Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
Monica
After falling asleep on Gabriel’s shoulder for a quick nap at the police station, we only have enough time to head home for showers before meeting my family at the restaurant. Gabriel insists we shower together, but I think he’s cautiously sticking near me in case I have a panic attack.
Honestly, I’m gobsmacked my brothers and dad just showed up here. Not only that they were here, but they rolled into the building where the Angelinos had taken me. How long had they been watching me? How many times could they have stepped in and didn’t? I have so many questions.
I don’t realize I’m shaking my leg so badly on the way to the restaurant until Gabriel puts his hand on my knee and squeezes it. “Relax, querida . Breathe. It’s going to be okay.”
“You don’t know that,” I mumble.
“What do you mean? ”
I turn to look at him, studying his profile. Emotion claws at my throat as I think about losing him. “You don’t know what they’re going to demand. They might make me go back to Texas. Take my place in La Famiglia . Marry some soldier my dad vetted so he can keep an eye on me. They’ll take away everything. My independence, my friends … everything.”
Gabriel immediately pulls over and slams the car into park before turning to me. He grabs my face in his hands and brings our foreheads together. “You will not leave me. I will not allow it. You’re mine, anjinho . Mine . I will work it out with your father. Whatever it takes. You aren’t leaving me.”
“You can’t make that promise,” I whisper as scalding tears cascade down my cheeks. I swipe at them furiously, angry at letting my emotions show again.
“I can make that promise. I’ve often told you that you’re my soulmate, querida . I know you’re it for me. I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure we’re together.”
“What if he says he wants you to work for him?” I blurt out. Gabriel’s eyes don’t blink as he nods.
“I’ll do whatever it takes. If it comes to that, I’ll do it. I’ll do anything for you,” he whispers deeply against my lips. “I love you, Monica. Forever.”
“I love you too, tesoro ,” I whisper before Gabriel deepens the kiss and pulls me over the console into his lap. The kiss turns ravenous and carnal as Gabriel slides his hands up my back and into my hair. My adrenaline is coursing through my veins as I grind into his hardening cock. “Gabriel, please …”
“What do you need, baby girl?” He knows. He’s already unbuttoning my pants. Gabriel gets off on me saying the words.
“I need you to fuck me, Daddy. Make me come, like only you can,” I whimper as his finger slides into my heat and circles my clit.
Gabriel groans as I bury my head in his neck and pepper kisses along his jaw. “I don’t think we have enough time for that, baby girl. I can certainly make you come, though.”
I pout as I sit back, resting my back lightly on the steering wheel.
Gabriel chuckles as he studies my expression. “ Querida , it’s still light out. We’re on a main road. Probably not advisable to fuck in broad daylight on the side of the road.”
I know we’re not leaving this car without fucking. It’s just a matter of how quickly I can get Gabriel on board. I need to be fucked. I’m so turned on and anxious, and I know it’ll settle me down so I can go into this meeting with my family with a clearer head. So, I take matters into my own hands. Literally. I have Gabriel’s belt undone in a second before sliding my hand into his boxer briefs and grabbing his cock harshly. He hisses a breath as his eyes close.
“Fuck, baby girl …” he trails off as I slide my hand up and down his length.
“Daddy,” I breathe, “Fuck me. Right fucking now. I need you, hard and fast. Give it to me as only you can.”
Gabriel’s eyes open to blown-out pupils and wanton lust swirling throughout as he slams our mouths together. He grabs my shorts and slides them down one leg, my panties with them, before positioning me and pulling me down onto his length. We both groan as he fills me.
“Yes,” I pant. “Harder, tesoro . Make it hurt.”
“Jesus Christ, querida . Never get enough of you,” Gabriel mutters as he pistons in and out from beneath me. I’m sure the entire car is rocking as he pummels into me, but I don’t care as he brings me to an explosive orgasm. My back bows as every muscle tenses with the blissful wave of pleasure. Gabriel thrusts once, twice, and a final time before coating my walls with his seed. Before I can even say anything, Gabriel chuckles. “Thank fuck you’re so tiny. I’m glad this can be part of our repertoire. ”
“The list keeps growing,” I giggle as I slide back into the passenger seat and pull up my panties and shorts.
