Chapter Nineteen

Jillian

“Damon, I can’t believe we’re getting married in less than three weeks. Time is flying by. Before we know it, these two little munchkins will be running around the house, getting into everything.”

“Speaking of our wedding…you’ll be close to the cutoff time to travel while pregnant, especially with twins. Would you rather go somewhere close for our honeymoon? Or wait until after they’re born and go to Maui? Or do you have a better idea?” Damon was driving us to Mama Lina’s, his eyes continually scanning the road for potential threats. The wedding shower would begin soon, and his entire family would be there.

“We were going to have a quick wedding in the Bahamas then a long honeymoon in Maui later, weren’t we? That conversation seems like so long ago now. So much has changed since then.”

“If you still want to go to Maui, I’ll be glad to take you, doll. But you’ll have to promise you’ll rest a lot while we’re there. You did say Hawaii is your dream vacation spot, and I’m all about making your dreams come true.”

“You are the sweetest hit man I know.”

“Hawaii it is, then. But we’re staying there for two weeks, then you’re taking it easy for another two weeks after we get home. Deal?”

“Deal! Deal! Deal!” I bounced in my seat, overcome by my excitement with our honeymoon destination.

“We’ll charter a midsize jet that can fly nonstop to LA before refueling, and it will have plenty of space for us to stretch out. You can put your feet up on the way there. It’ll still be a long trip, doll.”

“We can lie on the beach and wade in the water. We can rent a car for our own sightseeing tours. I’ll take it easy, I promise. You know, I don’t want to be admitted to the hospital on our honeymoon.”

“Okay, you convinced me. We’re going.”

I leaned across the center console and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Damon. You’re spoiling me, and I love every minute of it. You’re the best.”

“Maybe I should’ve told you I have some business to take care of while you’re at the wedding shower first. But you can’t take that back now.”

“That’s fine, babe. I didn’t expect you to stay for the wedding shower. It’s usually all women, bows, packages, and punch. They’re not exactly your scene. Are you coming back to pick me up?”

“I won’t be back anytime soon, doll. I’ve arranged for Luigi to load all the gifts into the car and drive you back home. Let him do all the lifting—he knows to take them inside the house for you then stand guard outside until I get home. Be sure to lock up and set the house alarm anyway.

“I’m going with Dad to a Council meeting where he’ll announce his retirement and succession. They have a ceremony after the meeting to name me as the new Boss. The smaller families aligned with us will be there as witnesses. Only the made men are allowed to attend, and it’s all very boring. I’d probably rather stay at the shower with you, to be honest. But this is one tradition I can’t shake.”

“I understand they have rules that say I can’t go with you, but I would like to be there when you officially get your promotion. You’ll have to tell me all about it when you get home.”

“You know, I used to think the same thing when I was a kid and Dad was promoted at these meetings. I couldn’t attend them either before I had my official rank in the family. I had built it up in my mind as some elaborate gathering, with all the finest foods and adult libations on silver platters, offered by waiters dressed in tuxedoes with tails.

“Then I went to my first one and realized nothing about it matched what I’d envisioned. Nothing, doll. Stale cigar smoke fills the room, and not even the good cigars. We’re talking cheap imitations. No waiters in tuxes with hot hors d’oeuvres. We had cold deli sandwiches wrapped in wax paper and small bags of chips. The adult libations—no flutes of champagne anywhere to be found, but we do have a lot of beer in longneck bottles. Old guys sit around, shooting the shit about ‘the good ol’ days’ and how hard they had it compared to now, then they make the official announcement to the same people we’ve talked to all fucking night. You’re not missing anything, I promise you.”

“Maybe I’ll just stick to the shower your mom has coordinated for me. No flutes of champagne for me, but the food will definitely be better than cold deli sandwiches. I can bring you a plate home with me if you want.”

“That’d be perfect, doll. Just so you know, you’re spoiling me too. But don’t stop. Ever.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“So that means you won’t be too busy having fun with the ladies and forget about feeding your man tonight?”

“I promise, I won’t forget your supper.”

I leaned over and kissed him again, then smoothed the hem of my short black dress. I’d found it during my shopping excursion with Carrie. It was a pullover and the hem hit at mid-thigh, but the fabric was soft and loose, giving me plenty of room to grow into it. And growing into it I definitely was. The main reason I chose it for the shower, though, was because it turned out to be the most comfortable outfit I bought that day.

Every day, the babies were stealing my ability to breathe. Not in a bad way, just in a they’re-growing-and-pushing-on-my-lungs way. My handy book of what to expect predicted this would happen. Being vertically challenged also didn’t help the situation of the ever-expanding babies. Despite my increased energy, had I mentioned how easily I became winded to Damon, he would’ve nixed the trip to Maui and used restraints to keep me bedridden all the time.

We turned into Mama Lina’s driveway, and my mouth gaped open at the number of cars parked in front of the garages and along the front circular drive. “Damon, I’ve never seen this many cars here. Who are all these people?”

“All my cousins and aunts, I’m sure. I doubt my grandmother and great aunts made the trip from Italy for the shower, but I could be wrong. I’m sure some of Mama’s friends and neighbors are in there too. We may need to get Paulie to bring the van over for the gifts if everyone bought us something. They won’t fit in Luigi’s car.” Damon chuckled and shook his head before getting out of the car.

I sat in stunned silence, picturing enough presents to fill a utility van, while he rounded the front of the car, headed for my car door. The size of the family struck me once again, just as it did the first time Damon brought me to meet them. The large family I’d always wanted waited inside—for me. They’d arrived at Mama Lina’s bidding, but they were here for me.

