Chapter 30
DARIO
“ Y ou look sensational.” Serena takes the words right out of my mouth as Madalina makes her way down the stairs, the heels she’s wearing are far too high for her to be walking in, and I make a mental note to ensure I keep her close and make sure she doesn’t overdo it today.
“I feel huge.” She huffs out a breath when she makes it to the bottom step.
“That’s because you are huge.” Her big brother pipes up and I throw him a warning look that makes the sarky, little prick smirk at me.
“You’ve scrubbed up well, despite the bruises.” Madalina fixes Nicolas's tie and smiles at him. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”
“Hell, yes, I’m up to it. I can’t wait to watch the man who took my district be forced to marry a woman who looks like a troll.”
“Nicolas!” Serena scolds him. “Gabriella Fabriano is a very attractive young woman.”
“If you like that kind of thing.” He shrugs.
Serena shakes her head and scurries off to the kitchen, while I wrap my arms around my wife and take in how stunning she looks.
“I told you that Paulo guy was good.” I wink at her. The dress is a little shorter than I’d like it to be but I won’t mention that.
“There is no more room in this dress,” she assures me, patting her bump proudly. “I think it took all the pink lace in the city to make it.”
“Well, you only need to wear it for a few hours then you can get back into my sweats.” I kiss her forehead.
“The cars are ready boss.” Vito clears his throat when he interrupts us and Nicolas quickly goes in search of Serena while Madalina takes a long deep breath.
“Why do you look so nervous?” I narrow my eyes on her. Women are supposed to love these kinds of events.
“I’m not nervous, I just get a little anxious being around your father. Especially since I found out you went against his wishes to marry me.”
“Don’t worry about him, just be proud to show off this big, beautiful bump.” I stroke my hand over it.
“Well, it would be hard to hide it. I really hope Dr. Walsh agrees to induce me next week. I’m getting uncomfortable and I really want to see their little faces.” She bites her lip with excitement.
“Let’s just take one day at a time.” I kiss her again before leading her out to our car. We get into the one Vito is driving while Serena and Nicolas get into the one behind and as we start our journey to the chapel, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket.
“I thought today was a complete day off. You're already slacking in the best man department. You were supposed to stay with Cassio last night.” She nudges me playfully .
“And leave you? Don’t be silly. Cassio is a big boy and I told him I’d meet him at the chapel. We’re getting there early.”
I’m surprised that the text is from my dad. He never texts so it must be important.
Need to talk before the ceremony. Meet me at the house.
“He’s cutting it fine.” I shake my head, wondering what the hell is on his mind. I swear, if he’s getting cold feet about letting Cassio be more involved, I’ll lose my shit with him.
“What do you mean?” Madalina asks, checking her lips in the pocket mirror from her purse.
“My father wants to see me before the wedding,” I explain, feeling unnerved. What Nicolas said back at the hospital last week has been playing on my mind ever since. I don’t want to admit it, but I don’t feel like I can trust my father these days. “He wants me to go to the house.”
“Your brother gets married in less than an hour,” she reminds me as the car pulls up outside the chapel.
“Exactly, it means whatever he’s got to say is important. Vito.” I lean forward. “Take Madalina inside and stay with her. I’ll be back before the ceremony starts.” I turn back to her and see both shock and anger on her face.
“Go be with Serena and Nicolas, and tell Cassio I’ll be back in plenty of time,” I tell her.
“You are joking, right?” She stares at me blankly.
“Dad wouldn't ask me to go to the house if it wasn’t important.” My gut instinct is telling me something is wrong and it’s not often wrong.
“Surely, it can wait until after the wedding?” she argues.
“Apparently, not. Look, the house is only a ten-minute drive from here, I’ll take the car and I’ll be back before you and Serena have even judged the color the bridesmaids are wearing.” I kiss her cheek and get out of the car so I can help her out.
“Dario, you're acting kind of crazy.” She still looks worried as I steady her on her feet.
“Vito, make sure you hold her arm while she walks up those steps, those heels are too high,” I order as I kiss her cheek, then jumping behind the wheel I speed off to see what my father needs to tell me so urgently.
I find him in his office dressed in his best suit and drinking a healthy measure of scotch.
“Do you want to tell me what the fuck this is all about?” I storm toward him when I see how calm he looks, but as I get closer I realize it’s not calm in his eyes, it’s fear.
