Antonio
It felt like déjà vu as I watched Callie make her way through the crowd. When our eyes had met, she’d looked like she’d seen a ghost. I’d half hoped she’d give me a wave and a smile, but that was wishful thinking. Just hours ago, she’d told me how much she hated me. It was almost like fate had brought her to me tonight. Someone up above was laughing at her and me. I was going to let her go. It was too soon for us to have any sort of real communication and conversation about what had happened. I was about to turn away when I saw her stop next to two guys. I wasn’t bothered about Josh; even though she’d said she was into him, I could tell from their body language there was nothing there. But the blond guy with the long hair was now putting his arms around her. I felt myself stiffening as he whispered something in her ear, and I watched as he slipped his hand down.
Fury filled me as I watched her laughing. She looked back up at me and tossed her hair to the side. She licked her lips slowly and started swaying back and forth. I could see from Josh’s face that he wasn’t happy, either. What the fuck was she playing at? Blond guy then moved his hand up, and I felt myself grabbing my gun. There was no way in hell I could ignore this shit. I made my way to my private elevator and headed down to the main floor. I didn’t care what Callie was thinking or feeling. She was not going to fuck around in my club.
“Hey, boss.” Jimmy approached me, a smile on his face, as he waited outside the elevator. “I had a feeling you’d make your way down.”
“And why is that?”
“Your friend is here.”
“What friend?”
“You know…” He winked at me, and I hissed at him. “Hey, I figured you’d see her. You two are like a moth and a flame. Only I’m not sure who’s the moth and who’s the flame.”
“What the hell is she doing here?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Dancing? Having a good time.”
“She’s supposed to be at home.” I grabbed him by the collar. “You did take her home, right?”
“I dropped her off at the dorm, boss.” Jimmy’s smile left his face. “Wasn’t she at Melba’s with that roommate of hers? So, obviously, she was back at the dorm first.”
“Yeah, true.” I let go of his shirt. “Sorry.”
“No need to apologize to me.” His eyes narrowed as he gazed at me. “She really got to you, huh?”
“Not at all.” I almost spat the words out. “She was just another pussy to me, but if I’m to succeed with my plan for revenge, she can’t be out here pulling up her skirt for every fucking jackass in the club.”
“She’s wearing jeans,” Jimmy said, not blinking. “Kinda hard to fuck in a club when you’re wearing jeans. Not saying it can’t be done… just find a dark spot and pull them down and have her bend…” He paused as he realized he was making me even more furious. “Well, I’m sure you know. You’ve fucked more hoes than me.”
“Jimmy, sometimes you’re a fucking idiot.”
“Sorry, boss.” He shrugged, not hurt by my words at all. “Where’s Alessandro?”
“He took Elisabetta home.” I rolled my eyes.
“Elisabetta?” He looked surprised. “He’s not hitting that, is he?”
“No!” I shuddered. “That’s fucking gross. She’s our sister, well, most probably.”
“No fucking way.” His eyes widened, and he shook his head. “Luisa and your papa been doing the dirty?”
“Does that surprise you?” I stared at him and then looked out at the crowd to make sure Callie hadn’t left yet.
“Nope. Don Roberto got a stick made of steel.” Jimmy laughed. “So, what’s the plan tonight?”
“I need to speak to Callie.”
“She don’t wanna talk to you, boss.”
“I don’t care.”
“There’s a rumor going round that Tommasso Romano is trying to start a war against you,” Jimmy said softly. “I heard he’s working with the Di Lorenzos.”
“Nico?” I raised an eyebrow. “He wouldn’t work with Tommasso.” Nico Di Lorenzo was underboss of the Di Lorenzo famiglia in Philly. He and I hadn’t had many dealings with each other, but I knew that if there were any other mafioso family to be wary of in the States, it was them.
“He wants to get back into New York.” Jimmy shrugged. “That’s the word on the street, anyway.”
“And what does Tommasso have to offer him?”
“Everything.” Jimmy leaned forward and whispered in my ear. “Word is, he knows all your dad’s dirty secrets.”
“Don’t we all?” I asked, staring into his eyes. “Tommasso’s not going to do shit.”
