Chapter 34
AMother’s Love
Rico
“You ready for this?” I ask as I take Oni’s hand in mine.
She looks up at me and gives a tight smile. I know what this means to her. Tonight has to go right.
“No, but I have to be.”
Oni’s mother is finally back in New York. We can’t keep putting this off. It’s time to face the truth.
My uncle has already set the date for our engagement party. He says he’s throwing it to send a message. Romano still wants to have words with me, but I don’t need him and don’t plan on explaining myself to him.
The conversation about marrying Alyissa had been casual. After all, he brought it up. I didn’t know he told her and got her hopes up.
I only started taking her out after meeting Romano to talk about business and him pushing her on me. I thought I’d take her out a few times and get the real deal rolling. One date turned into a few months of me entertaining his brat.
I only stuck with it because once Uncle Emilio got wind of it, I saw how much it pissed him off.
Then I started to entertain Romano’s ideas of a marriage between me and his daughter because I never intended to find love again.
I told him I would think about it, but I never said I was going to marry her for sure.
The fact that this is even a thing is annoying the fuck out of me. I got the docks and connections I wanted without him. Thanks to Oni, I realized I had a way in without Romano.
“We’re perfect together, she will see,” I say as I lift Oni’s hands to my lips.
We are, in life, in business. Each day, we prove how well we fit and how much we belong together. We even finish each other’s thoughts.
So much is going on around us, but we ground each other. The engagement party alone has been weighing heavily on our schedules. Thank God it’s in the next two months and we’ll have it behind us.
I want to meet Oni’s mother before that. That’s why I’ve planned this dinner. Oni can meet my mom, and I can meet hers.
I give Oni’s hand a squeeze as we walk into the restaurant. We can do this together. Everything we do is possible if we do it together.
As always, she looks gorgeous. She’s in a black dress that’s cut high across her collarbone and dips low in the back, revealing her soft, silky skin. The top of the dress molds to her body and then fans out into a full skirt that stops just above her knees.
The strappy heels she has on expose her cute little toes and play up her shapely legs. She’s wearing the ankle bracelet with the infinity sign that I gave her a few days ago. Her hair is in a softer style, like the first night of her return.
“Mom,” Oni squeals as she pulls away from me and rushes toward the woman who stands the moment we come into view.
I had wanted to arrive before our guests, but her mom is early. She had been surprised when Oni told her she was in the States and wanted to meet for dinner. All I see right now is a mother who misses her daughter.
As the two embrace, Oni’s mother has a tight hold on her as her eyes are squeezed shut against the tears spilling down her cheeks. She looks so much like her mother.
Oni is darker, but I can see the resemblance around the nose and mouth. They break apart and her mother cups her cheek as she stares into her eyes. She then runs her hand over Oni’s hair.
“You cut it all off. Oh my God, you look all grown up. What happened to my baby?”
“It’s still me.”
Oni chuckles and goes to wipe away her tears. I notice the moment her mother sees her engagement ring. Her expression becomes confused and then she bounces her gaze behind Oni to me.
I give a warm smile and close the distance I had given them to have their moment. Placing a hand on Oni’s back, I settle at her side. She looks up at me and smiles.
“Mom, I want you to meet someone. Rico, this is my mother, Brenda Raven. Mom, this is Rico Gallo.”
Her mother says my last name at the same time Oni does. I shouldn’t be as surprised as I am. I know she dated my uncle.
The men in my family have strong genes. We all look alike. I could pass for Uncle Emilio’s son.
The way Brenda is glaring at me, I would think I was my uncle himself. However, it’s the venom she says the name with. There’s so much hatred in her voice.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Raven,” I say and hold my hand out.
“Oni, what’s going on? Why are you wearing that ring and where on earth did you meet this … this young man?”
“Rico and I met three years ago when I was in Miami. He proposed when I came home. We asked you here tonight so we all can get acquainted.”
“We who?”
“Rico, his mom and dad. Please, Mom, Rico and I love each other.”
Brenda places a hand to her forehead and the other on her hip. My stomach sinks. This isn’t going how we wanted.
“Are you close with your uncle? Is he involved in your life? What is it you do for a living?”
“I’m not close with my uncle. We don’t see eye to eye on some things he has done. However, he is involved in my life. I run a few clubs and manage some properties,” I reply.
“Fuck, I need a drink,” she gasps.
