16. Friends Make Everything Better
SIXTEEN
Friends Make Everything Better
ALLEGRA
S everal days later…
When Zano explained the theories that the capos have come up regarding the incident that occurred on our wedding day, in my gut I know it’s the Skulls. I wear my guilt like a heavy cloak. Zano tells me not to worry, but that’s impossible. This isn’t only about me. If they had succeeded that day, Elena would have been caught in the crossfire, not to mention the men who could have gotten hurt.
Since that day at Reno’s, I haven’t left our condominium. There’s a bodyguard standing at the door, and instead of having him follow me about, I decide to stay home. For the first couple of days, it’s great. It gives me a chance to unwind after the wedding, and thanks to online shopping and the new laptop Zano gave me, I’ve been able to indulge in retail therapy, buying what I need to make our place homey. I think Iggy, short for Ignazio, is tired of accepting packages out in the hall, but on Zano’s orders, nothing comes inside unless inspected.
However, we’re on day four, I’ve already put a dent in Zano’s credit card, and I’m feeling guilty that I’m not contributing to our finances. Zano tells me repeatedly not to worry about it and that as soon as our little problem is resolved, I’m free to get a job as a hairdresser at any of the shops in our area, provided he’s vetted them. That seems a long way off since Reno is still on the warpath and nothing of note has been found.
Leo and Victorio have become very close, and my brother hangs on every word he says. I guess that’s to be expected when Leo has been the only real male influence he’s had in his life for many years. Zano tells me Victorio couldn’t have a better mentor, and Victorio seems happy. This makes me happy.
When my husband comes home, I have a nice meal ready for him, and we relax in front of the television for the evening, in between phone calls from Sebastian, Dante, or Leo. At the end of the night, Zano takes me to bed and makes love to me. Soft and sweet, or decadently wicked, but always ending in not one but two supreme orgasms.
I’ve fallen in love with my husband. It’s not the lovemaking, although that’s pretty awesome. It’s the way he makes me feel about myself. Zano talks about our future and wants to know what I want and what I think. He asks about my hopes and dreams. The other night, he said, “You’ll open your place, babe, but you need to hire decent staff because once we have kids, you won’t be able to be there all day. Family comes first. That’s what my parents did, and look how well it turned out for them.”
He wants kids, and I do too. A little boy with his piercing blue eyes and dark hair running around the apartment would be a dream come true. Zano will be a fantastic dad because he’s learned from his father what’s important and never loses sight of it. Dario and Gina have not been by our new place, mainly because Gina spent so much time away from the restaurant that she needs to focus her attention back on her kitchen, but they call every night to check in. The conversations are short but very sweet. Gina has decided on a family dinner on the weekend, so that’s something to look forward to.
When the doorbell rings, I nearly fall off my chair. Iggy usually knocks, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard it ring. Immediately, alarm bells go off. Did something happen to Iggy? I grab my phone, poised to hit the number one for a direct dial to Zano as I move to the door.
“Who is it?” I ask in a shaky tone.
“Ally, it’s us. It’s me, Anna, and Olivia and Elena are with me,” I recognize Anna’s voice and unbolt the door to see the biggest gift basket in Anna’s hands. I’m speechless, but Anna’s not. “Sweetie, this is heavy. Can we come in?”
I jolt out of the way, opening the door wider. Anna sets down the basket on the coffee table. Olivia has baby Marcella in her arms, while Elena is carrying all sorts of baby paraphernalia.
“Is there a place I can put Marcella down? She’s finally asleep and my arms need a rest,” Olivia says wearily. She looks tired.
“She’s still not sleeping through the night. Is the spare bed okay? Will she roll off?” I ramble in a hushed whisper as I guide her through to the extra room.
“Oh, I know how to fix that.” Olivia takes the pillows and cocoons Marcella within them, then sets a baby monitor on the tall dresser aimed at the bed. She pulls an app up on her phone. “Voilà, instant baby monitor. I can keep an eye on her at all times,” Olivia says with a sigh.
Anna is unpacking the basket she brought, packed with assorted cold cuts and cheeses. She pulls out a wooden board and begins to assemble the prosciutto, dried sausage, and salami on it, adding olives, nuts, dried apricots, and figs. Then she adds some fresh strawberries and grapes.
Meanwhile, Elena finds the wineglasses in the cupboard and turns to me. “You don’t mind, do you? I prefer a nice glass over the plastic ones we brought.”
“Not at all.” I raise my hands, gesturing for them to put me to work. “What can I do?”
“We can use some plates and napkins,” Anna says.
“I’m putting my feet up.” Olivia yawns and rests her feet on the ottoman, tilting her head back onto the back of the armchair.
“I give her ten minutes before she nods off,” Elena teases.
“Let her sleep. A catnap is what she needs. Then she can wake up refreshed and enjoy our company,” Anna responds with a giggle.
Olivia mumbles incoherently, giving us all the middle finger before shutting her eyes. I laugh out loud, Elena and Anna joining in.
“I remember those days with Samuele and Simona. I was so tired, I just wanted to curl into a ball and cry. And I had help,” Anna tells us. “My mom came down for a month to give me a hand. Dad would join on weekends. Reno was wonderful and would get up in the middle of the night when both wanted feedings at the same time. Even Dante and Sebastian would come and spend the night from time to time.”
