Quiet Wealth by J.L. Drake

“You look happy lately, my friend.” Francesco set a cold beer in front of me. “Would this have something to do with a certain young bella donna?”

“Perhaps.” I grinned and pushed out a chair with my foot, so he would join me. Francesco was actually our consigliere, but he was so much more than that. He was like a big brother to me, easy to talk to, and always had the best advice. He often stepped up when my father had a lot to deal with. Like right now, I knew something big was brewing by the way the staff in the house were practically tiptoeing around and my mother was constantly watching the phone. So far, I had purposely not asked about it. I had other things on my mind.

“Perhaps?” he repeated then pulled out a few photos. “Then perhaps you would not mind if I threw away these photos?” He held up a picture of Sienna that my mother had taken and wiggled his eyebrows. I snatched the photo from his hands and stared down at her. She was looking directly into the camera. Her hair had dried wavy after our swim, and the ends had caught the breeze and brushed across her cheek. I couldn’t tell if her eyes were a dark hazel or a deep navy blue. Either way, I found myself lost in them. I was careful about how much I stared at her in person, not wanting to make her uncomfortable, so this was the perfect opportunity to study her face.

“I know that look, Elio.” He pulled my gaze to his with his tone.

“Is it possible, Francesco? To be in love so soon? Before one has had time to test the waters and know what else could be out there?”

“There is no starting point for when to love, Elio. That’s not how it works. Someone much higher than us presents the opportunity. You can either embrace it when it comes and see where it takes your heart, or let the moment pass and hope another will come that will be more worthy of it. Only you can make that choice.”

“What if I don’t want anyone else?”

“Then you hold on to her.” He paused, and I saw that familiar smile appear that smoothed the stress lines around his mouth, and I knew his wife was on his mind.

“Are you thinking of your Mariella?”

“Mm.” His smile grew. “Listen to your heart and hold her tight.”

“There seem to be so many obstacles to being with her.” I sighed deeply to make the point.

“Obstacles will always be part of love, Elio. If love was easy, where would be the challenge in that? It takes work to be in love. When it isn’t, well, that’s when you must tread carefully.”

“How can I show her that I am worthy of her, make her see that I’m worth loving back?”

“By being you. You have a steady hand, a head on straight, and you lead with your heart.”

“And what about the family business?” I challenged.

“If she loves you, she’ll love all of you. Just go slowly.”

“I hate that house.” I flicked my head in the direction of the De Vaio house. “Renzo should be tied to the back of a pickup and dragged over shards of glass.”

“I don’t disagree.” He huffed with a smile at my choice of words.

“I saw it in his eyes that he wants her. It took everything in me not to drag him outside and beat his face in.”

“You said your part for now. The time will come for that, but there’s no reason to scare her until she knows the truth. Who knows what story Renzo might plant in her? You must be patient.”

“There you are.” Mama raced toward us, fluttering her hands nervously. “We have guests, so please get dressed. Your father needs you to befriend the son.”

“Mama.” I hated that part of the business.

“Elio.” Her face told me not to push, and a strangeness settled into the air. “Please.”

“Very well.” I headed back inside and noticed Francesco darted toward the staff corridors, no doubt to warn them to get ready.

Despite the tension in the house, I took a moment to remove a photo from a frame and replaced it with the one of Sienna and me. Our fingers were laced together, and my lips were pressed to her fingers. Such a simple moment, but yet so special. I held on to it for an extra beat then sat it next to my bed. I was looking forward to showing it to Sienna the next time I saw her. With one more glance at her smiling face, I hurried to my closet to get ready. My father had stopped in to quickly brief me on who was coming, and I knew I had very little time.

I rolled my eyes at the blacked-out Mercedes E-Class that led the four cars up our long driveaway. You might as well have spray painted mafia on the side of it. I rested my forearms on the railing of the balcony and watched as a fat man waddled over to help his over-the-top dressed wife and son, who looked to be my age. The DeSimone family were the head of their syndicate, which was much smaller than ours and was wedged southeast of our northern territory and just northeast of the Coppolas’. For years, they had tried to hold their own, but, as my father explained, they just didn’t have the power we had to rule. We hoped they would want us to absorb their territory, which would allow us to expand our reach.

“Elio.” My father stood in the doorway of my bedroom. “It’s time to come down, son.”

I pushed off the rail and fell into step behind him to go meet a family from an old syndicate south of Florence. I’d never met them before, mainly because they kept a low profile and had never been that active. Now, for some reason, they wanted to meet with my family to discuss boundaries. I felt uneasy when I noted how my father’s shoulders stiffened as Francesco opened the door for the fat man and his family to come in.

“Dom Capri,” he held his hands in the air, “what an honor to meet you.”

“You as well, Roberto.”

My father immediately waved him to follow, and he turned toward the hallway that led to his office. Apparently, he wasn’t wasting any time.

There was an awkward moment of silence while the rest of us stood there, then Mama cleared her throat and stepped forward.

“Please, do come in.” She forced a smile on her face and pointed to me. “This is my son, Elio.”

“Bria and Mariano.”

“Elio, show Mariano around, please.” Mama fluttered her hand at us. “Come along. We’ll go to the living room where we can chat.”

Then it was just the two of us. Normally, when I had to entertain, I did the same thing. I showed them around and then got us something to eat so we wouldn’t have to talk much, but to my surprise, Mariano started to laugh.

