5. Overwhelming
FIVE
Overwhelming
ZANO
A llegra and I walk down the steps of the plane to the awaiting cars, where my family impatiently waits for us. Elena is the most impatient and rushes toward us. I brace for her hug. She’s a great hugger. Before she gets to me, Dante warns her, “Mind his arm, baby.” Elena stops herself at the last minute and gently wraps her arms around my neck and kisses my cheek.
“No more out-of-town trips for you,” she chastises as she pulls back to search my face. “Are you all right?”
“It’s a graze, sis. All good, I swear,” I tell her, placing my hand over my heart. When we were kids, she’d make me promise, making the same gesture. Her face relaxes, and her attention moves to Allegra. Two redheads, Allegra and Elena, and yet both women are so uniquely different. Both are beautiful, though. Elena is more olive toned, with massive curls in her long, bright red hair. Allegra’s hair is a darker shade of red and is cut in a distinctive wavy bob that just reaches her shoulders. My sister is slender, and Allegra is even slimmer with a perfectly rounded ass that is burned in my brain, and breasts that I know will fit perfectly in my palms.
My sister stretches out her hand. “Hi, I’m Elena, Zano’s sister.”
Allegra takes her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Allegra. I’ll start by saying I’m sorry for any problems I’ve caused your family.”
Elena breaks out in a wonderful smile. “Zano made a choice, and believe me when I tell you, he doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to.” I see the corner of Allegra’s mouth curve upward. It’s the first real smile I’ve seen since this all started. It makes her even prettier.
“Elena, don’t hog her. Your mama wants to meet her.” I hear my dad’s gruff voice call out.
Allegra turns her attention over Elena’s head, her smile disappearing.
“Don’t worry, Dad’s a softie. His bark is way worse than his bite,” Elena says with a giggle. I place my hand on the small of Allegra’s back and lead her to where my parents and my brother Elio are standing next to her brother.
“Let’s get this over with,” I mumble. As I expected, my mother pulls Allegra in for a hug, catching Allegra off guard. She awkwardly hugs her back.
“Allegra, welcome. I’m sure this is all very overwhelming for you and Victorio, but we’ll do our best to smooth things over,” Mom says, patting Allegra’s cheek. Mom may not be aware that Victorio preferred to be called Vic, but even so, my mother doesn’t believe in “ruining a perfectly good name,” as she would say.
“Thank you. Mrs. uh…” Allegra trails off, then turns to look up at me. “I don’t even know your last name.”
“Ciello. Last name is Ciello,” I respond. “These are my parents, Dario and Gina.” I point to my brother, “This is my brother, Elio. Elio works closely with Dante. Sebastian is my boss Dante’s brother.”
“Two brothers working with two brothers,” Victorio mutters. “That’s cool.”
“It should have been Sebastian on this trip out to see Raffaele, but their new baby girl, Marcella, wasn’t feeling well, and Sebastian wouldn’t leave Olivia alone,” Dante adds.
“That baby girl has her father wrapped around her little finger,” Dad jokes with a hearty chuckle.
“Don’t tease!” my mother admonishes. “I seem to remember you pacing the floor for hours when Elena was sick.” Mom turns to Elena. “Your father was ridiculous. He called the doctor back to our house three times in one night.” She shakes her head, rolling her eyes at her husband.
“Speaking of doctors, we have one on the way to the house. Reno wants you checked over properly,” Elio says. His tone is not quite as welcoming, but not hostile either. Just like I thought, he’s playing the part of the protective older brother. I both appreciate it and want to belt him for it.
Allegra’s been through enough, and the sooner I tell him about it, the quicker things will settle. “Dad, will you and Mom ride back with Dante? I want a word with Elio.”
Dad immediately gets where I’m going, but Mom, not so much.
“But I want to get to know Allegra,” she starts.
“There’s plenty of time for that,” Dad jumps in to pacify her. “You’ll have weeks of ‘getting to know you’ time.” He escorts Mom to Dante’s SUV and helps her into the back. Mom is pouting but doesn’t argue. Elena gets in next to her, giving us a wave.
“See you at the house,” Elena says.
“Let’s get in the car,” I tell Elio as we move to his vehicle. I open the door for Allegra, while Victorio takes his place next to her.
We’re barely settled in the car when Elio starts, “How does a simple meeting to formalize a business contract turn into a marriage pact? That’s what I want to know. I’ve known you to be impetuous, but this is nuts, even for you!”
“Calm down. I wasn’t about to watch three gang members pull Allegra into a car, do who knows what to her, then deliver her to their gang leader to have him turn her into a whore for their stables,” I return angrily.
“Jesus!” Elio blows out a breath. “But marriage?”
“They had her brother holed up in the basement of their apartment building. Victorio wasn’t going to make it out of there without being caught. The Skulls were either going to leverage her brother to get to her or kill them both. Victorio messed up, but was his sister supposed to pay for it?” I ask. Not waiting for a response, I go on. “I made the decision, and as my brother, I need you to understand. I want your support. I love you to my bones, Elio, but what is done is done. I need you onboard.”
“Fuck, Zano. You goddamn know I’m always there for you. You never have to ask that…”
Victorio begins to rant. “Christ! I’m sorry. All right. I. Am. Fucking. Sorry. This is on me. Shoot me. Get rid of me. Just leave Allegra out of it. I wanted my old life back. I wanted the respect we had. Allegra was fine starting over. She worked hard to become a hairdresser and take care of Mom and me. She has her own dreams but put them aside for me. I’m the fuckup. Raffaele won’t care what you do to me. So get it done, and let Allegra go.” Victorio does his rant.
Allegra tries to placate him, but he’s hurting and feeling the consequences of his actions.
I turn in my seat and tell him, “It doesn’t work that way. You want to off yourself, be my guest, but that’s not going to help Allegra. She made a promise, and Reno and Raffaele are going to expect her to keep it. All you’re going to do is make it harder knowing her brother didn’t have the courage to make things right. Reno is giving you a shot at the fancy shit you want, but you’re going to have to earn it, along with his trust.”
“How do I make this right?” he asks, his voice trembling.
Elio says, “You’re going to work your ass off. You’re going to school, and you’ll be working with Leo. He’s tough but fair. You’ll do whatever job he asks you to do and prove to Nostra Casa that you’re trustworthy, just like we did.”
“The other men are all going to hate me. The minute they find out about my father, they’ll turn their backs on me,” Victorio says.
“So what?” I counter. “We were made fun of all the time because our father was a soldier and not an underboss. We earned our spot, and no one can take that away from us. We have enough enemies on the outside to fight. If shit gets bad, come talk to me.”
“Or me,” Elio adds. “We’re in this together. Zano has brought you into our family, so you belong to us now.”
“This has all been very overwhelming. It’s going to take some getting used to,” Allegra says quietly. “One day at a time, Victorio. We have to trust someone, and Zano saved our lives.”
Overwhelming says it best. Twenty-four hours ago, I was looking forward to getting home and going out with a bunch of guys and getting laid in the process. Today, I’m heading to my parents’ place with my new fiancée. I turn back to face the traffic and run a hand over my face. How did I get here?