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It takes everything in me not to smile as Tino gets in the front, leans over to Dario in the driver seat, and whispers, ”She’s hammered.”
Dario sighs.
I let a smile come that time.
The trick is, I had one half of drink in that club and then “spilled” it on myself.
So, I smell like liquor.
And I’m acting like I’m drunk.
And really, men don’t ever try to think too hard when you don’t make them, so one plus one is equaling two.
As the car moves, I lean from the back seat into the console between the men. “You know, I don’t know how you do it, Dario,” I say with a heavy sigh, twirling a strand of my hair and leaning over like I’ve drunk a lot more than I have.
“Do what?” Dario asks, his voice bored, eyes watching the car in front of us. That car has my friends, the girls from the club, and if all goes according to plan, that car will reach our next stop well before I do. He’s probably annoyed that he has to drive me and my crew of dancers around from bar to bar to celebrate a marriage that we all know is absolutely a fraud.
“Handle it. The whole thing with Paulie. We’re not even married yet and it’s already getting to me. And you’ve been married for what, two years? Three?”
“Handle what?” he asks, still not paying full attention.
“You know, the whole thing with Kelsey?” I continue to twirl my hair and Candy, the only girl I convinced them to let me take in this car with me, looks over at me, knowing damn well that I haven’t drunk much more than a sip and also probably knowing about Kelsey.
Somehow, this woman always knows everything.
She’s like Gretchen Weiners—her hair is so big because it’s full of secrets.
Fuck, she’d make a better Capo than half the men in the family. I think about how maybe I should make her one before I force myself into the game.
“What about Kelsey?” Dario’s voice goes slightly lower, his eyes looking at me in the rearview with a different look now—no longer bored, but interested.
Good.
“Well, ya know. She’s fucking Paulie. I mean, it’s kind of a bummer because like, we aren’t even married yet and he’s already got a goumad, but—oh god!” I say, the car swerving into the shoulder, Dario’s hand slamming into the hazard light on the dash as he slows, but not nearly quick enough for the sake of my stomach acid.
“What did you say?” he says, eyes dark in the rearview.
“Yo, Dario, calm the fuck down. Don’t kill me,” Tino says, putting a hand to the wheel.
“What did you say, Delilah?” The car slows to a stop and I make my eyes wide like I just realized my mistake. Like I didn’t mean to spill this secret, or that I genuinely though he knew.
“Look, Dario, I thought—" So, it’s obvious that Dario doesn’t know his wife is fucking his boss.
I wasn’t totally sure if it was unknown or even frowned upon—Dante said it’s against the omertà to fuck another made man’s wife, but he couldn’t be sure of how the rules for Tony's or Paulie’s men work, if their code was different.
“Tell me what you said, Lilah,” he says, putting the car into park and turning around in his seat. I sit back, making my eyes wide as saucers, my mouth opening just a tiny bit.
“Dario, you’re scaring the girl,” Tino says, and even Candy’s eyes are wide with shock and not quite fear but . . . awareness. Like she’s trying to figure out the next step to keeping herself safe.
My fingers go to the clutch in my lap. I’m pretty sure I won’t need the gun Marco encouraged me to slip in there, but then again, you never know what to expect from unhinged men with a modicum of power.
But I’m appeased when Dario takes a deep breath, his jaw going tight before his eyes open again, directed right at me. “Can you just . . . tell me what you mean, Lilah?”
“I just . . . ,” I start, playing the part and nervously tucking hair behind my ear. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I just thought you knew about them. I didn’t think it was a secret.” I pull my lip into my mouth, chewing at it.
“About what?”
“Paulie and Kelsey. They . . . They’re having an affair. Paulie doesn’t . . . He doesn’t hide it so I figured . . . I don’t know how the family works. I just—"