“There's something I have to tell you and I know you're not going like it. It’s the reason I’ve kept it from you.”
“Speak.” I stare back at him, waiting for him to reveal what's got me here.
“Someone out there wants to destroy me. I’m being blackmailed and I refuse to give in to such disrespect. They are threatening to tell you today, and I won’t have this day ruined.” He knocks his drink back and places his glass down on his desk.
“Speak,” I repeat myself, losing more and more patience with the man.
“I arranged the hit on Alfeo Conte,” he tells me, refusing to look me in the eye.
“You killed my wife's father?” I clench my fists. “You broke her heart at such a fragile time and–”
“I had to… because of you,” he interrupts me. “You were so focused on that girl, and having her, that you weren’t considering the repercussions of our actions. You expected me to take a district from a man who had been loyal to me for years and then offer it to Alfeo Conte. Dario, the man was a joke, he had no control over his faction let alone his district. I gave you what you needed, you got that girl, but then I had to fix it.”
“You cunt.” I shake my head at him as I take in what he says and then suddenly it hits me.
“Did you organize the hit on the car too?”
“No!” He points his finger at me as I step into his space and overpower him. “I had nothing to do with that, I swear to you. I may not approve of the girl, but she still carries my blood. I would never want harm to come to her.” Something about the way he looks at me has me believing him and instead of wringing his neck like I intended to, I take his expensive scotch and knock it back straight from the bottle.
“If not you, then who? I’m guessing it wasn’t that Fabriano boy I killed with Cassio?”
“Don’t you think I’ve been trying to find out since it happened? Do you think I’ve been sleeping at night, knowing that there is someone out there who wants my family dead?”
“You gave us that lead, you said your investigator matched the tracks on those wheels.” I shake my head trying to make this make sense.
“I eliminated a problem, Silvano Fabriano was the one who carried out the hit for me. I was worried he’d squeal. Which is why I wanted you to put a hit on him. You weren’t supposed to torture him.” I can see the old man’s frustration.
“He still didn’t squeal, not even with his life depending on it.” Now I’m even more confused.
“That’s because he’s loyal, and he knew I would have reigned Holy terror on his entire family if he did.”
“All this time, I thought I’d killed the man who tried to hurt Madalina and he’s still been out there. Do you know how dangerous that could have been for her?” I can’t see anything past my fury .
My father shakes his head and although he looks guilty, it’s not nearly enough.
“I get that, son, and I apologize but we have to put that behind us and work together on this. Someone out there is blackmailing me,” he reminds me as if that’s the problem.
“Dad, someone out there tried to kill my wife and right now, I’m not with her.” I go to walk out the door.
“I know who did it, now,” he calls after me and when I stop and spin around I see the shame on his face.
“I have my men instructed to watch him and take him down as soon as the ceremony is over.”
“Wait, you're telling me that, whoever he is, is there with her, now? ” My blood is boiling under my skin.
“Son, he’s been living in your house for a week.” His words turn all that heat into ice.
“Nicolas? No.” I shake my head back at him because he’s got this all wrong. I may not trust Nicolas with much, but he loves his sister.
“Last night, one of my men came to me and told me that Nicolas had been lying low at his place, he’d left his holdall there the night he got jumped and this was inside it.”
He pulls out a Jefferson 9mm from his top drawer and places it on his desk.
“This is a?—”
“I know what it is.”
My chest starts to thud from the anger it’s containing.
“There's only been five of these made in the whole world, and the bullets from it match the one that was lodged inside Lucian’s skull,” he explains looking down at the gun. “Nicolas tried to kill his sister, Dario, and I suspect he’s the one blackmailing me over his father’s death.”
“No, you’ve got it wrong.” I keep shaking my head.
“When the wedding is over my men will bring him here and we will make him pay for what he did to Lucian, and what could have happened to your wife.”
“It wasn’t Nicolas that did this.” I keep my eyes focused on the gun.
“Did you not just hear me?” My father loses all the calm in his voice.
“I have to go.” I back toward the door, knowing I have to get to the chapel fast. That gun was planted on Nicolas as a distraction, and I know exactly who that gun belongs to. I know because it was a gift from me.
“Do not spoil this day, Dario, we have much to make up to the Fabrianos”
“Then you should have told me after!” I spit back at him, racing out to the car and heading back to the chapel.