Chapter Seven
Massimo entered his home, and he didn’t know what he expected, but it wasn’t to hear shouting.
Not yelling shouting, but excited squealing, and then full-blown laughing.
He was pretty sure he heard his father as well.
He heard his sister, and of course Adelina.
This was not a noise he was used to coming home to.
Closing the door, he made his way toward the sound, not to the office or the library, but the dining room.
“Oh, come on, there is no way that is a cat!”
For the first time in a very long while, his father actually sounded happy.
“Dad, come on, it’s a cat. Look, there is the body, the tail, and the whiskers.”
Massimo entered the dining room, and the table had been pushed to one side. They had an easel, with a large pad of paper, some cards, and pens, and from the number of sheets pushed to the back, it looked like they had been playing for quite some time.
“Ah, my son has returned. You won’t listen to me, Bella Bear, but you might listen to him.”
It had been a lifetime since his father had called Isabella, “Bella Bear.” In fact, not since his mother had gone. Isabella looked so damn happy. He had not seen his father smile in a long time, and Massimo’s wife was between the two.
She was flushed in the face, and moved toward him. “Good evening,” she said, and touched his cheek, at the same time kissing his other. “We were just attempting to play a game of charades and Pictionary.”
“Attempting being the operative word,” his father said. “We tried to decipher the actual cards, but none of us got it. Then we attempted our own—movies, then songs, and finally beings or things. We’ve had table and chairs. Your sister thinks that looks like a cat.”
Massimo looked to the drawing, and it might look like a cat, but it was a close call. He frowned.
“Seriously, Massimo. I should have known you were going to take Dad’s side.” She scrunched up her face.
“Now that you’re home, I’ll let Albert know we’re ready for dinner.”
“Ugh,” Isabella said.
Vincent laughed. “Come on, Bella Bear, I am sure we’re going to have plenty of time to enjoy this, and for you to learn to draw cats.” His father stood and put his hands on her shoulders, gripping them.
He didn’t know what he expected to come home to, but this was not it. His father had been dead set against him marrying Adelina.
“Dad, I need to talk to you,” Massimo said.
“Are you good to clean this up?”
“Yeah, of course. Adelina will help me.” She waved the two of them off, and they made their way into the office.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Massimo told his father of everything that had happened that afternoon, including the burning of the money.
“You burnt it?”
“Yes.”
“Nice one,” Vincent said. “What is your next plan?”
“I want to reach out to King and Vigo.”
“For what purpose?”
“To find out which one set Luiz up.”
“What does Russo say about it?”
“I have not asked him. He told me to resolve the territory problem. Technically, I have resolved it, and our people can go back to their jobs, as we move soldiers into place.”
“But that still leaves the problem of the takeover to Russo.”
Massimo frowned. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Do you think anyone attacking the Russo Mafia is supposed to make sense?”
“Why use Luiz, only to kill him?” he asked.
His father sat behind his desk. “You know, that is curious.”
“I get that the man was a piece of shit, but he had his uses.”
“True, this is why Russo kept him alive. There were many times in the last twenty years that Luiz was a liability.”
“He was?”
“Yes. His penchant for ... playing with his staff. Torturing them. When your mother was alive, one of the bodies was discovered. Luiz liked to play cat-and-mouse, and he didn’t clean up his mess quite so well. It nearly brought the Russo Mafia down. That one tiny mistake.”
“How come I never heard of this?” Massimo asked.
“Only a select few people knew, who had a way of cleaning it up.”
“You did.”
“I had no choice.”
“What did you do?”
“Luiz had gone into Vigo Bratva territory at the time. It was easy to mark the body in a way that made it a Bratva kill.”
“How did you do that?”
“I had my ways.”
“You broke into the morgue and added markings?”
He shrugged. “Like I said. We have all done a lot for this family. After that, Luiz lost favor, and with it, power.”
“He was still a capo.”
