Dirty Little Secrets (16 page)

Chapter Thirty

“What’s the matter, Ava? Surprised to see me?”

“Something like that.” Her response was barely a whisper.

“No ‘welcome back?’ No, ‘Joseph I’m so happy you’re alive’?” he asked in a mocking tone.

“I saw you die. I saw all the blood. I felt your pulse. You were dead.”

Joseph shrugged casually. “What can I say? I had good help.”

“You faked your own death. How did you pull it off?”

“And why couldn’t you stay dead?” Angelo asked under his breath.

Joseph turned his attention to his bleeding younger brother. “If I were you I’d shut the fuck up. You’re not off the hook for any of the shit you pulled either.”

Angelo glared at his brother but wisely kept his mouth shut. Ava’s mind was reeling. Her husband was alive. Had faked his own death. Had left her and Maia behind without a second thought. Her anger started to slowly rise to the surface again amidst the shock of her current situation.

“Well how did you do it?” Ava asked in a stronger tone.

“Blood bags. I had them taped to my chest. There was a sniper waiting for us in the garage with instructions on where to shoot me to make it look authentic.”

Ava swallowed. “And what about your pulse? You weren’t breathing.”

Joseph laughed. “Blowfish poison. One of the bullets that hit me contained a tiny needle that injected it inside me. I admit that part of the plan had me nervous. Too much of it and you’d be dead for real. Lucky for me I worked with a pro. I stayed dead long enough for you to have my funeral and then I rose from the dead and went on my merry way.”

Ava’s eyes narrowed. “Well bravo for a death well played. You sure fooled all of us, especially the daughter you left behind who’s been grieving for her father. Who’s had to endure all the snide remarks people say about you even though you were dead. Way to go, Joseph.”

Her husband took a step forward. “Don’t you get mouthy with me. I love Maia. She’s my angel.”

“Save it, Joseph. Now tell me why you faked your death.”

“It came to my attention through certain channels that some of my associates wanted to take me down. I couldn’t let that happen. So I made a deal with the Feds. I’d give them enough information on my fellow mob guys to take them down while I faked my death. When the job was done I’d resurface.”

“You rat,” Angelo said.

“For once we’re in agreement, Angelo,” Ava said before facing her husband again. “I thought you lived by a code. Respect, loyalty and above all else never go to the law. You sold out everything you believed in to stay on top.”

Joseph took a step forward. “Don’t you dare talk to me about respect and loyalty. You don’t know the meaning of the words, you whore.”

Ava felt like she’d been slapped in the face. “Whore? Who do you think you’re calling a whore? I was never unfaithful to you before or after you married me. You were the one who couldn’t keep your cock in your pants.”

Joseph laughed. He laughed like her words meant nothing. Like he was in total control. The hand holding her gun began to shake.

“I see you haven’t lost your balls. Nice to see someone around here still has some.” Joseph tossed a pitying look at his brother.

“Somebody has to since neither of you still seem to have them,” Ava said, ice in her tone.

“I’ve never lost my balls. Only someone with balls of steel would pull off what I did.”

“If that’s how you want to look at it go right ahead, frankly I don’t care what you do anymore,” Ava raged. “I just want to know why you did this? Why you stalked me, tried to kill me and then kidnapped our daughter? Tell me Joseph, was this part of your game when you decided to play dead?”

“No, Ava. I planned to come back to my wife and my daughter, but you had to go and screw everything up, didn’t you?”

“Me? What did I do?”

“I don’t know what you did to Angelo to make him lose his mind. To forget that you were off limits, no matter if I was dead or alive. Once something belongs to me, it always belongs to me. Apparently that wasn’t a lesson neither of you understood.”

Ava shook her head. “No. I belonged to you a long time ago. Then I was just a scared girl doing what I needed to do to save my family. I put up with a lot from you Joseph, but that’s over. I have my own life now and you are not going to rise from the dead and ruin it. You and I are done.”

“You’re damned right we’re done. At first the phone calls were just to scare you, to see if you were still on your guard. Still the ballsy broad I married. And then I saw you with Dominic and I knew it was over. You betrayed me with my own son. You’re going to have to pay for that, Ava.”

“Too bad for you I’m not going to let that happen.”

Ava turned. From the shadows emerged Dominic, his weapon trained on Joseph. His eyes were icy green chips.

