Okay, so I was a little weirded out that Luke told me Uncle Vito had ordered hits where guys ended up with bullets in their brains. Not to mention he’d kidnapped me a couple of days earlier. Still, if Sissy and Dom divorced, I’d likely not be invited to the huge family Thanksgiving dinner again. This was probably one of the last times I’d ever see him. Anyway, if he was a man who could order a hit, it was probably not prudent to dis him on a hug. So, with Sissy, I moved forward for a big Uncle Vito hug.
“How’re my girls?” he asked, leaning back and dropping his arms.
“Not good, Uncle Vito,” Sissy answered.
Vito’s eyes came directly to me.
Eek!
What’d I do?
“What’s Dom done now?” he asked.
Oh, okay, freak out cancelled. I was always telling on Dom to Uncle Vito. He knew I’d give him the truth.
Sissy and I looked at each other. Vito moved into the room. We found that he knew both Shirleen and Daisy. With Daisy, it was understandable if Aunt Angela knew her. Shirleen was a wildcard.
Shirleen had also morphed into a badass Shirleen I’d never seen before. Her eyes were sharp, her face was serious and she didn’t look like someone you messed with. She certainly didn’t look like someone who had just been talking about cannolis. It was also clear Vito took her seriously. You could see this but it wasn’t spoken. I found this intriguing but decided not to ask. I had more important things on my mind.
We all sat and Sissy and I told our stories about Dom. We both discreetly avoided Vito kidnapping me because that was likely not a topic for polite conversation.
When we were done, Uncle Vito said, “That boy. I told my sister. Told her time and again. Now, listen to you two.”
Sissy and I looked at each other again.
“I’ll handle it,” he finished.
Yippee!
“Really?” I asked.
“You won’t have any troubles with Dominic anymore,” he assured me.
“That’s great,” Sissy said. “Thanks Uncle Vito.”
“I need to have a talk with Dominic myself. When we have our chat, I’ll also tell him to get home, take care of his wife, treat her right, give her some babies, keep her happy,” Vito said to Sissy.
Uh-oh.
His eyes turned to me. “As for you, I’ll talk to Lorenzo. He’s a good boy but he needs to settle down and he likes you. You’re with Lorenzo, Dominic won’t get any ideas. I’ll get him to give you a call.”
Uh-oh.
“Uncle Vito, we were um… hoping you’d help Sissy out with her divorce,” I said.
“Vincettis and Zanos don’t divorce. Marriage is life,” Vito replied with finality.
This was not good.
“But –” I started.
“Listen to your Uncle Vito, Ava. Angela and me have been married thirty-three happy years. You gotta work at it. I know what I’m talkin’ about. We just gotta worry about gettin’ you settled. I like you with Lorenzo. I see happy things.”
Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh.
Vito grinned huge. “You’re unhappy. All attitude. You need a man. Lorenzo will put a smile on that pretty face.”
No, no, no.
“Big wedding and lotsa beautiful babies,” Uncle Vito went on.
Oh… my… God.
I told you I didn’t think this was a good idea, Good Ava reprimanded, arms crossed.
Oo, lots of Ren’s babies. That means we’d have to sleep with Ren lots and Ren’s HOT! Bad Ava gushed, arms crossed, rubbing her hands up and down her biceps with glee.
“I don’t think –” I started.
“It’s settled. I got a meeting,” he got up and looked at Sissy. “I’ll take care of Dominic,” he looked at me. “Lorenzo will take care of you.” Then he clapped his hands together, held them out in front of him and walked out of the room.
“That didn’t go too good, did it?” Shirleen asked.
“Sugar, you can say that again,” Daisy answered.
*
“Ren Zano calls you and asks you out on a date, Luke Stark is gonna have a shit hemorrhage. He’s gonna lose his motherfuckin’ mind,” Shirleen said from the of my Range Rover.
I figured she was not wrong.
“Maybe we should take Ava to Wyoming. Maybe we should stop by Zip’s Gun Emporium and load up on weapons and then take Ava to Wyoming. Hole up in a cabin somewhere and shoot at anything that moves,” Daisy suggested, sitting beside Shirleen.
“I ain’t shootin’ at Luke Stark. First, that boy is fine. Second, if I missed he’d beat the shit out of me,” Shirleen said.
I glanced at Sissy. She had her fingers to her temples and was rubbing in circles.
“This is unprecedented. A Bad Boy pursuing a Rock Chick with competition on his ass,” Daisy said. “I’m not thinkin’ good thoughts, I’m not gettin’ good vibes, I’m not seein’ good things. We gotta get Ava out of here now. Luke is gonna blow his top. Blow… his… top. Comprende?”
“Would you two stop talking? You’re freaking me out,” I told them.
“Girl, better to be freaked out then cuffed to a bed for the next month. Which is exactly where you’re gonna be when Luke finds out you orchestrated this fiasco,” Shirleen told me.
Ee-yikes!
I stopped at a red light. “Maybe this is a moot point. Maybe Ren won’t call me. Have you thought that maybe Ren’s not interested in me?” I asked, somewhat hysterically and also loudly.
“He’s interested in you.” Sissy said quietly.
My head jerked to her. “What?”
“Ren’s interested in you,” she repeated.
“How do you know that?” I asked.