Chapter Eleven
Fuck! “We’ll be down in a minute.” As soon as Gorgon closed the door, Vassago picked up Marie’s clothes and handed them to her. “Hurry up.”
“How does he know I’m here? Who told him? Holy shit!”
“Marie, please. Just get dressed.”
“Why does he want to see me? Does he know what I did to Vince?”
“I don’t fucking know, do I? But when Donny comes here and asks to see us, we go. Period.”
Finally, she began putting her fucking clothes on. “He found out your plan, I’ll bet,” she said.
“Ya think?”
“But why does he want to see me? How does he know where I am?”
“You’ll find out soon enough. Ready?”
“Hang on. Jeez.”
By the time he and Marie walked into the office Donny used at the club, Digger was there. Vassago was glad not to see Gorgon. His cousin looked upset, but not angry. Vassago let out the breath he was holding.
Donny smiled at Marie. “It’s been too long.” He cut his gaze toward Vassago briefly before addressing Marie again. “How are you doing?”
“I’m all right, Donny. And you?” She sounded cautious and confused, but Vassago couldn’t blame her. He felt the same way right now. He didn’t dare glance toward Digger.
“I’m all right. But I’ve heard things, and wanted to clear up the questions I had.” He leaned forward and tented his hands. “What brought you to Creek Ridge with Digger?”
Oh fuck. If she lied to Donny, Vassago would have no choice but to set the record straight. And if he did that, not only would he throw her under the bus, but any chance he had of making her his own would be lost forever.
She started to speak, but Vassago cut her off. “Donny, she was scared. She ran. It was an impulsive, stupid move, but she knows that. Digger accepted her apology, and so did everyone in this building.”
Donny gave him an indulgent look. “I’d like to hear it from her, if you don’t mind.” Underneath the soft tone was the edge he knew only too well. And then it struck him. She’d been right. He already knew. Somehow, he’d found out. How stupid he’d been to imagine this wouldn’t eventually get back to Donny.
Marie gave Vassago one desperate look, and he nodded, hoping she correctly interpreted that as him telling her that the only way out of this was to tell Donny the absolute truth.
“I ran into Sofia Genova. It was a coincidence. She told me Lenny was dead, and she was probably next. They owed Roberto di Stefano a lot of money, and they hadn’t paid him, despite being given chances to do so.”
“When was this?” Donny’s expression and tone were all business now. Vassago dared to sneak a glance at Digger, who was visibly sweating. Jesus Christ.
“Less than a week before I came here.”
“Go on.”
“I need to back up a bit. Vince only wanted to marry me because he was hoping you’d throw work his way. He was using my family’s association with you as a way to branch outside of Brooklyn and get in your good graces.”
Donny nodded. Nothing in his expression indicated this wasn’t something he hadn’t already heard.
“I helped Sofia get away. I got her fake IDs and took some money out of the bank. Something Vince had let drop about a recent job led me to believe that target had been Lenny. Vince couldn’t prove what I did, at least not at the time, but when he confronted me about Sofia, it was clear he suspected I had a hand in her disappearance.”
“Keep going.”
“I went to a friend’s house in Jersey. Someplace he wouldn’t look for me. I found out he’d been having me followed since we got engaged, and that’s how he knew I had lunch with Sofia, went to the bank, and got fake IDs.”
“How is it no one saw you give those items to Sofia?’
“I didn’t give them to her. We arranged a drop-off through one of my friends.”
“The same one whose house you went to in Jersey?’
“No. When I got there, to that particular friend’s house, I made sure I wasn’t followed. Digger had told me about coming here for a visit a few days prior, so I lied to him and asked to come along.”
“Had Vince given you any indication before all this that he wasn’t marrying you because he loved you?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me about that.”
“Well, he put me down all the time. Said I was low life trash and so was my family. Threw the history in my face. Hated my job and my friends.”
“And yet you said ‘yes’ to him. Why is that?”
“He wasn’t saying those things when we were dating.”
Vassago wanted desperately to hold her, but it was also important to let Donny have his say. Whatever he’d found out, he also was fishing for more information on Marie’s and Vince’s relationship.
“When did he start putting you and your family down?”
“Pretty much after I had the ring on my finger.”
Donny leaned back. “You’re missing a piece, Marie. Not your doing. You couldn’t have known this. I never would have sent any work Vince’s way. He’s too close to di Stefano, and he once betrayed a man named Anthony LoPresti. You likely know the family name.”
“Who doesn’t?”
Vassago and Digger exchanged an astonished glance. “You’re kidding,” said Digger.
“I’m not. Vince worked alone for a reason. He has a history of betrayal and lies.”
Marie put a hand to her mouth.
“Are you gonna be sick?” asked Vassago.
She shook her head.
“You were right about Sofia and Lenny,” said Donny. “Di Stefano paid Vince to kill Lenny. When that still didn’t produce the money from Sofia, he was supposed to take her out, too.”
“I didn’t know for certain that Vince was set to take her out at the time.”
“Why did you do it, then?”
“I don’t know.” She cut her gaze toward Vassago, and he nodded again. She might as well tell Donny everything. “Jimmy—I mean Vassago and I talked about that. We think I gave into my impulse as a way to get back at Vince for treating me so badly.”
“If that hadn’t happened, when were you gonna break it off?”
Vassago almost spoke again because it was creepy the way Donny had just zeroed in on the exact thing he’d asked Marie earlier.
