Endings & Beginnings (New Mafia Trilogy #3)
Read Endings & Beginnings (New Mafia Trilogy #3) Online
Authors: E. J. Fechenda
ENDINGS
& BEGINNINGS
Book
Three of The New Mafia Trilogy
E.J.
Fechenda
Copyright
© 2015 E.J. Fechenda
All
rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the
permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and
incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a
fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual
events is purely coincidental.
Cover
image by: Jessica Ouellette
For
all of the fans of The New Mafia Trilogy, you kept me going through dark times
and sluggish writing days with your love for these books. You inspire me. XOXO
Contents
1
Natalie
PHILADELPHIA
The pilot’s voice crackling over the speaker above
my seat jerked me awake from a restless sleep. We were beginning our descent
into Philadelphia. As the plane dipped, so did my stomach and my nerves kicked
into overdrive. The sun had set while I was asleep and I peered out the small
oval window at the skyline glowing in the distance.
Almost directly below, a ring of stadium lights
indicated the Phillies were playing. As the plane drew closer, I could see
swarms of insects clouding the lights. By craning my neck and pressing my
forehead against the cool surface of the window, I spotted the Delaware River,
an inky vein dissecting the Philadelphia and Camden riverfronts. From above,
the city looked innocuous, but I knew otherwise.
The streets of Philadelphia were run by men fueled
by greed and power - men who killed indiscriminately and took what they wanted,
when they wanted. I knew this from personal experience and had the scars to
prove it; hence the ball of nerves that had taken up residence in my gut. I had
convinced myself I was stronger now, wiser, and ready to return home, but as
the plane taxied to a stop at the gate, doubt took over.
You’re only here for two weeks; I reminded myself as
I stuffed my iPod into my bag and gathered up the People magazine I had
purchased during my layover in Dallas. I took a deep breath and exhaled when I
stood and filed out to the aisle behind the older woman who’d been sitting next
to me.
“Enjoy the wedding,” she said with a smile before
turning to leave the plane.
“Thanks enjoy your visit with your grandkids.”
We’d had the typical conversation between strangers
when we were sitting on the tarmac in Dallas waiting for our plane to take off,
before I put in the ear buds and fell asleep. I told her how I was heading to
Philadelphia for my brother’s wedding. I didn’t give her all of the details,
like how he was a capo in the Philly mob and was marrying the former boss’
daughter, who was now the first female capo in the family’s history. She knew I
was anxious about seeing my ex-boyfriend, Dominic for the first time in over five
months. She didn’t need to know that Dom was now the mob boss and he had killed
my future sister-in-law’s father. Yeah, this visit was bound to be emotional
and full of complications. I just hoped that in two weeks, when I returned to
Los Angeles, it was without a bullet wound, unlike my last journey west.
I took the escalator down to baggage claim and
spotted Grant almost immediately. He was leaning against an information kiosk.
When he saw me, he pushed off and approached, wearing a big grin. He pulled me
into a hug that squeezed the breath out of my lungs.
“I missed ya, sis,” he said before releasing me.
“Missed you too,” I returned his smile. Grant
looked great and was even more muscular than when I saw him last in Los
Angeles. He wore dark blue jeans and a forest green t-shirt that stretched
across his chest and shoulders. I always felt tiny next to him and gladly
allowed him to clear a path through the crowd surrounding the baggage carousel
that was spitting out luggage from my flight. My lime green suitcase was easily
identifiable and Grant grabbed it, pulling the handle up so he could roll it
behind him.
“Is this it?” he asked.
“No, I have one more. It’s a small black one with
a lime green stripe.” Moments later it appeared and we were off to the parking
garage. Grant unlocked a silver Audi SUV and I raised an eyebrow. “New car?”
“Yeah, this is more family friendly so I traded
in the Lexus.”
“Big Daddy Grant, huh?” I teased, sliding into
the leather passenger seat and breathing in the new car smell. Grant was
shaking his head and laughing when he got in. He was going to be a father in
less than six months, hence the wedding. Not that he was marrying Miranda
because she was pregnant, they were engaged long before, but because Miranda
wanted to be married before the baby was born and before she really started to
show.
“How’s Miranda doing?” I asked and clicked the
seatbelt into place.
“Really good and the baby is healthy. Miranda’s a
little stressed over the last minute wedding details and her mom is driving her
nuts.”
“Moms can do that.”
He glanced sideways at me. “”About that,” he paused
and turned to look at him.
“What?”
“Mom is already at the hotel.”
I squeezed the ‘oh shit’ bar. Facing my mom was
inevitable, but I didn’t think it was going to be quite so soon. When I left
Philly for Los Angeles over six months ago, I left without telling anyone and
mailed a letter to my mom. That was intentional. I couldn’t tell anyone where I
was going and needed to be off the grid for a while.
