CHAPTER 18 #2
“Thank you for giving me your advice.” I rose on my tippytoes to kiss her cheek.
She hugged me. “Anytime, cara mia.”
The fragrant aroma of tomatoes, spices, and herbs wafted in the air as we spent the next few minutes preparing our pasta. Just as we were about to start plating dinner, the front door banged open and then slammed closed.
Mamma and I jolted with surprise.
Enzo Bellafiore strolled into the house like a high court second-in-command returning from battle, an angry expression fixated on his face as his thudding footsteps closed in on us.
Something was cataclysmically wrong. I stayed mum, watching him slip into the kitchen with the faint smell of gunpowder clinging to his dishevelled black suit.
Mamma chose to poke the bear. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the guard dog entering through the doggy door like he owns this place. Didn’t you see the mat in the front? It says ‘Everyone is welcome, except for annoying ex-husbands.’”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, anticipating the onslaught of bickering.
Barely fazed by her barb, Papà folded his lean body into a chair and reclined back, eyeing her infuriatingly.
“Ex-husband? Must have missed the memo, considering you’re into draining my bank account like you’re my current wife.
Last I checked, you bought three new pairs of designer shoes on my credit card, Lucia, and I didn’t complain one bit.
So are you going to rein in the attitude and welcome me home or keep acting like I’m a parasite? ”
Mamma bristled. “This isn’t your home, Enzo.”
“It used to be.” He tilted his head, staring at her like he was enjoying watching her squirm. “You used to be.”
A blush tainted her cheeks and she cocked a fist on her apron-clad hip, snapping, “What do you want? Have you come here to be fed scraps?”
He smirked with the sinister edge of a mob man.
Papà was one of the best shots in the city and could take out anyone within the blink of an eye.
No one dared to push his buttons. Except for Mamma.
He loved it too, always letting her get away with it.
“Some respect, for starters, would be great. But I’ll settle for a glass of your finest wine, principessa. ”
“If you think I’m going to—oh.” Mamma’s eyes bugged out of their sockets as she swayed towards him. “Enzo, you’re bleeding.”
Papà opened his suit jacket, retrieved his gun, and carefully placed it on the table. “Now you care, huh?”
True to her words, he had a streak of blood smattered on his left temple. “Papà,” I whispered meekly. “What happened to you?”
“I’m okay,” he reassured and I went over to him with a clean washcloth. I dabbed at the blood. “I’m here to tell you that I’ve handled the situation.”
I paused, suspicion sinking into me. “What?”
“He’s gone. The one who taunted you. I killed him.” Papà gripped my wrist. “No one will ever hurt you on my watch,” he said vehemently. “Te lo prometto.”
The washcloth fell from my hand and Mamma gasped behind me at the news.
A sense of peace punctured through the worry that had accumulated for weeks. I closed my eyes, fighting back the sting in them and thinking about all those times that I spent frightened of a potential bad outcome and never truly feeling relaxed because of this situation.
“Truly?” I swallowed. “Is it really over?”
“Yes. Starting tomorrow, you can return to your apartment. We’ll double up the security in your building and Oscar can still shadow you if it helps you feel safer. But you’re free now, Gabriela.”
I hugged him tight. “Thank you so much, Papà. I love you.”
“You never have to thank me for protecting you. It’s my job, kiddo.” He kissed my head. “I love you too.”
“Who was it?” Mamma asked, shuffling closer.
Papà scowled. “Maverick. The security guard. Turns out, he had a vendetta against our daughter.”
I froze.
What? Maverick was responsible for the break-in?
“He wasn’t happy that you rejected him, Gabriela.
The asshole had an extra set of keys and snuck into your apartment when you weren’t there.
We installed new cameras on your floor last week and caught him on tape today, walking out with a bag of your spare…
undergarments.” Papà coughed and looked away, awkward.
“When Vance and I tortured him, he confessed that he started a lucrative side hustle where he sold your belongings—alongside those of other women in the building—online to men who are into that kind of thing…I’m so sorry all this happened to you, cara mia. You didn’t deserve it.”