“It’s going to sound so fucking alpha of me, but I love knowing we’re about to meet your mafia family with me leaking out of you,” Gabriel says with a wicked glint in his eyes. I snort.
“I can only assume they’ve all done the exact same thing with their women. Oh, gross. I just thought of my dad and mom …” I trail off as I shudder dramatically.
“Are your brothers married?”
“I actually don’t know. When I left, my brothers were in their twenties and sowing their wild oats. Giovanni is younger than me. He was only ten when I left. I guess I’m surprised they’re all still alive, but I haven’t really kept up with the news from that part of my life. I figured if they didn’t reach out to me, I didn’t need to know anything about them.”
“So, how old are they now?” Gabriel asks as he pulls the car back out onto the road.
It takes me some time to do the math. I hadn’t thought about my brothers in so long that I can’t even remember their ages correctly from when I left. “I think Alex is around forty-three, Marco is thirty-seven. Dante around thirty-nine, and Giovanni is around twenty-seven. I think.”
“Alex?”
“Oh. Yeah, Alessio. He’s always gone by Alex. Only one who calls him Alessio is our dad.”
“Do you have sisters, too?”
“Yeah, two sisters. Lucia is around forty-one, I think. And Isabella is thirty-one.”
“Jesus. I can’t even imagine how loud your house must have been.”
“You have no idea. With all the soldiers coming and going, plus my grandmother, then all the stupid parties we had to host. It was always loud and chaotic. It’s probably why I loved your cabin as much as I did. It’s the escape I always craved as a kid.”
We pull up to the restaurant and find a parking spot right in front. I’m disappointed. I had hoped we’d have to park a few blocks away, so I had more time to prepare myself mentally. The orgasm a few minutes ago only slightly took the edge off my anxiety.
“Breathe, querida ,” Gabriel whispers as he reaches over to rub the back of my neck. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath and let out a long exhale. “I’ve got you. You’re safe. Okay?”
I turn to him and revel in the compassion and tenderness on his face. He’s looking at me like I’m his whole world. “I love you, Gabriel.”
He grins. “Love you too, Monica. Let’s go inside and get this over with.”
I take a moment to breathe, giving Gabriel enough time to trot around the car and open my door for me. Extending his hand, he helps me out of the car. He’s so gallant. So romantic. No wonder I’ve never been even remotely interested in a relationship before now. The dating pool is slim pickings. And now that I know men like Gabriel exist, no way would some asshat who only talks via Snapchat and has a credit score of six hundred ever satisfy me. I won the fucking dating lottery with this man.
With Gabriel’s hand on my lower back, we walk into the restaurant as a unified team. I immediately see my father and brothers in the back of the restaurant. As we approach them, Giovanni stands and sweeps me into a big bear hug.
“I’ve missed you, sis,” he whispers before setting me down. I don’t respond but squeeze his forearms. I’m apprehensive about anything I say being used against me.
“I can’t believe how big you are,” I say incredulously. Gio was only ten when I left. To see him as a full-grown man is mind-boggling.
“I’d say the same thing, but I’m pretty sure you never even hit puberty,” he teases. I’ve always been the smallest in the family. My mama was average height, and I guess my dad was as well. All my brothers are tall, though. I look like a shrimp next to them.
Marco and Dante each give me hesitant hugs. Alex and my father stand still, staring at me. Gabriel gathers me into his arms. My father clears his throat. “Thank you for meeting us, Monica.”
I don’t respond.
I don’t even know what to say. Thanks for letting me leave? Not saving me when I scrounged for every penny when Nana needed chemo? Not stepping in when things went south with Marcus? Making sure my siblings didn’t contact me? The longer I stand here, the more fury bubbles to the surface.
“Breathe, querida ,” Gabriel whispers.
