Chapter Thirty-Eight Drea
Another month of my pregnancy had flown by. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I’d spent every waking moment busy. Not only had we temporarily moved to Philly, but I was also working nonstop on the gallery.
Since I was at eight months in real pregnancy time, not the seven that Leo thought, I knew it was time to encourage the move Father and I had spoken about. Leo and I had taken a fully decorated apartment about two blocks away from my gallery and ten minutes from the future casino.
We came back to New York on the weekends, which gave me time to finalize the nursery. I’d decided to paint my own mural of nursery rhymes. It became quite the undertaking.
As soon as Luca was born, we would be coming back to New York. Leo would just have to make the daily commute. I couldn’t imagine how stressed out that was going to make him.
He was already drowning with the casino setbacks. I didn’t claim to know what it all entailed, but he needed the property adjacent to where the casino was going to go. But there had been so much red tape, and now he was locked in a bidding war.
Today I planned on leaving the gallery early and cooking one of his favorite meals to cheer him up. When the doorbell rang overhead, I said, “I’m sorry, but we’re not open yet.”
“Well, well, what do we have here?”
At the sound of Father’s voice, I froze. I knew I couldn’t keep the gallery a secret forever, but I’d hoped to have a little more time.”
Forcing a smile to my face, I said, “Hello, Father. What brings you here?”
“Do I have to have a reason for checking out your new endeavor?”
“While I would love to think it was out of the kindness of your heart, I doubt that seriously.”
“You’re right. I do have a reason to be here.”
I held up my hand. “Before you even suggest it, I’m not laundering any Caruso money through this gallery.”
Money laundering and the underworld went hand in hand. One of the easiest ways to do it was through stores, laundromats, or for the higher-end clients, in art galleries.
“I’m deeply offended that you automatically jumped to such a conclusion.”
“Would you just say what you came here to say and get out?”
His eyes darkened. But then he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out an envelope. “This came to the house this morning.”
I took the envelope from him. Peering inside, I only saw a photograph. When I pulled it out to gaze at the image, icy cold fear shot down my spine.
It was a picture of me dancing with Luca’s father.
“Oh God,” I murmured.
“Read the back.”
With trembling fingers, I turned the photo over. A note was scribbled on the back.
Convince your daughter to get her husband to give up his bid, or I’ll make contact with the real father of her baby.
I jerked my gaze up to stare at Father. “How is this even possible?”
“The only thing I can imagine is someone hacked into my photo cloud.”
“What the fuck would you be doing with this picture?”
“Do you honestly think I gave you complete freedom at college? Of course not. I always had someone undercover trailing you.”
Revulsion echoed through me. Not a moment had I ever truly been alone. I’d been watched and photographed the whole time.
“This is all your fault,” I snapped.
“No, this is your fault for being a whore who slept with a man she didn’t know.”
“If you hadn’t sold me off like a broodmare, I wouldn't have been trying to escape an arranged marriage.”
“Enough!” Father blared. “Save the fucking finger-pointing. We’ve got to find a way out of this.”
I held out the photo. “This casino is Leo’s dream. There is nothing I can say to make him walk away.”
“You’re going to have to give him an ultimatum.”
“What?”
“Tell him it’s the casino or you and the baby.”
“You want me to threaten to leave Leo?”
“Do you have a better idea? If Leo walks away, this issue goes away.”
“For now. What happens when someone else hacks you and blackmails us again? When does it end?”
“It ends when I have a chance to find out the identity of the person behind the bidding war. When I deal with them, I’ll make sure that there is no trail leading you to that young man.”
“If in that trail you find out who Luca’s father is, you won’t kill him, will you?”
“Only if he doesn’t make trouble for us.”
My chest clenched in agony. Luca’s father was innocent. He shouldn’t have to pay when his only crime was having sex with me.
After taking his lighter out of his pocket, Father lit the photo on fire. As it crumbled into ash, I felt like I was looking at a symbol of my life.
Father waved a hand at me, “Now go home and get ready to convince your husband to give up on the deal.”
As soon as he stormed out the door, I sank down in my chair and began to cry.
***
When Leo arrived home, his eyes lit up at the sight of his favorite meal. “Man, you don’t know how much I needed this.”
“I had a feeling.”
He kissed me tenderly. “How was your day?”
With a shrug, I replied, “The same. Just working on orders for the gallery.”
“That’s amazing how far it’s come in such a short amount of time.”
“I know.”
After sitting down, we started fixing our plates. I chewed my lip nervously. I didn’t even begin to know how to approach what I had to say. But then Leo gave me an opening.
“Are you okay?” he asked, concern etched across his face.
“No. Actually, I’m not.”
He reached for my hand. “What’s wrong?”
I’d decided to ignore Father’s advice. I’d already lied to Leo too many times. “I need to tell you something, but I can’t explain how I know.”
Leo creased his brows in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“I need you to give up the casino.”
Leo’s neck jerked back in surprise. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am. This bidding war for the property has caused someone to threaten me.”
“What? How?”
I shook my head. “I can’t tell you.”
“Dammit Drea, if someone is threatening you or the baby, you have to tell me.”
“They aren’t. It’s more the family in general.”
“Did they send a note or an email?”
“A note.” That was a slight exaggeration of the truth.
“Where is it?”
“My father destroyed it.” It wasn’t a total lie. Father had burned the picture in front of me.
“They sent it to Edoardo?”
“Yes.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It said to tell his daughter to get her husband to give up the bid.”
Leo ran his hand over his face. “Jesus.”
“So will you please give it up? There’s other cities you can open a casino in. New York is awfully close to opening up licenses. Maybe if you’re patient–”
“I will not be told what to do by some anonymous piece of shit who's just trying to intimidate me. If they’re really serious, they’ll meet me face to face. Not send my wife to do their job.”
“Leo–”
He held up his hand. “Trust me, Drea. I’ve seen this type of shit for years. Even my father got bullshit warnings like this, which is why I wonder why Edoardo even bothered bringing it to you. He should know better.”
Oh God. What was I going to do? Not only was he not backing down, but he also wasn’t taking it seriously. I couldn’t possibly prove to him the seriousness without incriminating myself.
My chest clenched in agony. “Can’t you see this is a sign? From the moment you bought the property, nothing has gone right. This isn’t meant to be, and you should get out before it costs us anymore.”
He chuckled. “It’s a sign that your father shielded you too much from the family business, or you’d know this wasn’t a true threat.”
“Would you just humor me this time?”
Leo gave me a long look before sighing. Hope surged in my chest. “Fine. I’ll get Gianni to dig into the name on the other bid. Will that make you feel better?”
No, no, no! Since I didn’t know what else to do or say, I could only whisper, “Okay.”