Quiet Wealth by J.L. Drake

“Everything okay?” Niccola tossed two cards aside and signaled to Francesco, who sent two new ones flying across the table.

“Yeah.” I glanced at my cards and saw I had a full house, and my thumb flicked the corner of the card, covering a small symbol at the bottom. “Just taming the pit bull.”

“Ernesto met Sienna today. It didn’t go so well.” Niccola filled in Vinni’s grunt of confusion.

“If he touches her again, I will kill him.” I directed my comment to Francesco, so he knew where I stood.

“Get in line,” he responded.

Reciting my cards in my head, I took note of the pot on the game board. The ace and king of hearts was currently the biggest pot. Now I just needed the chance to play them before anyone else did.

Once a month, we took turns hosting a game of Rummoli. We played for high stakes and took the game seriously but had a lot of fun. It was really more of an excuse to shoot the shit while we discussed things as a family. My father called it our family meetings. We were a modern syndicate, but a few old-school roots still ran deep. We knew we had to move with the times to continue to stay on top, but things like the Rummoli game went a long way back in the family and kept us focused.

“So,” Vinni started in, “how long are we going to let this prick rule the dockyard?”

“Until I know exactly what Stefano is up to.” I sipped my sidecar and, with my free hand, removed my tie.

“Fair enough.” He cleared his throat like he wanted to say more. I sent my glance his way and waited. “So, are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?”

“I’m not following.”

“The hot little number who has you in a twist?” He laughed. “I’ve never seen you in such a mess before.”

“I second that.” My father muffled a laugh, and I shot him a glare. We normally gave each other shit when we played, but we all knew when we left the room, that was where it ended. It was the main reason Mariano stopped being invited.

“I mean, I knew you two had a history,” Vinni went on, “but you’ve dated lots of women, and none of them have ever made you this uptight.”

“Is it because she doesn’t fall for your charms?” Harris, Niccola’s long-time best friend and basically family, chimed in with a laugh.

“She does,” I admitted. “She’s just a very stubborn woman who knows me all too well.”

“That’s the best kind, son.” My father laughed. “Women should make you work for their love.”

“Agreed,” Francesco, to my surprise, spoke up, “no matter how hard the work is.”

“Care to share, old friend?” I lifted an eyebrow at him. He didn’t often talk about his personal interests when it came to women.

“No, this conversation is about you.” He chuckled.

Everyone started to play the game. We usually began with the poker round. I tossed my chips in the center and waited for my father to go. He eyed me and leaned back, tilting the corners of the cards up.

“I’m in.” He tossed his chips into the center, and we waited for Niccola.

It came down to Vinni and me, so I showed my cards and won the pot. Now I led and played my lowest card.

“Ten of hearts.” I tossed my card down and waited for the others.

“Jack of hearts.” Niccola kept the game moving.

The dockyard hit was consistently playing in my head, and I thought it was time we discussed it.

“I think we need more cameras at the dockyard,” I started. “How was it that someone was killed on our territory, there was a woman witness, and the cameras were turned off?”

“It’s not more cameras that we need. It’s that they should be run on a separate WIFI network that only you and Piero can access.” Harris moved his hand to declare the suit was dead. He tossed out his lowest card. “Three of spades.”

“I like that.” I nodded. “Make that happen.”

“Will do.”

“My question,” Niccola puffed on a cigar, “was how did they get in with their mark? Did he pop him over a thirty-five-foot fence then jump over after him?” He pointed the lit end of his Cohiba at me. “He had help.”

“Not one of our guys would risk such a thing.” My father shook his head.

“Yet this happened.” Niccola shrugged. He had a very valid point.

“We have twenty-nine cameras and eight more in the parking lot.” Francesco cleared his throat. “Did we check all the footage? Because one of those should have picked up something.”

He was right, and we knew it. We went back to playing the game and kept the conversation light for the rest of the evening. Every so often, I’d check my phone, but there was no word from Sienna.

I lasted until a little after eleven before I couldn’t get my head off the tapes. I gathered my winnings and left for my office.

I fell asleep on my couch that night, running through the endless footage of my dockyard, and woke to someone shaking my shoulder. In a heartbeat, I jammed my weapon in that someone’s face.

“Easy.” Mama pushed my hand to move the aim of the gun away from her. “Why are you here?”