After Dominic killed his Uncle Marco, the Don of the
Philly Mob at the time, the hit ordered for me was canceled and I was able to
resurface. At that point I should have reached out to my mom, but we weren’t
close and since she wasn’t concerned about my whereabouts to begin with, it was
easier to not call. Now we were going to be sharing a suite.
Grant must have seen me tense up or sensed the
tension in the car because he reached over and gently squeezed my left knee. “Hey,
I get it. I know how she was – definitely not mother of the year potential.”
“That’s an understatement,” I muttered and stared
out the window at the cars we were passing. Billboards flashed by in a blur of
colors, but I didn’t really see them. I was lost in my head and the memories of
years of caustic comments about not being good enough or for being the reason
why my dad left. The first few years after my dad had moved on without looking
back were rough. I was five and Grant was eight when he abandoned us and
cleared out all of the bank accounts. Our mom struggled to get by and sunk into
a deep depression. A depression she was in denial of. Grant looked out for me.
He made sure I had lunch money and breakfast in my belly before we walked to
school. He also made sure that my clothes were clean and I did my homework.
Where he could do no wrong, I never did anything right and Grant acted as a
mediator against the emotional abuse.
“She’s changed, Nat and has actually been seeing
a shrink.” He patted my knee once before placing both hands on the wheel as he
turned off the interstate.
“Really?”
“Yeah, give her a chance.”
“I’ll try, but can’t make any promises.”
“I understand.”
Now that we were crawling through South Philly
neighborhoods, another set of memories bombarded me. We passed the clinic where
Grant and Miranda took me and Dom to get treated for our bullet wounds; it was
also where I was taken after being assaulted by the head of the New York mafia.
I squeezed the door handle until my hand ached, not releasing for several
blocks. We drove past a Greek restaurant Dominic took me to for our four month
anniversary. Garlic and onion laced the air and I breathed it in, causing my
stomach to growl.
“Are you hungry?” Grant asked.
“Starving! I had a hummus and cracker tray on the
plane, but that was hours ago.”
“Shit, well you can’t have a reunion with mom
when you’re hangry.” I elbowed him and he laughed.
On the next block, Grant pulled into a parking spot
in front of a pizza joint. Just thinking about a slice made my mouth start
watering. We got out and I followed Grant inside. The place was small and
intended mainly for carry out. There were four tables on the left and three
chairs lined the wall to the right by the door. A teenage boy sat in one of
those chairs, playing on his iPhone while he waited for his food.
I ordered two slices of pepperoni and mushroom which
were served to me on a paper plate that bowed underneath the weight. I went to
pay and the man behind the counter waved me off.
“You with Grant, you don’t pay.” His Italian
accent was thick and when he smiled a large gap between his two front teeth was
on full display.
“Are you sure?” I asked, looking between my
brother and the man. Grant nodded once. I knew better than to argue. Whatever
arrangement they had was between them.
“Luigi, this is my sister.”
“Ah, you’re molto bello,” Luigi said to me with a
flirtatious wink.
“Um, thanks.” I grabbed the plate and turned away
from the counter. In my peripheral view I saw Luigi hand Grant an envelope,
which he folded and slipped into the front pocket of his jeans. I should have
known Grant would be working.
We sat at one of the tables. I dabbed a napkin over
the top of the first slice to absorb some of the grease. “What was that all
about?” I asked and gestured towards the pocket where Grant had placed the
envelope.
“Loan payment – Luigi needed a new oven and
they’re not cheap.”
“Oh,” I said with a shrug, picking up a slice. I
closed my eyes and moaned after the first bite.
“Man, I missed this. LA has all of this gourmet
foo-foo pizza, which is okay, but this is the real deal right here.” I quickly
inhaled the first slice.
Grant picked a few pieces of pepperoni off of the
remaining slice when I paused to take a sip of soda.
“Anything else you missed?” Grant asked.
“Of course! I missed cheese steaks and soft
pretzels and…” Grant cocked his eyebrow at me and I smiled. “I missed you a
ton, Grant.”
“Anyone else?”
Fuck, I forgot at some point Grant had become Team
Dominic despite their animosity towards each other when Dom and I first started
dating. “How is he?” I asked with a sigh, setting my drink down and leaning
back in the plastic chair.
“Busy with running things. He hasn’t dated anyone
else since you left.” Grant paused, allowing that information to sink in. “Dom
misses you bad.”
“I miss him too. It’s just hard, ya know?”
“Yeah, Nat, I get it.” He stood up, his chair
scraping against the linoleum floor. I followed him, dumping my empty plate in
the trash can by the door. First things first: I had to see my mom then I would
go and see Dom.