Park Avenue (Book Six in the Fifth Avenue Series) (30 page)

“I’d think if it was
successful, you’d be able to see some light or somethin’ right now.
 
I think a male doc would have been more
successful.”

“I’m not sure what gender
has to do with it.”

“Male doctors are
superior.
 
You must know that.”

“I don’t.”

“I’m going to be frank
with you, Leana.
 
With all this
going on, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to open your hotel.
 
I think you need to step away from
it.
 
Or not open it at all.
 
Maybe sell it.
 
I could find you a buyer.
 
Hell, that buyer might be me.
 
I’d cut you a good deal.
 
Beyond that, none of the De Cicco women
work outside of the home.
 
Has Mario
told you that?
 
It’s a source of
pride for us.
 
The women raise the
children, which is work enough.
 
I’m
assuming that at some point soon, you and my son will start a family that also
will include his children from Lucia.
 
That’s going to be taxing.
 
It’s going to be hard work, even if you do have a nanny, which of course
you will.
 
I’d prefer it if you give
up these notions of making it big in New York when really, as a Redman, you
have nothing to prove to anyone.
 
The same is true when you become a De Cicco.
 
How many women can say that, through one
marriage, they belong to two of the most powerful families in the United
States, let alone in Manhattan?”

She couldn’t believe what
she was hearing.
 
She felt her face
flush.
 
He was asking her to step
away from her dreams.
 
“It’s not
about power for me, Antonio.
 
It’s
about believing in myself and my capabilities.
 
It’s about going after a target, in this
case the new hotel, and succeeding at it.”

“Because that’s what your
father does and what your sister did, right?”

“I suppose so.
 
Yes.”

“May I suggest that you
channel those feelings into raising good children?
 
Believe me, the way kids are today,
doing
that
will be a challenge that’ll make openin’ this hotel of yours
seem like a piece of cake in comparison.”

She started to speak, but
he stood and stopped her with a kiss on her forehead.
 
As he did so, Leana looked over at
Mario, who was standing at the end of the bed looking tense.
 

“Rest
now,” Antonio said.
 
He moved away
from her and toward Mario, whom he locked eyes with for an instant before
approaching the door.
 
“Think about
what I said.
 
Think about what
success really means to you.
 
Naturally, the answer for any woman is family.
 
We all know that.
 
It’s not about opening fancy hotels and
that sort of bullshit.
 
It’s not
about bustin’ your father’s balls because you feel betrayed by him.
 
It’s about family.
 
And for the De Ciccos, family matters
most.
 
I have a gut feelin’ that
you’ll come to the same conclusion soon, once you and Mario have a talk.
 
A good talk.
 
I’ll see you in two days,” he said.
 
“And at that point, when they take off
the bandages, I hope you’ll have no trouble seeing me.
 
You know, as well as I know that you’re
hearing me right now.”

CHAPTER
FORTY

“Sean,” Leana said.
 
“Would you mind stepping outside and
leaving us alone for a moment?”

“Not at all, Miss
Redman.”

She waited for him to
leave before she turned to Mario.
 
“What was that?” she asked.
 
“Was that the 1950s calling?
 
Is that what I just heard?”

Mario came around the bed
and took the chair where his father had been sitting.
 
“Neither of us agrees with our fathers,
Leana.
 
I can’t control him or his
beliefs just as you can’t control your father or his beliefs.
 
When he called last night, I was hoping he’d
come here with the best intentions.
 
And maybe he did, because like it or not, that really is how he
thinks.
 
He believes a woman should
raise children and make her man happy.
 
Period.
 
I know it’s
offensive, and I’m sorry if he upset you.”

“Both of our father’s
need psychotherapy.”

“I won’t argue with
that.”

“You realize he just left
us with a threat?
 
You heard that,
didn’t you?
 
If I go forward with
opening the hotel, which I plan to do, he’ll see it as a slight against him.
 
He’ll be incensed.
 
Your father may have said the past is
forgotten, but he hasn’t forgotten any of it.
 
It’s still fresh.
 
He can’t stand me because of what
happened to Lucia.
 
He holds me
responsible for her death even though I had nothing to do with it.
 
Do you agree?”

“After the performance he
just gave?
 
Yeah.
 
I agree.”

“Mario, I love you, but
I’m not going to give up my dreams for anything or anyone.
 
Especially not for archaic ideas about
how a woman should behave from someone as stilted and as backwards-thinking as
your father.”

“I’m not asking you to,
Leana.”

“Then how do we handle
this?”

“We get married,” he
said.
 
“Right here.
 
Today.
 
We send him a message that we’re moving
on with our lives and that we’re not going to take his threats or his
bullshit.”
 

If her jaw didn’t drop,
it should have.
 
Leana didn’t see
that coming.
 
“You want to get
married today?”

“I want to be married to
you.
 
Period.
 
We’ve waited long enough.
 
I’ve waited three years, for Christ’s
sake.”

