Love and War (13 page)

“I’m fine.”
 
Diesel paused.

“What?”

“What the fuck happened, Caprice? Tell me Aries and Keisha made a mistake. Tell me that you are not
Nico
Bonatelli’s
sister. Don’t lie to me either.”

“I am,” Caprice answered weakly. There was silence on the other end. Caprice closed her eyes to hold back the tears filling up her eyes.

“Fuck!” Diesel yelled. “I’ve seen some shit, but I never expected that from you. What the hell were you planning to do?”

“I’m not going to tell you that,” Caprice replied. “It didn’t concern you. It still doesn’t.”

She didn’t want Diesel to hurt, but she was loyal to her blood. No matter what her father thought, she still had a job to do. She wanted Aries to bleed, but she still didn’t want Diesel involved. The more questions he asked, the more answers he demanded would only bring him one step closer to Nico blowing his head off his shoulders. She wouldn’t let that happen.

“Diesel, I never wanted you to get caught up in my shit with Aries. I’m sorry. Did he try to hurt you?”

“No.”
 
Diesel’s small laugh was grim. “Aries thinks you set us both up. Which you did.”

“I never asked you anything about him,” Caprice argued. “What you told me, you did on your own. I would have found out either way.”

“So that was your plan, huh? To find out who our connect was and cut off our supply? What else?”

“I just said I wasn’t telling you that. I’m sorry you think I set you up, but you were never in my scope. I did what I had to do for my family. Aries wanted my brother dead and still does. I’m not going to let that happen. You, of all people, should understand that.”

“Why?” Diesel growled. “Because I told you about my family? What the fuck do you think Aries is? He’s like my brother!
 
Do you think I’m just going to sit back and let you and your brother take him out?”

“You’re not going to have a choice, Diesel. I have four broken ribs. I’m in a wheelchair for at least another month. My jaw was wired shut. If you think he’s getting away with that, you are sadly mistaken. I understand that you want to be loyal to him,” Caprice said sadly. “Just don’t get caught in the crossfire.”

“So it all comes down to loyalty, huh? You’re loyal to your family. I’m loyal to mine. Therefore, we can’t be loyal to each other.”

Caprice sighed. “What do you want me to say?”

“I just wanted to know that you were okay,” Diesel admitted after a long moment of silence.

Caprice’s heartbeat quickened. He still cared. Despite knowing who she was, despite knowing what she was going to do, and knowing that what they had was over, Diesel still cared. Up until he said that, she hadn’t realized that was her major concern. She didn’t want him to hate her.

“I’ll be okay.”

“At least you’re alive. You can’t come back here. You know that, right?”

“I’m not. I’m going out west.”
 
Caprice felt horrible for lying, but she had to ensure her own safety.

“Well, I guess that’s that,” Diesel replied. Caprice cringed at the hurt in his voice.

“Diesel.”
 
She spoke softly around the lump in her throat. “I’m a Bonatelli and we both know what that means. But there is a lot that you don’t know about me. My life in Miami is very different than New York. When this is all over, if you ever decide that you want out, come to Miami. Bring your family. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“What are you talking about?”

“All I’m saying is, if you ever want something better for yourself, come here. That’s all I can say. I just want you to know that my feelings for you were real. It hurts that the situation isn’t different, but what I feel for you is genuine. I don’t want to see you hurt, and if I never hear from you again, I’ll understand. Bye Diesel.”

As difficult as it was, Caprice cut the connection before he could say anything else. She clutched her phone to her chest and exhaled loudly. She had rolled the dice and lost. She may have Rocco at her beck and call now, but she knew in her heart that the man she really wanted, she would never have.

****

“
Nico
is
flyin
’ in tomorrow,” Rocco stated while he and Caprice were lying on her bed watching reruns of South Park.

“Good. We need to strategize. I finally got a lead on Keisha. That bitch is hiding out in Rhode Island.”

“He’s not coming to take you back to New York, Caprice. You still have a month before your casts come off. Then it’s physical therapy after that.”

Caprice shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t care. There are physical therapists in New York.”

“Your mother isn’t going to let you go anywhere.”

“I’m an adult. I don’t know why everyone keeps forgetting that. If I want to go back to New York, fuck what anyone else says; I’m going!”

“You got your ass nearly beat to death, but now you got balls? You think you and Nico can do this now? After your first plan failed? I’ve met some ballsy chicks before, but you take the cake, babe.”

Caprice ignored his sarcastic comments and sulked quietly on her side of the bed. What Rocco thought didn’t matter either. What her father and mother wanted was irrelevant. She and her brother had a job to finish. God dammit, it was getting done!

****

When Nico, Domani, and Paolo walked into Mahogany’s study the next day, Caprice took one look at their faces and knew she wasn’t getting the reunion she had been hoping for.

Domani was wearing an expression that Caprice hadn’t seen before. He looked like he had been pissed off for a week. Paolo was forlorn, but his eyes told a different story. They were damn near jubilant.

“Don’t get up,” Nico joked and hugged his little sister.

“What’s going on?” Caprice asked. “I wasn’t expecting all of you.”

Domani sat behind Mahogany’s desk and waited until his children stopped talking before he spoke.

“We have a little problem,” he said to his children. “I gotta leave the country for awhile.”

Nico immediately panicked. “What? Why? Is it the
Lucchetti
Family? I can take care of Luca if that’s the case. Just say the word, Pops.”

“It’s nothing like that. It’s the FEDS and the goddamn IRS!”
 
Domani balled his hands into fists. His face turned a brilliant shade of angry red.

“Those merciless fucks been after me for years. Now they’re
claimin
’ some bullshit called tax avoidance.”

“You pay your taxes,” Caprice stated matter of
factly
. “Don’t tell me you haven’t been paying taxes, Dad.”

