Love and War 2 (16 page)

Caprice didn’t want to think about that. She had to remain focused.

“So, I just leave a message for this lawyer and then I meet with all four bosses at the same time. What do I say?”

Fausto shook his head and sighed. Caprice was going to have to make a major deal to get everyone off her back. Plus, there was always the chance that they’d laugh in her face and refuse to deal with anyone else except her father.

“You’re going to have to put a lot of money on the table,” he told her. “Whatever they paid, you’re going to have to double or triple it to cancel the contract.”

Caprice was skeptical. “What if they don’t accept?”

“They’ll accept,” Fausto said. “All we see is green. We don’t care where it comes from. If they really wanted you dead, you’d be dead already. They’re playing with you to see if you have the balls to play in the big leagues.”

“Umm, what are you talking about? Nico is practically on his death bed. I think they’re doing more than just playing.”

Fausto, although he looked just as grim as Caprice felt, chuckled lightly. “You said the explosion happened when Nico opened the door, right?”

“No. it happened when he turned the key.”

“Amateurs,” Fausto grumbled. “If they really wanted you dead, the damn thing would have been rigged to go off when you were in the building. None of you would have survived that. But the asshole rigged it to go off when the lock turned. They wanted to hurt and scare ya, that’s all.”

“Awesome,” Caprice scowled. “First my car, then Maria’s restaurant. What are they going to do next? Cut off a horse’s head and stick it in my bed? When should I call this lawyer?”

“As soon as you leave this building. Now. And kiss Nico for me. Tell the kid I love him, ya hear?”

Caprice wasn’t ready to leave. She wasn’t safe anywhere but in the training room with Fausto. She wasn’t looking forward to the rest of her day, that’s for sure. She had to leave, though. Nico and Diesel deserved more than her sitting around crying. Besides, the sooner she took care of the situation in New York, the soon she could get to Jersey and check on her man.

The vibrating of her cell phone awakened Caprice who had nodded off in the chair next to Nico’s bed. She grabbed the phone quickly and answered the unknown caller. This was the call she had been waiting for.

“Caprice?” the deep male voice asked.

“Yes.”

“The meeting is set. Come by my office in an hour. You will need to be alone and unarmed.”

“What? Hell no!” Caprice huffed. There was no way she was going anywhere outside of the hospital without two fully loaded guns, especially not to meet with the people that were trying to kill her and her family.

“Those are the rules, Ms. Bonatelli. They’re the same for everyone. Don’t be late.”

Caprice sighed. She didn’t have a choice. She took the address and hung up the phone. She kissed Nico’s forehead, tightened the sash on her leather coat, and left the hospital with the twins trailing behind her.

An hour later, she pulled Nico’s Tahoe in front of a homey looking law office in Little Italy. The twins parked on the street behind Nico’s SUV. They couldn’t go in, but they were armed. If Caprice didn’t emerge unscathed from the law office in twenty minutes, they had instructions to go in with guns blazing.

Two beefy Italians met Caprice at the door and patted her down in silence.

“Watch it!” she snapped when one of them lingered too long over her ass.

Satisfied that she wasn’t carrying, they led her into the office. The office was actually larger than it looked from the outside. Because it was closed, the hallways were dark. There was only one lit room that Caprice could see, but the door was closed. At the end of the corridor, they stopped in front of a door marked PRIVATE.

“Go in,” one of the guards instructed. “They’re all waiting for you.”

Caprice put her hand on the doorknob. A nervous feeling burned in the pit of her stomach. She had no idea what she was walking into and that bothered her more than anything.

It’s just a business meeting,
Caprice said in her head.
You know how to handle business meetings. You’re a fuckin’ beast in business meetings. Get it together and open the damn door.

She turned the knob and pushed the door open. Immediately, there was silence and four pairs of eyes watched her enter the room. The men were sitting around a circular table. Caprice knew why. It was a strategy she’d learned in one of her business classes.

A round table discussion always worked best with everyone sitting at a round table. No one could sit at the ‘head of the table’ if the table was actually round. It symbolized that everyone at the table was equal. There were five seats at the table and one of them was empty.

With the exception of Luca Lucchetti, none of the four men had ever laid eyes on Domani Bonatelli’s daughter. Like pure gentlemen should, they all stood up when she walked in the room.

“Good evening, gentleman,” she smiled like she’d just walked into a boardroom. “It’s about time we all met, don’t you think?”

One of the older gentlemen moved away from the table and approached her. Caprice guessed he was in his late sixties and had been handsome in his heyday. He wore a navy blue Armani suit with a brilliant red tie. His diamond cufflinks sparkled in the light. He also wore what looked like a class ring on his right ring finger. Caprice knew it wasn’t a class ring though.

“I am Michael Abriggio,” the gentleman said in a raspy voice. His accent was the heaviest Caprice had ever heard.

Michael Abriggio took Caprice’s hand and politely kissed it. “You are absolutely stunning, my dear.”

Caprice blushed a little. She certainly had not expected such a warm reception. However, one by one, the three men she’d never met introduced themselves and kissed her hand.

The youngest man in the group looked to be in his early forties. He was incredibly gorgeous, in a Brad Pitt kind of way. He introduced himself as Anthony Capella and pulled out Caprice’s chair. He seemed to be the designated speaker of the group, as well as the most charming. Caprice liked him right away.

“Ms. Bonatelli,” Anthony said after Caprice was seated. “Meeting you is a real pleasure for all of us, I’m sure. However, we are a little concerned. Domani usually occupies that chair, but you are wearing his ring.”

Caprice nodded her head. “I understand your concern. You can all sleep well knowing my father is alive and well. He is currently preoccupied, but he will return soon. However, this is not my father’s ring. It belonged to Fausto. Now it belongs to me.”

