Callie
“Wow. That was absolutely crazy,” Josh said as Antonio and Alessandro left the restaurant.
“Yeah, it was a little bit,” I said, nodding and biting my lower lip. I still felt flustered and warm from my interaction with Antonio. I’d wanted to kiss him, to slap him, to press myself against him. I had wanted him to take me. I hated him, and yet I still needed him. I wasn’t sure what this hold was that he had on me, but I hated it. I wanted to feel free of him.
“What made you choose this restaurant, Josh?” I asked, paranoia setting into my brain.
Was Josh in on it with Antonio? He looked slightly annoyed and frustrated.
“What is it?” I said, leaning forward. “Please don’t tell me that you told him we’d be here. Don’t tell me that you—”
“No, of course not.” He shook his head vehemently. “I would never do that to you, Callie. I got the coupon from Valentina.” He made a face. “Now I’m pretty sure I know why she gave it to me.” He shook his head.
“Why do you think she would’ve given you the coupon because of me?”
“Because she said, ‘Why don’t you take Callie on a date here sometime?’” He rolled his eyes. “And I know this isn’t a date. We’re just friends, but—”
“But you were still hoping I’d think it was a date?”
“I was hoping that you’d give me another chance, yeah. You can’t blame a guy for trying. I mean, even Antonio seems like he’s trying to get back on your good side.”
“Or into my pants,” I said, muttering under my breath.
“What did you say?” he asked.
“Nothing.” I shook my head quickly.
I didn’t want to pour my heart and soul out to Josh. I didn’t want to tell him that I’d lost my virginity to Antonio and that he’d been the most amazing lover, and I thought we were falling in love and that we were possibly soulmates destined to be with each other and how I’d already planned to tell my father that I didn’t care if he thought that Antonio was a bad boy. I still wanted to be with him. The mere thought of me having the thought that I would say that to my dad made me want to puke. I was an absolute idiot. Now, I understood why Valentina had always called me naive, immature, and gullible because I was. I needed to stop thinking that true love existed.
I needed to stop thinking that love could cure all evil because Antonio Marchesi was evil, and he didn’t care. He wasn’t turning to the light side because of me. I hadn’t touched some part of him inside that made him want to protect me, take care of me, and change his ways. He’d wanted to destroy me. He’d wanted to destroy my father, and that’s what hurt most of all because if he had cared about me even a little bit, he wouldn’t have been able to go through with it. I let out a deep sigh.
“I’m just a fool,” I said softly.
“Hopefully, not a fool in love?” Josh asked me, and I stared at him in confusion.
He didn’t really think I was in love with him, did he? I mean, we’d gone on a couple of dates, and he’d attempted to go down on me once, but that hadn’t even—
“Obviously, not with me,” he said as if he could read my mind. There was a sad smile on his face. “I mean with Antonio. Do you think you’re in love with him?”
I stared at him and shook my head. “No, I could never love that wolf.”
“Wolf, huh?” He nodded slowly. “That’s definitely a good way to describe him.”
“It’s not me that came up with it. Apparently, he’s known throughout the mafioso world as the wolf.”
“I wonder why,” he asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe because he’s only looking out for himself,” I said. “He just wants to destroy others.”
“Is that what wolves do?” Josh asked.
“I don’t know.” I was starting to get annoyed. “Anyway, I don’t want to talk about this. I’m sorry. I know we came here to get my mind off what was going on, but I kind of want to go home now, because obviously, that’s been ruined and—”
“Let’s go dancing,” he said.
“Dancing? What do you mean?”
“Let’s go dancing.” He smiled. “I heard of this really cool place called Florence’s on Fifth, and they have three different levels, and we can just drink and dance the night away, and you don’t even have to think about him.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I feel like I should just—”
“What?” he interrupted me. “Go back to your dorm and think about him and send him hateful text messages or call and leave voicemails and have him laughing? Or worst of all, he shows up and well …” He looked away from me.
“What?” I said to him.
“I don’t know. Maybe he tries to get with you or something.”
“Get with me?” I raised a single eyebrow.
“You know, maybe wants to go down on you or sleep with you or…”
I press my lips together. Was that all men thought about, sex?
“I mean, if you want to stay in my room tonight, I don’t mind, and you don’t even have to sleep with me. I mean, we don’t even have to share the same bed. I have a chair that I can sit in and sleep in, and I’m a deep sleeper. I’ll sleep fine and—”
“It’s okay, Josh. Thank you, though.”
