Page 12 of Salvatore

Chapter Five

Salvatore

“Is Vincent fucking someone else? Without me being there, I mean?”

When I don’t answer Donnie, she starts swearing and bends forward to snort another line.

“Christ, Donnie,” I say. I lift the tray, tossing it, and all the blow, in the trash.

“What the hell, Salvatore?” she screams at me, smacking her palms against my chest. “You know how much that shit costs?”

I snag her elbow and haul her back when she tries rifling through the can. Damn, I’m so sick of this shit.

“A few bills, maybe more?” I offer. “I don’ know. What I do know is that you’re paying for it with Vin’s money, knowing he doesn’t want you doing it.” She tries to yank herself free, but I hold tight. “Listen to me, you need to get it together. You keep pulling this insecure shit, making demands on him, he’s going toss you on your ass?are you listening?” I yell, when she tries to pull away.

She must be, seeing she starts crying. I do a mental groan and ease her back on the bed. Vin was supposed to meet her two hours ago. She’s been sitting in here, wearing her silk robe and whatever she has under it, for at least three hours. I told her not to text him, but she did twice, asking where he was and when he was coming.

If she was anyone else, I wouldn’t care what was happening. But, like I said, me and Donatella have known each other a long time. Except, where I always dreamed of making something of myself and getting out of Jersey, she always dreamed of landing a rich and powerful man to take care of her. She never wanted to work and, since puberty hit her hard, she never had to, not really.

Donnie is one of those women you can’t believe is actually real, she’s so beautiful. Blonde hair dyed to perfection, nice rack, tiny waist, and all legs. She’s modeled for Playboy and Maxim, but the moment Vin noticed her a few years back, he would only let her model for him, which was fine with Donnie. She played her games, teased and taunted him, made him want her bad. When she finally let him have her, she was sure he’d never let her go. But, instead of making her his wife, Vin married someone else and kept Donnie as his gumad.

“Can’t marry a whore,” I remember him telling me on his wedding day.

It wasn’t what Donnie planned on, but she accepted it well enough, too blinded by the money, power, and how well he keeps her. Her mistake was believing what they had would last like a marriage. But she doesn’t believe. Not anymore.

Can’t say I blame her.

“I fuck those girls for him,” she says, sniffing either from her tears, the blow, or maybe both. “I do everything for him.”

I kneel in front of her when she takes a seat in front of her vanity. “I’m going tell you something, and I need you to listen and listen good. You push Vincent, he’ll cut you loose and not look back. Too much is going down and he can’t handle more on his plate, you feel me?”

She wipes her eyes, streaking some of her make-up. But then it’s like she suddenly hears me and puckers her lips. “Are the other bosses putting hits on him?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” I tell her. It’s not that I think Donnie’s wearing a wire. She wouldn’t betray Vin, knowing he’d order one in her skull. That doesn’t mean I think her place is safe from the Feds.

“Shit,” she mumbles.

“Do you have any money saved? Or is it all taking up space in your closet?” Her tight mouth makes it clear she only has what Vin gives her each week. “Maybe you should think about taking a class, going to school, something.”

“He is fucking someone else.”

I swipe at my face. “Christ, Donnie. I’m trying to give you some advice, so if and when Vin moves on?and he will move on with the way you’re acting?you have something to fall back on.” Besides another rich man she can dig her nails into.

“I can’t,” she says, tears sliding down her face. “I have to be available for Vincent when he needs me. How will I do that if I’m sitting in some damn lecture hall?”

For a moment, I don’t say anything. Donnie’s a little younger than me, but whether it’s all the makeup she wears, the blow she’s been doing lately, or this life she’s carved for herself, it’s aging her fast. Is she still hot? Yeah. I see it, always have. But ever since I laid my eyes on Aedry?and given how often I see her now?I don’t know, as fucked up as it sounds, I don’t look at Donnie the same.

There’s no missing Donnie’s killer face and body. But Aedry has a rare kind of beauty you don’t find in the Tri-State area or, hell, maybe anywhere.

“Fine,” I finally say to Donnie. “Your choice. But you have to let him want you on his terms. You fighting with him, trying to tell him when he should be here, it’s going to get old fast. Got me?” At her nod, I motion to her bathroom. “Get cleaned up in case he comes. If he doesn’t, don’t give him a hard time when he does.”

She nods and struts toward the bathroom in a pair of crazy stilettos that are probably killing her feet. She pauses before stepping inside. “Thanks, Sal.”

I tilt my chin, but that’s all I do. When I walk out into the living room, Lucca is already there to take over. Made men don’t watch gumads, but Vin trusts Lucca, because I trust Lucca. So, for now, Donnie should rest assured Vin doesn’t want her fucking anyone else.

“Later, Sal,” he says, when he sees me head to the door.

“Later, Lucca,” I say, buttoning my suit jacket to shield my piece before stepping out into the hall.

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