Chapter 19
Elli
As Tia and I walk into the large entertainment room of the hotel where I have booked the luncheon with the women.
I glance at the soldiers that are with us, Vin and Ollie.
They are my personal guards and it is going to feel odd being followed everywhere.
My father never gave me any form of security, which I know Alex complained about many times.
“Vin, watch for any troublemakers.
Point them out to me, but be subtle.
Ollie, you stay near the door and don’t allow anyone to leave until I say it’s okay to do so.”
“Yes, Mrs.
Vincholetti.”
Vin walks to the back of the room and seems to melt into the wallpaper, while Ollie stays near the door making sure everyone will notice he is there.
Stepping past tables to the large round table at the front of the room, I stand a moment, looking around at all the women.
Turning to Tia, I give her a reassuring smile before taking a seat.
The table seats twelve, so there are ten women here I do not know.
“Good afternoon, ladies.
Would you like to introduce yourselves? Make sure you tell me which made man you are with.”
The first lady sitting next to Tia speaks, “I’m Gia.
I am with Philip Underwood.
Our status is engaged to be married in the fall.”
“Oh, that’s nice, Gia.
Please make sure I get an invitation.
I love weddings.”
I give a genuine smile and look at the woman sitting next to her.
“My name is Hazel, and I’m married to Gregor Colombo.
We have twin girls who are nearing their fourth birthday.”
This is how it goes around the table until I have all the names and their status.
Only one I have a problem with, that’s Francesca Moretti.
She’s with a low-level soldier but seems to think she can climb the Mafia ladder.
A mistress, and I’ll be speaking to Nico about this woman's soldier when I get back to the mansion.
Lily, who is sitting to the right of Francesca, jumps to her feet and seeing the frosting on her skirt, I think she has dropped something from her plate, until she screeches at Francesca, that is.
“You did that on purpose.
What sort of disgusting person are you? Not only are you a mistress, a home-wrecking whore, but you think it will earn you some sort of respect,”
Lily is about ready to cry, and I think it’s time to step in.
Looking up, I signal to Vin that I need him at the table.
He quickly makes his way to me and awaits my instruction.
“Contact Nico, and ask what he’d like me to do with a trouble causer.
I’m sure you saw what happened, but get the footage and get hold of the soldier that she belongs to.”
Nodding, Vin quickly walks away.
In the meantime, I turn back to the table and Tia is helping Lily away from the table and to the ladies' restroom to clean herself.
“You stay in your seat, Francesca,”
I state firmly.
I notice Vin speaking to Ollie before he walks over to me, quietly relaying the message from Nico.
“Mrs.
Vincholetti, I have been ordered to stay at your side, but whatever you decide is perfectly fine with Mr.
Vincholetti.”
Before I can decide what is best a man walks into the door and speaks to Ollie before walking over to me.
He drops to a knee and murmurs my name.
“Please stand.”
I’m not sure who this is, but I don’t want him on his knees in the middle of the luncheon.
“I am here after gaining permission from the Boss.
With your permission, I would like to remove Francesca from the table and room.”
I look at Francesca, who has her head down and is looking at her hands.
So, this is the soldier that the little bitch belongs to.
“You know she has disrespected a wife?”
I raise a questioning eyebrow.
“Yes, Mrs.
Vincholetti.
She will be removed from the house and the country.
I will not allow any form of disrespect.”
Turning, I give Vin a small smirk while my back is turned to the man, which has Vin lift an eyebrow, but I turn back to the man with a perfectly set face.
“You do know that taking a mistress is disrespecting your wife, don’t you? If Nico ever dreamed of doing that to me, I’d cut off his man parts and feed them to him in a stew specially made just for him.”
The man swallows hard, and gives me a nod because I’m sure he dares not say another word.
Vin snorts with a hint of amusement and disgust at the soldier.
Tia and Lily return and take their seats, and I see Tia is dying to know what is going on, but keeps quiet.
“You are dismissed, but deal with it.”
I look at the woman who has raised her head and is looking daggers at the man.
Oh, I can see she’s going to be trouble.
“You cause any problems, Francesca, and I know a man who can get rid of you before you can say help.”
The man grabs Francesca’s arm and quickly drags her out of the room.
I give Vin a look as he follows them out, and he nods to let me know he’ll make sure they both leave without causing trouble.
Ollie, I can see, is doing his best not to laugh at the fiasco.
But he is professional, so maintains his stance, although I see his eyes twinkling.
Standing in front of everyone as they have quietly watched the show, I take a deep breath before speaking.
“Good afternoon, everyone.
In time I’m sure I will get to know you all, who you are with, married, or other, but what I won’t put up with is disrespect to me, or anyone else.”
I take another breath, and meander around the room, giving eye contact to those that dare look me in the eye.
“As the Don’s wife, I have a power of my own, which can help or hinder you.
I want to make the women’s world within the mafia a better place.
With that in mind, I need your cooperation.
If you can help me that is excellent, but what you cannot do is get in my way.
If you do that, I’ll make sure you pay for it, and so will Nico.
Do we all understand each other?”
A chorus of ‘Yes, Mrs.
