Gia

My dad pushed open the door to my office and cleared his throat. I spun around in my high-back leather chair and smiled.

“Too busy for your old man?”

I pushed the keyboard away from me and leaned my elbows on the oak desk. “No. I’m never too busy for you. Come in and sit with me.”

Why was he here? My father always called before he made an appearance. The pained expression on his face made me nervous. He looked as if he’d aged ten years in a matter of months, though he tried to hide whatever had furrowed his brow in concern.

With a thick head of black hair combed to the side, my father stood tall, the weight of the world balanced on his broad shoulders. Shrewd in business and in life, he had a fierceness about him that sent a chill down my spine when his dark eyes met mine. We looked so much alike, from our grayish blue eyes to our black, curly hair, and olive skin.

He shut the door behind him and strolled into the room, taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of my desk.

“How are things at City Hall?”

“Can’t complain. Everything’s going according to plan.”

“You think you’ll become mayor?”

He nodded. “I have a good shot.”

“Can I ask you something, Dad?”

“Sure, honey. Anything.”

“It has to do with the Morellis.”

He sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “There are some things I won’t be able to tell you.”

“I understand how this works, believe me, I do. Sometimes, Angelo tells me things. I have seen things firsthand. I know we’re not good people.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Why would you say something like that?”

“We’re not. Our company is overrun by mobsters. You were elected to City Council so you can be Angelo Sr.’s yes man. And I’m going to marry a Made man one day. You can’t honestly tell me anything about our lives is normal.”

“As far as the government knows, everything about this company is legitimate,” he confessed, though neither of us believed a word he’d said.

“Can you honestly sit here and tell me this company was not founded with racketeering money? You grew up with Angelo’s dad. You are best friends. That’s how everything started between Angelo and me.”

He shoved a hand through his dark hair and sighed, looking away from me. “My biggest regret is getting you involved in any of this. But long before everything got out of hand, you were already in love with Angelo. I didn’t want to see you get hurt. I had no idea what to do. If I told you to stay away from him, I would’ve looked like a hypocrite when I was still friends with his father.”

“Do you wish you had a different life? One that doesn’t involve the Morelli family.”

“Why are you asking so many questions about the Morellis?”

“I thought this was what you wanted, but you don’t seem happy. You look miserable.”

“Is anyone ever really happy?”

I shrugged. “I am. Angelo makes me happy.”

“This isn’t the life you wanted, Gianna. Don’t lie to me. I can see right through your act.”

“I thought Angelo Sr. would let Angelo go when he got into college. I was hoping he would have a different life.”

“Angelo never had an option, honey, but you do. You can graduate from law school, take the bar in any state you want, and get the hell out of this corrupt city. I will pay for wherever you want to go.”

“If Angelo asked you if he could marry me, what would you say?”

“Yes.” He said it without hesitation.

“Out of fear of retaliation or because you think he’s the right man for me?”

“Being a parent is hard, Gianna. One day you will have to make the same decisions as me. It breaks my heart to see you with a man who kills people for a living. On the other hand, I know Angelo would do anything to protect you. No one can keep you safer than him. Not even me. I don’t know how to protect you from men like him. But he does.”

“So, you’re okay with me marrying a murderer because he can keep me safe?”

“If this were a perfect world, I would have someone kidnap you and hide you somewhere Angelo could never find you. But I have no doubt that boy would search to the ends of the earth for you. I see the way he looks at you as if you’re his property. It scares me.”

“I could never be afraid of Angelo,” I admitted. “He loves me too much to hurt me.”

“As long as he makes you happy, I’m okay with it, even if I hate what he does for a living. Anyway, I came here today for a reason. Mr. Castelli is coming to see you this afternoon to finalize the deal on the land we’re buying with the Morellis. I asked Jennifer to put him on your schedule for three o’clock.”

I folded my hands on the desk in front of me. “Who is he?”

“You know him, honey.” My dad got up from the chair and smoothed a hand down the front of his black suit. “He’s Mr. Morelli’s legal advisor.”

“Oh, you mean Paulie?”

He bobbed his head in acknowledgment. “I’m sorry I put you in the middle of this mess I made. I promise I will fix it. I am getting us out of this business, but it will take me some time. Favors have to be paid.”

I knew what my father was trying to tell me without saying it aloud. Angelo’s father preferred favors to money. They were of more use to him. He could call upon someone twenty years later if he’d wanted to, asking them to perform whatever request he needed. A favor was not something I would ever want to owe to a Morelli.

“Don’t worry, Dad. I can take care of myself.” I wanted to reassure him, even though I had no idea how difficult it would be for him to make good on that promise.

He smiled at me over his shoulder with his hand on the doorknob. “I know you can, honey. Come see me after your meeting. I’m hanging around the office today. I have some work I need to clear up.”

* * *

After I met with Paulie and the closing agent to sign the real estate documents, I went to visit my dad. The transaction was rather painless. We were already in way over our heads. Earlier, I’d wanted to tell my father we were purchasing a piece of land that Angelo and his brothers used to dump bodies. But I didn’t have the heart to tell him. Whether I told him or not, I had a feeling he knew. My dad wasn’t an idiot. He was well aware everyone in our lives was corrupt.

I stopped to grab a soda and a candy bar from the kitchen along the way, eating and drinking as I rode the elevator upstairs. My dad had the only office on the top floor of Carlini Construction. It was more of an open room with lounges and desks full of design specifications than what you’d consider an office.

