Devious Little Lies (12 page)

“You’re not lying. When the Feds and rats team up, it doesn’t bode well for anyone. I hope they find out who the piece of shit was that snitched and make his ass pay.”

“I wholeheartedly agree. It’s one thing to be taken down because you’re being stupid, but to lose everything because someone sold you out to save their own skins. There’s no honor in that. None.”

“Mario, I know you’re Tony’s
consigliori
, but could you reach out and see if they need any help? I know Hector probably already has everything covered, but could you please do that for me?”

“Absolutely. I’ll see what I can find out and let you know.”

Mario rose and handed her back her sketchbook. She threw it on the couch and walked him to the door, closing and locking it behind him. Sitting down slowly, her eyes were on the TV as they showed Hector being arrested and lead away from his home in handcuffs. Her heart squeezed and she just hoped his children weren’t around to see that.

Rena knew that there were those who said that men in organized crime got what they deserved because they chose to commit illegal acts. Too bad those ignorant fools failed to realize that their elected government officials did the exact same things and hid under the color of the law. If common folks had any idea just how many judges and senators were even more corrupt than the men in the mob they despised so much their brains might actually shrivel up and die. Shaking her head she turned off the TV.

Here she was suddenly thrust into having full control of the Rosetti Crime Family and now the FBI had taken down yet another man in the mafia. This was definitely not the ideal time to be embarking on such a huge undertaking, but she was not going to let it stop her. It was time to clean house and it was even more apparent that she was going to have to be smarter, more devious, and more discerning when it came to the people that surrounded her. Knowing who to trust was everything in her world and these days the snake that usually bit you was the one you never saw coming.

Chapter Eighteen

Carmine Luchese had requested a meeting with her and though he was cryptic on the phone, she was well aware of what their get together would really be about…Alfonso Caseolla, one of Tony’s trusted
capos
for the last ten years. For Tony’s sake she hoped Carmine didn’t have bad news about Alfonso, but she seriously doubted it. Sometimes dishonesty stared you in the face and you had no choice but to do something about it. She now waited, contemplating her first major move as an acting mafia boss.

Brushing a strand of hair away from her face, Rena admired herself in the mirror. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun. Small black diamond studs adorned her ears and the red wrap dress with wide black belt sure would stop traffic if she went anywhere. The doorbell rang, surprising her. It wasn’t yet time for Carmine’s arrival. Quickly she headed downstairs and to the front door where she looked through the peephole. Doing a quick check to ensure that this was not another rose delivery she opened the door.

“Yes?”

A UPS delivery man stood at her door and he was not bad on the eyes either. Six feet of tall dark chocolate. As she sized him up he looked at her with undisguised interest.

“Ms. Rosetti?” he asked.

“Mrs. Rosetti,” she corrected him.
Just like a man to be fishing for information.

“Sorry. Mrs. Rosetti, I have some certified mail for you. Can you please sign for it?”

He pulled out his handheld scanner and handed her a stylus to sign it with. She signed and he gave her two envelopes, one short and silver, the other white and long.

“You have a nice day, ma’am,” he said before he turned away.

Rena closed the door and looked at the envelopes in her hand. The short silver one caught her eye and made her stop in her tracks. It was from Sage Aprea. She was strongly tempted to throw it in the garbage without reading it, but she wouldn’t. There had to be a reason Sage was sending her anything. Of necessity, more than curiosity, she opened the envelope and pulled out a thick piece of pink cardstock.

“She must really be out of her mind.”

The missive was an invitation to a ball Sage was hosting on Friday night. Rena wondered what Sage’s motive was by inviting her. Was she making an attempt to embarrass her because she knew Rena would be attending alone? Knowing the blonde bitch, such a passive aggressive move would be something she’d enjoy. Laying the invitation on the kitchen counter, Rena pushed it from her mind. She didn’t have time for balls. She had a business to run.

Looking down at the remaining letter in her hand, she recognized the handwriting before she even read who it was from. It seemed her husband had taken to writing her letters from prison, a true first. Taking a seat at the bar in the kitchen, she ripped open the envelope and pulled out the paper inside.