She reached for his
hand.
 
“We need to think this through,”
she said.
 
“Your father just
threatened me a moment ago.
 
How do
you think he’s going to feel if we go forward with this without him?
 
He’ll expect to be here.
 
He’ll expect to be invited.”

“I really don’t care,
Leana.”

“You need to start
caring.
 
He’ll feel betrayed.
 
It won’t go well.
 
You went to him for help—”

“And he comes here and
threatens you.
 
I’m done with him.”

“Mario, I can throw my
father away, and nothing would happen with the exception of me being stripped
from his will.
 
That’s assuming I’m
even in the damned thing, which is a long shot.
 
The question is whether you can do the
same?
 
You’re in a completely
different situation than I am.
 
Your
family lives by a code.
 
If you
break it, you suffer real consequences.
 
You know that’s true.
 
You
don’t know what he’ll do if you cross him this time.”

Mario shrugged.
 
“All he’ll do is cut me off.
 
He’ll act like I’m dead and never speak
to me again, which is fine.
 
He
won’t do anything physical.
 
I’m
certain of that.”

“How can you be certain?”

“We were out of his life
for three years, Leana.
 
Nothing
happened.”

“He assumed you’d be
back.
 
And he was right.
 
If you marry me after that visit and
under these circumstances, you’ll essentially be telling him to go to hell.
 
Is that what you want?
 
Is that the chance you’re willing to
take?
 
It could affect both of us.”

“It won’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll talk to my
brothers,” Mario said.
 
“They can
influence him.
 
I’ve seen them do it
before.
 
And then, when they tell me
it’s time, I’ll go and talk to my father, get the big kiss-off from him and
move on with my life.”

*
 
*
 
*

Two days later, after
Mario pulled strings so Leana could sign the marriage certificate in her
hospital room, a justice of the peace married them.
 

“I’m the last one who
should wear white, but I’ll be damned if I’m not going to,” Leana said.
 
“And by white, I mean this white
sheet.
 
The nurse changed the bed
this morning.
 
It’ll do.”
 
She winked at Mario, who was across the
hospital room, dressing.
 
He lifted
an eyebrow at her.
 
“I’m kidding,”
she said.
 
“At least about the
sheet.”

Only Anastassios, Sean,
Michael and Zack had been asked to witness the wedding.
 
And, remarkably, Leana was fully able to
see each of them because earlier that morning, when the bandages were removed from
her eye, it wasn’t just light she saw, but everything around her.
 
Though the surgery was a success, she’d
need to wear an eyepatch to protect her eye for the next several weeks.
 

Still, the relief that
she had her eyesight back after a week of not knowing whether she’d be blind
was enough to make her kiss her doctor on the cheek.
 
She blushed when Leana did so, and
turned an even deeper shade of red when Mario turned to her and did the same,
but full on the mouth.

“Italians,” Leana said to
the doctor.
 
“Sorry.”

Later, after they were
married, Leana changed into a fresh white suit, applied more makeup to conceal
as much of the bruising around her eye as possible and was discharged from the
hospital.
 
Before a nurse wheeled
her out of her room, Zack came to her with a gift.

“You pulled it off?” she
asked, looking at the gift-wrapped box.

“This wasn’t exactly
difficult.”

“Do the press know we
were married?”

“Somebody might have made
a few calls this morning and tipped them off.”

“I wonder who?”

“They’re outside
now.
 
You should see the crowd.
 
Teeming
.
 
They also know you’re about to be
released, so get ready for the melee.
 
Here.
 
Let me help you open
the box.”

She removed the item from
the tissue paper and held it up in front of her.
 
It was a marketing brochure for The
Park.
 
Dark blue background with
gold letters that said “ThePark.com” and, beneath that, “Opening September
23rd.”
 
She laughed.

“I don’t know,” she
said.
 
“Was I on drugs when I asked
you about this?”

“I think I asked you that
question.”

“This was a stupid idea.”

“I don’t know.
 
Maybe; maybe not.
 
Your photo is about to appear
everywhere.
 
This can go either way.
 
I suggest you go with your gut.”

“What do you think,
Anastassios?”

He had a bemused look on
his face.
 
“I’m with Zack.
 
Some will sling mud at you for it, but
you can take it.
 
If you’re going to
use it, just be subtle about it.
 
Hold it casually.”

“Michael?
 
You probably know about promotion better
than anyone here, with the exception of Anastassios.
 
Thoughts?”

“I wouldn’t do it,” he
said.

“Why?”

“Because there’s
something to be said for saying nothing at all.
 
They’re going to write about the hotel,
anyway.
 
It’s a natural part of the
story.
 
If you do go through with
it, it would be like someone rolling me out of the hospital with one of my
books or DVDs in my arms.”
 
He shook
his head at her.
 
“I know you were
probably medicated when you thought of this, but I wouldn’t do it.
 
It feels like a cheap stunt.”