5. Dante
5
DANTE
“ God , Dante…you scared the crap out of me.”
I stare at Marissa, her hand clutching her chest where her heart should be.
She doesn’t have one.
I don’t care how many times she tells people that she loved my brother or how much she misses him, it’ll never be the truth as far as I’m concerned. I warned my brother to keep an eye on her. Maybe I should’ve been having a talk with her too.
If her husband put six million dollars in their shared account, Marissa wouldn’t ask questions about where the money came from.
She would just be wondering where she could spend the shit.
“What was my brother doing getting involved with the mob, Marissa?”
“What?” Her brows knit together, her mouth forming a wide ‘O’ of confusion, but she sounds just a little too innocent.
Marissa lies like shit.
“Angelo Lombardi,” I reply. She pauses in reaching for her mug underneath an expensive espresso machine, a clear indicator that she’s bullshitting me again. “That ring a bell?”
Her dark brown eyes flick back over to me. She’s not a good enough liar to hide her fear. “Where did you hear that name?”
“From the man himself.”
Marissa quickly rounds the large kitchen island, stopping when she’s in front of me. “You don’t want to get involved, Dante. I’m figuring?—”
“Why?” I inhale a deep breath. I can feel my resolve slipping the more she resists giving me the answer I’m searching for. The last thing I wanted to do was come here. To my dead brother’s house, where everything is a reminder that he’s gone. “Why was Marco involved with the mob? He dealt with investments.”
“It’s complicated?—”
“ Why ?” I all but shout because this tip-toe shit is getting on my last nerve. I have to call this Angelo prick by the end of the fucking week before he puts a hit on me. I’ve already wasted almost two days trying to sort things out in my own head before confronting my cagey sister-in-law.
“Marco…” She drops her chin as if saying his name is too difficult for her, but I ignore her supposed grief. I just need the answers to my questions so that I know what to do. “He made some bad deals with really powerful people. And he got caught up…” She swallows thickly before continuing, “He was trying to pay everyone back but it got to be too much.”
“Explain.”
She sighs and brings her fingers up to her temples. “He followed some inside tips. Something about making us more money, but they didn’t work out. And that left him short on clients’ money. He needed to put it back.”
“Shit happens,” I retort. “It’s the stock market.”
“Not when you don’t have their permission to change what stocks their money’s in.” Marissa glances up at me. “I didn’t know until he got too deep.”
“Then what?”
“He, uh…I don’t know, knew some guy who could lend him money. I don’t believe Marco knew he had mob ties, but he did. The money came with strings. And then it started to get ugly.”
“How?”
“Strange cars parked outside the house. Random rings at the door at all hours of the night. One of his colleagues called me worried about two men in suits who looked like linebackers beelining to Marco’s office. I confronted Marco about it but he told me it was no big deal.”
Tears brim at the edges of her eyes, and they look real. “I thought he had it under control. But it got worse and I started to get calls. They began threatening Liam’s life…then the car accident happened…”
My nostrils flare but I keep my steady gaze on her. “How much money did he leave you?”
“Nothing. The house will go into foreclosure soon if we don’t come up with something.”
“And what are your plans?”
Confidence suddenly blankets her face as she raises her chin some more. “I’ve worked out an arrangement with one of the wealthiest families on the East Coast.”
“And the debt is going to be paid?”
She nods. “In pieces. It’ll be good enough.”
“And you’ve told Angelo?”
Marissa blanches but holds her ground. “Not yet. One of the parties is being a difficult little bitch. I want to make sure everything is set in stone before I promise him anything.”
Smart.
“It’ll cover the whole thing?”
Marissa nods. “Yes. And enough for Liam and her to live on after.”
My face twists because this is sounding awfully like— “Who’s she ?”
“Some rich classmate of Liam’s. They go to Thronewood together. I guess he’s had a crush on her for some time, so it was only?—”
“What’s her name?” I can hear my blood rushing in my ears. There’s no way?—
“Victoria Waldorf.” My lips part because she’d be the last name in this conversation that I’d bet my money on. “Liam has been?—”
“You’re going to solve your problems by counting on a fucking college girl?” I clip out through gritted teeth as I take a much-needed step back. “Are you out of your damn mind, Marissa?”
“She’s twenty,” Marissa argues, scowling. “And she has enough money to take care of everything we’ll need.”
“You’re going to use her money to clear up Marco’s debt?”
“And save the house.”
I shake my head back and forth. I don’t care how annoying that girl is, I won’t allow some innocent to be taken advantage of. “You’re not doing that.”
“It’s already done. I’ve spoken to Victoria’s mother and, based on our good name, she’s agreed?—”
“You haven’t spoken to your son lately, have you?” Her plan has already taken a fatal hit and it doesn’t sound like my nephew has dropped that bomb. “Because I think that’s a dead-end.”
“What do you mean? It’s a done deal. Her mother is talking to her about the arrangement?—”
“They’re engaged?”
“No, but?—”
“Then you don’t have Victoria Waldorf under your thumb.”
Marissa squints her eyes at me. “I will. That prissy little bitch may think she’s too good for my son, but she doesn’t have a choice. Her mother promised me.”
I scoff. We left the seventeenth century behind long ago, along with trading cattle for marriages. “And how do you expect this plan to work, Marissa?”
“Her trust fund will be released if she gets married. And then it will go to her and her new husband.”
“Liam is just going to blow it all once it hits their joint account.”
“We’re paying off our debt.”
“And this girl has more than six million dollars in her trust fund?” I cock my head to the side. “Did you ask?”
“The Waldorf’s are loaded.”
“You’re bringing another family into this, Marissa. If Victoria refuses, then what?”
“We’re—” She suddenly stops herself. There’s definitely more to this plan, more that Marissa doesn’t want me knowing. And there’s no way Marissa’s plotting will benefit Victoria in the least.
I know my body still has an effect on Marissa, I know she still wants me. If I whipped my dick out right now, she’d drop to her knees. If I told her that I wanted her naked in her bedroom in the next two minutes, she’d do that, too. I force myself to move forward, crowding her body with mine.
“What are you plotting in that beautiful head of yours, Marissa?” I drop my voice low, as if we were discussing some wild fantasy. “Even if you did pay off the debt…I’m sure there wouldn’t be much left to play with.”
“We’d figure out something.”
Bullshit.
She’s already got her plan working and moving in different directions, but if I push too hard too soon, Marissa is going to shut down.
“Fair enough.” I step back, restoring the distance between us. I have other ways of getting answers. Liam is just as much of a dumbass as his mother.
Plus, even if I did know Marissa’s full plan, I’d still need to speak with Angelo and buy some time.
I won’t get much.
Angelo is going to want his money—either in cold, hard cash or in labor.
And I don’t plan on doing either.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a one-way ticket to take me somewhere no one would ever find me.
My only ticket out of this would be a ticket back home.
Exactly how far is Angelo Lombardi’s reach? I’m still in good standing with the Giordanos. One word to the family that there’s another mobster stepping on their turf and he’s dead.
“Dante, it’s not going to come to that,” Marissa states sweetly. “You don’t have to worry about it.”
Lying again.
“I don’t know what it will come down to,” I tell her flatly. “But keep your secrets. It’s the best way to keep it from blowing up in your face.”
Marissa frowns again. “It’s not like that. You know you’re family.”
“Distant family,” I assert. “He may have been my brother once…but I don’t know who he was when he died.”