Chapter 6
The police chief is at the end of the hall with my boss.
Tony fucking Marchetti. A man you do not want to fuck with, because he’s not afraid to fuck back, and no matter how big you think your dick is, Tony’s is bigger.
Metaphorically speaking.
She shyly tucks herself in beside and a little behind me, and that just makes me prouder. I’d stand between her and God, so I’m not afraid to be her shield against Marchetti. Although, I’m not actually sure there’s that much of a difference.
“What you doing here, boss? Things are handled.”
He nods. “I know. I spoke to Luca, and I told him I’d see you home. My car’s parked out front, you ready to go?”
A part of me hesitates.
Some people who take a ride in Tony Marchetti’s limo never leave it again…alive at least. But it’s not like I’ve done anything that would warrant such a reaction, and besides, I’m pretty sure he knows it would take more guys than he could fit in one car to take me down especially to protect Sammi.
I nod. “Sure, we’re ready. Sammi, you remember Tony Marchetti, don’t you? My boss?”
“Yes, Daddy,” she whispers.
Tony nods her way. For such a brutal mafia boss, he’s got a soft inner core when it comes to family.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, I understand today’s been unsettling for you.
But my car has the best air-conditioning in the city, and there’s strawberry milk in the mini fridge.
” He winks at me. “I keep it there for my own daughter. She’s a little younger though. ”
“Let’s go.” I gather Sammi next to me, the cuffs swinging from her hand and lead us down the hall into whatever is next.
***
“So, Phillip,” Tony says as we drive through the city.
He’s given Sammi a tablet and a pair of white earbuds so she can watch some cartoons while we drive.
He also brought me a suit from our regular family tailor, which I gratefully changed into while standing behind his car in the parking lot.
“This thing with your soon-to-be ex, it’s blown up some shit, I have to say. ”
I sigh, ready for the other shoe to drop.
Susan’s really stirred some shit doing what she’s done, and it may be that Tony feels it’s best we don’t have too much of a business association for a while.
It’s bullshit, but I don’t much care. It’s not like I can’t find work elsewhere if I need to, not that I need to…
I’ve got a healthy enough bank balance to not worry about that.
Sammi is sipping strawberry milk through a straw, watching her cartoons and occasionally snorting a laugh while my fingers trace patterns up and down her bare thigh where it’s sticking out of the sleep shorts, her “Daddy” tank top declaring what we are to each other to the whole world.
“I get it,” I say. “You need me out of the limelight for a while. Say the word.”
Tony shakes his head. “No, that’s not—”
My phone starts ringing, the tone telling me who it is before I even look at the screen. What’s that they say about the devil? Susan may not be him, but she’s certainly buying a ticket just lately.
“That’s her,” I say, looking at Sammi’s face, making sure she can’t hear what’s going on.
She giggles at something on her screen, totally oblivious to the rest of the world. Good. She doesn’t need to hear any of this.
“Answer it,” Tony says. “Put it on speaker. I want to know what she says.”
I shrug and accept the call, putting her on loudspeaker so he can hear everything.
“You slimy little weasel bastard,” she says by way of greeting, mixing her metaphors. Or her animals, I’m not sure. “I should have known you’d find some way to slither out of it. And fucking divorce papers? How did you get those signed so fast?”
The divorce papers thing is news to me, and I raise an eyebrow at Tony over that one.
He acts like he just remembered the whole deal himself, grabbing some papers from a secure box under his seat and shoving them my way while I reply to my apparently now ex-wife.
“Why did you do it, Susan? You know I never touched Sammi until she was legal. You know I wouldn’t.”
“You and that little slut think you’re going to take my money and spend it all on sex toys and lube?
Yeah, I made up some bullshit accusations, I don’t fucking care.
You deserve them looking at you like you’re a pervert for what you’re doing to me.
And don’t think that’s all I can do, either, because there are things I hear, Phillip, things that could cause problems even for the great emperor Tony Marchetti. ”
“Don’t fucking think about it, Susan.”
“Fuck you. And fuck my daughter. You are anyway. Fucking whore.” The line goes dead.
I look down at the papers Tony pushed into my hands, and sure as shit they’re legit, signed by a judge and everything.
“Tony, thanks. This is a nice fucking gift.”
He shakes his head, shrugging with his lips. “Think nothing of it. You’re like a brother to me, and I want what’s best for you.” He glances at Sammi. “I see the way you look at her. It’s the real deal, right?”
“Yeah, it’s real.”
“And if she isn’t pregnant right now, I’m thinking she will be sooner rather than later. You know me, Phillip. You knew my father. You know our thinking about these things. You gotta do things right. You’re divorced now, so make it official, okay?”
So that’s it. That’s my payoff.
Take my divorce, marry my daughter, and keep out of the business. Maybe forever. It’s not a bad deal, but I don’t know what I’ll do with all that free time. I’d spend it fucking Sammi, sure, but I’m thinking even she might need to give her pussy a rest from time to time.
