Page 75 of Capone
His voice was laced with fear. Well, it was a little too late for that. He should have thought about this before he started cheating on his wife, let alone with his daughter-in-law.
“I have no reason to come for you unless you come for my girls. You have forty-eight hours to get this done. If you don’t, I will make sure every news station in Washington gets these photos.”
“I will get her to drop the case. You have my word. But can you tell Giovanna I’m sorry? For everything.”
I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it like it had shit on it. He could take his fake-ass apology and shove it up his ass. This man wasn’t sorry. He just knew we had him by the balls, and now he wanted to try and play nice. I wasn’t going for it.
“Get it done. Time is ticking.” I hung up the phone, not giving him a chance to say anything else.
I hoped he could get Whitney to drop the case. If not, she was opening up a can of worms I’m sure she wasn’t ready to deal with. Taking this route was just the easy way out. If we did end up going to court, I would stop at nothing to ensure Gabi remained with Giovanna.
When it came down to it, there was absolutely nothing I wouldn’t do to protect my girls.
Chapter Twenty-Six
GIOVANNA
Today was exactly what I needed. The spa day that Blade had promised all the ladies was finally here. I had already gotten a facial and a nice deep tissue massage. After the past few days, my body was beat. Relieving the tensions from my body had me feeling like I was floating on a cloud.
While physically I might have been exhausted, mentally, I was in a great place. Yesterday, my lawyer called and told me Whitney had dropped the case. I still hadn’t heard from her or Dennis. Hell, not even Danny. I wasn’t complaining, though. After years of suffering within that family, I deserved a break. I had no intention of keeping them away from Gabi. Regardless of how I felt about them, she loved them, and I wouldn’t stand in the way as long as they respected thatIwas her mother. There would definitely be some restrictions moving forward. I didn't trust them at all.
I would give them a little time before reaching out. I was sure Dennis was not a fan of me right now. If and when I reached out and they wanted nothing to do with Gabi, then I would move on. I wasn’t going to force anyone to be a part of her life. She was too special for that.
“Ouch,” I winced, pulling my foot back when the nail technician working on my pedicure dug a little too deep into my cuticles.
This had happened a few times, and it seemed no matter how much discomfort I showed, she didn’t lighten up. If anything, she went harder. I was beginning to get pissed.
“Keep your foot still,” she said with loads of attitude.
“I would if you weren’t digging into my toes like you’re searching for gold,” I snapped.
I didn’t know what this lady’s problem was, but I was ready for a new technician. She clearly had an attitude for whatever reason, and I wasn’t about to allow her to ruin my day.
“I’m just doing my job.” She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
“Your job is to lighten up if I tell you. You’re being too rough.”
Another woman approached us. She must be the one in charge because she was dressed professionally in a pencil skirt and a white buttoned-down blouse. “Hi, I’m Nora, the owner. Is everything okay?” she asked me with a concerned expression.
There were three employees standing a few feet behind her. My nail technician stared at them with hate-filled eyes.
“No, it’s not. I don’t like to complain, but I want another nail tech. I’ve asked her several times to lighten up, and she refuses. Look at my feet. They're literally red and irritated from how hard she was using her tools.”
Nora looked down at my feet, and her eyes widened in horror. I wasn’t exaggerating. At this point, the Ol’ Ladies had stopped their chatter and were now paying full attention to the confrontation taking place.
“Oh, hell no. What the hell happened to her feet?” Crystal blurted from beside me. Her face was morphed into a deep scowl as she stared at the owner and nail tech.
“I am so sorry about all of this. A few of my employees came and got me when they noticed Allegra was being a little rough with her customer. I came out right away.” She paused and looked down at the nail tech I now knew as Allegra. “This is unacceptable. You’re one of my top nail techs, which is the only reason I had you working with this exclusive party. How did this happen?”
Allegra’s cheeks turned pink in embarrassment. “I-it was an accident. She wouldn’t stop moving and?—”
“Oh, see, we aren’t about to do that. You are not going to blame the customer. You’re the professional. It is your job to ensure that these kinds of things don’t happen,” Crystal snapped. She was now out of her chair, standing next to me.
“Exactly,” Nora agreed. “Again, Allegra, I’m going to ask,howdid this happen?”
“I-it was an accident!” she claimed.
“No, it wasn’t,” Sara said as she looked at one of the employees standing behind Nora. “You’ve been darting your eyes around nervously since you walked in here. You know something. Don’t bother lying to me. I was an interrogator for four years. I know when someone is hiding something.”
