At Peace

  “Shit, my baby’s in high school,” I muttered.

  “Yeah,” was his only reply.

  “Shit,” I repeated, pressed my face into his chest and his fingers wrapped around the back of my neck.

  “Let’s just hope she doesn’t snag a boyfriend on day one,” Joe told the top of my head.

  I tipped my head back. “She’s on a mission so don’t hope too hard. You do, you’re cruisin’ for disappointment.”

  Joe grinned, dipped his face to mine, kissed me and then guided me into the house.

  He knew the picture was there, I knew he did. He didn’t say anything and neither did I.

  I got ready and went to work and Joe got ready with me and went to his office.

  Life goes on.

  * * * * *

  And life went on, safe and sweet in most ways, insane and crazed because two teenage girls lived in our house.

  But that shield Joe put up was strong and held true for two beautiful weeks.

  Then Daniel Hart blew it to smithereens.

  Chapter Twenty

  Collapse

  Benny heard the knock on his door, his eyes opened and the woman in his bed moved. When she reminded him of her presence, he struggled to remember her name. He could remember her lips, could even call up a vision of them. Full, soft, a nice red-pink even without lipstick. Heaven wrapped around his cock especially with all her long, dark hair all around, soft against his skin. He usually liked to watch and would pull their hair back. Her hair was so soft he left it where it was.

  It came to him. Carla.

  She lifted her head. “Whas that?”

  “Go back to sleep. I’ll take care of it,” Benny told her, throwing the covers back and grabbing his jeans from the floor.

  Carla collapsed back into bed and he heard her soft snore.

  He yanked up his jeans, left the room and hit the stairs, surprised her snores began immediately. He knew then that was it, she was out. Not that she’d made an impression on him, only her lips had but even if he woke up beside her and she rallied, he knew she was out. He hated snoring and he also couldn’t call up much emotion for some bitch who could hear a knock on the door in the early hours of morning and leave him to it. He wouldn’t let her do anything but he figured Violet would not go back to sleep and leave Cal to deal. She’d wait to go back to sleep when she knew he was back in bed with her, safe. And he knew she’d do this with her dead husband too. She’d do this before she learned knocks in the moments before dawn could mean bad shit had come calling. She’d do this because it was the right thing to do if you were a good person or you gave a shit about someone.

  Not many good ones out there, he was thinking as he walked down the stairs. He was just glad Cal finally found himself one of them.

  He stopped at the foot of the stairs and he felt a clutch in his chest when he heard the knocks coming from the backdoor not the front.

  “Fuck me,” he muttered, went to the hall closet, grabbed his gun and headed back toward the kitchen.

  Standing to the side of the door, he shoved the curtain partially aside and saw Frankie standing on his back stoop.

  His first instinct was to open the door, shove the bitch down the stairs, close the door, walk upstairs and kick Carla out. Just seeing Francesca put him in no mood to be around any woman. But his mother would have a conniption if he put his hand on a woman in anger even if that woman was Francesca who his Ma detested, so he didn’t do this. His mother in a conniption wasn’t worth the trouble, even for the satisfaction of laying his hands on his dead brother’s bitch.

  Therefore he switched on the outside light, turned the lock and opened the door, keeping his gun in his hand.

  The life she led with Vinnie, Francesca had learned and she clocked the gun first.

  “Benny,” she whispered.

  “Say what you gotta say, bitch, and get the fuck outta my space,” Benny replied.

  Her eyes lifted and the second thing she clocked was his chest. Stopping there, her face got pale, he could see it even in the dark. Stupid, greedy slut.

  “Two seconds,” Benny warned and Frankie’s eyes shot to his.

  “It’s Cal,” she said quickly and that feeling in his chest got tighter.

  Benny opened the door further, stepped back and Frankie moved in. Benny shut the door, locked it, flipped off the light switch and grabbed her arm, yanking her into the hall.

  “Benny –” she started when he stopped them in the hall.

  “I got company,” he told her, his voice quiet and he saw her head tip back to look up the stairs.

  “Figures,” she whispered and her voice was tight.