“Jesus, Mama, I could have killed you.”

“Why are you on the couch?”

“I fell asleep watching the footage.”

She gave me a worried look as she clicked off the TV on the wall.

“I want to talk about Sienna.”

“Okay.” I sat up and massaged my sore neck.

“I’m really worried about her being with Mariano. He’s reckless, and from what your father said last night, he was out with some woman, and then Anna told me she is going out with him tonight? Do you know if they are…?” She trailed off and waved her hand. “I need to keep remembering she’s not ours anymore.”

The cold rush that burst through me was chilling.

“I’m working on that, Mama.”

“Good.” She kissed my forehead and stood with a smile. She seemed pleased about how the conversation went.

I sighed, leaning back into the couch, not at all sure I could do anything about Sienna.

“Son, we had to push her away, but somehow someone had other plans. You either fight for our girl now, or you will lose her forever this time. Third chances are like finding the end of a rainbow.”

“I know, and I am working on it.”

I flopped my head back when she left and knew I needed to get myself together before I headed out for the day.

It wasn’t until three in the afternoon that she finally called me.

“Good afternoon, Sienna.” I quickly moved away and held up a hand to silence Donatello. The man in his hold wiggled and bucked, which only excited Donatello more, but he caught my drift and pulled the guy back toward the far wall and stuffed a rag in his mouth.

“Hi.” Her voice seemed off.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she cleared her throat, “and if the invitation still stands, I would be happy to join you for dinner this evening.”

I couldn’t help the smile that raced across my lips, and I kept my back turned away from the men. I felt like I was a young boy again standing on the edge of the pond waiting for her to agree to visit my home.

“All right, I’ll pick you up at six?”

“Sounds good. What shall I wear?”

“Something nice.” I grinned harder, loving the idea of being alone with her.

“That’s incredibly helpful. Glad I asked.” Her sarcasm made me chuckle.

“Wear a dress.”

“Thank you.” She sighed with relief. “I’ll see you at six.”

“It’s a date.” I couldn’t help myself.

“It’s dinner,” she reminded me, but I could tell I was working my way through her barrier.

I was tired of what was happening here and gave Donatello the word to finish the man off himself. I needed to get home. As I strolled across the dockyard toward my car, I fell into a deeper thought.

I seemed to be killing off a man a day. Since this hit was linked to Stefano and not one of my own, it wasn’t a hard decision to make. Still, I wasn’t any closer to learning why my dockyard had suddenly become attractive, and I still hadn’t figured out what the hell the numbers meant. My ships were arriving on time, and none of my oil was being touched or tampered with. Were they trying to distract me by driving my attention there so they could make another move somewhere else? That was a very real possibility that worried me.

“Elio.” Niccola addressed me as I came into the kitchen. He wore a pissed off expression as he looked up from the newspaper.

“What’s on your mind, Niccola?” My oldest cousin was just shy of two years younger than I was, and we had become quite close since we moved to Tuscany.

“Mariano and Anna are already into the grappa, and they haven’t even left for the evening. I don’t want to be a witness to your mother’s actions, so here I am.”

I rolled my eyes and bet my parents wished they never implemented the open-door policy for their house.

“Lucky for them, I hid the pistols from her.”

“Mm,” he chuckled, amused. “Where are you off to?” He peered at my signature black attire. The jet black with a pop of gray just spoke to my soul.

“I have a date.” I dropped my wallet in my breast pocket.

“With who?”

“Sienna.”

“Oh, please, let me be there when you drop her back off at Mariano’s place?” He laughed darkly as he pulled out his phone. “Vinni needs to hear about this.”

“I don’t think Mariano will even notice she’s gone.”

“Either way, text me, and I will pull up a chair for the performance.”

My phone rang on the counter, and I flipped it over to see the caller ID.

“Dammit.” I took a deep breath, not wanting to deal with work shit right now. I answered it quickly. “What?”

“I think I may have something for you,” Donatello grunted.

I squeezed my eyes shut and cursed again. “It will have to wait.” I hung up and rushed out the door. I was certainly not going to be late.

“Vinni.” I pointed to the car, not wanting to drive tonight. I didn’t want to be spotted in the city any more than necessary. I didn’t need to tell him why I was leaving; his brother had already filled him in. “Mariano’s.”

