Ferrara, p.36
Ferrara, page 36
An eeriness falls over the water, a deserted vessel drifts unguided.
My superyacht.
Once lost, now found…but what did it cost me, I’m about to find out.
The sun is just setting, casting a red glow over the ocean below, and as we get closer, we all grip our guns with white-knuckle force. With no idea what we are about to be met with, we are on high alert.
Shit’s about to go down.
We pull up beside it and the sound of the water lapping on our yacht echoes.
Carlo, Val and I exchange looks, what the fuck is going on here?
“Hello,” Val calls.
Silence.
“Is anyone there?” he calls again.
Bruno throws a rope over their mast to bring us closer and we slowly come to a halt.
“I don’t fucking like this,” Carlo whispers.
“That was too easy,” Val mutters. “This is a trap.” He holds his hand up in a stop symbol. “You all stay here.” They all load onto the vessel.
“Fuck that,” I snap and with my gun drawn, I step over onto the yacht. “Surrender and you will live,” I call as I creep up the deck.
Carlo twirls his hand in the air to signal for us to spread out. We sneak along the sides of the deck and I can hear music playing in the distance. It sounds like traditional Italian accordion music.
What the fuck is going on here?
“Hello,” I call.
Val’s eyes hold mine. “Trap,” he mouths.
I nod, something is off here. I peer through the window into the cabin, it’s empty.
“Check the engine room,” I whisper.
Carlo walks past me and disappears up the stairs, Val crouches and skulks up the front. I look around as I try to work out what the fuck is going on here?
The engine is off, the yacht is just drifting along.
Is the anchor down?
There are drinks and cheese and biscuits out on the table as if people were just sitting out here on deck.
Where are they now?
I slowly walk inside the cabin and my heart drops.
Antonio is on the floor, a bullet through his head.
Dead.
I squeeze my gun harder, who the fuck did this?
“Clear,” I hear Carlo call from upstairs.
“It’s empty,” Val calls, “There’s nobody on here.”
“There is somebody,” I call back.
Carlo and Val come down and stop when they see it. “What the fuck is he doing here?” Carlo whispers.
Val bends down onto his knees and looks him over. “I think we found our traitor.”
24
Six weeks later.
Giuliano
The blood rushes to my cock as I watch the hot ass in the tight white dress and I sip my drink to hide my smile.
Francesca.
No matter how long I watch her dance, I’m always in awe.
The hottest woman in the world…is marrying me. All my Christmases have come at once.
Life is good, fucking great actually.
Francesca wanted to move into our Lake Como house while she plans the remodel, and I have to agree with her, it’s been a great decision. I’ve found a happiness in that house that I never knew existed. It doesn’t matter how dated it is, it’s our home. The one we are creating together.
Now that we’re out of the shadows, we can socialize. The seven of us are going out to restaurants and clubs every weekend, we even went away to Ibiza last weekend.
I never thought I would have this, a friend group where my wife would be an integral part of it. My social life has always been so male orientated, it’s different now, the dynamics have changed….and for the better.
Francesca and Anna have become close with Giovanna, Val’s girl. They even hang out through the week sometimes without us boys with them.
Slowly but surely, my family…is becoming her family.
Her family though…. I mean, her mother still fucking pisses me off, some things will never change.
“Another round?” Val asks.
“Yep.” I sip my scotch and he disappears to the bar.
Carlo’s phone vibrates on the table in front of him and he answers, unable to hear, he puts his hand over his ear. “What?” he says as he screws up his face. “Say that again?”
He listens and then his eyes find mine, he smiles broadly. “Are you sure?” He laughs. “Excellent, thanks.” He hangs up and clinks his glass with mine.
“What?” I smirk, he seems very happy with himself.
“Lombardi’s dead.”
“What?” I sit up, suddenly interested. “Are you sure?”
“He died today.”
“Fuck it, I wanted it to be at my hands,” I snap, infuriated.
“That’s why we haven’t been able to find the fucker, he’s been in hospital dying from cancer. The audacity of the fucker.”
“Are you one hundred percent sure?”
“Lombardi Industry have a week of mourning starting tomorrow. All their brothels are closing as a mark of respect.”
I think for a moment, “So…he did actually have cancer?”
He shrugs. “Must have.”
Val returns carrying a tray of drinks. “What?” he says as he sees my face.
“Lombardi’s dead.”
“What?” He falls into the chair. “Who?”
“Cancer.”
“Fuck….” He says shocked.
Carlo holds his glass in the air to symbolize a toast. “To us.”
Val and I chuckle, typical Carlo, everything comes back to him.
“To us.”
Francesca
Giuliano lies on the couch watching television and I sit on the chair with my pen and pad in my hand. My mind is in overdrive. “What about if we put a huge arch window in the far wall next to the entry?” I talk to myself out loud.
“Aren’t you supposed to be finalizing the hotel plans not thinking of more ways for us to demolish this house?” he murmurs, distracted.
“Yes, I’m nearly done with the hotel, thank goodness they let me do everything remotely.”
