28. Wolfe
WOLFE
We got Leo transferred to a hospital closer to Caltanissetta, so it was easier for Francesca to see him every day.
She wasn’t around the vineyard much over the following weeks because she spent all her time at the hospital.
I saw her in the evenings when she came home and made dinner.
I suggested we hire someone to cook since she was working so much, but she said it relaxed her.
Who was I to argue when her cooking was better than anyone else’s.
I didn’t like being in charge of the business.
I preferred to chase down assholes who didn’t comply with demands and enforce the boss’s orders.
But I sucked it up and did it, looked through Francesca’s paperwork and made sure orders were on time and deliveries were made.
I had to respond to emails too, which wasn’t my cup of tea.
I had to text Francesca and ask her a lot of questions, and I found it even more laughable that Leo ever thought he could handle this job.
I was sitting at the desk, looking through her production reports, when Elio walked inside.
“How’d it go?” I immediately asked.
“Hector claims the guns are damaged.”
“Damaged how?”
“They’re scuffed, like they’ve already been used. I checked the other part of the batch from the warehouse, and it’s true. He says they paid top price for brand-new stuff, and he doesn’t want old shit.”
“I wonder if the Americans sent us the wrong batch.”
“Or they think we’ll just accept bullshit.”
I smirked. “Nah, they know I won’t accept bullshit. I’ll handle it. I’ll jump on a plane if I have to.”
He came closer to the desk, a couple years older than Don Mancini and still in excellent shape except for how leathery his skin was. He smoked way too many cigars, probably went through ten a day, and it was really starting to show on his face. “How’s Frankie?”
It used to annoy me when people called her that, but now I appreciated the fact that I was the only one who called her by her full, beautiful name. “Busy with Leo. She’s at the hospital with him all day, every day.”
“I guess they made up then, huh?”
“Yeah, seems so.”
“Well, I’m not so easily won over.”
I leaned back in the chair and rested my arms on the armrests as I gave a slow nod.
“Vincenzo was my best friend. I’ve known him forever. He did so much for those kids. Raised them and provided for them entirely on his own, and that’s what he got. I don’t think Leo deserves to be here. And I don’t think he deserves to live either.”
I knew some resentments were permanent. Francesca may be able to find her way around the painful past, but that didn’t mean others would feel the same way. I knew Elio’s rage would never dim, no matter how much time passed. The betrayal had drawn a permanent line in the sand.
“What do you think?”
“I don’t think anything. Francesca is the boss. Whatever she says goes.”
“I meant what do you think of him personally?”
I gave a shrug. “He’s her brother, so he’s my brother too.” I was loyal to my wife. If she wanted Leo to be in our lives, I would embrace him without a grudge. If she wanted him dead, I’d cut off his head and bring it to her. “But I think you have every right to feel the way you do, Elio.”
He started to turn away from the desk. “Damn right I do.”
I finished up early for the day, so I stopped by the hospital since Francesca was still there.
For the last two weeks, I hadn’t paid a visit because I’d been too busy handling everything at the vineyard.
Francesca said they would play cards together, she would bring him lunch from outside the hospital, and they would watch stuff she’d downloaded for him on her device.
They’d spent more time together in the last few weeks than they had for the last few years.
I walked down the hallway of the third floor of the hospital then turned the corner into his room. He was propped up in bed watching something on his device, and Francesca wasn’t in the room. I gently knocked on the open door to announce my presence.
He paused whatever he was watching before he turned to me. A quick look of surprise passed over his face, as if he hadn’t expected me to ever visit him. “Hey.”
“What are you watching?” I asked as I came around the bed.
“The Godfather.”
“You’ve never seen it?”
“Oh, I’ve seen it a million times,” he said. “I just like to rewatch it.” He closed the flap to the device and set it aside.
“Gotten cabin fever yet?”
“Just the last few days,” he said. “I’m not in pain anymore, and I’ve been doing my therapy. The doctor said I can go home tomorrow.”
“That’s good news.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m excited to get the hell out of here.”
“At least you’ll just be a mile away if you need anything.”
“Nah, I think I can manage on my own now,” he said. “I’ve taken enough of my sister’s time.”
“She’s not the kind of person to keep receipts, Leo.”
“But still. Only a couple people have come to visit me, but she’s been here the whole time. If my dad were alive, he’d have been here too.” His eyes shifted away as his thoughts moved elsewhere.
I let the pain of his words stew before they started to dissipate.
“How’s the vineyard?” he asked.
“We got a faulty shipment from the Americans. Hector is pissed he got less than what he paid for, and now I have to fix this mess.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I called and told them if they didn’t have a plan to make it right within the next twelve hours, I’d be on a flight to New York.”
“Will you actually do that?”
“I don’t bluff, Leo,” I said. “So, where’s my wife?”
“The cafeteria. She wanted a coffee.”
I nodded and relaxed in the chair. “We’ve decided to have a wedding reception.”
His eyes perked up at that statement. “Yeah?”
“Don Russo’s idea.”
“When?”
“We were waiting to see your progress before we committed to a date.”
“My progress?” he asked quietly. “So—so I’m invited?”
I smirked. “Yes, Leo. You’re invited.”
He didn’t smile or visually show his joy, but there was a relief in his eyes that was impossible not to see. “Where?”
“Villa Igiea in Palermo.”
“Yeah, that’s a nice hotel.”
