Surrender To Me

DANTE

As soon as she leaves, I immediately want her back. Even when she sees me as a vile human being, more than she did before, I still want her. Not only that, but having her close to me gives me assurance that she’s okay. But what’s done is done. Regardless of how I feel, it’s better this way. I look around the garden for Gio. He’s at the head of the table next to his wife, who’s receiving gifts from the guests. I make a beeline towards the long queue and wait my turn. After a few minutes, Rico joins me. “I can’t find Nico. Have you seen him?”

“He’s-”

“And your girlfriend?” Rico, wiggling his eyebrows, adds,

“Suspicious, don’t you think?”

“They’ve gone back home together.”

“What? Why?”

“I made him go. Nico heard Saccone is about to crash the wedding.”

“Oh. Do you think he’s looking for her?”

“I don’t know yet. It could be a coincidence, or it could be he knows I have her. Either way, I made sure she was gone,

so we don’t have to find out if it’s the latter.”

“Good thinking.”

The line is moving fast enough and in no time, I’m standing in front of the bride and groom. They make a beautiful, picturesque couple. Like models in wedding catalogue. They also look like they don’t want to be here. Why they’ve agreed to it still makes no sense to me, but it’s a good thing that they did. I feel like I owe them for their sacrifice. “Congratulations,” I say to both of them and I kiss the bride on the cheek. I hand her the envelope. Gio is impassive. “Thank you.” “What is it?” she asks.

“A deed to your new home. It’s the least I could do.” She seems genuinely surprised and happy. “Thank you.” “You didn’t have to.” Gio says.

“I did. It’s your wedding. You deserve a gift from your brother.”

“It’s a wonderful gift,” she says. “Besides, if we don’t like it, we can sell it and split the profits.” Behind her are two boxes with envelopes. One, a small pile and the other a much bigger pile. She places the envelope in the smaller pile. She must be separating the big gifts from the small ones. Smart woman. Gio will have his hands full if he’s not careful.

“Where’s Corina,” Gio asks.

I look around. There’s no one behind me except for Rico. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” I pull him to the side, away from his bride’s keen ear. “What’s going on?” I can’t hide my anxiety from him, it seems. “I hear Saccone is coming.” “Fuck,” he mutters.

“I was maybe a little overly cautious, but I sent Corina away with Nico.”

“You’re not being too cautious. Saccone has a relationship with the Vannucci family. They’re in laws or something. He might drop by.”

“We can’t let him in.”

“It’s tough considering we’re basically fighting a cold war at this point. My new father-in-law is on our side, of course, but he might not be able to not let Saccone in.”

“Fuck.”

“I don’t think anything will happen. I mean, she’s not here anymore.” Gio looks past me and then says, “Speak of the devil.”

I turn in the direction of his gaze and see Saccone greeting an embarrassed Vannucci. His gaze wanders over to us, unsure of what to do next. “Get your bride out of here,” I tell Gio. “I have a feeling things are going to take nasty turn.”

“Please don’t turn this into a blood wedding.”

“I won’t draw fire if he doesn’t.” I tap his shoulder to reassure him and leave him for the person who was now staring at me as if he wants to rip me apart. It’s the first time in a long time, I’ve seen him in person. I always thought him taller and more menacing. A villain of my nightmares. The original is disappointing. He’s shorter, older, fatter, and balding. His skin is worn from hard living and frail with age. If I didn’t know him, I would think him harmless.

“Saccone,” I say to him. “Never thought we would see you here.”

“I wanted to congratulate my friend on his daughter getting married.”

Vannucci looks unsure. He glances back and forth between me and Saccone. He’s looking for a cue from me on how to handle this, I realize. If I ask Saccone to leave, he might refuse or, worse, turn this into a gunfight. Maybe he is asking for a gunfight and will seek it out either way. I have to tread carefully. Saccone didn’t come alone. He has at least about four bodyguards with him. We could easily take him down if he chooses violence, so he’ll probably not. I smile at both of them. “I didn’t know you were friends.” Vannucci waves a hand. “Old friends. Very old. His cousin was once married to my brother. Marriage didn’t work out, unfortunately.”