“No,” I hiss. His eyes widen in surprise. “No! I’m not going to remain calm. My life has been a complete shit show, and apparently, he’s known about it the whole fucking time. I’m furious. How dare you, Dad! How dare you act like any of this can be settled with a quick explanation. Your mother died , and you did nothing. I dealt with it all by myself. I was completely alone.”
“That’s not entirely true. Please, sit down. Let’s order, and then we can get into details,” my father tells me as he motions toward the large table. I’m forced to unclench my fists and notice the pain of my nails digging into my palms. After sitting for a moment, my dad looks up at me. “Monica. Please. Just order some food.”
“I will,” I answer. He cocks an eyebrow at me. “This is one of my favorite restaurants, Dad. I know what I want. I don’t need to look at the menu.”
I see a quick sliver of pride cross his eyes before he shutters his expression, and his lips twitch as he tries not to smile. I turn to Gabriel. “Do you trust me to order for you as well? I know what you’ll like from here.”
Gabriel gives me a beaming smile. “Of course, I trust you, anjinho . Order away.”
Marco clears his throat. “You’ve called her a couple names. What do they mean?”
“Jesus, Marco, lose the fucking attitude,” I retort.
“I’m not trying to give an attitude. I’m legitimately asking. I don’t know Brazilian.”
“Well, for starters, you damn oaf, it’s Portuguese. Brazilian isn’t the fucking language,” I tell him. Gabriel stifles a chuckle next to me. “He calls me sweetheart and angel. Plus some other things. But those are the two he uses most.”
“He calls you other things?” Marco asks.
“Well, he says other things.”
“How do you know what he says?”
“I learned Portuguese, duh.”
“You learned a language for him?” my father demands, his eyes narrowed.
“He didn’t ask me to do it. I did it because I wanted to communicate with him on a different level. His first language is Portuguese.” I stare defiantly at my father. He better not fucking say another word about this.
“I’ve started learning Italian to communicate with her as well,” Gabriel states clearly, and my head whips to stare at him.
“Really?” I ask, and he nods with a small smile.
“Really.”
I lean over and place a sweet kiss on his lips. This man.
“Wow. Seems like you got a good one, Mon,” Gio says with a smile .
“I did. I really did.”
The server comes to take our order. I order a few appetizers for the table, my favorite queso, and then meals for Gabriel and myself. I know exactly what he likes. Once the server leaves, I take a long drink of ice water and turn to my father.
“Start explaining,” I demand.
My father gives me an exasperated expression as he chuckles. “When did you get this bossy and belligerent?”
“From the moment I realized my life wasn’t my own when I was sold to a forty-year-old man, and expected to smile and do my duty. That’s when Dad. That’s when I decided not to give a fuck anymore, especially when I decided not to give a fuck what you think about me,” I blurt out angrily. Gabriel squeezes my hand as hot tears cloud my vision. My father noticeably pales as he struggles to form a response.
“Life hasn’t been all bells and whistles for us either, Mon. Cut dad some slack and let him explain,” Alex says with a roll of his eyes.
“Shut the fuck up, Alex. You’ve got your head so far up dad’s ass you can move his arms for him. I don’t trust one fucking word that comes out of your shit-filled mouth,” I retort. Gio barks back a laugh as Dante stares at me in amazement. Gabriel chuckles next to me. “What?”
“That mouth, querida . That fucking mouth,” Gabriel murmurs as he shakes his head.
“Monica Rose,” my father booms, “I know I did wrong by you. I thought by eliminating the connection with Angelino, you’d be in the clear. You could go live your life with my mother. I knew you weren’t made out for this life. I didn’t realize the Angelino family would want payback. I didn’t know they’d track you. I’ve been keeping people off your trail for years. I visited my mother in the hospital. She didn’t tell you that, did she? I visited her and told her to push for you to move. The Angelinos were closing in on you in Oklahoma, and you needed to get out of there. I did everything I could to cover the trail leading you to Colorado. Dante and Marco had the whole fucking Angelino family under surveillance. We had no idea they were working with the Bianchi’s. Nicolas was so off our radar.”
“Nicolas?” I ask, confused.
“He means Marcus, querida . Nicolas is his real name, remember?” Gabriel says gently.