“You disrespected his daughter. Serena is the apple of his eye,” Jimmy said. “You’ve made a mockery of her in our world. No one is going to want her now.”
I pressed my lips together. I knew I’d spoken rashly. I knew better than to disrespect Serena and especially to her father. I just hadn’t been able to stop myself. Not when Callie was there and my father was acting like such a jerk. I still didn’t know how he knew the song Callie’s mother had sung to her when she’d been younger.
“Boss, you okay?” Jimmy’s gruff voice softened, and he touched me on the arm. “She’s a good girl, you know. Feisty, but good.”
“No one said she wasn’t good.” I brushed past him. And then I stopped and looked at him. “How do you know she’s feisty?” My blood was boiling, and I couldn’t help but notice that Jimmy wasn’t able to make eye contact with me. “Jimmy?”
“I may have made a joke about when I seen yous two in the shower.” He shrugged. “She didn’t appreciate it, so I stopped.”
“You made a move on her?”
“No, boss.” He held his hands up quickly. “I wouldn’t make a move on your girl. Never, boss. You know that.”
“I know.” I nodded and looked back toward the dance floor. “You ever seen that punk before?”
Jimmy looked over to Callie, Josh, and the blond dude and narrowed his eyes. “The one kid goes to school with—”
“Not Josh, the other guy.”
“Um… I don’t think… Oh wait…” His eyes widened, and he swore under his breath.
“What?” I watched as Jimmy pulled his gun out and brushed past me. “What the hell, Jimmy?”
“That’s Troy Nightingale. He’s with one of the Puerto Rican gangs. They push coke and special K. He works for Juan Escobar.”
“He doesn’t look Puerto Rican.” I frowned as I followed him to the dance floor.
“They don’t all have dark hair and dark eyes, boss.” He gave me a look, and I laughed.
“I know that, Jimmy.” I wracked my brain to see what I could remember about Juan Escobar. I didn’t have many dealings with the local gangs. They were too small-time for me. “So what’s his deal?”
“He tries to get teens and girls hooked on feeling good,” Jimmy said. “He’s most probably trying to deal in here.”
“No drugs go through the clubs.” I was pissed. “I’ll fucking kill him with my bare hands.”
“’Cause of the drugs or ’cause of her?” Jimmy asked softly, and I ignored him. I walked ahead of him, pushing through the crowd.
“Hiya, Antonio,” a familiar voice called out. I looked to the side and saw the familiar green eyes of Viola De Laurentis, a woman I’d slept with a couple of years ago.
“Viola.” I nodded but continued, not caring if I was being rude. Finally, I was within a few feet of Callie. I could see she’d noticed me because she immediately started moving away from me. I could see Josh and the punk Troy, standing there, looking confused. I didn’t care about them. I looked at Jimmy, who was following me. “Deal with them,” I told him as I continued after Callie. She’d made her way off the dance floor now and was running toward the entrance. I picked up my pace, slightly annoyed at her running away from me again. When would she learn?
I made my way out of the club and looked to the left and then to the right. I could see her running down the street, looking back at me with panicked eyes, and I started to chase after her. It only took me ten seconds to reach her. I grabbed a hold of her and pulled her to me.
“Where do you think you’re going, Cinderella?”
“Let go of me.” She wiggled against me, trying to free herself.
“It’s not midnight yet. It’s not time for you to flee.”
“You think you’re so funny, Antonio, but you’re not.”
“I’m not trying to be funny.” I glared at her and pushed her up against the brick wall. The streetlight next to us flickered on and off, making her shadow dance back and forth. She was breathing heavily against me, her eyes wild and manic, her lips trembling. “Why were you running?”
“Because I didn’t want to talk to you.”
“You didn’t have to run away.” I shifted my stance so that my hip was jutting into her stomach.
“Obviously, I did.” She lifted her knee like she wanted to hit me in the groin, but I pushed it down hard. “What do you want?”
“Why were you with Troy?”
“Oh my God, you know him, too?” She rolled her eyes.
“You haven’t answered my question.”
“I was picking him up to have a threesome with me and Josh. We were going to get kinky tonight.”