“I don’t know. I should have. I was marrying for the wrong reasons.”
“Your family.”
“Yes. They hated him.”
“But he broke it off when he suspected you helped Sofia.”
“Yes. Told me he didn’t trust me.”
“She was being followed throughout her entire engagement,” said Digger. “I got confirmation of that through a mutual friend.”
Donny nodded and the corners of his mouth lifted. “The same friend you had kill Vince, no?”
And there it was. The real reason Donny was here, trying to tie up loose ends. Marie let out a sound halfway between a gasp and a sigh. “Are we sure it’s done? Is he dead?”
“Positive.”
“Yes,” said Digger. “The same friend. But I didn’t know about Vince’s past association with LoPresti, or that he had betrayed him.”
“He betrayed a lot of people. He’s lucky he lived this long.”
“Not asking this to be morbid, but why did Vince tip his hand with Marie?” asked Vassago.
“I don’t believe he meant to,” said Donny. “He was likely angry that she’d done something he hadn’t figured would happen. Also, no one put a hit out on her that I heard about.”
“I’m glad to finally know the truth,” she said. “And I’m glad to know I wasn’t being paranoid.”
“You weren’t. Although I wish you hadn’t lied to Digger to do it, I’m glad you were able to get away.”
“So does that mean di Stefano doesn’t know that Marie helped Sofia get away?” asked Vassago.
“Now that I don’t yet know,” said Donny. He glanced toward Digger. “If he finds out, and if word gets around that you’re here, he might make the connection on his own.”
“That’s what we all thought, too,” said Digger.
Vassago couldn’t take anymore. He scooted his chair close to Marie’s and pulled her into his arms, not giving a shit who thought what about the gesture.
“Donny, will this affect my family’s association with you?” she asked.
“No.”
“Thank you. I’m so sorry.”
“I know you are. You looked me right in the eyes and told me the truth. Digger has accepted your apology, and you’ve made things right with the MC. That’s all that matters to me now. Digger and Jimmy know the stakes here. I’d trust them both with my life.”
Which made Vassago’s guilt over what he and Digger had planned even worse. Maybe they should just tell him?
“Is my family safe?” asked Marie.
“They are. I haven’t heard about anyone wanting to get rid of them.”
“Which means di Stefano might not yet know what Marie did,” said Digger.
“Maybe. But right now, I want to know why you didn’t come to me about Vince.”
“You have enough trouble with di Stefano,” said Digger. “I wanted to make sure no one could trace this back to her, or to you.”
“And so you did. It was clean. Any one of his past associates could have done it. He had a lot of enemies.”
“That’s what I do best, Donny. You know that.”
Donny narrowed his eyes, and Vassago resisted the urge to reach across the table and smack Digger in the face. Fucking asshole. He just tipped their hand.
“Yeah. I know. So what else you two got cooking? You didn’t come here for a fucking vacation, Digger. What aren’t you telling me?”
“Donny, you’re family,” said Vassago. “We take care of our own.”
“You aren’t in the game anymore. You think I want you to end up dead?” He glanced toward Marie. “You think she wants you dead? She’s worshipped you from afar since she was a kid. Whatever you got planned, don’t do it. Let me take care of it. I got contacts all over the fucking country.”
“So do I,” said Digger, his voice and expression angry. “And you already had an attempt on your life. You think me and Jimmy are gonna let that happen again? You’ve taken care of us all your adult life. It’s time we paid you back a bit for that.”
“Donny,” said Vassago, “you’ve taken care of this club for years. Me and Digger are going to do this, if we have to drive to Brooklyn and do it ourselves.”
“What?” Marie looked at him like he’d just said he and Digger were going to fly to the moon. “Are you insane? I didn’t know you meant to take care of it on your own. I thought you were gonna go there and arrange for someone to do it.”
“You knew about this?” asked Donny.
“Yeah, but not that they were planning on doing it themselves!”
“This is what we do,” said Vassago.
“You haven’t done it for almost twenty years,” said Donny.
Vassago grinned. “You think I forgot how? We’re doing this. Especially now, in light of the new information. The longer di Stefano is out there and has time to connect the dots, the more danger you’re in, Marie is in, and this entire club is in.”
“How do you know I haven’t been planning it myself?” asked Donny.
“Have you?” asked Digger.
“There’s a lot more to consider with di Stefano than with some others. I have an entire organization to protect, not to mention this club.”
“A hit is a hit.”
“That’s why we were gonna make sure it couldn’t be traced to you,” said Vassago. “We considered this from all angles, il mio cugino preferito.”
“I still can’t sanction it, Jimmy. Give me time to look for someone who’ll do as good a job as Digger had done with Vince.”
“We don’t have time.”
“Give me one week.”
“A lot can happen in one week,” said Digger.
“And I’m asking you, out of respect for me as both your uncle and the head of my organization, to give me one fucking week.”
Digger and Donny locked gazes for long moments. Finally, Digger dragged his gaze toward Vassago. “You okay with that?”
“I think we owe Donny that courtesy, yes. One week. And then if he can’t find someone who can do this as well as you can, we’ll take care of it as planned.”
“Grazie, il mio cugino preferito.”
“Prego.”
It wasn’t what he’d hoped, but Vassago was glad it had come to this. If they’d gone ahead with their plan and then had to tell Donny what they’d done, the outcome would have been far less comfortable. In retrospect, it had been a rash decision, but one he was still ready to go forward with. Donny was family, and family took care of their own.