“We are going to do it in their gardens because it’s right on the cliff over the sea.”
“I bet that will be beautiful at sunset.”
“You think you can manage that in less than two weeks?”
“I can manage it now,” he said. “Nothing is gonna stop me from being there.”
“But you should be able to dance at your sister’s wedding.”
“Like I said, nothing is gonna stop me.”
At that moment, Francesca rounded the corner with a disposable cup in her hand. Her eyes immediately went to me, and they brightened like every other time she looked at me. “Oh, hey. I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Finished up early. Wanted to swing by and check in.”
She walked around the bed and took the seat beside me. With the coffee in her hand, she leaned in and gave me a kiss.
My hand automatically went to her thigh, and I gave her a squeeze.
Her brother looked away and stared at the opposite wall.
“Leo said he can go home tomorrow,” I said.
“Yeah,” she said. “We’re both excited to get out of here.”
“You didn’t have to be in here in the first place,” Leo said as he looked at her again.
“Come on. Who’s going to kick your ass in poker, then?” she teased.
He rolled his eyes. “Wolfe says you’re having a reception at Villa Igiea in Palermo.”
“He did?” she asked as she looked at me.
“They said next Saturday is available,” I said. “I told them we’d take it. Leo says he can make that date happen.”
She looked at my brother again. “He’s been doing well in his therapy sessions. Won’t be able to drink, but he might be able to dance.”
“I’ll definitely be dancing on your wedding day,” Leo said. “And I’m definitely drinking.”
Francesca ignored his last statement and turned to me. “How was your day?”
“You know.”
“I don’t know, actually. That’s why you’re running the show.”
I filled her in on everything.
She gave a sigh. “It’s always something, huh?”
“I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry about it.”
“Now that Leo is going home tomorrow, I guess I could return to the office.”
“Up to you. But you also have a wedding reception to plan.”
“Oh shit,” she said. “You’re right.”
“I can help,” Leo said. “We can sample the menu, do a cake tasting, pick out the alcohol.”
A little smile moved over her lips as she looked at her brother. “And you’d like to do that? Doesn’t really sound like your style.”
“I’m just happy to do anything that gets me out of this room.”
Leo was discharged the next day, and Francesca and I took him home.
When we pulled up to his house, he released a sigh of relief. “So nice to be home. You have no idea.” He got out of the car himself, and when I offered a helping hand, he brushed me off. “I got it.”
I stood there and waited for him to walk toward his house.
He took a breath and winced slightly, like his lung still hadn’t quite healed. Then he moved forward and up the steps to the front of his house, growing winded halfway there but too proud to take a break.
He got to the front door, pulled out his keys to unlock it, and stepped inside. “Oh wow, I expected it to be a mess.”
“I had the maid clean it,” Francesca said as she followed him inside. “There are groceries in the fridge. You don’t need to come back to work right away. You should continue to take it easy. No reason to force it.”
He took a look around his living room and his kitchen, his arms crossed over his chest. His expression was blank, but it seemed like he was processing a lot of emotion underneath the rough exterior. “I never thought I’d be here again.”
Francesca walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.
He didn’t look at her, but his hand moved on top of hers, and they stood there together as they looked out the window that showed the main villa in the distance. Warm sunlight came through, revealing the dust particles in the air.
After a long stretch of silence, Francesca spoke. “I’m really glad you’re still here, brother.”
Leo didn’t return to work for a week, but Francesca was back in the office, being the finest boss bitch I’d ever seen. In her skintight jeans with her leather holster over one shoulder and her diamond ring on her hand, she was fucking irresistible.
And she was mine.
We got the business back on track, had new guns shipped to us on the next plane, and she managed to do all of that while putting a wedding reception together.
I didn’t mind helping her plan the event, but she took Leo with her to Palermo, and I thought it was important to let them have their time together to continue to repair that fractured relationship.
I was home when she walked in the door, and the second she set her purse on the table in the entryway, she said, “Babe, I’m home.”
I smirked as I continued to cook dinner on the stove. “Babe, huh?” I said to myself. I adjusted the burner to the lowest setting and turned to her.
“You made dinner?” she asked as she walked toward me with those playful eyes.
I moved over to her and gripped her tight ass through her jeans as I kissed her. “Yep. I know you’ve had a long day.”
“That’s sweet of you.”
“It’s not 1905,” I said. “I can cook and clean too.”
“Well, I appreciate it.” She rose on her tiptoes and kissed me again.
“I mean, I expect a blow job afterward, but that’s all.”
“Well, you fucked up then, because I’d gladly give you one for free.” She smirked as she walked away. When she got to the counter to grab the plates, she shook her ass as she looked at me over her shoulder.
“You think I won’t bend you over this counter right now,” I warned.
She shook her ass again.
“I will let this food go cold,” I warned. “Don’t test me.”
She unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them down over her ass, showing her brightly colored thong underneath. Then she leaned over the counter, her lower back arched and her ass pronounced.
Fuck, my wife was so hot. “Alright, that’s it.”
She gave a playful chuckle as she watched me come up behind her.
I dropped my bottoms then grabbed on to the back of her hair before I bent her farther over the counter to raise her ass a little higher in the air.
I had to squat to shove myself inside her, and then I straightened a bit and brought her with me, raising her feet off the floor and holding her body by the hip.
Then I pounded into her with the force of a hurricane.