Page 38 of Gianni DeLuca

Since that night, I hadn’t seen my mother; it was the longest we’d ever been apart. But I needed to start over and keep both of us safe. We’d talked a few times but never long to ensure our phones weren’t tapped. Enzo was angry that I had dissolved our mafia organization without his consent. Mamma was still trying to plead my case with him. She believed in time that as long as I continued sending a percentage of the money from the casino to the DeLuca family, he would forgive. Once Diamond and I made it safely to Rio Bueno, a seaside town in Jamaica, she told me she wanted to be called by her birth name again. Paris Rochon was a young woman from New Orleans who wished for a banking career and a family. Diamond Domonique represented the fast and dangerous life.

We’d gotten married shortly after our arrival in Jamaica, and a few days later, we discovered that she was pregnant. We’d both cried that somehow our old dreams were becoming a reality. Every day we fell more in love.

I squeezed her to me as she began to wrap up her call.

“Wonder twin powers,” she said sadly.

“Wonder twin powers,” Laffy responded gruffly. “Stay safe.”

“Take care of my baby, you hear?”

I added, “You mean our baby, a grown-ass man.”

Laffy reminded Paris. “He wants this life, Sis. It’s in his blood. Whenever he speaks with G’s Mamma, he really believes he’s the next black don. I don’t know what advice she’s imparting, but he over here thinking he needs to help me lead. He keeps saying I’m getting old and shit and needs to look after me.” He tsked. “He doesn’t know that I’m in my prime.”

“Even that sounds like an old man talking,” Paris teased.

I took the phone back from her. “Knowing Mamma, she’s preparing him because he is a DeLuca.”

Wisdom smoothly replied, “He’s also a Rochon.”

“Can we concede he has the best of both families flowing through his veins?”

He chuckled. “Ever the diplomat.”

“Just tell Courage that he has a mother and a father who love him and to call us sometimes.”

“G, he’s young, and talking to yall makes him miss you more, especially his Ma. Trust he knows how you feel. We need to get off this phone. Take care of my sis and niece.”

“Always. BFL,” I said, gripping the phone. Our friendship had resumed like we were still those teenagers, though from a distance.

“Brothers for Life.”

I clicked off my cell and kissed a tearful Paris. She would be melancholy for a few hours, as she always was when she received a call from her brother or son. During those times, I would hold her or give her space. Whatever she needed. I rubbed the wetness from her cheeks. “You know I love you forever, right?”

She lifted her head to gaze into my eyes. “Forever and infinity.”

“If you want to visit them, I can figure out something so you can. Most people in the life didn’t know you or that you’re here with me. I could make it happen. Whatever you want.”

Paris sighed and looked past me. “No. I already told you I don’t want to step foot in New Orleans again. Ever since I was sixteen, I’ve been living a life I never wanted for the sake of my family. I love my son and brother and miss them so fucking much. But now it’s time for me to have what I wanted all along.”

I brushed my lips against hers and teased, “Am I your Tinkerbell?”

“The sexiest fairy I’ve ever seen.” She ran her fingers through my hair. “You and this baby are my dreams. This is our new life. We’ll see our family in time, and it’ll be a happy reunion.” She shifted in my arms, so our bodies entwined, and she drifted off to sleep.

Watching her sleep, I rubbed the soft waves of her hair, thinking of how my life had changed in the last year. That I used to be head of a successful crime syndicate, that I owned a casino and a thriving restaurant, who didn’t give a fuck about love and commitment to a woman. And then love struck, and none of my ill-begotten successes mattered anymore. The woman sleeping in my arms reminded me of Gianni Andreas, the intelligent and ambitious youth who had dreams of college and marriage to her. She reminded me of the hopes of my father. Now I live happily married with a baby on the way in Jamaica, where the locals believed in hard work but loved to have a good time. I received daily reports via the Cayman Islands from the casino and restaurant managed by my capable, legitimate employees. She and I were still considering the business we would have here on the island. To start a new legacy for our yet unborn daughter.

Paris and I left New Orleans in the wee hours of the morning before the sun had a chance to touch the sky. We left our birthplace, our home searching for refuge, a sanctuary from all the destruction. That morning we clung to each other, knowing that however scary or sad our new journey could be, especially when we missed the people we left behind, our journey had become necessary.

I had no idea if we could truly outrun our pasts, if we were stuck in the dreams of our youth, or if we had the right to expect to be happy. All I knew as my hand caressed her round eighth-month belly was that Paris and I were finally together. That for however long we could be together on this Earth, we would be happy. The rest would be up to fate.

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