“Oh, yeah. I forgot. It’s been hard remembering him as anyone other than Marcus.” I look at my dad. “Keep going.”
“We found out about Nicolas one week ago. It took a couple days to track him. He followed you in Oklahoma. As soon as you left for Colorado, he was on your tail. He was tasked with delivering you back to the Angelino family. Once he began to care for you, he got sloppy. That’s when the Angelinos began to pressure him to expedite the process.”
“I knew that part. Well, at least the part about Nicolas caring for me.” I guess I knew. Although he had a really fucked up way of showing it, beating me up in a bar. “Wait. You visited Nana? When?”
My dad sighs and scratches his chin. It brings back a multitude of memories of childhood. He would scratch his chin as he debated how much to tell us. How much honesty to give us. While I wouldn’t consider my dad an emotive and compassionate father, he certainly didn’t sugarcoat things for us, either. He was realistic. Told us how things went, especially in our family’s line of work.
“I visited her twice. Once in the summer and then again on the day she died, Monica,” he confides. I gasp. I know the answer before I ask it.
“You killed her, didn’t you? She asked you to kill her.” His eyes don’t leave mine, and he doesn’t answer. I don’t need him to say the words. I already know. “Did she call you and ask you to visit because I was in Colorado?”
He sighs again before nodding. I’m struggling to keep the sobs at bay. She pushed me to visit Emily and then asked her mafia son to put her out of her misery. I could have had more time with her.
“I didn’t get to say goodbye to her, Dad.”
“She wanted to go on her own terms, Monica. She specifically stated she didn’t want you there when she passed on.”
“You stole my goodbye from me. You’ve stolen so much from me. I can’t believe you watched me struggle and didn’t do anything to help me.” I snarl.
“I gave you life. Life away from the mob. Away from Texas. I knew you’d never accept my help, even when you needed it the most. So I did the only thing I could do, which is protect you. I’ve protected you even though you haven’t deserved it.” He holds his chin high, defiantly waiting for me to argue.
“I didn’t ask for your protection. All I’ve ever asked you to do is love me, Dad. That’s it. You couldn’t even do that,” I whisper brokenly.
“You thought I didn’t love you, Monica Rose?” my dad asks quietly, his expression full of anguish. I don’t answer. His eyes close as he lets his head drop until his chin hits his sternum.
The server takes that moment to arrive with all our food. Gabriel motions for the server to approach him and whispers in her ear. I know without hearing a word that he’s asking for her to box our meals up quickly. It’s time to end this meeting and move on with my life.
Standing, I take a deep breath and peer down at my brothers. Gio gives me a sad smile. Alex refuses to make eye contact. Marco and Dante stare at me with apprehension. My father fights to keep his emotions at bay.
“I don’t think we’ll agree on what has happened in the past, and I don’t want to dwell on life back then. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, and I have no desire to go back to Texas ever. All I ask is that you finish whatever you need to do to keep the Angelinos away from me. I want to stay here with Gabriel and live my life.”
“Do you want to have a relationship with us again, piccola ?” my father asks quietly. Little one. My father hasn’t called me that since I was a child. I feel the corners of my mouth curve up in a slight smile at the term of endearment.
“I don’t know, Dad. I know you told everyone not to reach out to me, but how quickly I was disowned and cast away still hurt.”
“You have nieces and nephews, you know. So many you’ve never met. They’d love to meet their aunt. Their zia .” Marco looks at me with expectant eyes. He thinks he knows the way to my heart. Frankly, I’ve never been that interested in kids and didn’t even play with Lucia’s kids when I was a teenager.
“Read the room, Marco. Kids aren’t for me. I highly doubt they care that they don’t know me,” I remark dryly.
“They do, actually. You’re like an urban legend. The oldest think you’re completely made up. They think you’re like Santa Claus. Just something we made up to tell stories about, and they never meet you,” Gio explains.
“You tell stories about me?” I ask quietly.