Having no family left, not even in Louisiana, had presented a dilemma when we first started planning the wedding. Mama Lina pictured a huge, elaborate wedding, with at least ten bridesmaids and ten groomsmen. When I pointed out I only had Carrie to be my maid of honor, tears sprang to her eyes, and I immediately thought I’d killed her dreams of coordinating the perfect ceremony for her son.

Then she hugged me and apologized.

“I’m so sorry, cara, for being so inconsiderate. I should’ve thought about that from the very beginning.”

“Inconsiderate? You’re the most considerate person I know. Look how much you’ve already done for our wedding. Mama Lina, I didn’t want to let you down. Damon told me how much you’ve wanted your kids to marry.” I grasped her hands and held them in mine.

She laughed and shook her head. “No, bella, Damon misunderstood. I’ve always wanted my kids to find a love like Vin and I have. I want them to be as happy as they can possibly be. Of course I want grandkids—every parent does. But only if my kids are with the person made for them.”

With the arrival of the wedding shower, the actual ceremony wouldn’t be far behind. And everyone inside the house would be there to watch our nuptials and celebrate our special day with us.

“Doll, are you getting out of the car?”

Damon’s hand appeared inside the car in front of me, so I took it, and he helped me to stand. Though I didn’t admit it, I appreciated his help. Getting out of his low-profile car was getting harder and harder to do gracefully.

“I can’t believe so many people came, Damon. This is a little overwhelming.”

“They’re family, Jilly. Mine—and yours. They’ll treat you like family from the moment they meet you. Trust me. And you’d better get used to all this. Whatever mountain of wedding presents you see in there will pale in comparison to the baby shower Mama’s planning.”

“Oh. My. God. I hadn’t even thought about that yet.”

“No time to think about it now. Focus on this shower first. Mama’s food awaits you.”

“That actually helps. A lot. Thank you.”

Damon was absolutely right, of course. The moment I stepped into the room, I was surrounded by multiple Marchetti-related women. Cousins, cousins of cousins, aunts, sisters, friends, neighbors, sisters-in-law. There were so many, I lost track of names and how they were related or not related. The love in the room had a hum of its own, though, and I was completely surrounded and enveloped by it.

We played games, we ate, and we laughed for hours. Some gave practical gifts such as cookbooks, sets of pots and pans, and Italian kitchen how-to manuals. Others gave naughty gifts, including edible panties, sexy lingerie, and assorted flavors of warming lube. I lost count of how many times my face flushed deep red and I hid behind the package while laughing along with all the new women in my life. But I wouldn’t trade one minute of the elaborate celebration for anything in the world. The new friends I made, the new family I attained, the new bonds I sensed—my lifelong dream of being in a huge family was finally realized.

Damon was also right about another thing. There was no way all the presents would fit in Luigi’s car, even with me sitting in the front seat and packing the back seat and trunk. When Paulie arrived with the van, the two men loaded it with all the packages while I said my goodbyes and thanks to everyone. Paulie drove on ahead of us to the house while I fixed Damon’s to-go dinner plate, then Luigi and I left in his car.

“Thanks for driving me home, Luigi. The shower ran longer than I thought it would, but I had so much fun with Damon’s family. They’re the best.”

“It’s my pleasure, Jillian. You know, I wasn’t sure about you at first, what with you and Damon being from completely different walks of life and all. But now I get it. Miss Lina was right—you are the one for him. No doubt about it. True story, this is the first wedding I’m actually glad to attend, because I know the couple truly means it when they say until death.”

“Thank you, Luigi. That’s so sweet of you to say. I appreciate your—”

Screeching tires interrupted my sentence, turning my words into screams instead. Cars came at us from all four directions, boxing us in so the men inside could jump out with guns drawn. Then I saw him. He approached our car in a leisurely stroll and with a satisfied smirk on his face.

Luigi grabbed his gun and jumped out of the car.

“Luigi, no!” I yelled for him to stop, but he didn’t.

Shots rang out so I crouched down with my stomach to the back of the seat. One arm covered my babies and one covered my head. When the gunfire stopped, the car door opened and the devil himself spoke.

“Get out of the car, Jillian. You can come on your own, or my men can drag you out by your hair. Personally, I prefer the latter, but it’s up to you.” Geno Sanfratello had made his move.

When I sat up, his men had the car surrounded and were all leering at me. In that moment, the reason I couldn’t breathe had very little to do with the position of my babies. Somehow, I managed to slide across the seat and climb out of the car. Someone behind me grabbed my arms and tied them behind my back. Geno took a wide piece of black tape from his soldier’s hand and slapped it over my mouth. On reflex, I pulled my head away from him and took a step backward. When I did, I saw Luigi lying on the road, the blood from multiple bullet holes in his body quickly covering his clothes.

With a violent jerk of my arm, Geno pulled me toward one of the cars. One of the soldiers popped the trunk open, and my legs suddenly refused to move on their own. Geno yanked again, causing me to stumble behind him. I was barely able to regain my balance and avoid eating the pavement. When we reached the trunk, I fought being put inside, but I was no match for the two goons who picked me up and tossed me inside anyway.

Another man walked up to Geno and handed him my purse. Geno rummaged through it until he found my phone. With an evil grin, he spiked it on the pavement like a football, before throwing my purse on top of me. Then he closed the lid while laughing.

“Damon.” All I could do was cry his name, hoping he found me in time.