Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
A fter his team of executives left his office, Alex ambled to the window overlooking the Strip. As always, his gaze arrowed to the Paradise, just visible on the other side of the Bellagio. In the daylight, she looked sun-bleached and worn as the sand dollar Mary had given him last week on the beach.
Still, the Paradise held her own magic for him, just like Mary. Reminders of past failures. Hope for the future. With both the Paradise and Mary, he d taken steps to build something bright and new over the disasters of his youth. When he wiped the Paradise from the Strip and replaced it with something modern and gleaming, perhaps he d finally be worthy of Mary.
When he turned his back to the window, his gaze snagged on the project Yasmin had created for him after she d seen the sand dollar on his desk. She called it a shadow box. The shallow glass-fronted box held the sand dollar Mary had given him on the beach. It was glued in the box to lean against a printed copy of the selfie Mary had taken of them. Against the backdrop of the ocean, Mary s wild tresses blew against his face and tangled in his stubble. His tongue poked out as he tried to eject one of her curls from his mouth. Laughing at him, she was captivating. She d sent him other pictures where he looked less ridiculous, but this was the best one of her, the California sunshine sparkling in her eyes like cut topaz.
He resisted the temptation to call her. It was Friday afternoon, and she was working. Instead, he pressed the button on his phone. Yasmin, get me Lev.
On it.
Less than a minute later, his phone rang, and he picked it up. Lev, what s the word?
I hear Ray might be softening. Your good behavior is working, boss.
Any other opposition on the gaming board?
Ray s cronies will vote the way he does. I ve got most of the rest on your side. Only a couple on the fence. I think the Paradise is in the bag.
Alex found his hand wandering to his crotch to ward off the bad luck. Instead, he muttered, Tocchiamo ferro.
What s that, boss?
He yanked open his top desk drawer and pulled out the old iron amulet his nonna used to wear around her neck. He rubbed the twisted horn shape with his fingertips. Knock on wood.
You Italians and your superstitions.
Watch out, or I ll send you a dozen yellow sunflowers.
Fuck off. Only my babushka believes in that bullshit.
Liar. Alex set the talisman back in the drawer and slid it shut. The vote is August first, right after his daughter s wedding. Anything I can do before then to grease the skids?
Stay on your best behavior, and be sure Rochelle is the happiest bride in the world.
Remembering Rochelle was in Mary s capable hands made him smile. Consider it done. Then another thought broke through his happy haze. How s Dante Campo doing with the clerical work?
Ah. I forgot to tell you. It happened while you were on your trip. He quit.
Quit? What did you do to him?
Nothing at all, boss. He got another job. Something more exciting, he said.
Alex wasn t sure how to feel about that. It was good that Dante was working, but he d never known the kid to keep a job for more than six weeks. He d ask Joey about it the next time he saw him.
Here s hoping he keeps this one.
I m just glad he s out of my office, Lev said. Kid always had bandages on his hands, which meant it took him forever to type up anything. Then he spilled a soda in my filing cabinet. I had to send the whole cabinet out to a document conservation service.
Alex winced. Sorry about that.
It s okay. I added it to your bill.
Alex snorted and disconnected the call, but he didn t set down the handset. Instead, he punched in his mother s number. He d visited her last Saturday morning after they d returned from San Diego, and he d go back tomorrow, but he had an urge to speak with her now, and he always went with his gut. Thinking about his grandmother must have pulled her to the front of his mind.
What a surprise! she said instead of hello. The casino must have burned down.
Mama. He chuckled. I was only thinking of you.
Thinking of your poor old mother while you re at work? Is Mary there?
He d told her about his fledgling relationship with Mary last weekend. When he was a kid, his mother looked down her nose at the blue-collar Forzas with their faded school uniforms and driveway full of torn-up cars. Now that their business had grown into a respectable one under Mary s leadership, she seemed to have changed her mind. She d only sniffed and told him he could date whomever he wanted.
No, Mary s not here. But we re going out tonight. Her brother and his fiancée are in town.
Not one of the greasy mechanic brothers. The other one?
The one who lives in Ohio. The CEO.
Ah. Approval colored her tone. You could do worse than Mary Forza. She went to college, you know.
I know. She s smart.