  “You got somethin’ to say about Cal?” Benny prompted.

  “Who is she?” Frankie asked and Benny pressed his lips together. Then she went on and her voice was lower but lighter. Apologetic. “Benny –”

  “When’d it become your business who I fuck?” Benny asked.

  “Ben,” she whispered.

  “That sign went up on the restaurant, Frankie, but when it did I didn’t become a millionaire. Got no more than Pop which wasn’t good enough for you. Not gonna give you the chance to wrap your golden cunt around my cock and get me to sell into a franchise like you tried to talk Vinnie into talkin’ Pop into doin’.”

  In a flash he felt her attitude hit the hall.

  “You’re talkin’ that trash to me and I used to be a member of your family,” she hissed.

  “You came to my house in the middle of the night with info about Cal and you’re leadin’ with this shit so brace, babe, ‘cause you brought it on yourself. You gave up your position in this family when you led Vinnie by his dick straight to Sal. I’ll remind you, this isn’t the first time after we lost him you tried to get it from me and I told you before, that shit is not fuckin’ happening. You came here to say something, say it.”

  “I needed to be with someone who loved him like I did,” she snapped in her defense.

  “Yeah, bet he was smilin’ down from heaven when he saw you tryin’ to shove your hand down my pants,” Benny fired back.

  “We were both emotional. Things got outta hand.”

  “No, nothin’ got in your hand.”

  “You kissed me,” she returned.

  Benny leaned in and got in her face. “Bullshit, you pressed up against me, laid it on me and I was wasted.”

  “I was wasted too.”

  “Woman, your boyfriend had been whacked.”

  “And your brother had been whacked.”

  Benny wanted to relive this like he wanted to be kicked in the gonads therefore he went silent and started counting to ten.

  He got to three when Frankie kept at him. “You still kissed me.”

  “Babe, tits like yours, I’m blotto, doesn’t matter who you are, they’re pressed against me and they got a mouth attached to the same body, it’s on mine, I’m gonna stick my tongue in it.”

  She reared back. “God, Ben, I forgot how much of a fuckin’ dick you are. Always were. I shouldn’t have even come here.”

  “Now we’re talkin’ about what I wanna talk about. Why did you?”

  “’Cause Cal never treated me like shit and Sal ordered a hit on Hart and it went bad. Word’s spreadin’ fast that Hart’s gonna be aimin’ for Cal, someone’s gotta warn him, I don’t have his number and I couldn’t go to your Dad so, stupid me, I came to you.”

  Benny went solid for half a second. Then he moved. Leaving Francesca where she stood, he hit the stairs and took them three at a time.

  He turned on the light and Carla moaned, turned then got up on a forearm. By the time she did this Benny had laid his gun on the dresser and was pulling on a t-shirt.

  “Whas goin’ on?” she asked, pulling hair from her face and Benny looked at her.

  Knockout. Fantastic lips, just like he remembered. Great tits. Frankie’s were better, he knew that even if he hadn’t seen them or touched them, only had them pressed against him once but Carla’s were sweet.


  Still, he’d had his fill of Carla.

  “Darlin’, you need to go on home,” he said, going to the dresser and grabbing some socks.

  “What?” she asked, blinking.

  “You need to go home, Carla,” Benny repeated and walked to the bed, sitting on the edge of it, “now.”

  He had his socks on and was reaching for his boots when he noticed she hadn’t moved so he looked at her. She was looking at the door so Benny’s head swung that way to see Frankie standing in it.

  “Pretty, honey,” Frankie muttered, “you always had good taste.”

  Benny’s mouth got tight and he pulled on a boot.

  “Who’s she?” Carla asked.

  Benny didn’t answer instead he ordered, “Out of bed, babe. Go home.”

  Carla was up on her ass with the sheet to her chest and her narrowed eyes were glued to the door. “Who’s she?” she repeated.

  Benny pulled on his second boot, saw Frankie hadn’t moved but was smiling her smile that made his dick start to get hard.