“Now if this isn’t a regular family reunion. Nice to see you…son.”

Dominic moved Ava behind him. “I’m not your son. What I am is Ava’s new man.”

“Well this just got weird. What’re you trying to prove, son? That you’re as much of a man as I am? That loyalty means nothing?”

“I don’t need to prove anything to you. Contrary to what you think not everyone and everything revolves around you. And you want to talk about loyalty. Did you show me any when you didn’t leave me anything in your will?”

Angelo rose unsteadily to his feet. His hate-filled eyes settled on Dominic. “Bastards are entitled to nothing. You’d know this if you really knew how the business works.”

Dominic swung his gun at Angelo’s chest. “Unless you want me to drop you permanently, I suggest you shut up and mind your own damn business.”

“Why you…”

“Shut it, Angelo.”

Angelo glared between his brother and Dominic. He looked like a rabid dog trying to decide who to pounce on first.

“You can save the fake paternal hurt and all the other crap you tried to feed to me. I’m not your son. My mother and I had a nice, long talk and she admitted the truth. Andre Bonasario was my real father and you had him killed in a jealous rage so not only am I going to make you pay for killing my father, I’m also going to make you pay for trying to kill the woman I love and taking her child. Your days are numbered, Martelli,” Dominic said. There was no warmth in his tone.

“Mighty big words from a pup who’s never been to a real gunfight. But thanks for the heads-up. When I’m done here, I’ll be sure to stop by and put a bullet between the eyes of your lying mother,” Joseph said.

“Enough of this,” Ava yelled.“Where is Maia?”

“Don’t you worry. She’s safe.” Natalie walked out of the shadows to stand beside Joseph.

“Natalie? What are you doing here?” Ava asked.

“Isn’t is obvious?” Joseph leered. “She works for me.”

Ava gritted her teeth. “I trusted you with the most precious thing I have, my daughter, and this is how you repay me?”

Natalie rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so melodramatic. This was about business. Joseph and my family go way back. When he came to me I saw this as an opportunity. Besides soon the dust will settle and Joseph will rise again, more powerful than before. When it became evident that you no longer deserved him, I was more than eager to take your place.”

“And what a wonderful job you’ve done, Natalie.” Joseph pulled her to him and kissed her.

Ava nearly gagged as she watched her husband tongue down Maia’s former nanny. “Both of you are disgusting.”

“And what about Mrs. Valdez? Is she safe as well?’ Dominic asked.

Joseph smiled. “No. The old bat put up too much of a fight when we showed up to get Maia. Besides, we couldn’t have any loose ends.”

“You’re a monster. I knew you were ruthless, but I always thought that buried somewhere inside of you was a shred of decency. I see now that I was wrong,” Ava said.

“Yeah. Well we both were wrong about a lot, but you know what? It doesn’t matter anymore. This has been a nice little reunion but it’s time to end things. But don’t worry, Natalie and I are going to take very good care of Maia. She won’t even miss you.”

“Over my dead body,” Ava snarled.

“That is about to be arranged,” Joseph said.

He snapped his fingers. From the right and left of the warehouse emerged a group of men with guns, all aimed at Ava and Dominic.

“Not so fast,” Dominic said. “Boys.”

Ava heard footsteps. Daring to glance behind her, a breath escaped her lips when she saw that Dominic had brought his own army. A row of men quickly came to slide in place beside him. No wonder he wasn’t as worried as she’d been. He’d never planned to come alone.

“Oh, so you want to play with the big boys? You just got what you wanted,” Joseph said.

The next thing Ava knew she was careening to the side as Dominic pushed her out of harm’s way. The warehouse burst into a litany of gunfire. Ava tried to regain her balance as her body moved to hit the concrete. She couldn’t allow that. She had to stay alive to save her daughter. While holding onto her gun, somehow Ava managed to land on her backside. As she looked up, she saw Natalie scampering away amidst the gunfire. She wasn’t about to let her get away.

As the gun battle raged all around her, Ava got to her knees and crawled on the concrete following the fleeing Natalie. Moving as fast as she could, while holding onto the gun, Ava saw red as the babysitter tried to escape. The gunshots continued to echo behind her, but Ava had to trust that Dominic would handle whatever came his way. It was the only way she’d be able to hold herself together.

