chapter 8

Chapter Twenty-One

Marcellus

“I am headed to my father’s office right now to discuss the matter of Jamie, Jamie’s father will be there as well, hopefully we won’t be here too long,” I tell Angelo over the phone, Dayton has no under-boss right now, and without me being there someone has to stay back. Luca is furious with me for not letting him come along, but of course I don’t care. Angelo will need the help, and I need some space.

“So what are you going to tell your father about Jamie? I mean there is no way he will let her go now that she knows so much.”

“I have a couple of ideas on how she can make herself useful, don’t worry about it, Jamie is my concern not yours.”

“Hai un problema, dovresti provare a prenderlo di livello. Non la porterai mai net tuo letto con quell’atteggiamento.” You have it bad, you should try taking it down a notch, you will never get her in your bed with that attitude.

“You really need to know when to stop talking. I don’t want to hear from you again unless it’s a report. Ciao.” I say hanging up the phone. Bye 

I walk to my father’s office in a rush, down the wide hallway. I really want to get this meeting over with so I can go check on Jamie before she wakes up. It’s early morning here, but she will probably sleep for a few more hours, she’s not used to this time zone. I have been in Ohio for so long that I am struggling to get used to it again.

I open the double doors to find Jamie’s father already waiting, he thinks he’s going to get his daughter back but I will not let him take Jamie away as I  have said many times before.

“Buongiorno figlio.” Good morning son.

“Let’s skip the pleasantries shall we? I have things that I need to take care of before I leave Italy,” I say sitting down on one of the chairs next to James, which are placed in front of my father’s desk. I don’t even bother to look at him as I sit there, and light up a cigarette. I don’t want him to think that I am worried in the least of his presence.

“Alright, son, have it your way then,” he says in his thick Italian accent. I know it pisses him off when I speak in English which is exactly why I do it.

“The only thing we need to discuss here is what I need to do for you to let my daughter go,” James says standing up with his hands in his pockets as he starts pacing the room.

“Didn’t you hear her James? She doesn’t want to leave, especially not with you,” I say calmly, without any hint of emotion that he may be affecting me.

“Listen here you piece of shit! I will make your life hell.”

“Don’t you dare insult or threaten my son in my own home James,” my father interrupts, also standing up, but slowly sits back down when James warily returns to his seat.

“Marcel I want you to tell me right now what you are doing with this girl, and why she is so important, and I don’t want anymore bullshit. You either tell me what the fuck this is all about or I make an order for my men to kill her right now.”

“Adamo wha…” James tries to protest but my father isn’t having it.

“You are in my home James, and you are under our mercy, I want to help you but my son obviously has his reasons for taking custody of your daughter. You will not disrespect me, or my family.” The cold, merciless tone makes James keep his mouth shut, but with a very tightly closed jaw.

My father doesn’t stick up for me out of fatherly love, he sticks up for me because of pride, and the need to establish his power. Showing weakness is very frowned upon, and if anybody senses that my father is too weak, people will talk of the need of new leadership, and that will be the end of the GIordanos.

“I have already given you the details of her brother’s betrayal, and the deal she made with us in exchange for his life.”

“Okay... so what do you plan to do with her? Put her in a whore house and make her work off the debt. Or is she working off the debt with you?” My hands squeeze the arms of the chair tightly at the thought of Jamie being prostituted.

“You speak as if you aren’t going to do anything about it if that’s the case.” James speaks out of term again.

“I will cut her throat, and make you watch if you don't keep your mouth shut,” my father spits out, you can tell he is losing control of his temper by the crazed sound to his voice. James again quiets himself, I can tell he usually doesn’t hold back, but we have his daughter so he won’t risk her life. Why would a man that obviously cares so much about his daughter leave her? I can only guess that is why he isn’t in the picture, maybe I got it wrong, and Jamie’s mom was the one keeping her from him out of spite for a relationship gone wrong.

“Father, I have found that she has skills elsewhere that could be of some use to us. Her face is unknown, and since no one will recognize her we can easily use that to our advantage of gaining intel. We still haven’t made any progress with the so called ‘Street Diamonds’ back in Ohio, and I am starting to think that they are part of something much bigger then some stupid local street gang. I feel like someone is behind the scenes pulling the strings, one of our enemies we already know of, maybe, but I am not sure.”

“There is no way my daughter is being put in danger like this! This is absolute bullshit, I can take her place, and do some dirty work if that’s what needs to happen, but you are not putting my daughter out there!”

“That’s not going to happen, I was made a promise concerning your daughter, not you,” I tell him, daring him to argue with me further with a challenging look in my eyes.

“This isn’t about your fucking dirty business! This is about you having some sick infatuation with my daughter! I don’t care who your father is...”

“That is enough!” My father’s voice booms throughout the room.

“I told you to keep your mouth shut James, the only reason you are not dead right now is because of what you have done for my family.” What is it that this guy has done for my father that is holding him back so much? There has to be something more than just a favor, my father doesn’t have an attachment to anything to make him so… lenient like this. He would have put a bullet in his head by now if it was anyone else.

My father turns his attention to me after shutting James up once again, the look on his face tells me that I am not sitting well with him either. Before he speaks, he stands while picking up the shot of whisky on his desk and drinking it in one gulp, slamming it back on the table.

“Marcel, look me in the eye and tell me that this is only for the benefit of this family?” he says bending over the desk with both of his palms firmly planted on the surface.

“Do you care about this girl?” He speaks again, as if he needed to directly say the real question he wanted to ask me that was plaguing his mind.