“We had to. You weren’t alone in the garden when dad shot Angelino. The rumors got out of hand, and we had to explain what had happened. People to this day think dad shot you and Nana as well as Angelino, and when the bodies didn’t show up, the rumors went nuts,” Alex says.
I’m silent for a moment as the server returns with our food in to-go boxes. I turn to Gabriel, and he gives me a reassuring smile. His unwavering support is blowing my mind. He’s sitting across from a mafia don and four captains, all of whom have killed men, and Gabriel isn’t batting an eyelash.
“I’ll think about continuing communication on one condition,” I finally say.
“Anything, piccola ,” my dad says somewhat stiffly. I can see the warmth returning to his eyes as he regards me.
“I will not be returning to Texas. Maybe ever. Any visits must be in different states.”
“Of course.”
“And when Gabriel and I marry, we will be doing a quiet ceremony that will not have any mob connections. You’ll get an announcement and picture in the mail, and you will not gaslight me about not attending.”
“We’re getting married?” Gabriel whispers with a smile.
“Eventually. I just assumed, I mean, well, if you don’t want to, that’s fine …” I trail off when Gabriel puts his index finger against my lips.
“I’d marry you tomorrow if you’d let me, anjinho . But let me propose first,” Gabriel chuckles. He looks at my dad. “I know we just met, and while you haven’t had a relationship with your daughter in years, I’m still going to ask for her hand in marriage. I’m a fairly traditional guy, and I want to know I have your family’s support.”
“I’d be honored to have you marry into the family, Gabriel. I can already tell you’re an excellent match for Monica, and I couldn’t have picked a better man for her,” my dad says before standing and reaching out to shake Gabriel’s hand. They then hug.
“What the fuck is happening right now,” I whisper, my eyes wide. My mafia father is hugging a twenty-five-year Army veteran who loves and respects his country. This is wild.
“Dante, I’ll text you Monica’s number so you can send it out. I’m sure her sisters would love to talk to her. Maybe hold off on sending the number to nieces and nephews just yet. We don’t want to overwhelm her,” Gabriel says with a wink. “Let’s head home, baby.”
I stand and round the table to say goodbye to my brothers. Giovanni gives me a tight hug before whispering in my ear. “We have so much to catch up on. Wait until I tell you about Marco and Dante and how they met their women.”
I giggle and look up at Gio. “Just the two of them? You don’t have one?”
He shrugs. “I’ve got my eye on one. It’s proving to be … much more complicated than I thought.”
“Text me if you want to chat, baby brother.” He rolls his eyes.
“I’m a foot taller than you, pixie.”
“I’m still your older sister, and I will nail you in the balls if you give me any sass.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time, sis, now would it?” Gio laughs before handing me off to my other three brothers. Alex is last, and he hesitates before finally swinging me into his arms tightly.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispers gruffly into my hair. Alex has always had the world on his shoulders. Expected to take over for my dad, so he never truly lived a childhood. He was learning the business from an early age. Emotions be damned. They had no place in La Famiglia . For him to tell me he missed me is huge .
“I missed you too, bear.” He laughs against my head. I called him bear when I was a toddler because he always growled. He sets me on my feet, and I turn to my dad.
“ Piccola , I’d like nothing more than to move forward and get to know the woman you’ve become. I know I’ve made mistakes, and if you don’t want to have a relationship with me, I understand.” Wow. First Paulie telling me he missed me, and now this? What the fuck is happening to my family? I find myself launching into my dad’s embrace before I can think about what I’m doing.
“Move forward, Dad. Let’s move forward,” I whisper as my voice trembles. He squeezes me tightly, so tightly. I’ve missed his hugs. As we end our hug, I see tears on his cheeks as he squares his shoulders and shutters his expression. I smile as I take a mental picture of this moment. He might be the big bad mafia don, but for just that moment, he was just my dad. And he missed me. I’ll never forget this moment.
“Let’s get going, querida .” Gabriel waves at my brothers as his hand finds my lower back, and we head toward the door. “You ready to start the rest of your life, anjinho ? With me?”
“Never been more ready, tesoro ,” I tell him.
The life I want, the life I’ve chosen, begins today.