Dominic Valentine (pronounced Valen-teen) Giossi was the head of a very powerful Italian crime syndicate based in Little Italy...New York. At 30 years old he'd gained the respect of the family heads as well as the Russians and Greeks. He was fair...
I was so nervous I felt like I was going to vomit; I didn't know why. Antonio and I had been talking over the phone and I felt plenty comfortable with that, but a face-to-face meeting?
"You're overthinking too much, tesoro" Dominic said gently, grabbing my hand. "Just talk to him like you do over the phone." I blew out my haggard breath; geez why was I making it harder than it had to be? One minute I was telling myself it was all going to be okay and the next minute I was trying to talk myself out of meeting with him; it was too late now, we were pulling up to Valentino's. "You look beautiful and amazing. Just be yourself" Dom told me, kissing my knuckles. Here we go!
"Mr. Giossi" the pretty hostess acknowledged Dominic and then smiled at me. "Your party has arrived and is waiting at your private table" she said leading the way.
"Did I tell you how beautiful you are?" he asked as we walked towards our table.
"Yes" I replied. "But I wouldn't mind hearing it again" I said smiling at him.
He stopped our forward momentum for a moment, looked at me and said "There is nothing more beautiful than my girl, standing right here, next to me." I blinked quickly to try and stop the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes. I mouthed 'thank you' at him as we continued on to the table; when I looked up there was Antonio already on his feet coming towards us.
"Camille you look positively stunning" Antonio told me. He actually looked very handsome; his face ruggedly good looking with salt and pepper facial hair, dress shirt, pants and jacket. I returned the hug he gave me, suddenly feeling at ease.
"I believe that I am the envy of every woman here with two stunningly handsome men at my table" I replied. He'd already ordered a very expensive bottle of wine for the three of us.
"Antonio, your money is no good here" Dominic told him respectfully. "I won't have you pull your wallet out on this visit. You are my guest and the father of my girlfriend. I won't have you pay for your meal." And that was that. I asked Dominic to order for me because I couldn't think about food right now.
Antonio had come prepared with photos of him as a child, young boy and man and then he pulled out a rectangular box and slid it across the table to me. I carefully opened up the box and found an antique white gold and diamond bracelet.
"It was my mother's, your grandmother's bracelet. I want you to have it" he said taking it and fastening it on my wrist. I was overcome with so much emotion I couldn't speak.
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"Antonio, e' bellissimo! Grazie! (it's beautiful! Thank you!)" I sobbed. I could tell he was overcome just as much as I was.
"Your grandmother would have loved you very much" he said thoughtfully. Suddenly I was just as angry at my mother as I had been all those years ago; she had kept me from my true family and she had put Paul through so much. It was unbelievable how incredibly selfish she was.
"Please tell me about her" I asked softly. As he started telling me about her, he pulled out some pictures of her, she would have been around the age I am now, and it was startling the resemblance between her and I; even some of Antonio's pictures there was no doubting he was my father. This night had been exciting, overwhelming and sad all at the same time but I would never regret going ahead with this dinner as I felt like the distance that years had put between us was closing; with each phone call, email and visit that distance would close even further.
I found myself not wanting to leave now but he and Dominic were leaving in the morning, both of them destined for Miami. I found myself in an enveloping hug, taking in his masculine scent, feeling like a father-daughter hug.
"I don't know if it's too soon" he started "But I love you, Camille and thank you for meeting me for dinner. I will miss you, tesoro." His eyes misty, like mine.
"I love you too, father and I will miss you as well."
I spent the ride home in Dominic's lap crying; it was all very emotional and I didn't want to keep it all in, I had to let it out and thank God he could handle it.
"Just let it out, cara" he urged. I sniffled.
"I'm so pissed off at that bitch!" I said referring to my mom. "She hurt Paul in so many ways and she also hurt Antonio."
"Don't forget that you got hurt as well, Camille. She could have told Antonio about you and I can't began to understand what Paul was going through but I wished that he would have told you sooner and not in a letter." I knew Dom wasn't trying to hurtful in his assessment of Paul but what he said was true.
"I don't want to talk about it anymore tonight. I want to focus on you" I remarked.
"Camille, I" he started to say but I silenced him by kissing him. "I'm not going to be 'that woman'. Just promise me you will come back safe, all of you" he knew what I was saying.
When we finally made it home I asked him to fix us some drinks and bring them up to our room. He headed to his study as I grabbed Beni gently by the arm.
"Please keep him safe" my eyes imploring him.
He patted my hand and said "You have my word." I smiled at him and said thank you. I headed into the bathroom, stripped off my dress and just left on my heels, checked my hair and makeup, spritzed on some perfume when I heard the bedroom door open and Dom called out.
"Camille, I got..." he didn't get to finish because I just walked out in my heels, rested one arm on the door frame and let my other hand hang down by my side. He sat the drinks down on the dresser and stalked to where I stood. "Fuck" he breathed as I reached for his pants; it was going to be a long night for the both of us.