“Very funny,” I growled, holding her hands up against the wall. “How well do you know him?”
“I just met him tonight, not that it’s any of your business.”
“He’s a drug dealer.” I stared at her bare throat and then down toward her breasts. They were perched high on her chest because I was holding her hands and arms up. I ran my right hand along her arm and all the way down the side of her body. Her eyes held mine as I moved them up toward her breasts. “Are you trying to fuck a drug dealer?”
“He’s not a dealer… His friend is…” She gasped as my fingers traced under her breast.
“And how do you know that?” My palm moved up and grazed her nipple.
“He asked me if I wanted special K.” She bit down on her lower lip. “Antonio, don’t.”
“And what did you say?” My fingers gently pinched her nipple, and she cried out softly. “Callie, what did you say?” My lips touched her neck, and I bit into her skin. My fingers ran back down and slipped up under her shirt.
“I said, back off,” she snarled at me, her little teeth poking out past her lips. She looked pissed and like she wanted to rip my eyes out, and I’d never been so turned on in my life.
“Good girl.” I licked the side of her face, and a small moan escaped from her lips.
“I didn’t tell Troy to back off. I’m telling you to back off.”
“Is that any way to talk to the man of your dreams?”
“More like the man of my nightmares.” She pushed against me, her palms splayed against my chest.
“That’s not what you said last night,” I whispered in her ear, my eyes gazing into hers. We stared at each other for a few moments, and I saw a flitter of emotions in her stare: hurt, anger, remorse, lust, sadness. Her brown eyes were the most expressive I’d ever seen as we looked at each other; I felt like I could fall into her pools of chocolate. She could trap me in her muddy trenches.
“Last night, I didn’t know who I was dealing with.”
“And now you do?”
“Now I know you’re for the streets.”
“I’m for the streets?” I raised an eyebrow. “What exactly does that mean?”
“It means that you’re not worth my time.”
“But Josh and Troy are?” I hissed in annoyance.
She pressed her lips together. “Troy is a man I just met tonight. He offered me something that I thought would be fun and maybe I was—”
“You think drugs are fun?” My hand moved up her throat and clutched her neck. “You think overdoses are exciting?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. The Mafia boss is going to lecture me on drugs.”
“I’m the underboss right now,” I clarified, and she snorted.
“Oh forgive me, that’s so much better.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re a dog. Scum of the earth. Your entire life is based on illicit dealings and illegal activities. You’re going to talk to me about trying drugs for the first time?”
“With those two bozos? Yes. You barely know the doped-up guy and Josh is hardly man enough to—”
“To lie to me? To trick me? To use me?” She hit me in the chest. “You don’t get to say anything to me, Antonio. Do you think I give a shit about you or trust you? You’d love for me to overdose and die. My dad would be devastated.”
“That’s not true.” I stepped back, letting her move away from me. “I would never want you to die.” I ran my hand through my hair. “Callie, you have to understand… when I embarked on this…” I paused and looked around us. “It had nothing to do with you personally. I didn’t know you. I didn’t think—”
“Don’t try and tell me that you never realized you’d develop feelings for me or some other bullshit.” She threw her head back and laughed hysterically. “That would make me puke. I would literally vomit all over your Italian leather shoes if you pulled out that bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit.” I was taken aback. That line had been a part of my plan. I blinked at her in surprise. Where had my romantic bookworm gone? Had I literally ruined her in twenty-four hours? The thought depressed me.
“What do you want from me, Antonio?” Her voice cracked.
“I want you to understand,” I said bleakly. “I want you to… I don’t know… forgive me.” I fell to my knees on the pavement and looked up at her. “I want you to just understand what drove me.”
“What does it matter?” She shook her head.
“It matters.” My heart thudded in my chest. “You’ve brought the wolf to his knees, Callie… my little lamb.” I reached up and grabbed her waist and pressed my head against her abdomen. I could feel her heart beating through the gentle swell of her belly. She reached down and played with my hair. A taxi drove past, playing Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” loudly, and a frenzy fell over me. “Callie.” I pulled her top up slightly and kissed her stomach. “Why are you doing this to me? You’re driving me crazy,” I muttered quickly. “I want to lock you up and throw away the key so that you can belong to nobody but me.”
