into the doorway of the living room, and I feel my heart sink.
In all honesty, Collin is a good-looking man. He’s got dark hair, tan skin, and light-blue eyes. In fact, he bears a solid resemblance to Johnny. He shakes Troy’s hand then turns to me and Johnny, and a smile lights up his face.
He walks down the step into the living room as Johnny stands up to greet him. I follow suit and stand up, smoothing out my dress as I do.
“Collin,” Johnny says, pulling him in for a long hug and kissing his cheeks, “it’s been too long, nephew.”
When they come apart, Collin smiles.
“It has,” he says. “I’ve missed you, Uncle.”
They turn toward me, and I swallow.
“Collin,” Johnny says, “meet Scarlett Melucci.”
Collin smiles and nods at me then walks across the room. His cologne hits me before anything else does, and I feel dizzy. It’s strong––maybe a little too strong––but I forget about it as he reaches his arms out for me, wrapping them around my waist and pulling me into him for a long, hard embrace.
“Scarlett,” he says just above a whisper in my ear, “it’s so good to finally meet you.” I try not to make it obvious as I pull out of his grasp and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear.
“Yes, uh, you too,” I tell him as I awkwardly clear my throat. “Although, if I’m being honest, I didn’t know you existed until yesterday.”
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