“Well, you weren’t going back to Rome, that was for sure.”
I go back to my topic. “What do you think about the arch window? A really huge one with the metal gable.”
He glances over. “That wall?”
“Yeah.”
“Why would you want to put a window in that wall?”
“So that when we put our Christmas tree up you can see it from the front.”
He smirks as his eyes stay fixed on the television. “Why are you so obsessed with Christmas?”
“Because it’s my favorite time of the year.”
“You’re like a big baby.”
I smile broadly. “I was thinking for Christmas Day, we could go to church and then my mother’s for breakfast but then come back here for the rest of the day. What do you think?”
He looks over at me, “Or….”
“Or what?”
“Or we could go to Switzerland and get married.”
My eyes widen. “That’s a choice?”
“Why not?” He shrugs casually. “You always said you wanted to get married in the snow.” He stands and goes to retrieve something from his office, he returns and passes it to me. It’s a brochure from a resort in Switzerland, there’s a glass atrium chapel in the side of the mountain, nestled in the snow. It’s incredible and looks like a fairy tale.
“Oh my God…,” I whisper in awe as I study the brochure.
“We could get married on Christmas Eve night, that way your favorite time of the year would be mine too.”
My wide eyes rise to meet his. “But…everyone.”
“Is on board, ready and waiting to come with us.”
“They can come too?”
“Of course, I already asked them.”
I stare at him as my mind begins to race a million miles per minute, “That’s only a month away, I have so much to….” I stand and begin to pace. “I need a dress and then there’s the….” I put my hands in my hair. “Jules, I don’t think I can pull this off in only a month.”
He stands and takes me into his arms, he puts his hand under my jaw and brings my face up to meet his. “Francesca.”
“What?”
“I want you as my wife.”
I smile goofily up at my handsome man. “I want that too, more than anything.”
“Do you want to marry me in Switzerland on Christmas Eve or not?”
“Yes.” Excitement bubbles in my stomach. “I do.”
“Then.” He kisses me softly. “We will make it work.”
We.
I smile goofily up at him. “What exactly are you going to do?”
Who is he kidding? I run our whole lives.
“Fuck you until you’re calm each night,” he replies casually.
I burst out laughing. “That’s what you’re going to do to plan our wedding, fuck me until I’m calm?”
He holds his hands out wide as if offended. “It’s very helpful to keep calm, Francesca.”
My mouth falls open as I fake horror.
“It’s a full-time fucking job keeping you sexually sated.”
He picks me up and throws me over his shoulder and begins to walk to the stairs. “Speaking of which.”
I laugh out loud. “I don’t have time for sex, Giuliano,” I tease as I rest my hands on his lower back. “I have a wedding to plan.”
He slaps me hard on the behind. “You’re going to suck my cock first.” He slaps me again. “And you’re swallowing.”
I laugh out loud again. “Wives don’t do those sorts of dirty things.”
He slaps me again. “Mine does.”
The plane touches down on the runway and I can hardly keep the beaming smile from my face. Giuliano smiles as he kisses my hand. “Are you ready, my love?”
Switzerland.
The place of our upcoming nuptials, in just three days I am marrying the love of my life. Everyone who is important to us is on this plane.
My mother, Lorenzo, Andrea and Matteo, my brothers. Anna and Giovanna, Valentino, Carlo and Alex.
The intimate wedding party that I never imagined would be so perfect.
Our guards unload our luggage and we get off the plane and walk down the stairs, snow is falling and already this feels uber romantic.
“I’m so excited,” I yell and everyone laughs.
Giuliano smiles and kisses me softly, and I know that he’s just as excited as me. This is such a happy time.
We load into our cars and Giuliano takes my hand in his as we sit in the back seat.
“You still want to do this?” He smiles over at me.
“Try and stop me.”
An hour later we pull into the resort. “This place is incredible,” I whisper in awe as I look around. We make our way to reception. “Party for Jones,” Giuliano says to the receptionist.
“Yes.” She smiles. “You’re the wedding party?” She turns her attention to me, “Are you the bride to be?”
Excitement runs through me, “Uh-huh.”
She laughs at my over-the-top excitement. “We have you all staying in the summit wing. Ten rooms in total.”
“Okay.” Giuliano smiles.
“And….” She types into her computer. “Francesca…is it?”
“Yes.”
“We have your pre-wedding schedule planned. Tomorrow at one p.m., you have a meeting with our wedding planner.”
“Okay.”
“And the day after that you have a wedding rehearsal in the atrium at five p.m.”
Giuliano smiles broadly as he puts his arm around me.
Oh my God, can you die from excitement?
Because I just might.
She slides the keys over the counter to us. “The conditions are perfect today, get out on the slopes before dark if you can. The powder coverage is just incredible.”
I nearly bounce on the spot. I love skiing so much, it’s all I can do not to scream.
“Thanks, I will.”
We return to the others who are all waiting patiently and Giuliano hands out the keys. “Who wants to come for a ski?” I ask them.
“Today?” Giuliano frowns.