“What did you say?” Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at me. Her fingers ran back and forth across my scalp, and I felt her fingernails digging into my skin. “Get up, Antonio.”
“You think I’m a fool?” I jumped up again and pulled her into my arms. “You think you’ve bewitched me?”
“The only person that’s bewitched you is yourself.” She rolled her eyes. “Step aside, Marlon Brando. Antonio Marchesi is here to steal your crown.”
“I love that you compare me to Marlon Brando.” My voice was husky as I pressed my lips to her neck. “Am I the Godfather to you?”
“No, you’re more like Dr. Moreau.” She gasped as my tongue licked her upper lip. “Antonio…” Her eyes were blazing as she gazed at me.
“Tell me you don’t want me. Tell me you’re not turned on right now.”
“You lied to me.” She shook her head. “You used me.”
“I fucked you as well,” I growled. “And we both liked it.”
“That doesn’t excuse what you did.”
“You don’t understand?” I slammed my fist against the wall. This wasn’t about revenge now. I was beside myself. “You don’t fucking understand why? Really, Callie? Really?”
“I understand.” She pressed her lips together, and I could see she looked scared. She’d never seen me lose it like this before.
“Give me another chance, Callie. I can’t have you hating me. Let me make this up to you. Let me—”
“Antonio… no.” Her voice was blunt.
“But you said you understand.”
“It’s not even been a day, Antonio. I need time. I need…” Her voice drifted off, and she looked away. “I don’t even know what I need anymore. I just need to figure out who I am now. Who my dad is. What my life is.”
“I can help you.”
“You’re the one that fucked it up in the first place,” she said bitterly, and I grabbed her face.
“Don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying.” She pushed my hands away. “I’m not some weak little girl. I’m a woman.”
“I know you’re a woman.” I stared at her, the lust in my eyes evident. “I want you. Tell me you don’t want me.”
“I don’t want you.” She licked her lips and yawned. “I’m tired, and I want to go home.”
“Is that an invitation?” I teased her, wondering if she remembered the last time I used those words, but she didn’t even smile. In fact, she didn’t even respond. “It was a joke, Callie… Remember that first night we met and—”
“I don’t find your jokes funny. I don’t find you funny.” Ice dripped from her tongue. “Are we done here? I’m tired, and I just want to be away from it all. Goddammit, Antonio, don’t you get it? I want nothing to do with you. Being around you makes me sick.” She sounded sad. “You’re not the man I thought you were. You’re not the man I hoped you were.”
“But I—”
“I get it. You had your reasons. And, yeah, if everything you said is true, my dad is the scum of the earth. But I’m not my dad. You don’t play with my feelings to get back at him and have me forgive you. What you did was unforgivable.”
“So you’re saying we’re done.”
“We’re not done.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “We never really started. You’re the man who stole my virginity with a lie.”
“You can’t say you didn’t enjoy it,” I whispered, pissed off at everything that was going on.
“I also can’t say that I didn’t think I was falling in love with you as well.” A lone tear fell from her eye. “But none of that is true now. I never want to see you again in my life, Antonio. I don’t care what you have to say or what you want to do. Fuck it, if you still want revenge on my dad, do what you want, but leave me out of it.” She rounded her shoulders and looked me dead in the eye. “’Cause if you don’t, you will be on the receiving end of my wrath. And trust me when I say, I ain’t no innocent little bitch.”
My jaw dropped at her words, even while my inner brain cheered her on. This was a side of Callie I’d never seen before. I could tell from the look on her face that she’d even impressed herself. Ironically, Callie was exhibiting the exact sort of character that would make a great Mafia boss’s wife. Unfortunately, for both of us, that didn’t seem like an option that was still on the table. I’d underestimated her. Severely. I wasn’t going to be able to worm my way back into her life. I wasn’t going to be able to woo her and make her fall for me again. I’d fucked up. Whatever we had, whatever feelings she’d felt, they were done. She hated me. And as much as I wanted that, it made me feel sick to my stomach. I tried to tell myself it was because it would make getting revenge on her father so much harder, but I didn’t even know if I believed that myself anymore.