She thought she heard Emerson and Stone mumble something, but their friends stopped them. Toni headed out the door with Charlie as her escort.
Chapter 11
“We can’t let this asshole get away with this. What are we going to do? How can we stop this Vince guy and his mafia family from going after Antoinette?” Stone asked Jett and Flynn. They were all gathered around the poker table at The Phantom nightclub. Cash and Zane were there, going over some files. Nash and Riker were willing and ready to assist, and then Hudson and Jagger arrived, and they were ready for a rumble if necessary.
“We can take Marty Mollicone out no problem. And Butch fucking Saggaretti, he’s been pissing a lot of people off in Brooklyn,” Hudson stated as he chewed on a toothpick.
“How the hell do you guys know these people?” Stone asked.
“We know a lot of people,” Jagger stated smugly.
“Hey, I know Antoinette’s uncle, Vincenzo DeLuca. And Flynn knows her cousin, Leo. He’s a detective in the South Bronx,” Jett informed them.
“Oh shit, I know Leo, too. How come Antoinette didn’t contact her uncle or her cousin when this Vince guy was harassing her and when his uncle was threatening her to sell?” Cash asked.
Stone and Emerson shrugged their shoulders. “We don’t know. She could have told us, and we would have contacted the right people,” Emerson said.
“She did have her cousin get the order of protection. She probably didn’t tell him everything about the threats to her store,” Stone added in anger.
“She didn’t because of the bad blood already between the DeLucas and the Saggarettis,” Jett stated.
“What bad blood?” Emerson asked.
“It was never proven, but about ten years ago, Antoinette’s grandfather, DeLuca was gunned down in the street and killed. It appeared as a drive-by shooting, but apparently the Mollicones had threatened him. They felt that the storefront should have been split between the two families, the DeLuca’s and Mollicone’s after a deal was made the year before. The word is that there was a territory disagreement between the two families. The west side belonged to Saggarettis, and Molicones and the east side, DeLuca. Bliss is stationed in the middle, and during negotiations they discussed an even split. Then one crazy guy, that the Saggarettis used for muscling people who owed them money, had forced himself on one of DeLuca’s granddaughters in the family. That was it. The deal was off and DeLuca took complete ownership. From there on out they argued and then Toni’s grandfather was knocked off,” Flynn explained.
“How do you know all this stuff?” Stone asked.
“Does it matter? We know people. We have family and friends in numerous walks of life. The bottom line is that the Mollicones and the Saggarettis want Bliss or at least the storefront location. Apparently, they’ll stop at nothing to get it. Vince is setting her up,” Flynn told them.
“We need to talk with her. We need to explain all of this,” Emerson said.
“That motherfucker probably knew about the mugging before it happened. He planned on being there to save her. He knew we would come, and he used it as an opportunity to make us look like liars. I can’t wait to kick that guy’s ass,” Stone stated.
“You’ll get your chance, but first we need to talk with your girlfriend. Let us make some calls and get some people working on this,” Cash told them.
“We need your help, guys. She’s important to us,” Emerson stated, and then ran his fingers through his hair.
“We kind of figured as much. The two of you haven’t exactly picked the right women. But I could tell that Toni is different,” Zane said.
“Why didn’t you guys just tell her about being billionaires and about your professions from the start?” Hudson asked.
“One word,” Stone stated.
“Olivia,” Emerson replied, and no one said a word. She had turned out to be their worst nightmare ever.
* * * *
Antoinette didn’t want to show up for this meeting. But when uncle Vincenzo called and asked to meet her somewhere, she didn’t make an excuse to not show up. She knew he was going to lecture her. He had found out about the Mollicones and the Saggarettis threatening her, and Vince’s involvement. Despite Vince’s lame attempts at tricking her into believing that he loved her and had saved her. Toni’s cousin Le
o, along with Emerson and Stone’s friends, had found out that he was behind the attempted assault as well as the threatening phone calls. He even went as far as threatening Stone and Emerson with her death.
Antoinette smoothed out her designer dress as she got into the elevator and headed up to her uncle’s suite. She was accompanied by one of his guards, and she knew enough to not make conversation with him. Being part of a family with mafia ties was quite a secret to play ignorance to. But she had done it, just as her father and grandfather had done. God rest their souls.
When the door opened, her uncle was there, smoking a cigar, dressed in the latest fashion, and looking confident and handsome as always. She smiled and so did he, before they embraced. He reminded her of her father and her grandfather. All were DeLuca’s and all shared similar characteristics.
“That shiner is a good one. You iced it?” he asked and she nodded.
“You’re too beautiful to get knocked around. That asshole Vince is done. Finished and out of New York. You won’t have to worry about him again,” Uncle Vincenzo stated very nonchalantly. As if he were discussing the weather.