“Just a quick one.”
“Not me,” says Anna. “Don’t feel like breaking my neck today.”
Giuliano screws up his face. “I fancied a scotch by the fire in the bar to be honest.”
“You do that, I’ll meet you there. I’ll be an hour tops.” I smile.
His eyes hold mine as he contemplates his choice.
“I’ll come,” Giovanna replies.
“Me too,” Carlo chips in.
“Great. So, I’ll meet you both back here in half an hour?” I ask them.
“Sounds good,” Giovanna says.
“I guess I’ll meet the rest of you in the bar around the same time?” Giuliano asks everyone.
“Yes, sounds good.”
The ski chairlift rises high in the sky as it takes us up the mountain.
“Look.” Giovanna points. “Is that your atrium?”
I peer down below and see a glass chapel nestled into the side of the mountain, I can see an open fire flickering inside. “Yes.”
We both squeal in excitement and I turn back to Carlo and Bruno who are in the chairlift behind us. “That’s the atrium.”
They both look down. “Looks good.” Carlo laughs.
We all watch it fly by underneath as we pass over and Bruno gives me the thumbs-up.
Giovanna takes my hand in hers. “Can you believe that you are getting married in this heavenly place?”
“No.” I laugh.
She fiddles with her boot as we ride up. “Anna may have been on to something, I may break my neck too, I haven’t skied for three years.”
“It’s like riding a bike, you never forget.” I fiddle with my gloves to try to pull my fingers in properly.
“As long as you don’t break anything,” she teases. “Plaster isn’t the white you want to be wearing.”
I laugh out loud. “Don’t hex me.”
Giuliano
I sit by the open fire with Alex and Val, scotch in hand.
After the crazy week we’ve had to prepare for coming away, I’m finally beginning to unwind. I look out the window and the snow coming down. “This place is incredible, isn’t it?”
“I’ll say.” Val smiles as he stares out over the view.
My phone beeps a text, it’s from Francesca.
It’s our chapel baby
Can’t wait to marry you.
xoxox
It’s a pic of the mountain and the glass atrium below, I smile broadly. “Check this out.” I hold my phone out and the boys smile as they look at it.
We keep chatting and about fifteen minutes later another text from Francesca bounces in.
Look who I just ran into
It’s my boss.
I stare at the photo and my eyes widen.
Fuck.
I slam my drink down on the table with a thud.
The picture is of Francesca in the snow, a man has his arm around her as they pose for the photograph.
It’s Lombardi.
25
Francesca
We ride the ski lift to the top of the mountain and ski off. “Let’s go down into the next valley,” I say to the others.
“Okay.” Giovanna smiles, she’s pretty good. I can tell already.
“Let go this way.” Carlo gestures to a run that isn’t the usual one.
“Okay.” We ski down and over another hill and on for a while and we see a man standing under a tree. As we get closer I realize that I know him, that’s Mr. Carballo, the boss from the hotels. “What in the world are you doing here?” I laugh as I approach him.
“Ahh, Francesca.” He smiles. “What a pleasant surprise.”
“Fancy seeing you up here?” I laugh.
“Take a quick photo?” he asks. “I will send it to the office, they won’t believe the coincidence. Fancy running into you of all people all the way in Switzerland.”
“Okay.” I laugh. “It is pretty weird, isn’t it?”
“Let me.” Carlo holds his hand out for my phone. “Open it,” he says.
I swipe my phone open and hand it over to him, I put my arm around Mr. Carballo, smile as we pose, and Carlo takes the photo.
“Do you come here often?” I ask him.
“First time.”
I see Carlo typing something into my phone and I hold my hand out for it.
“You won’t be needing your phone, Francesca,” Mr. Carballo says.
I turn my attention back to him to see he is pointing a gun at me and Giovanna. “What are you doing?” I frown.
“We haven’t been properly introduced.” He smiles and dips his head. “I’m Luciano Lombardi. Pleased to make your acquaintance”
What?
I take a step back in fear. “What are you doing?” I whisper as I take Giovanna’s hand in mine, we take another shuffle back. Bruno holds his hands up as his eyes flick to meet mine. My heart hammers in my chest and something catches my eye to the left, I turn to see five men, all with guns pointed at us. Where did they come from?
Fuck.
He smiles calmly. “You have something I want.”
“What’s that?” I whisper.
“His name is Giuliano Ferrara,” he announces loudly, he looks at his watch. “And he’ll be here in about… five minutes.”
A trap.
“No.” I shake my head. “I’m not calling him.”
What the hell? I’ve been working with him all this time.
“You already did,” he replies calmly.
“Huh?” I look around in a panic, what does he mean. “Mr. Lombardi, please…don’t do this,” I whisper in a panic. “Your war is with his father, not him. He’s not your enemy.”
“Run,” Giovanna screams, she makes a run for it and a gunshot rings out, she falls to the ground and blood splatters all over the snow.
I turn and see Carlo holding the gun that just shot her, my eyes widen in horror.
What the fuck?
“What are you doing?” I cry.
