Page 45 of Vengeance

“If I wanted your forgiveness, I’d ask for it.”

Phae picks up the SD card again, this time playing with it between her fingers.

“Why do you need this? You and Viper are going to kill him. That gets you your empire. Why this too?”

“Because I want more than just for him to be dead. I want the world to know him for the filth he is.”

That and it’s an insurance policy. Just in case the feds want to look too close into his death when this is all over. This gives them a clear and obvious motive so they won’t look too closely into the man’s dealings and find things Viper and I don’t want anyone to find before I can make sure it’s all carefully hidden and stashed away.

But Phae doesn’t need to know all that.

“Another thing we agree on,” Phae replies. Then, “It’s going to take me a while to go through all this and write it up.”

“Better get to it then. There’s a lot at stake. You might even win a Pulitzer. Under your pen-name, of course.”

I stand up to leave, accidently jostling the sleeping two-week-old on my chest. Bella squirms against me. I put a hand on her back to pat her lightly as I leave the room.

“Dele,” Phae says before I can open the door.

“Phae.”

“Congratulations. On the baby. And the wedding.”

I wasn’t looking for absolution or forgiveness. But this is Phae’s way of giving it to me. Of making peace with everything she lost so I could gain it.

I wasn’t looking or asking for it, but I’m grateful nonetheless. And I feel like the fifteen-year-old girl who Phae welcomed into her house and helped usher into womanhood, even after Phae figured out that said girl had caught her husband’s attention. She never held her husband’s wandering eye against me. She was never mean or cruel, and I could always go to her. She was kind to me. Still is, it turns out.

“Thank you,” I reply quietly and leave the room.

20

Viper

People and their stupid wedding traditions. I haven’t seen Dele since yesterday morning because the women of the Fantoni family, who are numerous but I’ve only seen in passing since they’re never involved in any of the business, rushed into the room and stole Dele away to get her prepared for the wedding, and I’m not allowed to see her until then. Then, hours later in the evening, Sabino along with the rest of the Fantoni men came to steal me away for a final night of bachelordom which involved a lot of alcohol, cigarettes, jokes and laughter, and thankfully no other women. There’s a lot of things I can say about the Fantoni’s, but they’re loyal to each other and their families. If there’s any infidelity happening, they’re very good at keeping it quiet.

It had been a long time since I’d needed to pretend all there was to me was a charming playboy who likes to indulge. But I put on the act for the sake of comradery until everyone was too drunk to notice that I was being aloof. Everyone except Jeune and Marcus. Both of whom dutifully accompanied me with just a look from Eileen, who stayed behind to watch the children last night.

At the very least, talking to them was enlightening. A French mob prince and his own bodyguard turned boyfriend, saved from the rigid conformity of Jeune’s father. Though, the French would likely accuse Dele of kidnapping them. Not that it matters.

The French mob is barely a player on the board of the criminal underworld with no scary powerful allies and little influence. It will be nothing to deal with Jeune’s father and put him as the head of his family. Dele and I wouldn’t benefit from it, but loyalty should be rewarded. Especially for their loyalty to and protection of Dele. So I add them to the list of people I feel are owed favors. Eileen is at the top of that list. Then Cres. These two. Velia Uccello in lieu of her parents.

But those are matters for long after today. Today, this wedding.

“Ready?” Eileen asks from the doorway, wearing a long neutral beige, sparkling dress.

I simply nod before following her out to the garden where the guests are. It’s all family, but the Fantoni family are many. So even an intimate, family only wedding means a hundred and fifty people.

I stand at the altar, and not long after, the procession begins. It’s not long. Just Leon and Lady with Velia between them. Leon is supposed to be holding the pillow with the rings on it with both hands and Velia is supposed to be helping Lady drop flowers. However, Leon is balancing the pillow with one hand while holding Velia’s hand as she avoids looking at the crowd with her cheeks visibly pink. Lady does her job dropping the flowers but scowls the entire way while periodically tugging at the elaborate, braided bun at the top of her hair.

When they get to the end of the aisle, all three let out a sigh of relief for different reasons before going to their seats.

Then, Dele comes around the corner where she was hiding behind a tree and begins walking down the aisle by herself.

Honestly, Dele could have walked down the aisle in a plastic garbage bag, and I would have been blown away. However, she’s a sight to behold walking down the aisle in a white, jeweled, lace wedding dress with off-shoulder sleeves that hugs her breasts, her waist, her hips, and then flares at the knee. I’ve never cared whether or not Dele wore makeup, but today she’s added an extra touch to her everyday face with black wings and crystal jewels accenting her eyes. Her dark hair tumbles in waves down her back with a few of the front pieces pulled back in a braid so they stay out of her face.

If I believed in the sort of thing, I’d think she was a goddess. Come down from the heavens to grace and awe the world with her beauty before deciding to forsake her heavenly home to spend it with the regular human man she’s chosen to give her affections to. And compared to here, I am regular. Nothing particularly special. Just a boy who was given a gun and told where to point it. But Dele. She is everything, and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to match up to her greatness.

Instinctively, I reach out to help guide her to the alter to stand in front of me. Unhesitatingly, she takes it. The simple contact makes my mouth go dry and sends heat through my body. I take a deep breath to keep my composure. But somehow Dele knows because when she’s in front of me, hand still in mine, she smirks.