Chapter 4
DISASTER
DAPHNE
Michelle calls as I’m trying to pull myself together and somehow make myself presentable for the family luncheon at the bar.
“Whore, where did you disappear to last night?” she asks, because Michelle’s nosy as fuck.
“I didn’t feel well, so I went to bed early.”
“I knocked on your hotel room this morning, but you didn’t answer.”
She’s fishing, but I’m not biting.
“I passed out and didn’t hear you.”
“Let me walk down there now.”
“No!” My voice comes out much louder than I intend. I know I have to cover my tracks and quick. “I already left. I wanted to shower at home before heading to the bar.”
There’s a pause, and I know she’s about to call bullshit. “Hmm,” Michelle grunts. “I could’ve sworn I saw you leave with that guy from last night.”
I drop my head forward, wishing she would’ve just come out and said something to begin with. “You’re an asshole.”
She laughs on the other end of the phone. “I wanted to see what cockamamie story you’d come up with.”
“I was so freaking drunk. Why did you let me leave with him?”
“I tried to stop you. I called your name, but you seemed oblivious to everything and everyone except for him.”
“What a fucking disaster.”
“Well, we’ve all been there. It’s done now. Move on.”
“Michelle, that’s the thing.” I stare into the mirror, giving myself the look my mother used to give me when she was disappointed in my behavior. “You know who he is, right?”
“The hot guy?” She pauses for a second. “Nope.”
“Leo Conti.”
She gasps. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Yep.”
“Stop fucking lying to me.”
“It’s true. God, I wish I were lying,” I groan.
“You seriously fucked Mario Conti’s kid?”
“Yeah,” I whisper and toss my eyeliner pencil back in the drawer. “But that kid is all man.” There’s no way I can focus enough to avoid looking like someone out of those How Not to Apply Makeup videos on the internet.
“You know that’s messed up, right?”
“I don’t get involved in my father’s world. I drank too much. That’s my only defense.”
“Daphne.” I can picture her shaking her head at my sheer stupidity. “Stay away from that man. His father and your father…”
“I know. I know. I don’t have plans to ever see him again.”
“Was he good, at least?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember.” I wince as I say the words.
“That’s a shame.” Michelle laughs. “There’s going to be blowback eventually, and it would be nice at least to have a fond memory or two to look back on.”
“Shut up. He said he’s a businessman. I don’t really know anything about him except I made an epic mistake.”
“Did he at least have a bangin’ body underneath that suit?”
“The best I’ve ever seen,” I say honestly.
“Better than Tommy Pasquale?”
He follows me everywhere.
“Girl, better than any male on the planet.”
“Big dick?”
“Perfect. Long and thick.”
“Fuck. All the good ones are either taken, unavailable, or off-limits. I swear, it’s tough out here.”
“From your lips to God’s ears.” I pull on my sandals, wishing my mother would’ve canceled Sunday dinner, but that’s not her style. “I got to run. I’ll see you at work tonight, yeah?”
“I’m going to do some digging before I come in.”
“No. Absolutely not. Do not ask around about him, Michelle. I don’t want our names linked even in casual conversation.”
But I know, no matter what I say, Michelle’s going to stick her nose right where it doesn’t belong. That’s what we do for each other, and it’s why she’s my best friend. She always has my back. Always. Doesn’t matter if I’m in the wrong, she’s willing to go down with the ship.
“I’ll be discreet,” she promises before hanging up.
I’m not sure she even understands what that word means.
An hour later, I’m at the bar, and my father is standing in the middle of the room, clinking his fork against his wineglass to get everyone’s attention.
This isn’t a normal Sunday dinner. My mother decided to invite the out of town guests to the bar for one last hurrah to close out the wedding weekend. Thankfully, she didn’t cook and was smart enough to have the event catered from Dino’s down the street.
“First, I want to thank everyone for coming to celebrate with us. We’re overjoyed to have Delilah as part of our family.
” My father pauses and glances down at my mother, who’s beaming from ear to ear.
“Second, as the years pass by, Betty and I understand how important family is, and we wanted you to be the first to know we have officially decided to tie the knot.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mutter under my breath, which earns me a kick under the table from Angelo.
“Seriously, Angelo.” I stare at him, arms crossed, totally annoyed. “Why now? You can’t be happy about this.”
My parents have been together over thirty years, but they have never once seriously talked about getting married until this moment. It makes no sense. The time to do it was decades ago when they decided to start a family, not after we’re all already grown.
“It makes total sense. They’re getting older, Daph.”
Angelo’s words don’t sit well with me. I know the years are ticking by, but I still can’t think of my parents as old. Even though they both drive me crazy at times, I can’t imagine a world without them in it.
“I need some air.”
I quietly excuse myself from the table and slip into the back alleyway without anyone noticing. I’m leaning against the wall, scrolling through my social media and catching up on all the funny cat videos I’ve missed, when my father steps outside too.
