“Exactly!” Stacy replied. “I don’t mind all of this, but I don’t want to consummate my marriage in Philly. We can’t rightfully fly off on vacation just yet, so Ricky and Sasha are getting Gabe and my new home ready, and we’re going to live it up.” She touched Kelly’s hand. “Don’t worry, really. You’re helping us.”
Again, Kelly didn’t look entirely convinced and turned to Gabriel. He nodded and smiled, and she looked back at me. “Okay.”
“We have a family meeting tomorrow, but we pushed it back to wait for Gabe and Stacy to get back in. Everyone can sleep in to recover from tonight, and then we’ll discuss our next plan of action to find Dario. Marco has an untapped contact that he thinks may be able to help.”
“I try not to use him,” Marco said. “He’s a snake and a pain in the ass to work with,” he looked at me, “but I have permission to drop him if he gets too feisty, so I think we’ll be able to come to an agreement.”
Kelly shifted uncomfortably, and Marco stopped talking. Of the wives, Kelly had been the least involved in the business. Willow had flat out refused to be involved at all, or even acknowledge it, up until she was kidnapped by our rival gang, the Binachis. Thanks to Gabriel’s new wife, we all walked away from what nearly took all of us out, and from that moment on, Willow had refused not to be involved. She wanted to know everything and demanded to be at my side every step of the way. I wasn’t sure if she was that shaken by nearly losing me or if she just didn’t trust me, but I wanted her by my side as much as she wanted to be there, so I didn’t argue.
My phone rang, and I pulled it out of my pocket. I looked across at Stacy and Gabriel. “This is the end of the night call.” I’d asked one of our staff members to standby to order the wedding staff to start sending guests off. We’d probably all be happy to sit there as a family until the end of time, but it just wasn’t a luxury we’d earned yet.
Gabriel looked at Stacy and then back at me. “We’re ready for the honeymoon.”
I nodded and answered my phone. “Hey.”
“The wedding staff are ready when you are, boss.”
“Yeah. Tell them it’s time.”
“Yes, boss.”
The line clicked dead, and I slid my phone back into my pocket. I looked across at Gabriel and Stacy. “Congratulations, you two, and welcome to the family, Stacy.”
Stacy threw a brilliant smile at me. “Thank you!” She tapped Gabe’s hand. “Let’s mingle and say goodbye.”
“Yes, dear,” Gabriel replied jokingly, and then they stood up from the ta
ble and started toward the guests. Gabriel hung back just long enough to say, “Stace and I will meet you at the car, Kel,” and then was off after his bride.
“I’m gonna take Kelly to get her stuff and get ready for the ride back,” Marco said, and I nodded. He stood up and helped Kelly up from the table. “See you guys.”
“Bye, Kelly! Call when you get into Maine, yeah?” Molly asked.
“Of course. Bye!”
Willow offered a shallow wave, and then Marco helped her up toward the house and out of sight. Luca, Molly, Willow, and I sat in complete silence while the guests filtered out of the party. None of us said anything, and apart from a few curious glances at one another, none of us acknowledged anyone else at the table. When the last of the guests had left, I checked in with the wedding staff to make sure they were good to get the party torn down. I got everyone paid, and then Willow and I made our way back to the estate.
Each couple had their own wing in the estate, and the one Willow and I were staying in was the one designated specifically for the couple running the family. We walked in and locked the door behind us, and I immediately started to undo my tie and pull off my jacket. I threw them over the back of the couch and sat down on it. I fluffed up the pillows and started to unfold the blankets. It wasn’t a great bed, but it was the one I had.
Willow lingered until I looked up. “You okay?” I asked.
Willow nodded. “Yeah.”
I smiled. “Nice wedding.”
“It was.” She was keeping a safe distance from me, looking down at me from the other side of the coffee table in front of the couch. “I’m happy for them.”
“They’re a good pair,” I agreed before starting to laugh. “I still don’t know how they did it in a week. We planned for a year, and shit still went wrong. Remember the chicken?”
She smiled. “Yeah. Here I am, nervous about hugging my convict father for the first time, and Ricky runs up to me to tell me that the entire case of chicken had gone bad because no one refrigerated it.” She chuckled at me. “I thought you were going to rip the caterer’s head off.”
“I was thinking about it. I was so pissed that he’d stressed you out on our big day. It was supposed to be perfect,” I replied.
“It was,” Willow responded, and the smile fell from her face. The room went silent, and I didn’t say anything for fear that it would be the wrong thing. “I miss Disneyland.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. Willow didn’t want to be too far from our daughter, Alexis, for the honeymoon, so I booked us a suite at Disneyland. We enjoyed a quiet vacation for a few days while Ricky, Willow’s brother and my best friend, watched Alexis. We spent more time in our room than on any rides, but that was exactly how I wanted it. “We paid a lot of money to go into the parks, what, once?”
“Twice. You wanted to go back on the Star Wars stuff,” Willow replied.