Page 19 of Chubs

Looking at the closet, I see our clothes neatly hanging with a slight gap between his and mine. Mine take up over 80% of the space. A pair of battered black Chucks sit under his clothes alongside a small box filled with miscellaneous motorcycle parts, and that’s it for his belongings.

Stepping into the bathroom, my eyes glide over his toothbrush and comb. Nearly every other item in view is mine or a shared item like toothpaste. It suddenly dawns on me how little he kept here and that he didn’t take a single thing with him that I can tell at first glance.

His room at the clubhouse never had more than a couple changes of clothes, a few towels, and bathroom necessities. I thought that was because he didn’t consider it his home, but I completely believed this apartment was the beginning of our life together. Moving throughout the apartment, I slowly come to the conclusion that maybe he never planned on a life with me. Maybe I was simply a layover for him. Someone to pass the time with until he was ready to leave. Leaving a few belongings behind is no hardship and can be easily replaced. Having a full life, planning a future, buying items together as a couple would complicate the exit. I was left behind as easily as he abandoned his property.

I shove down the sob climbing up my throat and stalk to the kitchen. Grabbing a trash bag, I start gathering his items. When they’re all in the bag, minus Gee and Mac’s items, I toss the framed photo of us on top and tie the bag shut. I drag it to the door and place it in the hallway. Going back to the bedroom, I strip the bed, gather the used towels, and push the overflowing laundry basket out the door to sit next to the trash bag.

I remake the bed, set out a few clean towels, and then head for the kitchen to throw out his snacks. Opening each cupboard, I find none. I should have expected that. Making another walk-through of the apartment, I find nothing left of Chubs. Nothing except a petite woman, hollow inside except for anger, determined to never allow any man to make her feel like this again.

Chapter 9

Chubs

Keeping my phone close, I wait. While I do that, I can’t keep my mind from going back in time. Hearing Alessandro’s voice has dragged memories to the surface that I buried deep for years. I had to do that to mentally survive all that happened when our father was arrested and our family’s futures were permanently altered.

Enzo Zanetti is a bad man and makes no apologies for that. He’s always felt that he had few choices in life, and he made the best ones he could at a young age. He’s a tough, hardcore criminal that climbed the ranks of the Vero crime family, and he did it quickly. When he took hisoath of omertà, the code of silence and honor, he was the youngest member to ever do so. He was a single man with no living family members to dissuade him from this path. From the tough streets of Chicago, he wanted to make a name for himself. He achieved his goals, but life has a way of getting messy when you least expect it to. Enzo met Giana Rossi, and that simple meeting set into motion a chain of events that have placed me in a shabby hotel, miles from where I want to be.

Enzo never planned on falling in love, getting married, or having children. He only planned to someday be the boss, the don. Upon meeting Giana, his plans changed. Being as ruthless as he was known to be, he never considered that he wouldn’t be able to protect his family. Arrogant and still young enough to fear nothing, he pushed his way into Giana’s life. A few short months later, they were married. Not long after that, Giana was expecting her first child. Instead of giving birth to one, she had twins.

My sister Aria and I became a team from the moment of conception. Being eight minutes older than her, I have always felt a deep sense of responsibility for my sister. A year later, our brother Alessandro was born. Three babies kept our mother busy but content with her life. Our father worked long hours to ensure that his family would always have everything they ever wanted. I think our mother was somewhat blind to what our father did to give us that great life. That is, for a while, and then the blinders came off abruptly.

Mom finally realized, or fully acknowledged, Dad’s profession when she overheard a conversation not meant for her ears. Alessandro and I were fully aware of what our father did to earn money and that we were meant to follow in his footsteps. Aware but not compliant. Dad had been slowly exposing that side of his life to his sons for years, hoping we’d take to it, yet we didn’t. In fact, both of us were violently opposed, and that’s the conversation our mother had walked into.