Feeling safe enough to get to her feet, Ava gathered herself and ran after Natalie. The young woman turned and saw Ava behind her. She ran faster, but not fast enough. It was if Ava’s feet had wings as she hawked Natalie down. With less than a foot separating them, Ava raised her gun and shot at Natalie’s feet. The woman went down in pain, clutching her bleeding left foot. Ava stopped running and stood over her.

The nanny scooted away from her. Fear shined in the woman’s eyes. Ava didn’t care. She’d trusted Natalie, had come to care for the young woman and still, she’d been stabbed in the back. Aiming her gun at the frightened girl, Ava kicked her hard in the side. Natalie cried out and Ava was sure she heard bone crack. But she didn’t care. She was long past caring.

“Please, Ava. Please,” Natalie begged.

“Why shouldn’t I kill you? Give me one good reason.”

Natalie held up her hands in a defenseless manner. “Because I do love Maia. Regardless of whether or not I was working for Joseph I care about her. She’s the little sister I never had.”

Ava kicked her again. “If you really loved her, you would have never done what you did.”

“I had no choice. You know what kind of man Joseph is,” Natalie pleaded.

“Yes I do. Now how did you find Maia?”

“I called Mrs. Valdez. Told her I was frantic with worry over Maia and I got her to tell me where they were. I called Joseph. He had a couple of his guys go with me. After I’d gotten Maia away, Mrs. Valdez tried to stop us so one of the guys tied her up. Then they shot her and dumped her body in an alley. I tried to stop them. You have to believe me.”

“I don’t have to believe a damn thing and trust me I don’t. Goodbye.”

Ava aimed the gun at Natalie’s head, but the younger woman surprised her by kicking her in the leg, hard. Ava fell to the ground. Losing her grip on her gun, it clattered away from her on the concrete. Natalie made a move towards it, but Ava stopped her with a hard right hand to the face. Natalie’s head snapped back and Ava was on top of her banging her head into the concrete floor.

“You’re going to pay for how you betrayed me,” Ava screamed.

“No, Ava. You will be the one that pays.”

Ava looked up. Joseph came towards her brandishing a smoking pistol. This was it. She closed her eyes and waited for death. The blast of the gunshot made Ava cringe, but no bullet ever pierced her flesh. Her eyes opened. Joseph lay at her feet. Blood poured from a wound in his head. Her husband was dead. Her savior stood over her. Dominic looked like a Roman god come to save her. She smiled at him. Natalie scrambled to Joseph’s lifeless body.

“Joseph. Joseph. No. No.”

“He’s all yours now. Bitch.”

Dominic reached down and helped Ava to her feet. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m…” The words died in Ava’s mouth.

Bleeding and battered, Angelo raised his gun and squeezed the trigger.

“Dominic, no!”

With all her strength, Ava pushed her lover out of harm’s way. The force of the bullet striking her flesh was like a freight train filled with lightning hitting her. She fell on the floor next to Dominic. Her hand touched her side. It came away coated in blood.

“Ava. Ava.”

Dominic’s voice seemed so far away. She felt feverish and suddenly tired. Her eyes flickered as she turned and saw Dominic rise to his feet. Angelo stood still, too shocked to move as he stared down at her. Dominic shot him at point-blank range. Blood started to pour from his chest. As he fell to his knees, Dominic shot him in the head. The Martellis would rise no more. Now they both were dead. And soon she would join them. But at least Dominic and Maia were safe. That was all that mattered. She closed her eyes and greeted the darkness.

Chapter Thirty-One

A week. One long week of prodding, poking, and sticking, but now it was mercifully over. Ava was home and very much alive. Sitting up in her bed, propped against a myriad of pillows, she heard the sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs. She smiled. Stretching across her pillows she closed her eyes and feigned sleep. It was hard not to open her eyes as the footsteps entered the room. Ava could hear something being set down on the nightstand next to her. Then she felt the slightest brush of lips across hers.

“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”

Ava opened her eyes. Dominic stood over her, a huge smile on his face. Wearing only a tank top and boxers and freshly shaved, he looked good enough to eat.

“I’m awake, my handsome prince. Now how about another kiss?”

“Gladly, my fair maiden.” Dominic laughed.

