Chapter 12
a platinum pussy
MARCO
One glance at Vito and Lisa Marie as I walked into their house suddenly had me wishing I never showed up.
Sure, Vito had asked me to stop by, but would he have even noticed if I failed to entirely?
He was usually so absorbed in what he had going on he had no clue what was happening right under his nose.
It stood to reason he wouldn’t pick up on something that didn’t happen, like me not gracing him with my company.
“What gives?” I finally asked, splitting through tension between the married couple like a single ray of sunlight cut through dark clouds.
They both eyed me closely, especially Lisa Marie who arched one thin brow.
From the looks of it, Lisa Marie had cooked up a storm.
Although soon, I imagined, she’d be packing it all up in containers and putting it in the fridge, unable to eat most of it after her inevitable arguing with Vito.
It seemed to be a ritual of theirs, but no news there.
Everyone in the family was aware that these two bickered. Endlessly.
“Don’t you own a watch?” Vito asked, drawing his brows together, making a V between them.
I’d swear the V between his brows rivaled that of the vaulted ceilings with exposed A-frame mahogany beams that created an inverted V over their dining room.
It was dramatic and grand as far as architecture went, but on Vito, it was anything but.
“Not everyone runs on your timetable, Vito,” Lisa Marie cut in.
Her voice was as sharp and nasally as ever, but it was the distinct hint of annoyance that I noticed most. Whatever happened before I got here must have really pissed her off.
“Would you like something to eat, Marco?” she asked as she stepped in the direction of the kitchen.
I shook my head. “No, thanks.” There was a blue crushed velvet dining chair that had my name on it, though, so I pulled it out to take a seat, seeing as this was obviously going to take longer than I’d bargained for.
Vito dropped his fork on his plate, drawing attention as it clattered against their wedding china.
I’d known it was their wedding china because I’d eaten off it before and I could still remember the speech Lisa Marie had given me when she had first set it in front of me.
It had twenty-four carat gold, platinum, and enamel detailing, making it not only extremely high-end but art for our food and her table.
Basically, it was to be treated with kid gloves or face her wrath.
“If you’re not eating, why are you sitting?
” he asked, clearly perturbed. If only Lisa Marie was here.
Then he’d really know perturbed with the way he was rough with her plate.
In the ultimate insult to nearly every Italian woman who prepared a meal, he pushed his plate aside with more than a little of his dinner left. No wonder he and his wife were at each other’s throats so often. My brother needed a swift kick in the ass.
Shaking my head, I crossed an ankle over my knee and leaned back. This was obviously going to get good, so I might as well have gotten comfortable.
Vito scowled in response, clasping his hands together as he placed his elbows on the table.
That pretty boy face of his had been looking weathered lately, making that scowl even more disturbing.
He was turning into our father right before my eyes, especially with the hollowed cheeks and faint lines.
I think they spoke volumes about his character.
Finally deciding to really piss him off, I said, “I like to give the people what they really want, and you clearly just wanted to see your favorite brother. That’s why you called me over, right?
” I quirked my mouth into a grin. It appeared Vito didn’t need my help getting pissed off.
It seemed like he was easy to upset these days without any help at all, but I still enjoyed myself.
Muttering under his breath, I only caught a “fanculo”2 slip from his lips. Grumpy son of a bitch. He should really learn how to speak up. The muttering only made him come off as old and crotchety.
“You’re welcome at my house anytime, Marco.
” From the corner of her eye, she must’ve noticed Vito’s intense glare when she came back into the room because she turned to him and widened her eyes.
“What?” she yelled. Then she narrowed her gaze in a way that said if I could smack you right now, I would.
“But if you two aren’t eating, then get out of my dining room,” she said, gesturing for him to get up and leave before she looked away from Vito.
Taking her directive, Vito stood up. “My office,” he said, leaving me with no choice but to follow.
No sooner did the door close to his fortress of solitude than Vito got down to business, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, commanding my attention. “You’re getting married.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“Is there a question in there somewhere?” I asked, cracking my knuckles.