“Here’s to hoping this one does,” Saccone says. The hidden meaning behind his words is obvious. He wishes the opposite. “Where’s the bride and groom?” he looks around and I do too. Gio and his bride are no longer at the table. They aren’t in the crowd either. Good on Gio hiding her away. “I want to congratulate them,” Saccone adds.

“I’ll tell them you wished them well.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

He bares his teeth and doesn’t say anything. A stare contest ensues for a few seconds until he relents and turns his attention back to Vannucci. “I see that I’m not welcome. I’ll take my leave, Vannucci.”

“Please stay,” Vannucci replies. It sounds less like a plea and more like an obligatory manner of speech. Saccone reads this accurately and replies, “No need. Give my regards to the bride and groom.” He gives me one more icecold glance and then leaves.

Vannucci lets out a deep sigh. “I had no idea he was going to come.” He seems remorseful enough to convince me that this wasn’t his doing.

“I understand. He probably did it to get a rile out of me. The old man can’t resist.” I leave him and take out my phone. “He’s gone,” I say in a text to Gio. I don’t wait for him to respond and instead call Nico. “Where is she?” “Boarding the plane,” he responds.

“Saccone came.”

“Did he do anything?”

“No. But Nico, I think he knows.” The apartment has a chilling silence when I get back. Immediately, I know that something is wrong. Everything is immaculate. Clean. Too clean. Odd. That only compounds my worries. Corina hasn’t been responding to my calls or texts. I call Rob. Nico told me he left her in his care. Rob’s not answering. There’s a phone ringing inside the quiet apartment. I make my way towards it. It’s in the living room, buried a little into the couch. It’s Rob’s phone.

A chill runs down my spine. He never leaves his phone. Ever. I turn to Colin. “Look around and see if we aren’t the only ones in here.” He nods and takes out his gun. I take out mine too and try Corina’s number again. Voicemail again. I make my way to her room. No one’s there and neither is there any sign that might point me to where she could be. I try to hope for the best. Maybe they’re out and left their phones. I’m going to be very mad if that’s the case. They both should know better. I concentrate on that anger and the comfort it brings. I get out of her room and meet Colin in the hallway. He shrugs.

“No one?”

“None.”

I take out my phone and open an app I hadn’t used in quite a while. Her tracker is on and working. It is on her body too, according to the app. I breathe out a sigh of relief. She’s in the building, the tracker says. Another deep sigh.

“She’s at the casino. I’ll go get them both.” That comforting anger builds up again as I enter the elevator and push the button to the casino floor. She’s going to get it when I see her. Being mad at me didn’t give her the right to wander off to wherever she wanted, especially in a public place such as the casino. And Rob was going to be in hot water for letting her out. He should know better instead of being swayed by pretty eyes.

The doors of the elevator open to a sparse floor. It’s not as busy as other days and this gives me some relief. Large crowds can be used to hide spies. Smaller crowds also make it easier to look for her. I turn down to my phone to check exactly where she is. It looks like she’s at one of the blackjack tables. Is she playing blackjack? Maybe she was bored and chose to play at the tables for some time. That could be forgiven, I guess. Either way, the close I get to the tables, the more I yearn to see her again. A day away from her and I miss her so much to forgive her for any slight.

The day away from her had given me space to see things from her point of view. She was right about me not telling her about her father. I shouldn’t have done that. She didn’t deserve the hurt I brought on her and I was willing to do whatever it takes to earn her forgiveness. I no longer want to hurt her as a form of revenge. To think about it, I don’t think I ever wanted to do any harm to her. The thought of seeing an inch of her body hurt is anathema to me.

I reach the blackjack tables and scan the room. I can’t find her. The app says she’s here. My heart races. I can’t find Rob, whose large frame should be easy to spot in a place like this. I glance down at my phone again. The red dot is pinging at about twenty feet away from me. I look up. Twenty feet away is… I rush over to the blackjack table where she’s supposedly is. Except she isn’t there, her friend is. Without thinking, I grab her wrist and raise it to her face. She has the bracelet on. Her eyes are wide with shock and so are the people at the table. I don’t care. There’s only one thing I want to know. “What have you done to Corina?”