26. Sly
My fingertips trail up and down the smooth skin of Vincenza”s arm as we lay in bed after a night of lovemaking.
Leaving my family’s home left us both excited and appreciative of our future together. Dinner with them couldn’t have gone better if I planned it.
The way my family welcomed Vincenza warmed my heart and provided further confirmation, and validation that I’ve made the right decisions in not only my life, but with the path I’ve chosen, and the amazing woman to spend my forever with.
Still, unease has settled deep in my bones and will not leave. Tomorrow looms over us like a thundercloud, and I know the concern I feel, my wife feels tenfold.
“Tomorrow won’t go as well as tonight did,” I warn her, although I know my words aren’t needed.
She knows. With every fiber of her being, she knows.
Vinnie sighs, curling into my body further. Her leg is draped over mine, and the small curvature of her body conforms so perfectly against me, only reminding me further how well we fit.
“I’m not afraid anymore.”
“Perhaps your father is ready to put the past behind him, as mine has. Luciano did say he is working with the polizia to keep the St. Jeans from pressing charges against me.”
“Joseph is still a loose cannon, though. Now, more than ever. You killed his best friend.”
“I killed the man who was physically abusing the love of my life. I would do it again, to anyone who dares think they can even look at you wrong. I should have stopped him sooner.”
“Don’t do that. I purposely kept you in the dark. I believed he would kill you. He was having you followed and leaving me photos like breadcrumbs.”
“It seems as though we’ve both made mistakes and underestimated each other, amore mio. Never again. We are a team, and there will be no secrets between us.”
Shivering, she inches closer, even though there is no space between us. “I’m worried Joseph will try to retaliate. August had been his friend for years, and now his plans of taking over our father’s businesses are exposed. Father is furious.”
“I will keep you safe, Vincenza. You have nothing to stress about.”
“It’s not me I can’t stop fretting over.”
Tightening my hold on her, I kiss the tip of her nose. “You worry about me too much.”
“It’s my job now.”
“Mmm,” I hum, nuzzling my nose against her cheek. “I can think of another job position I’d prefer for you, but it’s not actually a job. Just a position.”
Rolling her on top of me, my cock presses against her core as it juts from between her legs. She begins to rock against me, her pussy already wet, creating a layer of lubricant between us. Moaning, she places her palm on my chest and closes her eyes, letting her body guide her.
She looks stunning when she’s wanton. Her cheeks are flushed, and her hair is a mess from when I had her on her back. Her breasts are full, swaying slightly with each roll of her hips.
“Is this the position you envisioned for me?” she asks coyly, the heaviness of our previous conversation completely gone from her tone.
A sharp intake of breath pulls between my teeth as she lifts up slightly, so the head of my cock pierces her entrance. I’ll never get used to the magic of sliding into my wife. “I’ve envisioned you in every position, piccola ladra, but sì, this is one of my favorites for you.”
“Then I better make sure I stay on top of my duties,” she playfully quips, reaching between us to grab my cock as she slides down it.
We moan together when I’m fully inside her, my fingers gripping her hips so tightly, I know I am leaving indentations behind. For a moment, we stay together as one, our breaths mingling as she leans down close, but careful not to touch me. The moment is charged with electricity and anticipation, until finally, I can no longer take the desire that threatens to explode from me, and I tilt my head slightly, connecting our lips.
Then she begins to move.
Through the closed door of the Paladino mansion, I hear the echo of the doorbell throughout their foyer, followed by heavy footsteps. Vinnie shifts on her feet next to me as the sound of the lock disengages, and the door opens, revealing an old man in a crisp black suit. He wears a scowl and looks about as friendly as Lurch from the Addams Family.
There”s a familiarness about him that I cannot place, and I wonder if this is the same butler from the first and only time I stepped foot on the Paladino’s property.
Saying nothing, his eyes drift from me to Vinnie before he rudely steps aside and lets us enter the home.
“Hi, Capaul,” Vinnie greets, though the man doesn’t deserve a breath of her air, let alone the kindness of her words.