Vincholetti’ rings around the room, and satisfied, I take the time to speak to each of the tables, and log the ones I will need to be aware of.
The door opens and Nico walks into the meeting, striding over to me, oozing his confident charm, which I admit he only saves for me.
Wrapping his arms around me, he kisses me thoroughly before looking around the room at all the women.
Tia is giggling because she knows how Nico is with me, and when they say newly married, I’m sure Nico is the one that made the rules.
Nico wraps an arm around my waist and tucks me into his side before turning to the women.
“Any of you causes trouble for my wife and I’ll not only make you pay, but your man, too.
You have someone here that will help you mold your place in our world.
Don’t waste this opportunity because if I take it away, be assured you will never get it back.”
Walking out of the room, making sure I’m not escaping him, we quickly climb into the Escalade.
Tia is rushing into the vehicle and turns to Nico, scowling at him.
But Nico doesn’t care at all.
He secretly likes Tia.
She gives him hell at times, but he finds it amusing.
Not too many people have the nerve to do it, so it’s refreshing.
Well, that’s what he tells me.
Nico
The last six months have been wonderful.
Everything within the family has been quiet, with no sign of dissent.
Bruno has settled into being my Underboss as though it was meant to be his position all along.
He and Tia are loved up and I’m happy that they have become a loving couple.
Watching Tia, I can see she needed to belong, and being Elli’s sister has brought that feeling for her.
She quickly gets involved in anything she can, and she’s learned how to use a weapon, much to Bruno’s dismay.
Looking at the clock in my home office, I see it’s nearly time for our evening meal.
Quickly making my way to the dining room, where I hope my wife is already going to be.
“I’d like some peanut butter cookies.”
Yasmine is nodding her head at Elli, who is sitting at the dining table ready to eat.
I walk towards her and seeing me, Elli jumps to her feet, ready for the hug and kiss I always give her.
But she sways and seeing her eyes roll back, I dash to catch her before she hits the ground.
“Get the doc here now.
I’ll take her to our bedroom, but tell her to hurry,”
I shout as I rush away with Elli in my arms.
Laying Elli on our bed, I push her hair gently off her face.
I make a dash to the ensuite bathroom and grab a damp cloth.
Wiping gently over Elli’s face I murmur for her to wake up.
A gentle tap on the door before Yasmine walks inside.
“The doctor will be here in ten minutes.
She was already in the medical room, thankfully.”
The medical room is a room we altered when we purchased the mansion.
It’s for any of our soldiers that are based here.
Of course, we want to keep most of our medical needs away from prying eyes, and that was an easy way of doing it.
The doctor rushes into the room and gives me a respectful look before turning to Elli.
“What happened?”
Now, when I married Elli, I employed an extra doctor, a female, because I was not having a man looking at any of my wife’s private areas.
“Could you please wait either over there, or in the hallway please, Mr.
Vincholetti? I only ask as I need room to move while I examine your wife.
Is it correct that she jumped up quickly from the table and fainted as Yasmine stated?”
“Yes,”
I respond as I step to the other side of the bed from the doctor, but no way am I leaving the room.
Elli mumbles something and slowly opens her eyes.
I grasp hold of her hand and murmur sweet nothings to her, doing my best to let her know I’m here and she is alright.
The doctor asks Elli a lot of questions while saying, “Ah, yes, okay,”
to herself more than to us.
“I’d like to do a test if you would, Elli.
But we’ll need to go to the bathroom.
Then I’ll take a blood sample if that is okay, so I can quickly run some tests.”
“That is okay.
I can do that.”
Elli steadily climbs out of bed, but I hold on to her hand as she walks to the ensuite.
“Um, Nico, I can take a pee without you coming.”
‘Take a pee? Why would she take a pee with the woman in there with her?’ I watch as the door closes, and a minute later the doc steps out without looking at all worried.
She stands watching her watch before tapping on the door, and walking back into the bathroom.
I can hear giggling in the bathroom! What the fuck is going on in there? Before I storm in, which I’m about to do, the door opens and Elli, along with the doc, walks out.
The doc takes blood before giving me a nod and leaving the bedroom.
“What’s going on?”
I ask, taking a seat next to Elli, where she’s perched on the side of the bed.
“Well, I know we didn’t say anything.
Um, we never planned a thing, but…”
“Elli, what are you talking about? What’s wrong?”
I ask, and yes I’m getting a little snappy.
“Nico, what do you feel about having children?”
“Well, I’d like as many as you’ll give me, but if we only have one I’d be happy with that,”
I frown because I don’t know why she’s asking me that right now… “Oh, Elli, are you pregnant?”
“Yes.
The test said I was, but the doc is going to confirm with the blood test.”
I shoot to my feet, grab Elli under her arms, and yank her to her feet, before slamming my mouth onto her and kissing her thoroughly.
I sit her back down and then smile so wide I must be showing every tooth in my mouth.
Turning, I bolt out of the bedroom door, and bellow, “WE ARE PREGNANT! WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!”
Everyone rushes to the bottom of the staircase, but I’m at the top laughing, waving my arms around, and screaming we are pregnant.
I must look like a fool, but I really do not care what anyone thinks.
I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.