“Susan said she could cause problems for me,” Tony says. “She bullshitting, or does she have teeth to back that up?”
I shrug. “Maybe she has something. Probably she’s bullshitting. She certainly didn’t hear anything from me that could tie anything back to you.”
He nods. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Don’t hurt her!” Sammi is suddenly sitting forward, headphone held off one ear, her hand tangling into mine. I thought she wasn’t listening, but clearly she has been. “Please, don’t hurt my mom. Please.”
“Hey, hey, calm down, sweetheart.” Tony is about as calm with Sammi as I’ve ever seen.
He has three kids of his own, and he’s a good dad, and I guess he knows how to act.
“Nobody said anything about hurting. I’ll be honest with you, in our line of work we do have to do that from time to time, but only when it’s really necessary.
Now, your mom… She’s more of an innocent bystander, and those people we protect.
Although she did say some things about you that I think your father might have something to say about.
But as far as I’m concerned? Taking care of it means talking to her, making sure she knows the lay of the land, so to speak. ”
Our eyes connect, and I read what he’s not saying. He’d love to take care of this permanently, but he will respect Sammi’s needs, and this is why, even in an unlawful, bloody, and brutal profession such as ours, there is a code, and he’s an honorable man.
I lower my jaw in acknowledgment as Sammi jabs a finger his way, her eyes inspecting his like a human lie detector.
“You promise?” She finally chirps, rubbing the end of her nose with her palm the way she does when she’s nervous, then drops her hand and leans her head to her shoulder.
“Cross my heart and hope to die.” He makes the gesture of an X over his heart.
“We good then?” I ask, drawing his attention back. “Me and Sammi? We get to walk away clean?”
“No. Absolutely not. You’re my best guy, Phillip, but there has to be a price to pay for all of this.
You know that.” He snaps his tongue behind his front teeth as my pulse kicks up.
“I’m expanding the business. Moving on Florida.
Miami, the Keys, Tampa, Orlando. You can choose where you want to be based, and I’ll make sure you have a compound that keeps you—” He looks at Sammi. “—and yours safe.”
“Florida…” I’m remembering back a few years. Sammi went through a phase of cutting out pictures from travel and real estate brochures, using them for scrapbooking. Florida was featured a lot. Especially all the theme parks. “You’re giving me Florida?”
“Well… You and Luca. You two are a matched set, and that man needs a change of scenery. And some sun. Find him a girl, too, , just find him someone who’ll take care of him in his old age the way she hopefully will do for you.
” He winks at Sammi, who snort-giggles, and my dick jumps in my pants remembering how I allowed Luca to enjoy bits of my girl.
“You’d be in charge, but he’ll be kind of your consigliere. ”
“Florida!” Sammi jumps up, her head hitting the roof of the limo, her tits bouncing, and Marchetti gives me an approving nod.
“Looks that way.”
“Good. I’ll have movers at the penthouse tomorrow and your other house…” He shrugs. “Not really needed anymore, eh?”
Both Sammi and I nod at him, then at each other as I reach down and grab a handful of my teenage daughter’s ass, my balls drawn up, and I put a hand on her belly and smile.
***
I wasn’t expecting the car to stop outside the courthouse.
But when it did, I realized Tony wasn’t playing around. Luca was already there, ready to be my best man, and Tony’s little girl made the cutest bridesmaid for Sammi. The ceremony was more of a formal recognition of what we already know, but I still made the most of kissing the bride.
“Where are we going to live in Florida, Daddy?” she asks as I pull her into my arms on the courthouse steps, waiting for Tony’s second limo to arrive and take us back home, where we’ll pack our things ready to move out tomorrow.
“Where do you want to live, baby girl? You name it, we’ll do it.”
“Well…” She purses her lips. “I’m not saying I want to live there forever. But there’s a great culinary school near Disney. I looked at some brochures before, but it was such a long way away, and I didn’t want to be gone from you…”
I kiss the top of her head. “Whatever you want, baby. But, well, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Is it bad?”
“No. It’s good. The best. You’re going to have Daddy’s baby, and if you think I’m letting my pregnant wife out of my sight, without at least my guards on her 24/7, you’re wrong. And you know I track your phone, right?”
She smirks. “I had a suspicion.”
“Well, next time you’re at the doctor, we’re going to have a special kind of tracker put on you. One you can’t forget or lose.”
“I love you, Daddy,” she says, and I kiss her cheek, her ear, the line of her jaw.
“I love you too, baby,” I tell her. “And you know what?”
“What?”
“I think I’m about ready to lock you up all over again.”
She grins, and her eyes turn sheepish as the cuffs dangle from her hand. “Did I do something wrong, officer?”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll pay the price, baby. I’m going to make sure of it.”