“Yeah, but no longer close. You have seen the number of times Luiz was invited to social events or functions. You also saw where his house was. That is not where he lived originally. He got evicted from the house and the prestige Russo had lavished on him. He helped to forge the Russo Mafia, but he nearly ended it with his own cruelty.”
Massimo frowned. “Could it have been someone within the Russo family?”
“No,” his father said.
“How can you be sure?”
“Because they wouldn’t have made the mistake of Luiz not being there, and if they wanted the money, they wouldn’t have left it with him.
Also, to get the message across, they would have used you, my son.
We both know there is a reason you’re called a monster.
You’re Russo’s monster. You’re the one they fear. ”
“So, you don’t think it could have been an inside job?” he asked.
“No, it couldn’t have been. It would have been handled a lot neater.”
There was a knock at the door.
Massimo turned to see Isabella at the door. “Dinner is ready.”
“We’ll be right out,” his father said.
“You surprise me, playing charades as well as Pictionary with Isabella and my wife,” he said.
“Adelina is not what I expected. She is a nice woman. A good woman. It is nice to know you do, to a certain extent, have good taste.”
This made him laugh. “Are you kidding me right now? You’re telling me I have good taste?”
“You can’t always like where you come from. Adelina’s family are shit, but Adelina is a good egg. I like her.”
Coming from his father, that was high praise indeed.
****
“Stop being so nervous,” Massimo said.
“I’m not nervous.”
“You’re shaking,” Isabella said from behind her.
Massimo had insisted on driving them to a cocktail dinner. It was suspected an engagement was going to be announced, but it was a dinner that Vincent had said the family couldn’t miss. Although, he had wanted another round of charades.
It would seem she had found a family who liked board games, question games, and it was a lot of fun to get involved with them. Vincent wasn’t joining them. He had sent them off to enjoy the party.
Adelina didn’t want to go. This was their first party as a married couple.
Isabella had helped her choose a dress. She had wanted to wear a giant sweater over the top, but Isabella and Massimo had insisted she go the way she was.
The dress was one shoulder, and curved around her breasts, going under her arm on the opposite shoulder.
It was a lovely solid deep green color that Massimo had said brought out the color of her eyes.
She had always considered herself to have rather dull eyes.
There was a slit up the side of the skirt, ending at mid-thigh.
She had never left the house in anything quite so revealing.
It also molded to every inch of her body. All her curves were on display. Her long brown hair was curled with a few pieces pinned back, with a diamond butterfly clip for effect. Diamond earrings, along with a necklace and a matching bracelet, completed the outfit. She was stunning.
Massimo had presented her with the jewelry tonight. She had never been in anything quite so beautiful.
She felt a little sick, but they arrived to find a man waiting to take their car. Massimo’s men were traveling behind them.
Massimo got out of the car and helped his sister out of the back. Isabella had opted for a red dress that hugged her slender figure and enhanced her features, complete with spaghetti straps and silver jewelry. Her hair was pinned off her neck, which showed the shiny choker around her neck.
He opened the door for her, and she took his hand, stepping out.
She was also in heels. This could be a disaster.
She knew how to walk in heels. Back home, being ignored, she had to find ways to entertain herself, and practicing how to walk in heels was one of them. Her stomach was doing flip-flops.
“You don’t need to be nervous,” Massimo said. “I am right here by your side.”
“You’re a Salvatore now,” Isabella said. “You’re a wolf, and do not let any of the vultures think otherwise.”
And with that, they walked up the steps and entered the large building.
Usually, engagement functions were a private affair, hosted in the main house.
This was a country club, private, set off from the main road, but with lots of parking, and waiters and waitresses wearing the company logo.
It was a country club owned by the Russo Mafia, but there were many different clients that came here.
There were passing waiters, and Massimo took three flutes of champagne and handed one to his sister, and the other to her.
None of them drank. Some people who were in attendance would get inebriated quickly.
Adelina had no intention of doing so. Her family had never been allowed to be members of this country club.
With their name connected to the Salvatores, she had no way of knowing if that would change things.