This was far from my favorite topic, so I didn’t exactly want to sit around and talk about it.
I would’ve much preferred he offered me a drink from his wet bar, which it didn’t seem like he was about to do since he sat down in his black Italian leather ergonomic executive chair behind his white marble desk.
The whole space was old-world luxury with the museum-style shelves, displaying artifacts and antiques, contrasted with modern minimalist.
Vito fussed with a pen resting on his ink blotter in front of his curved computer monitor like he was some tech genius and not the corporate scrooge he was.
“I suppose not. Just wondering how much you know about Father’s motives for putting it in motion.
” If only I knew one-tenth of his motivation beyond what he’d told me.
Just like I wished I knew what EJ wanted to talk to him about.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with answers on either front.
“The equestrian centers,” I said, not believing the words coming from my mouth, but Vito didn’t need to know that. The truth was, the deal was weak, so there had to be more to our father wanting the centers.
“Two struggling locations under one failing business.”
“Listen, if this is all you—”
The door swung open, and in strolled Carmine who looked like he’d have rather been anywhere else in the world. I knew the feeling well. “Lisa Marie said you were in here,” he explained, which explained nothing at all. Certainly not why he was here too.
Vito nodded and gestured to the couch and chairs arrangement, standing as if he was going to sit with us. “Thanks for coming. I’ll get to it, but first, I’d like to give Marco a chance to finish whatever he was going to say before you came in.”
I thought about how I was going to complete my sentence, basically telling him I didn’t have time for his shit, and decided against it. “It’s nothing.”
“Good because I don’t have all day.” Carmine plucked at his shirt, a wolfish glint moving across his features.
In a way, the response aligned strongly with the harsh chisel of his nose, the result of an old break.
I wondered if he still thought about the woman who had caused his now rugged facial topography.
“I’ve got a date I need to pick up. I’m taking her to Toni’s by the water. ”
“Who is this girl? She must be something special.” Carmine didn’t take just anyone to Toni’s. “What’s she got, a platinum pussy?” I asked.
“I haven’t slept with her yet,” he said, lifting his bushy brows.
“If you two are done,” Vito said, putting on his reading glasses. He threw down a file folder and cracked it open. “Do either of you know about Aries?”
“The zodiac sign or Aries Las Vegas?” I asked, sitting down and anticipating he was talking about the second one.
Carmine took a seat next to me, his posture simultaneously relaxed and on edge. “The resort and casino?”
Vito smiled, and a jolt of liquid ice trickled down my spine. He was definitely up to something. “The very one.”
“Why? You planning on throwing me a bachelor party out there?” I doubted it very much but wanted to see how he’d respond. I also didn’t want to give him anything, not that I had much I could offer, but my lack of trust for him kept my guard up.
“I almost forgot you’re getting hitched.” Carmine slapped me on the back and nodded before finally sitting back on the couch. Was he no longer in a rush to leave? “So, you’re flying us all out on your private jet, Vito? I do love Air Vito. You have better food than Dad has on Air Deluca.”
“That’s because I have a better chef.”
Maybe Carmine didn’t care about getting out of here, but if I had to listen to any more of Vito’s pissing contest with our father, then I was putting an end to this meeting. Besides, the less interaction I had with him, the better. “So, thanks, brother. I accept your offer.” I stood.
Vito shook his head and took his glasses off, dropping them on the top of the stack of papers in his folder. “I’m not throwing you anything. I wanted to know what you know about Father’s motives with Briggs. And I was curious if maybe you knew about this place.”
“Then you came to the wrong brothers,” Carmine said, shrugging, the corner of his lips turning up like he thought Vito was an idiot, but he wouldn’t say so.