  There was a reason Vinnie gave it all for her. The bitch was beyond a knockout. Only a quarter Italian, the rest of her was mutt and she got the best of it all. Almond-shaped eyes with light brown irises and naturally long, curling lashes. A thick head of rich, dark brown hair she always wore long. Flawless light skin that made your mouth water just to taste it and made you wonder if that creamy skin was the same everywhere. Fantastic tits, great ass and a tiny waist which were the only things that made her long legs not look like they went straight to her throat.

  And the way she smiled that smile, like she had a secret, a really fucking good one you had to know and the only way she’d tell you was when you were close, deep inside and she’d whisper it in your ear. The perfect package from top to toe.

  He straightened from the bed and looked down at Carla. “Not gonna say it again, babe.”

  Carla looked at him. “Are you tellin’ me that you just let me suck your cock and then I let you fuck me and you wake me up in the middle of the night to shift me out for round two? You’re good, Benny Bianchi, fuckin’ great, like they all said but nothin’s good enough to put up with that.”

  Benny put his hands to his hips. “See this failed to sink in, woman, but I just got dressed and put my boots on. I’m gonna fuck someone else, she’s standin’ in line at the fuckin’ bedroom door, would I put my clothes on?” She opened her mouth to speak but he didn’t wait for her to answer. “I got somethin’ to do, somethin’ before the crack of dawn, somethin’ fuckin’ important. I asked nice, now I’ll say it straight. Get your ass outta my bed, get dressed and get the fuck outta my house.”

  She glared at him and then asked sarcastically, “You think maybe she can leave while I get dressed?”

  Benny walked to the dresser and grabbed his gun. Carla’s eyes rounded on it, the situation of a wakeup call at that hour dawned on her and her body went still but Frankie spoke.

  “Sure,” she said, turned and walked from the door.

  Benny waited while Carla dressed and she hurried out the door not sparing him a glance and not getting close. This was either because he’d been a dick or because he was still carrying his gun but he didn’t much care which. She was gone.

  He went to his nightstand and tagged his phone. Scrolling down, he called Cal while he shoved his gun in the waistband of his jeans. He waited for a pick up but there was none. It went to voicemail.

  Benny figured, he had Vi in his bed, he would likely not pick up the phone at that hour either because he was busy with something not worth disturbing to answer the phone or sleeping after being exhausted by doing something that wasn’t worth disturbing to answer the phone. Benny disconnected the call and tried again. Voicemail. On the third try when he got voicemail, he left a message.

  “Cugino. Benny. It’s urgent. Call me.”

  He left the room and Frankie was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

  He stopped in her space. “Did I ask you to stay?”

  “Will you call me when you find out everything’s all right?”

  Benny clenched his teeth. She was worried. He heard it. She didn’t even try to hide it.

  He knew her life since losing Vinnie had been totally fucked. He thought she’d move on but she didn’t. He didn’t want to know but he had to admit he’d gone out of his way to keep tabs. Alone, she didn’t date, didn’t even look as far as he knew. She went to work. She came home. She’d go to Rico’s by herself once in awhile and she’d go home by herself. She went on vacation by herself. All in all, she just kept herself to herself.

  She was close to Sal, had made friends with some of his boys when Vinnie was working for Sal and she stayed that way because they were the only family she had left. Everyone else had turned their backs on her because they blamed her for Vinnie.

  The Bianchis were clean and always were. The Giglias were dirty and always were. They met at reunions, weddings, funerals and when they had to because they were family. The mingling of blood two generations ago was not a happy occasion for the Bianchis. But family was family.

  His path crossed with Frankie’s because Sal considered Frankie family, her man had been whacked under his watch and Sal might be a piece of shit but he took care of family. After Vinnie died and Benny made it clear he didn’t want her company and she stopped coming around all the time, Benny saw her but rarely. He knew she’d got tight with Cal because of Vinnie and stayed that way for reasons known only to her and Cal. That was to say she stayed that way as much as Cal would let anyone stay close – which was to say that she probably hadn’t seen him in years.

  But she was worried and, fuck him, he fucking hated hearing that in her voice.