“Miss Paladino.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to correct him, which my wife must sense because she squeezes my hand and says, “Let’s go find my parents.”
The fact that they did not greet their daughter in the foyer when she arrived immediately irritates me.
“Hello?” Vinnie calls, leading me further into the home. She peeks into the first room and practically runs into Luciano, who is on his way out.
“I thought I heard your voice,” he remarks, pulling her into a half-hug. Extending his hand, he acknowledges me. “Sly.”
“Luciano.”
“Where are Mother and Father?” Vinnie wonders aloud.
“Father is in his office, and I would assume Mother is up in their bedroom getting ready still. I haven’t seen her yet.”
“And Samuele?”
“Packing his room, I believe.”
“He’s moving?”
My eyes ping-pong between Vinnie and Luciano, taking in their conversation as my thumb brushes against the side of her hand.
“Yeah, finally. He used his trust fund to buy an apartment off East 85th.”
“That’s wonderful! It’s time he gets out of here. And Joseph? Is he coming?” Vinnie’s voice wavers slightly when she speaks her brother’s name.
Curious, I train my gaze on Luciano.
“According to Father, his presence is mandatory, so I would assume yes.”
“Lovely.” Vinnie’s voice is strained as she says the two-syllable word.
“It will be fine, amore mio,” I interject. I’m not worried about coming face to face with her brother, and she shouldn’t be either.
“Vinnie. Sly.” Maurizio’s voice comes from behind us, and we both turn simultaneously. Vinnie’s father looks as though he’s seen better days. Dark rings sit beneath his eyes, and his hair is disheveled, as though he’s been running his fingers through it repeatedly.
The sight of her father visibly reflects in Vinnie. Her shoulders fall as she takes him in, and I can’t help but notice how she almost shrinks into herself a little. It diminishes her glow.
Seeing her turn timid in his presence ignites a fury deep inside me, and an overwhelming protectiveness rears its head.
“Maurizio,” I say his name in a clipped, neutral tone.
Our frigid greeting is cut short when a door slams behind us and in walks Joseph, looking even worse than his father. His white button-down is wrinkled and slightly untucked, and there’s a sway to his stance, which worries me. Is he inebriated? I don’t want him anywhere near Vincenza, if that”s the case. Joseph is a loose cannon to begin with. I can only imagine his demeanor when he’s under the influence.
“You look awful,” Maurizio spits, turning his attention to his middle son. His gaze narrows, and the disapproval is clear on his features.
“Pot meet kettle, Father.” Joseph doesn’t slur his words, but he is definitely under the influence of something. There’s a glassy, far-off look in his eyes, and it causes me to shift my body in front of Vincenza”s.
The movement catches his attention, and his reaction is instantaneous.
Clenching his fists by his sides, he stalks closer. Pushing Vincenza completely behind me, I ready myself mentally and physically for this altercation.
I had expected it. I just assumed it would have taken place after a very tense dinner.
“You have some nerve showing your face here, you piece of shit,” he spits with a malice so intense it’s practically tangible.
“I have every right to be here, Joseph. I’m your sister”s husband.” I smile at him, knowing the fury I’ve enraged.
“She’s no sister of mine. Not anymore. You killed my best friend. Both of you did, as far as I’m concerned.” Looking around my body, he stares at his father. “You’re really just going to let him into our home? Like he didn’t embarrass this family, murder Vinnie’s fiancé, and drag the Paladino name through the mud?”
“Let’s discuss this in another room, rather than the hallway,” Maurizio suggests, and next to him, Luciano stifles a laugh.
“No, we can fucking talk about this right here, right now. I want him out of this house. Now,” Joseph demands, and I do everything I can not to laugh in his face right here. Behind me, Vincenza stays quiet, which I am grateful for.
The audacity of this man is beyond belief.
“He is your sister’s husband,” Maurizio defends in a low tone, which surprises me, but I sense he has been waiting for this quarrel with his son as well.
“He killed August.”
Before Maurizio can say another word, Luciano jumps into the argument. “He was beating our sister, which I have no doubts you knew about, so don’t bother lying about it now.”