“Funny,” he followed me outside, “we’re nearly adults, and yet they treat us like children. Rather than being in there learning the family business, we are brushed off and sent to play.”

“I’m sure there’s a reason.” Relieved that he seemed easy to talk to, I handed him a beer from the ice chest near the grill, then waved for him to sit with me by the pool.

“I guess.” He shrugged, letting it go, but I saw his gaze dart to the family ring that I wore. “Lucky. How bad was the initiation?”

I admired the ring in the light as I remembered what I had to do to earn my position as an underboss.

“Not bad.”

“Did you look him in the eye as you pulled the trigger?”

“There wasn’t a trigger.” I eyed him and let his imagination run wild with how I might have done it. “He deserved it, and it’s one less bastard to worry about.”

“Were there any witnesses?”

I could tell he was more than ready to do the same as I had done to prove himself. He was as eager for details as I had been at that point in my life. Later, the faces became blurred, and you lost count of how many souls you had collected.

“Not anymore.”

“Nice.” He tapped his beer to mine.

For the next three hours, we chatted about everything from our childhoods to friends to girlfriends.

“Stella,” Mariano held on to his chest dramatically, “her body is shaped like an hourglass, and her lips are as full as the moon.” He smiled and touched his lips. “Not to mention the way she kisses me.” He rolled onto his side on the oversized lounge chair and finished off his third brew. “And what about you? You seem to understand what I’m saying.”

“Not really,” I lied not liking the idea of sharing anything about Sienna with a stranger, and I knew she wouldn’t like it either. I tucked an arm under my head and stared up at the late afternoon sky where the clouds worked to build mountains over our heads. “But I know she’s out there just waiting for our paths to cross.”

“She’s out there,” he agreed then moved to sit up. “Three brews and my bladder’s full.”

“Three doors down on your left.” I pointed to the house and bent to clean up the bottles. “I’ll meet you in there after,” I called to him, and he waved.

I was curious about what was happening with the meeting inside, so I made my way toward the living room where my mother seemed much more relaxed with the company than she had earlier. Then I heard my father laughing from his office, and my defenses lifted.

“There you are, Elio.” Mama beamed up at me as she poured a glass of white wine. “I was just sharing about how you found love by a pond in the middle of the woods.” She cooed like it was romantic, and I shifted uncomfortably.

“Sounds like Sienna is a very lucky young lady to find such a handsome young man.” Bria, who looked to be at least twenty years younger than her husband, crossed her legs and made a show of it.

“Thank you.” I shot Mama a glance, which she quickly picked up on and changed the subject. “Bria, have a little more of the cheese and pears. They are at their peak of ripeness just now, and we must enjoy them while we can.”

“I’d be happy to. They are delicious.” She leaned forward and gave me another show. I turned on my heel and hastily left, nearly bumping into Francesco, who stood by the entrance of the kitchen looking uneasy.

“Is everything going well, Elio?” he asked as I walked by.

“Please make sure I’m on the opposite side of the table from the wife.” I groaned and rolled my eyes.

“Only if you promise not to leave her alone with me either.” He chuckled darkly as he clearly had not enjoyed his own encounter with her.

“Deal.” I laughed and raced up the stairs, surprised to be met at the top by Mariano.

“Hey, sorry. My papa was using the restroom downstairs, and your mother said to use the one up here.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll be right down.”

“Sounds good.”

The rest of night went smoothly, and Francesco, true to his promise, kept Bria well away from me. Mariano and I decided on a plan to meet in the city for drinks later in the week. I found I liked talking to him, and he seemed to enjoy it as well.

After they left, I heard my parents quietly talking outside, but when I joined them, they quickly changed the topic.

“Everything all right?” I took a seat next to my mother and eyed them both.

“Yes, son, and thank you both for your help in entertaining tonight.” My father gave me a squeeze on the shoulder. “I think they will be a good asset to the family business, plus their syndicate is fading fast and the wolves are circling.”

“What do they bring to the table, Papa?” I was curious why these people had surfaced all of a sudden.

“They have a connection with Naples.” He gave me a dark look, one I knew all too well. The Naples syndicate had been after us for a long time. The news of my father’s recent illness spread quickly, and the sharks were out for blood. Little did they know my father was an ox, and it would take more than a mild heart attack to bring him down. Nevertheless, we had a bright, bold target on our backs.

“Roberto wants to join us and help keep Sicily under our rule.”

“Do you trust him?”

My father thought for a moment, then he looked at Mama. “I don’t think we have a choice right now. Not with your two uncles over on the mainland working in the north. Until they return, we need all the help we can get.”

“A watchful eye and an open ear are more important than you know,” Mama said quietly. “It’s a powerful tool to have, despite,” she paused, “an inappropriate trophy wife. She was interested to hear of your love interest.” She gave me a knowing nod as if to say Now you know why I brought up Sienna. We could never be too careful with what we shared with people.

“Understood.” I read her loud and clear.

“Elio.” My father drew my attention to him. “What are your feelings toward their son?”

I leaned back and nursed the water Francesco had given me. I felt better now that I knew what was going on and that my father felt good with his decision.

“I like him. We’re meeting up in the city later on in the week.”

“Did he pry?”

“Only about my initiation.” I held up my ring. “I didn’t say much, and he never once asked about the business.”

“Did he share anything with you?”

“No, we kept it light.”

“Good.” He lit his cigar and puffed the smoke away from us. “I think this is good.”