Domani was a shrewd businessman. He had a knack for making dirty money clean as a whistle. The idea that he wasn’t giving the U.S government a hefty chunk was absurd.

“Of course I’ve been
payin
’ those dirty sons of bitches!” he spat. “They just want me dead or behind bars. I won’t let them do that to me. I’m no
Fausto
Bonatelli
. They’re not going to lock me up and forget about me! Fuck them and their grand jury and their special investigation. I’m
gettin
’ the hell out of here.”

“So you’re just going to leave?” Caprice asked. “Leave and never come back?”

“I’m coming back,”
Domani
corrected her. “I got the best tax attorneys money can buy on this shit. But I’ll be damned if I sit in any dirty ass jail while they fix this shit. I’ll be in Greece or Spain until it’s over. Maybe I’ll even visit the family in the Old Country. I could use a vacation.”

Nico slumped in his chair. He looked like his entire world had come crashing down around him.

“What about Mom?” he asked. “Is she leaving too?”

Domani shook his head slowly. “You need to have a conversation with your mother. She’ll tell you her plans. It’s not my place.”

“What do you mean, it’s not your place? Why do I need to talk to her? What’s going on?”

“Just talk to your mother, son. In the meantime, Paolo’s in charge. He and
Poleski
are going to be taking care of everything. I signed some of the businesses and most of the accounts over to the two of you. All you gotta do is put your John Hancock on whatever the attorneys give you. Don’t give them any shit because they’re operating on my instructions. Is that clear?”

Nico nodded, but Caprice didn’t. Instead, she looked over at Paolo. He was smiling like a cat with a bowl full of cream. She did not like what her father was saying one bit.

“And,” Domani continued, “I want the two of you in Atlantic City A-fuckin’-SAP, you understand?”

Caprice wrinkled her nose. “I am not living in Jersey. I’ll go to California before I move to Jersey.”

“Get your nose out of the air, girl, and listen to your father,” Paolo ordered. His voice had taken on a new tone, like he had absorbed some of Domani’s power. Caprice sensed that Paolo had been waiting on this moment for a long ass time.

“Pops, what’s the deal with Atlantic City?” Nico asked. “You keep mentioning it, but you haven’t said anything about what’s going on there in months.”

Domani grinned. “I had to be sure I could really make it happen. We tried some things out in Reno on a smaller scale and they worked. Now we’re trying it in Atlantic City, and you two are the owners of what is going to be the biggest casino in Atlantic City. We’re going to make millions!”

Caprice frowned. “Aren’t we already making millions? What’s so special about this?”

“This is totally legit, that’s what’s so special about this,” Domani explained. “I got a great syndicate of investors and we broke ground on The Capri Hotel & Casino last month.”

While Domani smiled eagerly, Caprice and Nico exchanged weary looks. Neither one of them wanted anything to do with a casino in Jersey. Now if he had said Vegas, it would have been a different story. Atlantic City was chump change and the two them had no idea what they were getting into.

“Pops,” Nico argued, “what the hell do me and the little sis here know about running a casino?”

“There’s a lady in Jersey…close friend of mine named Pamela. She’s gonna teach you everything you need to know. She’s
expectin
’ you both to be settled in and ready to work in two months.
Capiche
?”

Caprice glanced at her brother. He definitely was less thrilled about the prospect of uprooting his wife and moving to Jersey. Plus his father was leaving the country and his mother had bad news to tell him. Nico was an enforcer, not a business man, but Caprice saw a silver lining.

Not only had her father handed over a multimillion dollar business to her, she was going back up north on his orders. She and Nico could take care of the Black Diamond Mafia and be in Jersey in time to meet up with Pamela.

This was her chance to prove to everyone that she could be the boss. This was her chance to show the world that the Bonatelli Family could do more than control the drug trade or extort businesses out of money.
 
They could be legit. They could be the new Rockefellers. This was her chance to finally have the power that she craved. She wasn’t going to let her father down.

Mahogany wasn’t happy when Caprice announced that she was moving to New Jersey. However, the idea that her daughter was going to oversee the construction of a multimillion dollar casino and actually put her business degree to use helped calm her nerves. She had even helped Caprice look for a place to live.

Grateful didn’t fully convey how Caprice felt about her mother stepping in and finding an apartment. Caprice allowed Mahogany complete control over that project, including flying to Atlantic City to view and eventually furnish her daughter’s new living space. According to Rocco, Domani, and her physical therapist, Caprice needed to focus solely on regaining strength in her arms and legs once her casts were removed.

The last two months had been a whirlwind, but it was finally time for Caprice and Nico to make the move to Atlantic City and say goodbye to their father. During the flight from Miami to New York, Caprice was a little nervous and sad. She didn’t want to see her father go, especially when there was no return date set. She still felt like he’d just come into her life and now he was leaving for an unspecified amount of time. If she was having a hard time dealing with it, Lord only knew how Nico had handled his goodbye.

His father was leaving the country in less than two hours, and his mother was leaving his father after twenty-seven years of marriage. Caprice spent hours thanking the Lord that she didn’t have to witness that scene between Nico and Domani. When she had spoken to her brother, he was an emotional wreck. She couldn’t deal with his emotions and hers too.

Domani’s Mercedes was parked outside of JFK Airport when Caprice stepped outside carrying her overnight bag and dragging the biggest suitcase she could manage on her own. Although she wasn’t surprised to see her father behind the wheel, she was surprised to see that he was alone. She had been expecting Rocco or Paolo to be with him.

After he put her bags in the trunk, Domani waited until they were on the expressway before taking a long look at his daughter. In her designer sunglasses and expensive clothes, Caprice definitely looked the part of a young casino owner. He smiled as he recalled pictures of his own mother in her youth. Caprice was the spitting image of the first woman Domani had ever loved.