My dearest wife,

I never realized how true the saying is that a woman’s heart is like a vault. Once you’re in, you’re in, but once you’re out, you’re well and truly out. I pray that this is not the case for me, Rena. I know I’ve said many times that I want our marriage to work, that I love you with everything I have, I can tell that now you no longer believe it. I’ve been an arrogant, cold-hearted bastard in the worst way. I’ve abused you and disrespected you in ways that no woman should ever have to tolerate. But despite it all you stayed with me and I know it has nothing to do with my money.

You are a rare woman, Rena, a true partner in every sense of the word. If I could do things all over again, I would lay the world at your feet like you deserve. I would be a better husband to you. As I sit inside this cell day after day, all I can do is think about how my life is falling apart around me. What I once thought was important no longer is. Nothing matters to me more right now than you. I can’t lose you. I won’t lose you. No matter what it takes, Rena, I’m coming home to you and I swear on everything that things will be different this time.

I’m going to love you the way you deserve, worship the ground you walk on, and most importantly, honor my marriage vows in a way I have never done before. I want us to try again in all things, even conceiving the child we’ve both so longed for. This I promise. I love you, Rena.

Eternally yours,

Tony

“This is the most pathetic shit I’ve ever read in my life.”

What in the hell did her husband think he was trying to pull? He was a fool if he thought one sappy letter was going to change her mind about how she felt about him. She’d never been the type of woman who fell for sweet words. Flattery was a man’s way of trying to get what he wanted and most of the time the bullshit they were trying to sell you was far from sincere.

Instead of touching a cord in her heart, Tony’s letter had done nothing but piss her off. He knew that after all of their attempts, the doctors had told her to stop trying to conceive because the likelihood of her carrying a child to term had dropped to below fifty percent with her age and condition. She’d wanted children more than anything else in the world, but she’d accepted that Tricia would be her only one. Tony bringing it up had only reopened a wound that would never truly heal. She stuffed the letter back into the envelope and made a silent promise to herself to burn it later. Her heart was closed to her husband and that was the way things were going to stay. The house phone rang and she picked up the cordless phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Mom.”

“Tricia. Hey, baby, how are you? I miss you.”

“I miss you too. I’m good, but busy.”

“I’m sure you are. How is this round of clinicals going?”

“Mom, between you and me, some of the nurses are getting on my nerves. I’ve never seen so many women with attitudes.”

“Isn’t nursing the only profession in which the older ones eat the young or something?”

“You’d be right about that. I’m ready to explode on a couple of them.”

Rena raised a brow at Tricia’s comment. Her daughter was the most even keel person she knew.

“You’re ready to explode on somebody? They must have really pissed you off. You’re nice to everybody no matter what.”

“Mom, it would be one thing if they were just being snippy to me, but don’t get snippy or ignore me when I’m trying to tell you something about a patient. They’re the ones that matter and frankly if you don’t like your job you need to find something else to be doing. That’s what I want to say, but I’m biting my tongue.”

“I think you should tell them just that. You’re not wrong for how you feel. You are my daughter and there’s nothing wrong with exercising that influence every once in a while.”

“If you had your way, you’d have me telling them they’re going to be sleeping with the fishes if they don’t get their heads out of their asses.”

She laughed before saying, “And what’s wrong with that?”

“You are incorrigible sometimes.”

“I know. It makes life more fun that way.”

“If you say so. Anything exciting going on in your life right now?”

“I’d hardly call it exciting, but I did receive an invitation to attend a ball.”

“A ball? Mom, are you crazy? That is exciting. A chance to dress up like Cinderella and dance the night away.”

“It’s not as romantic as you make it sound, Tricia. The invite came from a woman I don’t particularly care for and besides who wants to attend a ball solo?”

“Why don’t you like the woman who sent you the invite?”

“It’s a story too long to get into.”

“If you say so, but maybe she’s trying to reach out.”

She smiled at her daughter’s naivety. “I love your optimism, Tricia, but I seriously doubt it.”

“You never know. I think you should go and even if you don’t like her, upstage her at her own ball.”

“I never thought I’d ever hear advice like that come from you.”

“I am your daughter. It shouldn’t be a surprise.”

“You constantly surprise me, daughter mine.”