I was wheeling between feelings of humiliation, fury, and shock. Maverick was stealing other women’s and my lingerie and selling it to creeps online? What. The. Hell. Every now and then, I’d notice a missing thong from my drawers and thought I was going crazy.
To top it off, the motherfucker actually had the audacity to break into my place and scare me because I rejected him?
It was very sad and disheartening that some men couldn’t take no for an answer. The lack of respect for women was astounding.
Call me cruel, but I was glad he was gone. Papà was a ruthless man, soft only with me and Mamma, so I knew he gave Maverick the ending he deserved.
“Good riddance,” I spat. “Did he say why he wrote that messed-up quote on my wall? I didn’t peg him as someone who read Shakespeare.”
“No,” Papà said right as Mamma placed a glass of wine before him.
Her thank-you to him for protecting me. “He denied writing it and unfortunately, prior to your break-in, there were no cameras in the corridors of the units.” It was an older building from the ’70s in a vastly safe neighbourhood.
There hadn’t been a need for cameras beyond the underground parking lot, ground floor, and staircases, as I’d been explained in the past. Clearly, the lesson was learned and new upgrades were installed.
“But the CCTV footage showed him breaking into other women’s apartments enough times today for us to conclude it was him vandalizing your wall.
For what it’s worth, he did beg for mercy and apologized for stealing from you, but I still gutted him like a fucking animal. ”
“As you should, Enzo.” Mamma poured two more glasses of wine. One for me. One for her. “I’m so relieved the threat is gone. Our baby is safe and that’s all that matters.”
“I’m not a baby anymore,” I muttered, taking the glass from her.
“You’ll always be our baby, Gabriela.” She kissed my head too. “Since this is settled, we should all celebrate.” She gave Papà a sidelong glance. “Enzo, how can we ever repay you for all that you’ve done?”
“Kiss me,” he replied to her.
My eyes widened in disbelief as they scurried from one parent to another. It wasn’t a secret that they squabbled. Mamma antagonized Papà and he responded, but never so brazenly. This was a new development. I didn’t know what to make of it.
“Enzo,” Mamma said warningly.
“If you won’t kiss me, then at least stop going on dates with losers.”
“Who I date is none of your business.”
“You are my business, Lucia,” he said with a smoky voice. “You’ll always be.”
“Whatever.” Miffed, Mamma rolled her eyes, but there was something on her face that spoke of pleasure.
I quietly sipped my wine, trying to assess their back-and-forth from every angle like I was a cameraman in a sitcom so I could call Nonna later tonight and give her a rundown. She was going to freak out.
Papà picked up his wine glass and gave Mamma one of his striking smiles. “Now, I’ve had a long day and I’m hungry, so come feed your dog some scraps, principessa, and we’ll celebrate tonight’s victory, yeah?”
After setting the table and saying grace, we ate while discussing my semester. The night ended with us playing a few rounds of Go Fish. It was a picture of domestic bliss. My heart glowed, content and lax for the first time in weeks.
Before going to bed, I called Nonna and we chatted about my parents.
She was ecstatic to hear about their exchange and asked me to call her back with any other updates.
We also made plans to meet up later this week.
Furthermore, I even texted the girls in our group chat that they found the culprit and the situation was resolved. They cheered for me.
Unable to help myself, I opened my conversation with Hunter and the high that I was riding up until now evaporated like mist.
He still hadn’t seen my texts.
Trepidation gnawed at my stomach like a hungry beast.
It was one thing for him to be hurt, but…he couldn’t hate me, right?
Hunter, please, please, please, don’t hate me.
I despised that I’d turned into a wrecking ball packed with fret, swinging like a pendulum with no end in sight. There was a restless energy building inside of me and the longer we went without speaking, the more I feared it would spread like wildfire.
I’d take Mamma’s advice and visit him in person with my own olive branch.
Then Hunter and I would be okay.
We had to be.
This wasn’t the end for us.
I fell asleep with that mantra playing in my head.
My dreams were filled with Hunter, his passionate kisses, and a map of bright stars shining in the night sky above our heads.