Authors: S. W. Frank
Alberti
waited onboard the main deck of the luxury yacht, smoking a cigar, as usual
.
“It’s beautiful, when you get this thing?” Nico asked.
“I’ve had it for some time. I take it out
here and there
.”
Nico
sat down, stretched his
long
legs
out
and
looked at
the Miami skyline. “Nice view, too.”
Albert
i
chuckled,
he thoroughly enjoyed
Nico’s
company. “
I
s everything in order, are our guests comfortable?”
Nico’s
eyes
remained on the shore
; a sneer to his lips at the question.
“Yeah,
it’s five
star
.
”
“
Such arrogance, sending me the head of
one of
his
babbo
s
.
”
“A
d
iversion
to buy himself more time
.”
“Of course, it was.
What is it with
greed;
must it always consume eve
rything in its path
?”
Alberti asked.
“A weakness in a man’s character.”
“A weakness or a man’s character?”
“Both.”
“
Hmm.
”
“There are others with Dominick’s d
elusions of grandeur
and
omnipotence.”
“You speak my language well, Nico.
Luzo
made no mistake trusting you with
protecting
his son.”
“
The man is no longer a boy.
”
“I know.”
Nico’s
head turned slightly to view the elder man’s profile. A smile was on the sun-tanned face.
O
f course
,
he did. “Alfonzo’s come into his birthright
a tad late.”
The smile disappeared, “Why do you say this?”
“Giuseppe let the
American
bosses
roam
free without supervision for far too long
.
Dominick’s gained
important allies
.
He’s tapped into their greed. With this new drug and the abuse of prescription pills, he’s ma
de
them all
rich. They’ve cut ties with the Italian
’s
.
Removing Dominick will not solve th
e bigger
problem;
an uprising of free men
is coming
.
”
Alberti puffed lightly on the brown paper, thinking aloud. “Like the British who settled in America and rebelled against
their homeland
.”
“
This drug,
Anarchy is
for us a
version of the Boston Tea Party.”
“Britain could not squash the taste of free men.”
“They took up arms.” Nico filled in
history’s course.
“Declared their independence from British rule.”
Alberti replied.
“Later, America and Britain formed a truce.”
“They are friends, great super-powers to this day.”
Alberti enunciated.
Nico stared out at the shiny buildings as the sun cast a soft glow over the horizon. “Only one
man
can lead on these shores
, though
.
There has to be a President for the illusion of democracy.
”
“
Alfonzo,
has to choose either Italy or here.”
“His base is Puerto Rico
, you know that
.”
“America, nonetheless.”
“What about Italy?”
Alberti pondered this question. He
wanted his nephews to
lead the way to the future, but Giuseppe became a disappointment and Alfonzo would side with his homeland. It’s the way of the young to stay with what is familiar.
His nostrils flared, breathing in the cool salt-water air, “We will first assist in taking care of this problem in America.
Alfonzo r
equires
our
assistance
,
after
I will deal with my other nephew. He flies here as we speak.”
“
Hmm.”
“The meeting
is
tomorrow
evening
. Everyone should
arrive
as expected.”
Nico’s
dark head nodded.
“Okay, I’ll be back by then. Alfonzo’s jet is waiting to fly me to PR.”
“He worries about his family?”
“
Secretly, d
on’t we all?”
Alberti scoffed, “True.
Go.
”
CHAPTER
TWENTY
-
SIX
Selange held onto the inflatable doughnut, smiling at her daughter as they glided across the water.
“See, fun.”
The child
laughed
her cheeks rosy beneath the filtered sun. The sound of the vacuum cleaner could be heard outside where they frolicked in the pool. A cool breeze blew across her face and she welcomed it. The temperature was heaven compared to the scorching heat of New York. She’d come to love the island and its people. The tropical trees in the distance made it feel like paradise. At weird hours, she believed she could hear the singing of birds outside the bedroom window.
Also, at weird hours she thought of her mom and
dad. She
wondered what
they
’d think of the choices she made
, especially her dad
.
Would he be disappointed or proud
? S
he’d never know because they were gone
!
Alfonzo was a good husband, no, he was wonderful. Her heart swelled, thinking about it. He tried to change, working forty hour days, spending time with
family
during the weekends, going about life in the same lane as
o
the
r
working stiffs. She’d seen him at his best and worst, and her love remained constant.
It was tough watching him
over
the last few weeks
fighting
i
nternal demons
, not wanting to voice his concerns aloud, but she sensed his unease w
ay before he suggested they cancel their trip to New York
. In the course of their marriage, she gained her own type of sixth sense and could read his mood changes even if they were subtle. A slight twitch of his eye, a protruding vein, or the stiff posture were some of the clues to his inner turmoil.
He spoke
often
about his gut instinct
. I
ntangible and to
others perhaps a sign of a
paranoi
d personality
–but
his
inclinations were
always spot-on. Thank God, she listened to her
internal warnings and
brought Vincent out of retirement. If she hadn’t…she smiled at Allie…if she hadn’t they would be dead and their children …oh…the thought of it brought pain to her chest.
Family.
It’s all she had…they were her life.
“Hey, what are you daydreaming about gorgeous?”
Her head swiveled at the sound of a familiar voice and she squealed, “Nico
,
my God, it’s good to see you!”
She paddled through the water pushing Allie safely in front of her until they reached the side of the pool where the tall darkly tanned man waited.
His hair was jet black this time and not a horrendous blonde color when last she saw him.
Nico’s
tall body s
hot to the
sky from her vantage point. The handsome
Italian
wore a casual short sleeve white shirt and
those
muscular arms were as big as her thigh.
He bent
down and took Allie out of
the orange floatation device. “Hey cutie, I’m Nico. You can call me Uncle Nico, if you want!” He said to the frightened child.
She cried and he laughed
heartily
.
“You’ve scared her. You’re big
and intimidating
.”
“No, I’m not. You’re not scared of me.”
“It’s because I’m not a tiny kid.”
He held the child in the air, blowing raspberries on her wet belly. The cries turned to giggles. He officially won
the girl
over with his jovial demeanor.
Selange climbed out of the pool and he tried not to gawk but every time he saw her, his heart raced a bit too fast.
She was somewhat thinner than he remembered but striking, nonetheless.
She wore a s
triped
bikini
which
displayed her svelte hour glass figure. Her wet black hair clung to the side of her prominent cheekbones, bringing his eyes lasciviously to her
heart shaped lips. He truly loved his wife…without a doubt…but somewhere forbidden he wondered what it would feel like to have this young woman between his legs
. The sinful thought was suppressed because he
adored
Ariana
and considered Selange a mere fantasy. Besides, she
considered him a father-figure and
a sexual relationship was
akin to incest in his mind.