“Glad to know. Now stop making excuses and go. I’ve got you a date.”

“And who would that be?” Rena asked.

“Shane.”

Her mouth went dry at hearing Shane’s name. She swallowed past the sudden thickness in her throat.

“You’re volunteering your boyfriend to be my escort?”

“Oh, we’re not dating anymore. We’re just good friends.”

“What happened?”

“Well the more I thought about it, the more I felt like he and I should just be friends. Like I told you I love being with him, but the romantic spark never really popped between us and rather than force something that wasn’t there I thought it best we should be friends only.”

“What did he say when you told him that?”

“He said he was somewhat caught off guard, but not really. He said that he cared a lot about me and what he was afraid of more than anything was messing things up with me.”

“It sounds like you both had some secret feelings you were harboring.”

“Yeah. I mean he still tried to talk me out of it, but once he saw I wasn’t budging he gave in. He just made me promise I wouldn’t write him off and never see him again.”

“Honey, I know you’ve said you thought about it, but are you absolutely sure you made the right decision? You two seemed so well-matched.”

“Yes, Mom. I know Shane is a great catch and Lord knows he’s beyond handsome, but he and I are better off friends.”

“So you’re going to be absolutely fine with seeing him with another woman? I find that hard to believe.”

“Give me some credit. I’m not going to flip out and act crazy if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I’m not going to argue. You know what you want and all I want is your happiness.”

“I’m happy. Shane and I haven’t stopped hanging out. In fact we’re going to the movies tonight.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. You know Shane said something about you the other day.”

“Oh, what was that?” Rena licked her lips.

“He said he could see a sadness in your eyes.”

“And what did you say?”

“I didn’t disagree with him.”

“Tricia!”

“What? I didn’t say anything about what’s going on with you and Tony, but you can’t blame Shane for being perceptive. You try to hide it, Mom, but you are sad. You need a change.”

“Change can be hard sometimes.”

“Yes it can, but I’m going to nudge you in the right direction. When I see Shane tonight I’m telling him about the ball. I know he’ll be more than happy to take you.”

“Tricia Renee Horne, don’t you dare.”

“Love you, Mom. Talk to you later.”

And just like that she was gone, leaving Rena to listen to the dial tone in her ear. Hanging up the phone, her mind raced over what her daughter had just said. Tricia and Shane were over and she wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Shane was a catch and for someone his age there was a maturity about him as if he was an old soul. It was probably the reason they’d connected so strongly in the first place.

You connected with your daughter’s man. If that’s not slutty I don’t know what is.
Rena wanted to ignore the voice in her head, but there was no point in denying the truth. It was one thing to appreciate Shane’s handsomeness and another thing entirely to open herself up to him in the way she had. No. She was relieved Shane had agreed to Tricia’s terms since his entire heart and head were not in their relationship. But what did that mean now?

Surely Shane wouldn’t be so foolish as to make an attempt to pursue anything with her. Even if he and Tricia weren’t together any longer, trying to make a move on an ex’s very married mother would hardly go over well. But why was she even entertaining these thoughts? She was married and in this lifestyle, the last thing women did was cheat on their husbands…under any circumstances. The men were free to do whatever they wanted, but a woman was likely to find herself floating at the bottom of a lake if she even thought of looking outside her marriage.

But she was not most women. What she was, was a woman who’d had enough of being trapped in a loveless marriage with a man who was not even around to hold and kiss her goodnight. Maybe once before, she would not have dared to think about a life without Tony, but that was before she’d experienced red hot passion in Shane’s arms. Before he’d reminded her that she deserved better and nothing was wrong with having everything her heart had been missing. Rena’s eyes closed and she could feel his lips on hers, hear the rumble of his voice in her ear. Opening her eyes, she bit her lip.

Passion.

She’d learned to live without it, but she missed it desperately. She’d lived without love, but she was tired of living without passion and it was time to do something about it. Sage Aprea’s ball might actually serve a purpose.

The doorbell rang and she rose from her seat at the bar. It was time to handle business. Her meeting with Carmine was either going to make or break her plans. Gathering her thoughts, she made her way to the front door, ready for the news she’d been eagerly awaiting.

It was go time.