From a young age, I knew what I wanted to do with my life, and being a made man was not it. I loved school and learning, so becoming a teacher was all I’d ever wanted to be. My grades were so good I was able to skip some classes. Because of that, I was eligible to take a few college courses along with high school coursework. I explained this to my dad and told him I was taking this opportunity. In his mind, all the things his sons needed to learn could be taught by him and the streets. While proud of me and my accomplishments, this was a clear sign that I wasn’t going to work for the Vero family. When Alessandro sided with me, Dad got frustrated and started shouting. Gentle, kind Giana Zanetti stormed into the room and tore into our mobster father, the man she loved more than anything. While she was a force that day, she didn’t realize at the time that there were others that had more say than her. In the life my dad had chosen, a lot of our individual choices were taken away from us. There were expectations for Enzo’s sons, and not even he could sway the path we were meant to follow.

When the phone rings, it startles me back into the present. Flipping it open, I hold it to my ear and wait to hear Alessandro’s voice again.

“You better start explaining to me how you can make a phone call from beyond the grave,” Les growls.

“I escaped from the safe house when I found out the Feds guarding me were working for the Vero family. They never meant for me to testify but be eliminated instead. Dead people can’t testify against crime families,” I answer in a calm voice though my heart is racing in my chest.

“Holy fuck, Adriano, I can’t believe I’m talking to my brother again,” Les says in an incredulous voice after a long silence.

“Same. Missed you, little brother.”

The silence between us seems charged with emotion and yet calming at the same time.

“We have so much to talk about, but I have to ask why you’ve called now. Why didn’t you call when you got away from them? Where have you been?” Les rushes through his questions before taking an audible breath of air. In a voice filled with pain, he rasps out, “You let us think you were dead.”

“The way things were going back then, you, Mom, and Aria were safer with everyone thinking I was dead. If the Vero family knew I was still alive, they would’ve used you three as leverage to get to me. Torture would have been the word of the day, and you know the methods they’d have used on you three. I’m calling now because things have changed. Federal agents found me and have been pressuring me to return to Chicago and testify for them. Not the two that were supposed to kill me, but I assume they’d show up eventually. Maybe the two new ones are dirty too. I don’t know for sure, but I knew something was up when I told them I wouldn’t testify, and yet they wouldn’t leave me alone. Why was anyone looking for a dead man anyway? They found me, so I knew others could too. So, I put out some feelers and started gathering intel,” I explain carefully.

“What have you found out?” Les asks with dread in his voice.

“The Feds realized they had some dirty agents and supposedly cleaned house. They’re also building a new case against the Vero crime family and need witnesses from the past to build a RICO case. Dad, still being in prison, was their first choice, but he’ll never talk. He’ll be loyal to his death even with the deal they offered him. I don’t know if anyone is aware that Dad took both of us on some of his jobs and not just me. If so, you’re not safe. Have you been approached by Feds?”

“No, no one has questioned me at all. Not since the night they took you, that is,” Les replies.

“Then they believe I was the only one our dad had in training. The only one who saw things they could use against the family,” I say and breathe a sigh of relief, but it was premature.

“We do have a problem, though. It’s with Aria.Leonardo Romanohas announced that he plans on marrying her,” my brother states irritably.

“Are they dating?” I ask in alarm because I remember Leo and his father. The senior Romano being a very effective hitman who puts no value on a human life.

“No, Aria has refused all dates, even his calls and texts. But he’s being very persistent and hasn’t let up. I even called him about it, but it did no good.”

“You know how things work in that family. If they want compliance, it’s either done through force, murder, or marriage. If she were married to him, no one in our family would dare to go against them because she would pay the price. Our sister would become a prisoner in her own home. Maybe they do know the Feds are working on another case. I need to think about all of this, but no matter what, we have to find a way to keep her out of his reach.”

“You haven’t been around your sister in a long time, Adriano. She’s a force of nature and doesn’t take well to interference in her life. She’s still mad at me for calling Leo in her defense. She even gave Mom the silent treatment for telling me about Leo bothering her,” Les says with a small laugh.

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