A sneer highlights Joseph”s features, and he rolls his eyes. “I’m sure that’s what she told you to justify her affair with a Lucchetti. Are we all just ignoring the fact that she married the enemy?”
“Are you just going to ignore the fact that I told you I know you knew your best friend was physically harming our sister, and you did nothing to stop it? If anything, you willingly put her in danger by pushing for him to pursue her.” Luciano steps toward his brother, and I recognize the signs of anger reaching a boiling point, and though I’ve never seen Luciano fully enraged, I suspect I’m about to.
Keeping my mouth closed, I decide to watch how this plays out. The men of the Paladino family going head-to-head is fascinating.
“What is it exactly you want me to say? Show me proof, and maybe I’ll believe you then.” There’s a mocking tone in Joseph”s voice, and instinctively I move to take a step forward when Vinnie’s soft hand wraps around my wrist, stopping me.
“All because you want Father’s business,” Luciano tsks, and all the air expels from Vincenza’s lungs in a sharp breath. “You practically forced our sister into the arms of an abusive monster, all while manipulating Father into thinking it was a good idea. Does he know you two were threatening her, too? By having someone she loved followed so you could blackmail her into compliance?”
A growl rumbles in my throat, and I can’t stay silent any longer. “All for a signature.”
I want to wrap my hands around Joseph’s neck and squeeze until the light fades from his eyes and his body crumples to the floor.
“Marry the girl, steal her business. Or so you thought,” Luciano continues, prolonging every word to match up with the slow, deliberate steps he’s taking toward his brother. “Because you’re too much of a self-centered, egotistical narcissist to see what was literally right in front of you, Joey.” Less than an inch from his face, Luciano whispers, loudly enough for us all to hear. “The businesses were always going to be yours.”
Finally, Maurizio explodes. “I can’t believe you’d let him hurt your sister and manipulate me to go along with it all so you could have the businesses! You’re not the man I thought you were, Joseph, and it’s clear you have no idea how succession works. Have all these years of training been no indication that you were the one to inherit them all when I retire? Yet, despite it all, this is how you treat your own sister? Your flesh and blood.”
“YOU WERE NEVER GOING TO GIVE THEM TO ME!” Joseph screams, becoming unhinged. Reaching over to the vase on the credenza next to him, he picks it up and slams it to the floor. “It has always been Sunshine this, and Sunshine that. Since the moment she was born I was tossed to the side.”
“How can you even say that?” Vinnie squeaks from behind me, stepping around so she can look at her brother as she speaks to him. Instinct nags at me to pull her back behind the shelter of my body, but I know she has things she needs to speak about, too.
“BECAUSE IT’S TRUE.”
“You’ve been Father’s right-hand man with his businesses for years. I don’t understand how you could ever think that when it came time, he would give them to me.”
“I’m not going to stand here and argue with a whore who spread her legs for the first man who glanced in her direction and pretended to be a knight in shining armor.”
“You watch your fucking mouth,” I snarl, stepping closer.
“Oh, now he speaks. C’mon, Lucchetti. You’ve been awfully quiet tonight. Did my slut sister tell you to not talk to me?”
The disgusting words have barely had a moment to slide off his tongue before I have Joseph up against the wall with one of my arms pressed against his windpipe, and the muzzle of my gun pressed at the base of his chin.
“Whoa, easy there, Lucchetti,” Luciano says, at the same time Vinnie cries, “Sly.”
But I’m staring into the lifeless eyes of the Paladino brother at my mercy. “If you keep referring to my wife with degrading, disgusting names, I will end you, just like I ended the pathetic excuse of a man who dared lay a hand on her. I have no problem putting you in an early grave, Joseph. In fact, it would bring me great pleasure to do so.”
Putting more pressure on his windpipe, I hold him in that uncomfortable position for a few seconds before releasing him suddenly and stepping back. I tuck my gun back into its holster under my shirt.
Seething, Joseph rubs his neck and looks at his father. “You’re just going to allow this to happen? For him to treat me like I’m a criminal?”