Climbing onto the bed carefully not to jostle her, he pulled Ava closer and kissed her again. Their kiss was eager, but unhurried. After all, they had all the time in the world for love. As Dominic’s tongue slipped into her mouth, Ava moved his hand down to her breast. He growled against her mouth before pulling away.

“No more of that until you’ve had your breakfast,” he said.

Ava pouted. “Really?”

“Yes,” Dominic said. He sat up and removed the tray from the nightstand. “After what you’ve been through I’m going to make sure that you eat enough to keep up your strength.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

Ava smiled gratefully as Dominic handed her a plate of stuffed French toast. As she’d closed her eyes inside the old Woolworth building she’d been sure that she was dying. That she would never look into the eyes of her daughter or her lover again. But fate had deemed her worthy of a second chance. When she’d awoken, it had been inside a hospital, bandaged and hooked to machines she didn’t know the names of.

Dominic had been asleep in the chair next to her bed. Reaching for him, he’d come instantly awake and pressed kisses all over her. She’d asked about Maia, who’d been taken to the cafeteria by a nurse. Despite the shock of being taken by her supposedly dead father, her daughter was going to be okay. Maia was resilient, just like her.

“I know, but after everything you’ve been through I can’t help but worry about the both of you,” Dominic said. He crunched on a piece of bacon.

Ava took a bite of her toast. Sweet and buttery, it practically melted in her mouth. She’d really hit the jackpot with Dominic. Gorgeous, loyal to a fault, an amazing lover and a great cook. Not to mention the fact that Maia loved him. She was really one lucky woman.

“Hopefully our time of worrying is over. For some reason the man upstairs decided to give me a second chance. The bullet missed all my vital organs and arteries. I’d say everything else we encounter will be a breeze compared to that.”

“I hope you’re right. We both could use a break from the drama.”

“I’ll second that,” Ava said.

Dominic held out a piece of bacon towards Ava. He indicated for her to take a bite. “I went to Maia’s room to see what she wanted for breakfast and the poor kid was still sleeping.”

“That isn’t like her at all. Maybe I need to go check on her.”

Dominic shook his head. “You sit right there and finish your breakfast. If she’s not up by then, we’ll both head down and look in on her.”

Ava cut up another piece of toast. “Yes sir, Boss.”

“I think maybe she’s been sleeping later than usual because sleeping is her way of processing everything that’s happened. Us having to tell her that her father was dead again and not coming back this time had to take a lot out of her. Not to mention telling her she wouldn’t see Natalie or Mrs. Valdez anymore.”

Ava sighed. “I know this hasn’t been easy on her. That’s why I’ve kept her out of school since all of this craziness started. I wish there was something, anything I could’ve done to protect her from all of this.”

Dominic cupped her chin. “You can’t protect anyone from a threat you don’t see coming. You did the best you could do. Don’t beat yourself up over it. What’s done is done. Let’s put the past behind us, once and for all.”

Ava raised a brow. “Can we really do that?”

“Of course we can. Why would you ask something like that?”

“Let me see, two high-profile mobsters end up dead in a warehouse as do quite a few of their minions. Oh and one of those mobsters was a high-profile informant for the Feds. Why wouldn’t I still be worried about that?”

Dominic smirked. “Ava, have we been contacted by the police in any way?”

“No.”

“Okay then. Stop worrying. Joseph and Angelo are dead and I promise you on my life that is not going to come back and haunt us.”

“How? What did you do?” Ava asked.

“Let’s just say my cleanup crew and an accidental fire took care of everything. Not to mention a few paid-off city officials.”

Ava took another bite of her breakfast as she stared at her lover. There wasn’t an ounce of tension in his body. He looked relaxed. Carefree. As if there was really nothing for them to worry about.

“How did you manage all that? Are you taking over the Martelli territory or something?”

Dominic laughed. But he stopped when he saw Ava’s eyes were wide with concern.

“Baby, no. I swear to you. I want nothing to do with the mob. I just want a life with you and Maia and maybe some babies in the future. I’ve had enough danger to last a lifetime. I know you must wonder about my ties to the mob…I used to be a messenger for a few of Joseph’s people. You wouldn’t believe how much danger there was in just delivering messages for wise guys. It paid pretty good if you stayed under the radar, which was easier said than done.”

“So that’s how you made your money.”