This would have been one of the functions they would not be allowed to attend.
She wanted to knock back her drink, but instead she held it in her hand, which is what she noticed Massimo and Isabella did. One of the men talked to Massimo and Isabella came to her side, and slid her arm through hers.
“You’re doing great. The key is to always have a glass of champagne in your hand, never drink it, and if you put it down, get a fresh one.”
“Don’t people notice you’ve got the same glass?”
“There are so many people at places like this, that is impossible for anyone to monitor you for long. However, I don’t know if you have noticed how many people are looking at you.”
“What? Why?” Adelina asked. She did not want to embarrass Massimo.
“I would say it is because you’re not wearing a tent for a dress. You’re on Massimo’s arm and you look delectable. I might even say that Massimo is the envy of quite a few men here.”
She was pretty sure Isabella was just being nice. “I don’t ... is that a good thing?”
“Yes.”
Isabella smiled at a passing woman. “I’ll be right back,” she said, stepping away.
She was by Massimo’s side, still holding her glass of champagne. He finished talking with the one that had stopped him, and put a hand to her back. “I fucking hate these functions,” he said, pulling her in close.
“As much as if they’re at one of their homes?” she asked.
“These are worse, because I can’t just stand in my corner and wait for a certain woman to come and speak to me,” he said.
She still couldn’t believe she was the one he looked forward to seeing at those parties. It was quite surreal to her.
“I’m glad I could be of assistance.”
He laughed. “Here, it’s impossible to tell people to fuck off.”
This made her laugh. “I’m sure you could get away with it.”
“True.” His gaze moved to her lips. “Do you have any idea how many men keep looking at you?”
“What?” she asked, hating the thought of anyone else looking at her.
He leaned in close and put his lips against her ear.
“They’re all kicking themselves because they had no idea that under all those layers of clothing was one of the sexiest women alive.
” He kissed her temple. “They’re wishing they had given you a chance, and I love the fact that I stole you away from them. ”
She gasped.
For the next hour, they mingled. Isabella came back to their side, with a smile on her lips.
She was full of gossip tonight, and as Massimo was busy, she listened to Isabella claim that one of the capos’ wives had become a mistress to another capo.
There was also a daughter who was sleeping with a soldier.
She didn’t know all the people Isabella mentioned, but it sounded quite scary.
After an hour and a half, she needed to use the bathroom.
Isabella had gone to talk to another friend, so she excused herself and made her way to the ladies’ room.
There were some giggling women, who looked at her and then immediately left.
She used the bathroom, flushed the toilet, and stepped out to wash her hands.
As she washed her hands, she looked up, and out of one of the stalls stepped Lily-Mae. She hadn’t seen her enter the country club. The look on her face told her she was about to be trouble.
“Do you think you clean up nicely?” Lily-Mae asked.
“I’m not looking for any trouble.”
Lily-Mae laughed. “Not looking for any trouble? Your fat ass will find it. Do you think you have what it takes to keep Massimo? He is going to realize you’re nothing. You’re not worth his time or effort. I wouldn’t be shocked if he didn’t have another woman waiting for him.”
Adelina hated how that felt. She didn’t want to even think of Massimo being with another woman, but then could she blame him?
What if he did wake up and realize she was not the woman he wanted?
She was no stunning beauty like Lily-Mae.
She was nothing. She was not in the same league as Massimo, and would never be.
“And when he comes to his senses and gets rid of you, I’ll be waiting.”
And with that, Lily-Mae left.
Adelina couldn’t move. She felt tears spring to her eyes, but she couldn’t let them fall. She had no idea if her mascara was waterproof. This felt awful. She felt sick.
Massimo deserved better. She glanced toward her reflection. Tonight, she looked pretty, but she was never going to be like the Lily-Maes of the world. However, she was not going to embarrass Massimo tonight. She was not going to break down and sob.
Holding her head high, she swallowed past the burn in her throat, and once she had gotten herself together and under control, she squared her shoulders and stepped out.