After my dad fired some of the previous executives, he renovated the space. Privacy was required in our business. No one could ever overhear the conversations which went on between our business associates and us.

I strolled off the elevator, not expecting my dad to have company. From down the hall, I heard him shouting at someone in Italian. He only did that when he was livid. Whoever was in his office had him on edge. The rage in his tone sent shivers down my spine. I was never one to walk away from danger. My curiosity would, someday, get me killed if I wasn’t careful.

Creeping toward my dad’s office, I finished off my candy bar and chased it down with a swig of Dr. Pepper. The closer I got the louder the voices grew. My father was in a good mood when he’d come to see me, but I could tell there was something wrong. I could sense it in his demeanor.

“Leave my daughter out of it,” my dad said, now in English. “She has nothing to do with my debts.”

His debts? I was so confused.

“We have one more property we need you to purchase, but we can’t do that without a little help from people higher up than you.” It was Paulie Castelli’s voice emanating from the room.

He must’ve come upstairs to visit my dad right after our appointment.

“It’s never just one favor,” my father spat. “Every time I repay you people, I somehow owe another.”

“It would upset Mr. Morelli if he were to hear you’re being difficult. Lorenzo, we have known each other for a long time. All we ask is you make the introductions and extend the family an invite to the event next weekend.”

“Do you have any idea how that will make me look? The mayor will be there.”

“Are you ashamed of your heritage, Lorenzo? Are you embarrassed by the man you call your friend?”

He sucked in a deep breath and blew it out. “Fine. But I can’t promise more than a few seats at my table. Gianna and Angelo can sit with my wife and me. That leaves room for four more.”

“Mr. Morelli would like to bring his wife and sons with him.”

“I’ll have the tickets messengered over to your office,” my dad said, irritated. “This is an invite to a charity event, not a guarantee you’ll be able to convince anyone to sell you that property. What do you want with it anyway?”

“Does it matter?”

“I guess not.”

“It’s best you’re kept out of the logistics,” Paulie said. “Thank you for your cooperation, Lorenzo. Mr. Morelli will be pleased.”

“Is that all?” My dad’s voice was so loud it rumbled. I never heard him this angry. He was always calm and levelheaded with me.

“No, there’s more. The bank is about to foreclose on the property in New Jersey, the one Mr. Morelli has stressed needs to stay in your name.”

“All Angelo does is take, take, take from me. What kind of friend does that?”

“You need to get something straight, Lorenzo. We made you a City Councilman. The only reason you have this position is because Mr. Morelli made sure of it. Everything you have is because of him, and this is how you repay him?”

My dad sighed. “I wish Angelo could understand that I can’t accommodate his request. Let me talk to him.”

“No, this matter is business. All of Mr. Morelli’s business affairs go through me.”

“If I don’t comply, then what?”

“That’s up to Mr. Morelli to decide.”

“I’ll take my chances with Angelo. The least he can do is grant me a meeting to discuss.”

“We’ll be in touch.” Paulie’s voice was so cold a shiver ran down my spine.

I hid in a dark, vacant office and waited for Paulie to take the elevator downstairs before I wandered down to my dad’s office. He looked beyond frazzled when I stepped inside, slamming drawers and cursing under his breath.

“What was that all about?”

My dad turned around to face me, his jaw clenched in anger. “A necessary evil. Can you find a dress to wear for next weekend? I need you to come to the hospital fundraiser. Your mother will not be happy I was forced to invite the Morellis instead of her friends from tennis.”

“Make sure you feed her enough champagne to get through the night.”

My dad laughed. “I might need something stronger than that, honey. She’s not a fan of the Morellis.”

“I know. She tells me every day how much she wishes I would marry a lawyer.”

“Angelo will be a lawyer soon enough.”

I took a seat on a plush chair across from him and dropped the half-drunk soda and crumpled up candy wrapper on his desk. “She calls Angelo the Street Lawyer. No matter what Mom says, our degrees will still have the same seal from the Dean on them. Our admission to the Pennsylvania Bar will be the same.”

“Can you blame her? I know firsthand how hard it is to be in bed with the Morellis. If Angelo wasn’t my best friend, I would have gotten out a long time ago.”

“I’m hoping by the time our kids are older Angelo will be done with all of this.”

“Gianna, he will never be done. Once you’re in, the only way out is death. You know this.”

“I do. But I’m not going to raise children around criminals.”

“Angelo is a criminal, honey. Your kids will grow up the same way as you, except they will be fully immersed in the lifestyle. I don’t want that for you or for my grandchildren. But what choice do I have?”

No matter how many times someone told me Angelo was a bad man, I could never comprehend what he was doing was wrong. It was as if I could only see the boy he was when we were children. Despite all the violence, I loved Angelo more each day. I was somehow able to overlook all the bad and replace it with the good times and memories Angelo had given me.

“How come you’re talking about having a family all of a sudden?” My dad glanced at me with concern in his eyes. “Are you pregnant?”

I shook my head. “No, nothing like that. Angelo wants to propose to me after we graduate from law school. He wants me to get my career sorted before we start planning our lives together.”

His eyes held so much sadness it tore me up on the inside. Regardless of what my father said to me, he would have preferred I dated another man. He wanted the same things for me as my mother.

They say the heart wants what the heart wants. Mine wanted Angelo from the second I laid eyes on my blue-eyed boy. He was always mine. And I was his.

“I’m glad to hear it,” my dad said. “You look happy when you’re with Angelo. What more could a father want?”

A different life for me?