You re smart, too, my boy. I wish…
He wished a lot of things too. But they couldn t change the past.
You ve never dated a settling-down type before, she said.
Sure, I have. Cierra is getting married later this summer.
No, I mean someone you could settle down with. Like Mary.
Settle down? I m not ready for that, he scoffed. Besides, she was too good to settle for someone like him.
You re thirty-six. If you wait too long, you ll miss your chance to have a family.
Who says I want a family?
Don t you?
Dammit, she was right. And Mary was the type to want a family, too. He imagined her with a pair of dark-haired kids. Or maybe three, like she d grown up with. She d make all of them feel like they were the center of her world. Not a nuisance like his dad had done with him. His heart twinged in his chest. Families make you weak, he grumbled.
They can also make you strong. Your father tried to take the right path after the Family threatened you.
He didn t try long.
No. But that was because he was weak to begin with. You re a better man than he ever was.
That s a low bar.
Don t speak ill of the dead. Her bangles clanked, a sure sign she d crossed herself.
He was done wasting time on his father. You re doing all right, Mama?
I m feeling better this week. They let me walk in the garden every day before it gets too hot.
Good. I ll see you tomorrow.
Bring back Mary sometime? When I m made up and not making a scene?
He chuckled. Okay. Behave yourself, and we ll see.
He disconnected the call. Then he nudged the shadow box with the photo of Mary next to the photo of his mother. They looked good together, the three of them.
The phone on his desk buzzed. He hit the button to speak to Yasmin. Yes?
A Mrs. Campo is here to see you. Yasmin s tone was frosty. She doesn t have an appointment.
S-send her in. Alex had time to crack only the knuckles on his left hand before his door flew open, and Mrs. Campo marched inside. Her hair was gray now, but it was still scraped back into a bun, exposing her blazing brown eyes. The fine lines around her eyes and mouth had deepened. But other than that, she looked the same as the last time he saw her, when she d come to his parents house eighteen years ago.
Mrs. Campo, he said, indicating the seating area at the front of his office, to what do I owe the pleasure?
I ll stand, thank you. She planted her black flats on the carpet and propped her fists on her hips. She wore a black short-sleeved blouse over black slacks. At least she d ditched the black veil she d worn when she d cursed his entire family.
He resisted the urge to cross himself. He hadn t been to Mass for eighteen years. God wouldn t protect him now.
I suppose I should thank you for taking care of my family since my husband died, she said.
Alex sucked in a breath. She knew? She couldn t. He d hidden everything so well. She must be talking about Joey. Shaking it off, he flashed her a smile. I hired your son because he s a good worker.
She smiled proudly. Joey is a good worker. But that s not all you ve done. I m no fool. I know my husband didn t have a pension. She twisted her lips. Your father didn t care who he hurt. He only cared about himself. And your mother, she only cared about the money and her status. You re different. You re still a controlling bastard, but you ve got a heart in there under that fancy suit.
Thank you?
Don t thank me. I have a request.
Alex held his breath. Proud Mrs. Campo wanted something from him, the boy she d cursed all those years ago to a life of the same type of pain she d experienced when her husband died? Not that he believed in any of that. He fisted his hand to keep it off his crotch.
It s for Dante. I know how you ve helped him over the years. And now he and his friends have started a business. An entertainment business.
Alex blinked. He was pretty sure he hadn t seen Dante at the strip show the other night. What kind of entertainment?
They re fire dancers. He s always had a passion for fire. She pursed her lips. They went to a school for it, and now they re pretty good.
Was that why he d had bandaged hands at Lev s office? But Alex still had red in his ledger for this woman and her family. He d never be able to make up for her husband s death. How can I help?
That school was expensive, and now they need work. You could hire them as entertainment for one of La Villa s events. She pulled her phone from her pants pocket, tapped the screen, and held it out to him.
He took it from her. A thumping bass erupted from the phone s crappy speaker. On the dark screen, fire whirled, lighting up bare torsos. The circles it made were hypnotic, and he couldn t tear his eyes from the screen. This would be a thousand times better than Cierra s dull aerialist. It would make the Richardson wedding truly unforgettable.
They ve got insurance? he asked.
It was included with the training program.
Then, yes, I have an event where we can use them.