“Yeah, but I’m not interested in that life anymore. I have nothing to prove.”

“No, you don’t, but I can’t help being worried about how everything is going to play out now.”

“What do you mean?” Dominic asked.

“There’s usually an investigation anytime something burns down unexpectedly. Not to mention, all the bodies. There’s no way you could’ve managed to sweep all that under the rug on your own.”

“I didn’t. I figured we were walking into an ambush so while you were asleep that night I called a few guys I know in the business and they promised to provide backup. While you and Joseph were talking one of the guys was recording your conversation. He sent it to quite a few of the honchos of the other families Joseph had ratted out. Needless to say, my buddy’s phone started ringing off the hook while we were still inside the warehouse.”

“So what happened?”

“Mario snuck out before the gunfight started and called for reinforcements. The other families were more than happy to help dispose of Joseph and his incompetent brother. So by the time I found you, they were already inside moving some of the bodies. After I got you out, they removed Joseph and Angelo. One of them shot Natalie.”

“I can’t say I’m not happy she’s dead.”

“I told you everyone involved in this was going to pay and I meant that.”

“I know you did. It seems you’re one who keeps his promises.”

“I try. I will always try.”

“I’m sure of it. So what else happened while I was out?”

“I have no idea where they planned to take the bodies. All I know is I heard one of them talking about taking them to someone they know that had an incinerator. I didn’t ask for details. After that they torched the place and called in their contacts to make sure enough time passed before someone came to investigate. So it’s over.”

“Wow. They really believe in taking out the trash, don’t they?”

“Yeah they do. They offered to give me Joseph and Angelo’s territory.”

Ava’s mouth dropped open. “They did?”

Dominic nodded. “Yeah. They were impressed with how I’d handled things. I told them I appreciated the honor but ‘the life’ wasn’t for me.”

“So they’re going to leave you alone? Leave us alone?”

“Of course. Trust me, they’re going to be more than happy to divide the Martelli territory amongst themselves.”

Ava blew out a breath. “Wow, then it really is over. We’re safe and free.”

“And very much in love,” Dominic said in a soft voice.

“Yes we are. But there’s something I have to know. What you told Joseph in the warehouse about him not being your father, was it true?”

“Part of it,” Dominic said. He stroked her cheek.

“What do you mean?”

“Joseph isn’t my father. He was never there for moments a father should be there for. He showed up to sleep with my mother and occasionally he’d show a little affection towards me. That’s all it was.”

“So you didn’t talk to your mother about your paternity?”

“No. There’s no reason to open old wounds for her. That part I lied about.”

“That means that biologically you could be Joseph’s son?” Ava asked.

“Yes. Does that still bother you?”

Ava shook her head. “No. Not anymore. Your biology doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is the man you turned out to be. A man that I love and respect.”

Dominic smiled. “I knew somewhere deep down inside you were a softie.”

“Let me have my moment, but don’t get used to it. You fell in love with a tough chick. I gotta keep you interested.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Ever.”

“Are you sure? I am a little bit older than you. One day some young girl might turn your head.”

Dominic snorted. “Please. There’s not a woman on this earth that can ever compare to you. Don’t you ever forget that. You hear me?”

“Yeah. I hear you.”

“Good, then how about we talk about more important things, like you marrying me?”

“Marry you?”

“Yes. Why are you so surprised I’d bring it up?”

“Because we haven’t even had time to breathe and now you’re talking about marriage. Isn’t that a little sudden?”

“No. I love you. I want to be with you until my body turns to dust. I want to see Maia grow up and have a family of her own. I want us to have children of our own someday… I want to do things right with you, Ava.”

“We can do all that without getting married, Dominic.”

He shrugged. “I know that, but call me old-fashioned. I want it to be legal.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life, but if you need time, how about a long engagement before we make things official?”

“I like the sound of that.”

Dominic smiled. “I’m so happy to hear that. Ava, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife at a later date?”

“Absolutely. Yes.”

“And does that include taking my last name?”

Ava laughed. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“Deal.”

Dominic took her plate and set it on the tray on the nightstand. Lifting up, he pulled back the covers and climbed underneath with Ava. Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her hard. She wrapped her arms around him holding her close. His arousal pressed into her body. Her nipples pebbled. She’d finished her breakfast. It was time to satisfy another of her body’s appetites.