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CHAPTER 15
AURORA
The day of the shoot-out on the way home from Cape May had solidified what I already knew. We were in danger, and my family was the target. The traumatic things we experience or see when we are young leave scars that we carry with us forever. I didn’t know how much of what Michael had so far witnessed would affect him as he grew older, and it was heart-wrenching.
We enrolled Michael into a private academy for children from kindergarten to grade school level and the most expensive private school in the Washington DC area. Michael was not my little baby anymore. I cried the night before his first day. Dane held me, reassuring me that Michael was resilient like his mother and sly like his father. It was time to set our son out and experience being around other children his age and to make him more well-rounded.
That morning, Michael was dressed casually in jeans and a little black button-up shirt, which he picked out because he wanted to look like he was dressed for business – just like his dad. I drove him to school on his first day, and before he climbed out of the car, he hugged me tight as tears sprung from my eyes.
We moved into the new home, and I kept busy arranging contractors to come in for painting and decorating. At the same time, Dane had men inside the house and around the property installing the best security cameras and gadgets that money can buy. Dane put his condo that he lived in Atlantic City up for sale and had movers pack and move his things into the new house. I contracted movers to pack and move most of my furniture and other stuff from the Maryland house. Thankfully, Dane only had the Maryland house on the market for one week before selling to a retired couple.
Dane knew the right people for anything and everything, and of course, his loyalty was with Nolan and Push. Gina and Nadia visited and helped me pick out colors and patterns for curtains and color themes for each room of the house. They heard about the men in the car who shot at us the week before.
“Dane is hell-bent on finding those men and promises me that they will disappear,” I told Gina and Nadia as we sat out back on the immense stone terrace.
“It’s dangerous to be married to powerful men in organized crime,” Nadia said. “Our men must always be one step ahead of their enemies. When things quiet down, there’s no violence. Push told me this happens every few years.”
“The security system that Nolan and Dane are installing here is state of the art,” Gina said. “You cannot live every day in fear, Rory.”
****
Later that afternoon, when Gina and Nadia left, I drove my new car to pick up Michael from school. It was a black Mercedes-Maybach S560 Sedan that Dane bought for me as a wedding gift, and I fell in love with it when I saw it parked in our driveway with a big gold bow on the hood. Dane loved to shower me with lovely and expensive gifts, telling me that since I was Mrs. Neri and his queen, I deserved the best of the best in anything I wanted. He loved to spoil Anna with small gifts that she tried to refuse, but when Dane would tell her it would hurt his feelings, she accepted the gift and thanked him instead.
When I entered the school, I greeted Michael’s teacher, Ms. Gartner. She was very young and fresh out of college. I found the little girl with red hair and freckles, who I learned was named Emily, talking with Michael. When he saw me, he came running.
“Slow down, Michael, no running.” Ms. Gartner said in her stern voice, though she was smiling.
“Yes, Ms. Gawtner.” He replied, wrapping his little arms around my legs.
Michael took my hand and talked excitedly about his friend Emily. I opened the passenger door for Michael as he climbed in and buckled his seat belt.
“Don’t say anything, and don’t cause a scene.” The female voice came from behind me as I felt something pressed against my lower back.
I turned my head to look behind me.
It was Desiree. She was pressing the end of a gun to my back. “Shut the door, and get into the driver's seat.”
I looked down at Michael sitting in the passenger seat. “Who’s that, Mommy?”
“This is my friend, Desiree,” I replied, trying to keep my breathing even though my heart pounded hard in my chest.
When I shut the passenger door, Desiree climbed into the backseat behind Michael. I walked around the car and climbed into the driver’s seat. I was angry at myself for being so careless and unaware that the devious bitch caught me off guard. I didn’t care about myself. I only feared for my son’s life and knew I had to do what Desiree said.