Abriggio smiled warmly. “Are you saying that this…situation within the Bonatelli Family is only temporary?”

Caprice returned his warm smile. “I’m saying that for an unspecified amount of time, I am the acting voice for the Bonatelli Family. The only voice.”

Luca’s expression was of pure anger and maybe even hatred. “With the government on his back, what make you think that Domani is ever coming back? You are just a girl.”

Caprice remembered the conversation she’d had with Luca just a few weeks ago. He’d spent the majority of the conversation staring at her tits before he asked for her casino. She’d let it go, but he crossed the line. She was a hell of a lot more than
just a girl
.

“I’m sorry,” Caprice said coolly, despite her annoyance. “I didn’t ask for this meeting to discuss my father’s whereabouts, his return to the States, or my gender. I want to discuss the meeting you had without a member of my family present. The meeting you had where you discussed taking out me and my brother. I want the contract cancelled…immediately.”

“That’s all?” Luca laughed loudly. “You can’t just call off anything! You and your brother pissed someone off; someone with rank and money. It’s not that simple to stop that kind of wheel once it is in motion.”

“With all due respect, Luca,” Caprice stated. “I’m one hundred percent positive that the only people who outrank me or may have more money than me are in this room.”

Anthony grinned at Caprice. He liked her spirit and the way she commanded respect from the men while still giving Luca and the others the respect they were due. He didn’t care what she offered; he was going to argue in her favor when the time came.

“You’re a smart girl,” he said. “You know how this works. Make us an offer.”

Despite his amazing good looks and charming personality, Caprice was still upset that she was even in the room with all of them. She was upset that she had to negotiate for her own life. She couldn’t keep her feelings out of her voice when she spoke.

“Is this how it works? My life goes to the highest bidder? Why? Because I’m a woman or because Paolo Mancusi has been around forever and you think he deserves my father’s seat?”

The expression on the men’s faces changed. Anthony and Michael actually had small smiles on their faces, while Luca and Salvatore frowned severely. Luca shifted in his chair ever so slightly at the mention of Paolo’s name, but Caprice noticed. She’d taken a chance by mentioning Paolo’s name, and Luca’s shiftiness had confirmed her suspicion.

“I’ll bite,” Caprice said. “Twelve million to be split amongst the four of you. That’s my offer.”

Luca shook his head. “Not good enough. Throw in controlling interest in your casino and we can start talking.”

Red hot rage threatened to consume Caprice. She gripped the edge of the table and glared at Luca.

“Listen you slimy son of a bitch,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “We’ve had this conversation already. You are not putting one grimy finger on my casino.”

“Oh,” Luca laughed in her face which made Caprice even angrier. “You do have quite the temper. Must have got it from your dad. Your offer isn’t good enough, sweetheart.”

“Why are you so desperate for a piece of my casino? You have two casinos!”

Caprice took a deep breath and calmed herself. She couldn’t even look at Luca anymore, so she focused her eyes on Anthony.

“I’ve already had a conversation with Lucchetti about The Capri. Any deal that requires my casino is off the table. What else do you want?”

“Then there’s no fuckin’ deal!” Luca shouted.

He was so angry that a vein in his neck was noticeably throbbing. The girl had already given Paolo a mild heart attack. He wasn’t going to let her take him out too. Her very presence in the room went against everything he knew. He did not respect her and was losing his patience with her by the millisecond. Fausto and Domani would pay for pushing their half-breed female on them.

“Actually,” Michael spoke up. “I think it’s a fair deal. It’s double what we paid. However, we need to discuss it.”

“What is there to discuss?” Caprice heatedly demanded. “You just said that it’s a fair deal.”

“Give us a few hours, sweetheart,” Anthony smiled at her.

“Caprice. My name is Caprice.”

“Yes, well, Ms. Bonatelli,” Michael said. “We’ll need a few hours. Tribiani will call you.”

Caprice knew when she was being dismissed. Without another word, she rose from the table, put on her coat and walked out of the room. The meeting had taken less than fifteen minutes.

Once she was in the SUV, she immediately checked her messages. Nothing from Maria so Nico’s status had not changed. She’d texted Gloria hours ago for an update on Diesel’s condition and finally had a reply. A smiled as wide as the Brooklyn Bridge stretched across her face when she read Gloria’s text.

He’s awake.

The needle of the Tahoe’s speedometer inched closer and closer to 100mph as Caprice sped up Garden State Parkway. She ignored all traffic laws and courtesies as she weaved in and out of lanes. Horns blared, but she kept going. If the cops tried to pull her over, she’d ignore them too.

She made the two hour drive from New York to Atlantic City in an hour and fifteen minutes. Her knees were shaky and her nerves were shot as adrenaline coursed through her body. She actually had to sit in the hospital parking deck for a few minutes to regain her composure.

While she was trying to calm her shaky nerves, she ran through all the things she wanted to say to Diesel. She wanted to say how sorry she was that he’d gotten hurt so badly. She had to tell him how much she loved him. Most importantly, she just wanted to hug and kiss him.

When the elevator doors opened on Diesel’s floor, Caprice almost broke her neck trying to get to his room. She almost ran right into his mother.

“You got here quick,” Gloria commented.

Caprice stopped jogging down the hall. She decided not to go right past the woman like she didn’t even see her.

“Was I supposed to wait?”

“You could have waited until morning. I’m just sayin’. I didn’t say there was a rush for you to get here.”

Gloria’s red rimmed eyes were still full of judgment, but Caprice didn’t care what the woman thought about her. She wasn’t going to kiss her ass or make her feel more important than she actually was.

“What is your doctor friend’s diagnosis?”

“He’s going to make it.”

Caprice breathed a deep sigh of relief. Her heart was doing cartwheels and she had a hard time not busting out in song and dance. She was so happy she could feel tears threaten to form.