Maurizio’s eyes grow colder, but he says nothing. The room stays silent for several tense moments before Joseph sweeps his arm across the top of the credenza, sending photo frames, another vase, and a small stack of decorative books crashing to the floor.
Pointing a finger at me, he yells, “You’ll fucking regret this, Lucchetti. That’s a threat and a promise.” Then he turns on his heel and stalks out of the home, sending the door slamming behind him.
Warm arms wrap around my waist as Vinnie burrows into my side, her body shaking slightly from what I hope is adrenaline and not fear. “I’m not afraid of him, piccola ladra,” I say softly, for her ears only as I pull her closer.
“I am,” she whispers back sadly.
“Sunshine, perhaps you can go check on your mother while I speak with Luciano and Sly. She’s upstairs in our bedroom,” Maurizio suggests, though it is less of a suggestion and more of a gentle dismissal.
“I’ll see her when she decides to join us, Father.”
A smile pulls at my lips, proud of how she has seemingly turned a corner with her father and is more comfortable with speaking her mind.
“Anything you would like to speak to me about, I am comfortable with my wife hearing, Maurizio.”
“It’s about the St. Jeans pressing charges.”
“All the more reason why she should hear the facts.”
Maurizio looks unhappy, but nods curtly and walks to another room, followed by Luciano, and seconds later, myself and Vincenza.
We enter a small den, which I assume is a place where Maurizio retreats privately, based on the furnishings. Two leather loveseats face each other with a chestnut-colored coffee table between them, topped with a crystal cigar ashtray and a pile of business magazines. Frames line the walls with newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and photographs of Maurizio with various businessmen, highlighting his career.
Maurizio clears his throat as we all sit. “My contacts at the NYPD have done all they can to make this go away for you, Sly, but it’s not foolproof. The St. Jeans haven’t been quiet about their feelings on you being a free man, but luckily, they don’t have the same sway Luciano and I do with the police department, or the court system for that matter.”
“I dug up some information on August’s father, and let”s just say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Luciano adds. “Back in twenty-sixteen, the St. Jeans had a woman institutionalized after she came forward to Mrs. St. Jean with allegations of being physically and sexually abused by August’s father. I paid them a visit last week and let them know that unless they’d like the story resurfaced and investigated, they needed to lay this to rest just as they will their son.”
“Thanks to Luciano learning that information, I was able to bring it to my contact at the department and file a couple of backdated domestic violence reports against August on Vinnie’s behalf. It is now in writing that he was physically harming her,” Maurizio concludes.
“Thank you, Father,” Vinnie says to him with tears in her eyes. I squeeze her knee affectionately.
“How has the story not been in the news?” I ask, wondering how my name has not been dragged through the papers and gossip columns. “Surely not everyone is upholding their NDA, and August was a prominent figure in the community, as much as it pains me to say that.”
Luciano smiles widely, scoffing. “You underestimate me. In addition to the NDA, I also paid off a few reporters, who ran with a story about the wedding being called off last minute and the couple needing time to grieve the loss of their relationship in private.”
“There’s no way that is going to work.”
“It has so far. Eventually, we’ll have to schedule an interview for Vinnie with the press so she can talk about how devastated she was that August never showed up to the altar and spin a story about how an old flame from the past reignited as she was picking up the pieces of her broken heart from her runaway husband.”
“Schedule it,” Vinnie asserts. “I’ll speak with whoever, whenever. Get me in front of a camera.”
“Relax, Sunshine. Everything will come together as it should.” Maurizio smiles at her, but I can tell my wife is annoyed with her father’s sudden change in demeanor. The way he’s using her nickname again isn’t lost on me.
“How do you feel about all of this, Maurizio?” I ask suddenly, interrupting the conversation. Something about his behavior in this moment isn’t sitting well with me. “One minute, you’re sitting in the church watching your daughter about to exchange vows with a man you thought was good, and the next, she’s married to a man from a family you’ve hated for decades.”
“What are you trying to say?” he asks, his eyes narrowed.