“What? What’s going on, Mom? Rico makes good money, but I don’t rely on him for my income. What’s the problem?”
“Oni, please shut up. I can’t do this right now. I can’t sit and pretend you’re not lying to my damn face. Not when you’re involved with these people.”
Oni jerks her head back. People are starting to stare, so I lead them both to have a seat at the table. My thoughts are all over the place.
“Can I have two fingers of whiskey?” Oni’s mom says to the waitress she waved over. “Make that three.”
“Mom?”
She shakes her head, then places her elbow on the table and palms her forehead in her hand. I look to Oni and she looks like she’s about to lose it. I lean in and peck her lips then whisper into her ear.
“It’s going to be okay. She’s just in shock.”
The waitress comes back with Brenda’s drink. She downs it in one gulp. For the second time, Oni and I refuse a drink, but Brenda asks for another.
“I’ve known from the beginning you weren’t telling me the whole truth, but Claude was backing you. Never in a million years did I think he would allow you to get mixed up with their family.
“I turned a blind eye because you went away to school. I thought I finally got you away from their world. Engaged?
“How is that even possible? A few clubs and manage some properties.” She scoffs. “Do you know that’s the same bullshit he and your father told me when I met them?”
“Mom, slow down, my head is spinning.”
“Does he know?” She looks to me with her last question.
“Yes, my uncle knows.”
“Oni, I can’t allow this. Emilio will eat you alive.”
“I hate to hear that’s how you feel about me, but you’re wrong, Brenda. Oni has a special place in my heart. I would never allow any harm to come to her.”
Brenda stiffens and slowly turns to look up at my uncle. I glare at him, wondering what the hell he’s doing here. I didn’t invite him.
“How dare you?” Oni’s mom hisses. “What kind of sick game are you playing? Have you done this to pay me back?”
“Believe it or not, they found each other on their own. It was his car she stole. This wasn’t my doing.”
“But you knew she was mine from the moment you first set eyes on her, didn’t you?”
He nods. “I did. She looks so much like you and Jack.”
“Oni, we’re leaving. Take that ring off and leave it here.”
Uncle Emilio unbuttons his suit jacket and takes the seat on the other side of Brenda. Pop and my mother move to sit on the other side of me. I sit watching Oni as she tries to decide what to do next.
“Sit down, Brenda,” Uncle Emilio barks.
Brenda jerks her head back and glares at him. However, seeing Oni hasn’t left my side, Brenda sighs and reclaims her seat. I reach to grasp the back of Oni’s neck and kiss her temple.
“Having my husband killed and taking her father from her wasn’t enough? He was her world. Why can’t you people just leave us alone?
“First Finn, now you. I wouldn’t be what you wanted and you’ve made my life hell because of it,” Brenda says.
“This has nothing to do with us. My nephew is genuinely in love with your daughter. I tried to pull them apart, but I only drove them closer together.
“I’ve learned that they belong together and pulling them apart will only ruin them both.
The two have potential as individuals, but they are magic together.
They remind me of what could have been had we stayed together,” Uncle Emilio says as he looks at Brenda in a way I’ve never seen him look at his wife.
“But we didn’t stay together. You know why we didn’t. How will any of that be different for them?”
“Because I will make it so. I have the power to make it so. I’m doing for them what no one would do for us. I didn’t take Jack away from you and Oni. That blood isn’t on my hands—”
“It’s not? Because I remember your best friend calling you to ask for your help. You did nothing, so how am I supposed to trust you now with my only child?”
“You can trust me because your only child almost gave her own life for my only child right before my eyes. I owe Oni this and so much more. I tried to help Jack, I did, cara, but I was too late.”
I clear my throat.
“Ma’am, I’m not my uncle. I love your daughter with every fiber of my being. There isn’t a person alive who can tell me not to love her or be with her.
“I would die for Oni. She means everything to me. I know what it’s like to be without her and I never want to know that feeling again.
“I know you have a history with my family, but I ask you not to judge me by what they have done. I’m my own man and I want to be Oni’s man. If that means I have to start over all on my own, so be it.
“Your approval means everything to Oni and me. All we ask is that you get to know me. Understand who I am and how much I love your daughter. Please,” I plead.
“I was made so many empty promises before my Italian replacement was brought in and I was dismissed to be nothing more than Emilio’s goomah, so forgive me for not wanting that for my baby. I—”