“I just want you to be okay, Callie. I just want you to feel safe. You’re a really good, nice, sweet girl, and you don’t deserve to get mixed up in this craziness, whatever it is.”
I stared at him for a few seconds. It did seem like he was sincere. I let out a deep sigh. “Maybe I didn’t explain everything properly earlier. I think I’m completely overwhelmed by the fact he’s in the mafia and has been using me. I mean, I hate to say this, but I do kind of understand why he wants to hurt my dad. I mean, it’s fucked up that he’s using me to do that, but if my dad really did kill his mom, then, well…” I shrugged. “It kind of makes sense that he’d want his revenge. I mean, he is a Mafia underboss. I wouldn’t expect anything less from him.”
“But you don’t know that. He’s just telling you that. Maybe—”
“I know. That’s why I want to see my dad tomorrow. I just can’t believe that this is going on.”
My phone started ringing, and it was my dad. I looked at the screen, and then I looked at Josh.
“You can answer it,” he said.
“No, I don’t want to be rude.” I shook my head.
“Answer it, Callie.”
“Okay.” I didn’t want to do this over the phone, but I was kind of dying here.
“Hey, Dad,” I said abruptly, annoyed.
“Hi, Callie. Sorry I missed your call earlier. I was—”
“Dad, I want to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth,” I said succinctly.
“Sure. You know you can ask me anything, Callie.”
“Did you cheat on Mom?” There was silence on the phone. “Dad, are you there?”
“I’m here,” he said. “Well, what’s that question?” he started.
“Did you cheat on Mom?” I said slowly. The phone was silent again, and my heart sank. I knew, based on the silence, that the answer was yes. If my dad hadn’t cheated on my mom, he would’ve denied it vehemently. He would’ve been annoyed, pissed off, wondering where I got that from.
“Why, Dad?” I asked. “Why would you?”
“What are you talking about, Callie? What—”
“Did you sleep with a woman named Emilia Marchesi, the wife of a Mafia don, who had two young sons, Antonio and Alessandro?”
“What do you know about Don Roberto?” My father’s voice changed.
“So that’s true, then. You did. Dad, how could you do that? Mom had cancer.”
“You don’t know what was going on. You don’t understand, Callie. I need to know. How do you know about Don Roberto?” he said, his voice suddenly nervous.
“Dad, what is going on?”
“Callie, there are things you don’t know. There are things you don’t understand. Where are you right now?”
“I am at a pizza place with a friend.”
“I need you to give me your address, and I’m going to come get you.”
“I don’t want to see you right now, Dad. I’m pissed off. Did you kill Antonio’s mom? Were you in a car crash?”
“Callie, where are you getting this information from?” My father sounded angry and nervous. “Who have you been in contact with? You are not safe. I need to come and get you. Tell me where you are right now.”
“Dad.” I could hear my voice crack, and tears streamed down my face. “It’s true? Oh my God. How could you? And you left her? How?”
“Callie, please. We have to talk. If you know this information, you are not safe. What is going on?”
“I met Antonio Marchesi, Dad.” I told him the words I promised I wouldn’t tell him, but Antonio almost knew me better than I knew myself. There was no way I could hold this in. There was no way knowing what I knew now that I couldn’t tell my dad what was going on.
“He wants revenge on you, Dad, and he was using me to get to you.”
“What revenge? What has he done? I will kill him with my bare hands if he’s laid a hand on you.” My father’s voice changed suddenly. Gone was the loving, sweet man I’d grown up with. He sounded deadly. He sounded ferocious. He almost sounded as evil as Don Roberto. I shivered slightly.
I didn’t recognize this man. Did I not even know my father? He had raised me by himself. He had loved me. He’d given up his life for me. I thought he was this sweet, unassuming man who’d been grieving his whole life for his lost wife. But based on the way he was acting and talking now, I didn’t know my father at all.
“Callie Rowney, I’m going to give you one minute to tell me where you are.”
“I have to go, Dad,” I said, hanging up quickly. I looked at Josh and blinked.
“That didn’t sound good,” he said, shaking his head.
“I just feel like my entire life has been upended,” I said slowly, shaking my head, wiping my tears away. “My dad’s not the innocent man that I thought he was.”
“So he was cheating on your mom?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “He was cheating, and I think there’s more to the story than even Antonio knows. The way my dad was acting, he was nervous. There’s something else going on here, Josh, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”
“Callie,” he said, “no, you can’t.”
“Oh, yes, I can. I’m not a little girl anymore, Josh. I’m a woman.”