We stare at each other for a minute and don’t speak.
The last words I uttered to my father before they took him away in handcuffs were not the most heartwarming.
In my defense, I was angry.
What girl wouldn’t be when her father’s about to be locked up for years because of a choice he made, fully knowing the consequences?
My father runs his fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair and stares at the ground as he kicks some gravel. “Hey, baby girl. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.” I tuck my phone into my back pocket and try to be cordial. “Why aren’t you inside with your guests?”
He finally brings his eyes to mine. “I wanted to check on you.” He ticks his head toward the door. “I saw you run out of there.”
“I just needed some air.”
“Want me to go?”
“No,” I say quickly.
“Still mad after all these years?” he asks.
“I don’t know what I am, Papa,” I answer honestly.
Part of me is happy that he’s okay and back under the same roof as my mother.
But then there’s the other part that knows he’s just going to be up to his old tricks soon enough, possibly landing back in prison.
Each time, he seems to stay out a little longer than before, which has never been easy for anyone, especially my mother.
“You guys have done really well with the bar,” he tells me, changing the subject.
“We’ve worked a lot of hours.”
He comes to stand in front of me. It’s my first real chance to get a good look at my father with the sun shining overhead.
My brothers get their good looks from my father. The rich olive skin, the piercing eyes, and strong Gallo features. My father’s DNA is definitely more dominant than my mother’s. I could’ve very easily had red hair and ivory skin instead of looking every bit the Italian princess.
“Don’t forget to enjoy life a little. It passes in the blink of an eye. One day you’re young, thinking you can rule the world, and the next thing you know… Bam!” He smacks his hands together, making me jump. “You’re praying you make it just one more day.”
This is a side of my father I haven’t seen before. He’s always taken life by the balls without a single care about the consequences. He’s never really discussed getting older, but maybe five years with nothing but time to think will do that to a person.
“What about you, Papa? Do you have another five years in you to spend behind bars?”
My father reaches out and places his hands on my shoulders, much like he did when I was a little girl. “Time is too precious, Daphne. I don’t want to spend another moment away from my family.”
“But?” I can feel there’s more to what he’s saying. There usually is when it comes to my father. He talks around things, always avoiding what he really wants to say.
“There’s no buts.”
There’s always a but with Santino Gallo.
“You’re giving up the life? Going straight?”
The small dimple on his right cheek deepens. “Something like that, kid.”
“You either are, or you aren’t.” I’m point-blank, unwilling to dance around my father’s statement.
“I learned a thing or two in the joint.”
That’s exactly what I was afraid he’d say.
Spending five years surrounded by nothing but criminals has to allow someone an opportunity to hone their skills a little bit more.
I’m sure he picked up some tricks of the trade, but he needs to remember, every guy in there wasn’t smart enough to avoid being arrested.
“I promised your mom I wouldn’t go back.” When he speaks, he doesn’t look me in the eye. “I’m going to stay clean. Be on the up-and-up.”
“I really hope so.” I mean those words.
There’s nothing I want more than to have my father around. If for no other reason than to be there for my mother.
I worry about her being alone.
The last five years have been hard on her. She found hobbies to take up her time, but there’s only so many things a person can make before they hit their breaking point.
I wait for him to release me, but he doesn’t. He stares at me, pulling me into a tight embrace. “I missed my baby girl,” he whispers in my ear.
I feel like a little girl again. I’m hopeful for a minute. Thinking maybe my father has finally grown up, but then I remember he’s rarely truthful and getting out of the life is hard, especially for an old-timer like him.
“I missed you too,” I tell him because I did miss having him around. Even though he adds a special brand of insanity, the bar and Sunday dinners haven’t been the same without him.
“Come celebrate with us,” he says, still holding me tightly.
“When’s the big day?” I ask out of morbid curiosity.
“We’re not rushing into anything.”
Of course they aren’t because that would be totally absurd. Only my father would think getting married sooner rather than later would be rushing into something. I swear they’ve had the longest courtship on the planet.
“It’s only been thirty years, Papa.” I shake my head as I start to laugh.
“What’s on your neck?” He leans forward and brushes my hair off my shoulder.
“I don’t know. What is it?” I turn my head, giving him a better look.
“It looks like a hickey.” He moves closer, inspecting my skin like he used to after I had a date. “It is a hickey.”
Son of a…
My eyes widen. I know exactly who left me with a sucker bite like we were in high school. “Jesus,” I mutter and instantly want to track Leo down and punch him square in his junk.
“I didn’t know you were seeing someone.”
I look at the ground, avoiding my father’s eyes and any chance I’ll tell him the truth. “I’m not.” I cover the mark with my palm and take a step backward. “Someone was just being an asshole.”
“What’s his name?” he asks, trying to be fatherly for the first time in over five years.
“We better get inside. I’m sure everyone’s looking for us,” I say, trying to avoid the conversation entirely.
All I need is for my father to hear the name Leo Conti.
His head would probably explode.