“The thing with Olivia is that she doesn’t want to miss a single minute of motherhood with Marcella. Remember, her mom wasn’t there, and I’m sure that’s part of the reason why she makes it her mission to spend most of her time with Marcella, every waking moment,” Elena chimes in.
I didn’t know that about Olivia.
“Yeah, but she’s so lucky to have her father. He loves her and his granddaughter more than life,” Anna adds. “I love her dad. He’s a sweetheart.” She grins.
That makes me feel better because Olivia might act tough, but she’s got a soft, gooey side. “Olivia’s wonderful, and she’s an awesome mom. So are you, Anna. The twins are adorable,” I say. “I hope I can be as good a mother as the two of you one day.”
“You’ve already had a lot of practice. You looked after Victorio,” Elena reminds me.
“I made a mess of it.” I sit in the corner of the sofa. “He was almost killed. I saw he was getting into trouble, but no matter what I said, he kept getting in deeper and deeper with the Skulls,” I say, lifting the glass to my lips and taking a sip.
“That’s not on you. A series of circumstances led to where Victorio ended up. It started with your father, and it’s hard for a young man to live down the reputation of having a traitor for a dad. And I’ll tell you this, Reno had his doubts about your brother being able to turn himself around, but Leo tells him Victorio works harder than anyone else to prove himself. That’s a good sign,” Anna tells us.
“You wouldn’t be here, drinking wine and eating great food, if destiny didn’t bring you to us,” Elena adds.
“This is true,” I admit, smiling.
An afternoon with friends is what I needed. Marcella, with her smiles and snuggles, has healing powers, and by the time they’re being picked up, I’m feeling like part of the girls. Anna and Olivia tell me how it was difficult for them to fit in at first because their families are from La Famiglia , and their journeys weren’t all flowers and sunshine either. Although both stories are frightening, Olivia being abducted to be sold as a sex slave and being found in the nick of time gives me chills. And from the moment Anna was promised to Reno, a traitor had her marked for death. Yet, both women have moved past this and are happy.
Elena is the last to leave. Dante is picking her up himself. As she helps me clean up, she says, “Zano almost died saving me.”
I abruptly turn to face her. “What?”
“I didn’t know I was promised to Dante yet and asked my father for one night out with my girlfriends from school before my future was spoken for. He agreed on the condition that I had Zano come along to watch over me. When Zano saw the Red Dragons, he knew there was going to be trouble. He hid me and held off the men sent to take me until help came. He was stabbed. He was hurt pretty badly, but he wouldn’t let them near me,” she says, lowering her eyes. “To this day, I wish I’d never asked to go out that night.”
“It wasn’t your fault. How could you know that was going to happen?” I shake my head and give her a hug. She hugs me back.
“In this Mafia life, we need to be prepared for anything. I was pretending to be a normal woman, out for a drink with friends, but I’m not. I’m part of Nostra Casa and a target for the enemy. I almost cost my brother his life. I’m only telling you this because I can understand that with all the craziness that brought you to us, you may crave what some people know as ‘normal.’ We can’t have that in the way we want. Our guards are meant to protect us, and we have to let them do their jobs. Please don’t take any chances.” Elena’s eyes plead with me.
“I won’t. I promise,” I vow.
“Thank you. I nearly lost Dante when the families went after an enemy. I was broken. Shattered. I prayed for Dante to come back to me, and my prayers were answered. I’ll never forget that feeling of helplessness both for Zano and Dante. I never want to feel that again,” she says.
“You won’t,” I state firmly.
“I have a secret, Ally.” Elena pulls back to look at me.
I tilt my head, waiting for her to go on.
“I haven’t told Dante yet. He’s already angry about the other day. He’ll go into overdrive when he finds out,” she babbles.
“Finds out what?” I ask. My curiosity is piqued to say the least. Elena is straightforward, and Dante adores her. What could possibly change that?
“I’m pregnant,” she blurts out, then covers her face. “You’re the only person I’ve told. I took five home pregnancy tests, and they all turned out positive.”
“But the wine—” I begin, remembering that we all had a glass; the others had two.
“When no one was watching, I emptied my glass into the sink or the fern over there.” She points to the lonely plant in the room. “That plant is either going to die or flourish,” she kids.
“That’s amazing news, Elena. Dante is going to be overjoyed,” I declare. “He adores his nieces and nephew. He’s going to be an amazing dad.”
“He will be.” A shy smile forms on her lips. “We both want children, although he wanted a little more time to ourselves first. But with this situation hanging over us…” Her voice trails off.
“There’s never a right time to have babies. You said it yourself. We can’t expect normal. But you can celebrate the wonderful moments. Don’t let anyone take that away from you,” I tell her.
The front door creaks open, and Dante and Zano come in.
“Hey, baby,” Dante calls out. “Did you have a fun afternoon?”
“We’re pregnant!” Elena announces. Dante stops in his tracks, looking like a deer in headlights. But this is a momentary blip before he races over to his wife, lifting her into his arms and spinning her around.
I make my way over to Zano, who tucks me into his side as he watches on happily. “You’re going to be Zio Zano,” I whisper.
“I’m going to be cool Zio Z,” he murmurs, then brushes his lips over mine. “I take it you had a good afternoon?”
I giggle.
“Friends make everything better,” I reply, looking on while Dante kisses his wife with his hand gently resting on her belly.