I lock my gaze on him, making sure that the sincerity in my words I plan to say look as  genuine as possible.

“Father, are you mad?” I scoff at him and chuckle a little bit, even though I feel an ache in my chest at even pretending to sound so harsh.

“Father, I won’t lie, I am playing nice, and if I get to fuck her it will be a plus. But I am only making sure I get as close to her as possible so that way her loyalty will become unyielding. I might even make her fall in love with me. People do almost anything when they are in love.” I smirk at him, putting my best mask on, trying to erase any indication that I care even the slightest.

“If you didn’t have so many men to protect you I would kill you right here and right now, making your father watch his precious son die,” James says way too quietly and calmly for it to sound like a threat, which honestly makes it a little more real. 

Suddenly my father starts laughing out of nowhere, making me cringe at the horrible scratchy sound, like nails on a chalkboard.

“This is probably the best idea you have ever had, my son,” he says with a big smile on his face, I can feel Jame’s glare burning a whole into the side of my face. My father walks around the desk, and gives me a good pat on the back as if he had taken me on my first fishing trip, and this was my first catch I have ever made. I flinch at his act of endearment, not used to his hands touching me unless he is out to do harm.

“You fucking bastard!” James yells at my father fuming with rage

“Pipe down, you are really testing my patience friend. We are going to make sure you walk away happy from this too,” my father tells him with a sneer on his face.

What the fuck is he talking about?

“Marcel, to ensure James that she is under our protection, and no harm will come to her while in our care, or yours, you are going to set up a meeting with Jamie, and her father once a week so that he may check up on her well being. And when the time comes that we might not need her anymore… well you… you are going to have to marry her,” he says turning around and sitting behind his desk again with his hands folded and still having a slight smirk on his face.

“What?” we say in unison, my triumph slowly turns into outrage at his insane proclamation!

“You both know the rules of this world, no one leaves unless they’re dead, and Marcel you have a duty to marry, and create a successor anyways, so it’s like killing two birds with one stone.” I gape at him, the only thing I can think of to solve this issue is killing him, but I know that will do me no good whatsoever.

I look over at James, waiting for his protest but all I see is his defeat, he bends down with his face in his hands, his face turning red just like Jamie’s does when she’s in distress.

“There’s nothing more to discuss, the deal has been closed, and the issue has been resolved. Marcel I trust you will be here for a few more days since you said that you have some things that need to be taken care of before you leave. You can set up Jamie and James first meeting while you are both here now please leave, I have some matters of my own that need attending to.” I look over at James but he is already walking out the door. I quickly follow him out into the hall, needing to say something to him, but not really sure what.

“James wait…” And suddenly I am slammed up against the wall with a hand on my throat, and Jamie’s father’s face inches from mine.

“You listen to me, and you listen well! I don’t care what it takes, if I ever find out that you raise a hand to her, maybe you accidentally knocked her over, or you accidentally scratched her even! It doesn’t matter how small of an injury it might be, if I find out, you die, your sister will die, and your whole family name will be done!” He slams me into the wall once more, and then stomps away down the stairs.

I can’t believe I am letting him get away with that, but I am.

Jamie

I am showered, dressed and ready for the day, and I am not sure if I should walk out on my own to find something to eat, or if I should wait, I really don’t feel like getting into any trouble. After all the drama with Marcel last night I could use a normal day for once. I need to go check on Helios, my own dog isn’t even going to know me, it feels like. I should have never accepted him from Greg, not that I could ever give him back, I just feel like I am doing a horrible job of taking care of him. He’s been getting bigger, and I am really hoping that by the time he grows to full size I will be able to have him trained.

Speaking of Greg, I really hope that Marcel did not hurt him, I will have to remember to ask him about it.

I look in the long mirror, smoothing out my casual red, spaghetti strap dress that comes a little above my knees, and hear a knock at the door.

It couldn’t be Marcel, he would just barge right in unannounced, with his rude self.

“Come in.” The door opens, and mother of all that is holy I stand corrected, it is in fact Marcel who decided to knock for once.

“Jamie,” he says in greeting to me.

“Marcel…” If only there was a third party in the room, that way they could raise the tension and randomly say their own name to be funny, I know I would laugh at that.

“What are you smirking at?” Marcel asks walking further into the room.

“Oh, I just thought of something funny,” I tell him.

“That dress is kind of short, you might want to change if you want to see the city today,” he says walking past me to the closet, I am guessing changing his own clothes.

Even though I am excited that he is sticking to his promise, I can’t ignore his snarky comment about my clothing.

“I like this dress, I am not changing, and it’s perfect for the beautiful weather you guys have here. Besides, you are the one that bought me all these clothes.” He walks back out of the closet in tan khaki shorts, and you guessed it, a black tight t-shirt, that hugs all his muscles. Finally after all this time of only seeing a peak of the artwork on his arms, I get to see them in full view. Both of his arms are completely covered with all these intricate designs, and shapes connecting to each other. I really want to look closer but I don’t want to give him the wrong idea again.

“Are you done staring at me? And is there no possible way that I can get you to change out of that dress?” he asks me.

“I was not staring at you, don’t flatter yourself, I just admire a good tattoo artist’s work, and I am not changing the dress. I like it,” I tell him not backing down.

“Fine, I don’t want to argue with you today. We can save that for later.”

“You are disgusting,” I say with the dirtiest look I can make.

“No, I don’t mean it in a bad way, even though I would love nothing more,” he says with no shame whatsoever.

“Well, what do you mean then?”

“Trust me, let’s just wait till later, we have a lot to talk about.”