“If it’s not in Europe, Lorenzo wouldn’t know of it, so he was out. I can’t ask Dominic because he is so far removed from the corporate world. Dario wouldn’t enlighten me even if he did know something. Rocco—”
I shook my head. I couldn’t listen to him go on for another second. “Massimo. If you should be asking anyone, it’s Mass. He lives for Vegas. He can probably tell you about every place on the Strip.”
“I called him. He didn’t pick up.”
“Smart,” Carmine muttered.
“Lucky.” I turned to face the door of his office. “Why do you care about Aries?” I asked, knowing I needed to finish this if I was ever going to leave.
“Dad’s being courted,” Vito explained. News like that had me spinning back around, but he didn’t seem to be divulging anything more. Was he holding back on us or was he as in the dark about it as we were?
“Why didn’t I know about this?” Carmine asked, sounding more than a little annoyed. Probably because it would’ve made sense for him to know, seeing as he was in acquisitions for Deluca Industries.
Vito shook his head. “I was hoping you did. That was why I called you.”
Carmine grimaced. “Yeah, well, I don’t.”
“Maybe for good reason then,” I countered, as I tried to put the pieces together. “Not all investments are acquisitions. So, that means Father’s wanted strictly as a minority investor.”
“You didn’t know that?” Carmine asked Vito, his tone as suspicious of our brother as I felt.
Vito shook his head, his expression placid. “I don’t have the specifics.” He rubbed his hands together, his initial ring catching the light, which only made him appear more like our father than ever before.
“Okay, but Aries is owned by The Denning Group. Why are they looking for investors? And from Santo Deluca, CEO of his own publicly traded corporation, no less?” Carmine questioned, his brows crumpling as he fell silent.
“They’re not. Remember my friend, EJ Gray?
” Again with that guy. Son of a bitch. This has to be what the email to Dad was about that Lorenzo saw.
I listened closely as he continued now that EJ was somehow involved.
“He wants to buy it, but he doesn’t have enough capital on his own.
Apparently, there’s an opportunity there. ”
If only we knew what it was.
“Our father’s not messing around, is he?” Carmine walked to Vito’s wet bar. “Care if I help myself?”
Vito shook his head. I would’ve asked for that drink now, but I needed a clear head to think this over.
How could I use this new information? “Depends on how you see things,” I said when I noticed Vito was watching me a little too closely, almost waiting for me to react or say anything at all.
Then I turned to him and asked the question that kept flashing in my mind.
“So, if you know EJ is the one asking, and he’s your friend, why don’t you just ask him for details?
” It felt like a no-brainer to me, and I was sure it had crossed Vito’s mind, so why didn’t he do it?
“This is business. I can’t run to him and start fishing, even if we are friendly.” Vito joined Carmine at the bar. “Want something?” the oblivious bastard finally asked me.
I shook my head as Vito fixed himself a drink. “No, thanks.”
Vito sucked a sip through his teeth. “Well, I’m no better off than before I called you two idiots. Thanks for that.”
Carmine lifted his glass and looked into it as he remained standing.
“Well, I am. And I’ve got work to do because I don’t think we can take another hit like we’re going to be by acquiring Raf Briggs’s equine centers, even if it is just an investment.
” He tipped his glass back and downed his drink in one gulp before walking to the door.
Personally, that was a deal I loathed, but for my own reasons. This one just prompted more questions as to what the hell our father was up to, because if I knew anything, it was that Santo only did something if Santo wanted to.
Unless his age was starting to catch up to him and he was slipping.
Although, I strongly suspected it was more likely he was up to some shady shit.
Either way, I knew he didn’t deserve to be CEO any longer.
And his actions might’ve been just what I needed to make my bid to oust him and take the role for myself.
See, we were in the era of late-stage capitalism and nepotism ran rampant, so I stood a real chance of going from pawn to king at my father’s expense.
It was time I went to the board and called a crucial vote of no confidence in Santo Deluca. Too bad that meant going to the Chairman of the Board. Otherwise known as Uncle Elio.
Fortunately, I knew just the brother to help me get it done, and this time, it wasn’t Lorenzo.