  “I’ll call,” he gritted out.

  “Thanks, Ben,” she whispered and turned toward the kitchen at the back which brought something to Benny’s mind.

  “Frankie,” he called, she stopped in the dark hallway and turned to him.

  “Yeah?”

  “Why’d you come to the backdoor?”

  She hesitated then he saw her shoulders shrug. “Old lady Zambino lives across the street.”

  “So?”

  “So, she’s Bella’s grandma.”

  Benny was getting impatient. Therefore, he asked again, “So?”

  “So, Bella works for you.”

  “Frankie –”

  In a rush, she explained, “She’s old and she’s nosy. If Old Lady Zambino sees me and tells Bella, Bella tells Theresa, Theresa doesn’t care why I’m here she just doesn’t want me near any of you, ‘specially you. So Theresa gets pissed but she’d get pissed at you. I was tryin’…”

  She stopped speaking but he knew what she was trying to do. Save him from the wrath of his Ma because she was right. Frankie saw him from two blocks away and his mother knew it, Ma would lose her fucking mind. Since Benny’s Ma lost her fucking mind on a regular basis, Benny could handle it, but it’d be a pain in the ass like it always was and it was cool Frankie tried to shield him from that shit.

  He didn’t say thanks, he didn’t speak at all and she turned again and walked away.

  She stopped at the doorway to the kitchen and turned back.

  “Benny,” she called.

  “Got things to do, Frankie,” he reminded her.

  She didn’t listen or didn’t care.

  Instead, she said, “It’s a sin to speak ill of the dead.”

  Benny felt his body get tight.

  “Don’t –” he whispered.

  She did. “I never told anyone this before.”

  “Frankie –”

  “Everyone thought it was me. The franchise idea. That sandwich shop that went bust. Sal.”

  Benny started toward her but she didn’t stop talking and she didn’t move.

  “It was all Vinnie.”

  He grabbed her arm and pulled her through the kitchen.

  “Ask Sal. He knows,” she told him as he reached for the door but he never made it. She dug her he
els in and yanked her arm out of his hold. “I didn’t say shit because I loved him. I didn’t want anyone to think he was weak. I didn’t want anyone to think he’d failed. I didn’t want anyone to think he was anything but what they thought he was. That he was great because he was. He just wasn’t perfect.”

  “Save this shit, Frankie, I don’t wanna hear it.”

  “But I don’t want you to think that, not about me,” she kept on. “I don’t know why but I don’t want you to think it.”

  “Too bad. I know this is bullshit.”

  She got close. She didn’t touch him but she got close enough he could smell her perfume and her hair.

  “You know it isn’t,” she whispered. “Vinnie Senior, Theresa, Manny. They were blind but you know. Cal knows. Carm knows. You know. Cal, Carm, they won’t say it but they know it. You got them away from Vinnie, from Theresa, you asked, they’d tell it to you straight. But you… you just won’t admit it.”

  “Babe, I got shit to do,” he reminded her.

  She stared at him and then shook her head. “I don’t know why I…” she stopped speaking and reached for the doorknob, “don’t bother tellin’ me about Cal. I’ll get it from Sal.”

  The tone of her voice gone hard, dead, Benny didn’t like. It didn’t suit her. These days she was all about attitude but it wasn’t hard. Back in the day, she laughed a lot. Even if someone told a joke that wasn’t funny, she’d laugh and it’d sound real even though she was only doing it to make them feel good. And she was all energy. She seemed electric even sitting curled up to Vinnie and watching TV.

  He hadn’t seen that in years, hadn’t heard her laughter, but he’d never heard her voice sound hard and dead.

  He put his hand to her arm. “Frankie –”

  She yanked her arm free and pulled open the door.

  “Be well, Ben,” she said in that same voice and she did it without looking at him. Then she moved down his back stoop.

  For some fucking reason he followed her, grabbed her arm and swung her around. When her head tipped back to look at him, he had no goddamned clue what to say.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I’ll call about Cal.”

  “Like I said, don’t bother.”