“It just seems odd that you haven’t put up more of a fight.”
“Would you like me to? I could sit here and scream at you both for blindsiding me. I could protest and tell both you and my daughter that you do not have my blessing and that I don’t agree with this marriage. Would it change anything?”
“Absolutely not,” Vinnie says, taking my hand. I can’t help the smile that instantly appears on my face, or the way pride blooms in my chest. “I will always choose him.”
Maurizio looks horror-stricken for a moment before realizing his composure has slipped. His features contort into a wide mix of emotions before he finally says something, casting his eyes downward at his hands. “August slipped under my radar, Vinnie, and for that, I apologize. I had no suspicion of what he was doing to you until the rehearsal dinner, and even then, I turned an eye, blaming it on a pre-wedding squabble. I let you down.”
“You weren’t the only one,” she says softly, almost under her breath. My bride looks like she’s on the verge of tears, so I pull the conversation away from her.
“And you, Luciano? Why your change of heart?”
His eyes meet mine, and his head tilts slightly, almost as if he’s asking a silent question rather than asking one aloud. “Like you, I’m just another body stuck on the sidelines of the feud. I couldn’t care less about your last name. All I want is for my sister to be happy, and evidently, she’s found happiness within you.”
“I appreciate that.”
“How about you, Father?” Vinnie asks, and I swear to the Lord Almighty I have never been as proud of her as I am tonight, having the fearlessness to finally speak out against her father. Her newfound strength is not only sexy, but courageous, and I admire her for it. “Will you be able to move past the last name, and the things Sly’s uncle did in the past?”
Awkwardly, Maurizio clears his throat. “I can’t make any promises on how long it may take for me to accept this, but I will try with time.”
“That’s all I’m asking for,” she notes. Standing, she gives my hand a gentle tug, and I do the same. “I think Sly and I will head out for the night. Thank you for the invitation to dinner, but I’m exhausted and want to go home.”
“Are you sure? Dinner should be ready by now.” Maurizio comes to his feet, glancing down at the timepiece on his wrist.
She looks over at me, and I nod.
“I’m sure,” she states with conviction. “Please tell Mother—well, you know what? Don’t tell Mother anything, since she couldn’t even be bothered to come downstairs.”
“Vinnie,” Maurizio scolds, but she ignores him and rounds the coffee table to hug her brother.
I watch with a smile as he embraces her fully, just as a brother should. The strength he radiates pushes into her, and it brings me peace knowing she had a protector in him throughout her adolescence. I have no doubts that he was the one to keep her safe.
Being the bigger man, I outstretch my hand in Maurizio’s direction. “Thank you for having us this evening. I appreciate all the help you’ve extended to keep me out of jail, as well as the papers.”
“You’re welcome.” He grips my hand, and we shake. It’s brief, but there is a large part of me that hopes this is just the beginning of what could be some sort of cordial relationship between us.
Once Vinnie and I are outside of her childhood home, I wrap my arm around her as we walk down the road to where I’ve parked. Vinnie had suggested we have Ross drive us, but I hate the idea of being driven around when my Rolls Royce SUV sits unused in the parking garage.
Plus, I don’t entirely trust Ross after he double-crossed her the day she flew home from Ridgewood. She insists it was mostly August, but I feel as though the driver could have refused to bring him, seeing as though he is on the Paladino payroll.
As we round the corner, my SUV comes into view. “I love you, piccola ladra. You know that, sì?”
“I do. And I love you,” she tells me, looking up at me as we walk, smiling.
“I’m very proud of the way you spoke up to your father tonight. It was admirable, and sexy as hell.”
“Oh, yeah?”
Chuckling, I lean down and kiss her as I withdraw the key fob and unlock the vehicle. “Yeah, it was. And I can think of many, many things I want to do to you to prove just how sexy I think you are.”
I open the door for her, and she climbs into the passenger side, batting her gorgeous, gray-blue eyes in my direction as she settles into the seat. “I can’t wait to hear them.”
And I can’t wait to show you, over, and over, and over again, amore mio.