Three: Daniela Berni

Three

Daniela Berni

            I felt sick when we left the club. It wasn’t just from drinking either. “Audrina, please tell me that you didn’t know that was their club.”

            Audrina looked at me with wide eyes. “Of course, I didn’t! My assistant told me about the club. I hadn’t heard about it until a week ago. Why would I make it a habit to hang out around the Capaldi’s? I know the kind of people they are. I worked hard so I could get out of that life, remember? And I know the kinds of memories that they bring up for you. I wouldn’t be so cruel.”

            I nodded. “Okay. Okay. I know you’re right.”

            I was still a little bit shaky. I hadn’t planned on reconnecting with the Capaldi’s. I hadn’t even posted on social media about being back. Not that there was a reason for me to. I didn’t have very many friends. Most of the people I’d been friends with in Florida had been friends with my aunt, and all older folks, who were retired. They weren’t exactly spending a lot of time online.

            “Are you okay?” Audrina asked as we slipped back into the car. The driver closed the door behind us, and we put our seatbelts on.

            There was a drink cart in the car, complete with water bottles. I took one of them and took a big, giant, gulp. “I’m fine. I think. But I…I wasn’t planning on reconnecting with the Capaldi’s at all. Now that Luca knows I’m back, there’s no way that Niccolo won’t try and contact me somehow.”

            “Are you sure?” Audrina asked. “I mean, Niccolo always hated you. Maybe he’ll just leave you alone.”

            I shook my head. “Mr. Capaldi always told the boys to protect me even if Niccolo didn’t like me. There’s a reason I was single throughout most of high school. If they both know I’m here, they’ll reach out. I’m not going to be able to escape them.”

            Audrina reached out, taking my hand in hers, and squeezing. “I’m sorry, Dani. I really am. I didn’t know that it was their club. Trust me, if I had, I would have gone to a different place.”

            I squeezed her hand then let it go. I took another sip of the water bottle I had. It had been five years since I had seen Luca Capaldi. I could still remember that night when I had told Mr. Capaldi that I wouldn’t take him up on his offer.

            It had been horrible.

            There’d been screaming, and yelling, and at the end of it, I had run from the place and spent the last week of my high school year crashing with Audrina. The same way that I was doing now. No matter what I did, or where I went, it seemed like the Capaldi’s would always come back into my life somehow.

            Audrina only knew bits and pieces about the several months I’d had to stay there after my mom died. So much had happened I didn’t feel comfortable telling her. Or anyone, for that matter. Besides, who would believe me anyway?

            Niccolo Capaldi had gone out of his way to make sure people thought that he hated me. He would never, in a million years, admit what had happened between us. Even if it meant losing me. To him, I was always the maid’s daughter. That was all I would ever be. I was not good enough to be seen with him in public.

            But we had a history. One that I wasn’t going to repeat ever again. Because I was pretty sure that history had gotten my mom killed, and that if I were with him, it would get me killed. Because the rumors about the Capaldi family being the mob weren’t just rumors, no matter how much they let everyone else think they were.

            As we drove back to Audrina’s apartment, she said, “Are you okay? You really did look like you saw a ghost after you saw Luca. I know Niccolo was a pain in the ass, but I always thought that the two of you were friendly, at the very least.”

            I shivered. “Luca’s his brothers right hand man. He always has been. You know, he told me once that he liked me. He was actually my first kiss.”  

            Audrina’s eyebrows both went up. “Really? You never told me that. I thought your first kiss was when I took you to Mexico that one year for Spring Break.”

            I shook my head. “We were both fifteen. It was at one of their parties. But then Niccolo came in and saw us. After that, Luca kind of acted like I didn’t exist.”

            Audrina frowned. “Are you sure nothing ever happened between you and Niccolo? I just don’t understand why Mr. Capaldi would want you to marry him when he knew how much you two didn’t want anything to do with each other.”

            I shrugged. “I think he just wanted to keep me safe. He thought of my mom and me like family, and I think he thought that if I married Niccolo at least then he would keep me from getting hurt from anyone else in the...organization.”

            Organization. A polite word for Cosa nostra.

            “What did Niccolo think of that?” Audrina asked. “Did he even know what his dad had planned for you too?”

            I nodded. “He definitely did. I think that was part of why he hated me so much. He felt like I was being forced on him.”

            “But there was never anything there, right? Between the two of you?”

            The car pulled to a stop then, and Audrina’s driver got out to open the door for us. “Thanks, Jameson,” she said to him.

            “Of course, Miss Bianchi. Is that it for the evening?”

            “Yes. I’ll see you bright and early in the morning.”

            “Good night, then.”

            The two of us got out from the car and went upstairs to Audrina’s apartment. “Well?” she asked.

            “Huh?” I said.

            “You never answered my question. Was there ever anything between you and Niccolo? Other than that one night stand you told me about?”

            I hesitated. I could tell her the truth. That Niccolo Capaldi had been the first guy that I’d ever had sex with. That he wanted to possess me, own me, in a way that had scared me as a teenager. And still did now. Instead, I said, “No, there was nothing between us. Except for hate.”

            “Well, who knows?” Audrina said. “Maybe he’ll just leave you alone. You are adults now. No one is forcing you into anything.”

            “Maybe,” I gave her a false smile.

            The problem was, I knew Niccolo Capaldi. He always got what he wanted. Even when they didn’t want him.