“Yes, boss.” He opened the door for me, and I slipped inside. Vinni was a lot younger, but he was a damn fine shot and always had my back. He loved to drive and had worked his way up from being my driver to a caporegime. However, I don’t trust anyone else behind the wheel, so he still continues to drive for me. Cousin or not, we all earned our place and our keep here. Plus, Vinni was the last person you’d ever think would have ties to the Mexican Cartel. The fact that he did had come in handy a few times.

“We will be eating at the E Lucevan Le Stelle Bar Bistro,” I let him know as we pulled up in front of Mariano’s house. As she stepped out, she nearly took my breath away.

A silver silk dress clung to her body, and when she took one of the steps, I saw her long leg reach out from the slit in the fabric. My hands twitched to feel that skin. Her breasts were half tucked into scraps of fabric, and her hair was long and wavy. I pressed my hands against my thighs to settle my legs then gathered myself and stepped out of the car.

“Ciao belle,” I whispered as she came closer.

“Elio.” She gave me one of her sexy smiles as she looked up with hooded eyes.

Be good, I had to remind myself as she walked past me and I caught sight of the thin ties that zigzagged across her back and joined in a bow at the bottom.

Vinni mouthed a “wow” as I climbed in behind her.

“Hungry?” I nodded at Vinni to get moving.

“I am.” She smiled up at me, and memories started to flood my head. I had to chase them away so I could focus on the here and now.

My phone rang, and I saw it was Donatello again. I wondered if the news was good.

“Please don’t let me stop you from taking that.” She glanced at the ringing screen.

I tucked it away, not wanting any interruptions.

“He can wait.”

I noticed her lips twitched. She was happy with my comment.

“Andrea came by this morning.” She filled in the silence, which she was always so good at.

“Oh, did she?” I lifted my arm and rested it behind her, wanting to be closer.

“Yes, she asked me if I wanted to come stay up at the Hill House for a while.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at Mama’s attempt to make sure she had her daughter back under our sole protection.

“And your response was…?”

“I can’t impose on your family again.” She kept her answer light, but I knew she was holding us all at arm’s length.

“You were never imposing, Sienna.” I curled her hair around my finger.

“Well, I still couldn’t. You have so many people there as it is.”

“We’re Italian.” I chuckled. “If the house wasn’t full of people we loved, we’d be lonely.”

“Still,” she shrugged, “her offer was kind, and I appreciated it.”

“It was.”

When we finally arrived at the restaurant, she reached for the door handle, and I quickly reached for her hand, holding it in a firm grip. I smiled, wanting to explain myself.

“Please wait a moment. Allow me to get out first.”

“Why?” she challenged me, and I blinked back at her words, still not used to a woman questioning me.

“Because I would want to take the first bullet.” I smiled to try to lighten the moment.

“What?” She laughed, but it trailed off when I didn’t join in on her laughter. “Um, all right.”

Vinni opened my door, and after his quick scan of the property, I joined him and did the same. I leaned down and offered my hand to her. Gracefully, she exited and glanced at both of us.

“Where are we?”

“One of my favorite restaurants.” I placed my hand on the small of her back and urged her inside as two other cars arrived.

“Mr. Capri,” the host greeted me and said a pleasant hello to Sienna. “We have your table ready for you.”

“Thank you.” I let Sienna walk in front of me, and I couldn’t help but drink in her curves as she moved. Some of the staff glanced her way in appreciation, and I fought the need to keep one hand on her.

“Oh, my,” she gasped as we stepped out onto the balcony that boasted a stunning view of this part of the city. The downward sweeping vista drew the eye, and the expression on her face was worth every penny.

“Your waiter is ready whenever you are.” The hostess placed our menus on the table and let us be. The orange glow of the evening sun picked out the subtle highlights in her hair as I came up behind her.

“Where is everyone else?” She didn’t turn around, but I knew she could feel me behind her, and her shoulders relaxed as I found my lips ached to kiss the delicate curve of her neck.

“When I dine here, I get the patio to myself.”

“Why?”

“Because,” I brushed my lips by her ear, “I can.”

“Must be nice getting everything you want.”

“It comes with a cost.” I pulled away, knowing if I kissed her neck it would be my undoing. “Would you like to have a drink before we order?”

“Sure.” She waited a beat before she joined me.