Taken - A Gangster Stepbrother Romance (3 page)

Chapter Four

             
Antonio Del Marco
.

              A flood of articles, news reports, blogs all rushed at Emma.

             
“Notorious head of Del Marco Clan seen flying into LAX….”

              “Antonio Del Marco escapes prosecution for drug ring….”

              “Del Marco Mob now headed by son of mobster Gabe Del Marco….”

              “Blood on his hands—can justice be served against Antonio Del Marco?”

              She heard the echoes of gunshots that she could hear in her neighborhood. She thought of all the broken children she counseled, their small shoulders shaking as they remembered a murder or a shooting. And all of this at the hands of the Del Marco Clan.

Standing before her was the head of one of the most powerful crime syndicates in the world. Emma took a step back as if she had just received a blow to her stomach.

“Del…Del Marco,” Emma whispered. She was standing in Antonio Del Marco’s
house?
She was literally in the heart of the Del Marco Clan! Wildly, she began scanning the room for a means of escape.

What could they possibly want with a social services grad student?

She caught Antonio’s eyes, sharply watching her look futilely for escape. Although he stood in a relaxed stance, she could tell his body was coiled for action. If she were to run, he would chase.

Seeming to recognize the accepted defeat on her face, Antonio gestured towards the large leather sofa behind her. “Why don’t you take a seat, Emma,” he suggested. Emma’s heart pounded as she slowly walked towards the couch and gingerly took a seat. Antonio Del Marco’s words might’ve sounded like a suggestion but she could tell the man never suggested; he
ordered.

Antonio followed and took a seat across from her in a large leather wingback chair. He crossed his long legs and sat back with an urbane ease that made Emma’s hands sweat.

“Why am I here?” she asked. This was all just too surreal.

Antonio paused and regarded her for a moment before starting, “I want to tell you a story—well—a little history about the Del Marcos. I think it’s very relevant to you.”

Relevant to
her?
How could any part of Del Marco history be relevant to
her?

“A story?” she echoed. She couldn’t believe she had been kidnapped just to be told a story from the infamous crime kingpin of the west coast.

Antonio nodded.

“And then I can go home?” Emma asked, trying not to sound too hopeful or eager. She wasn’t sure if that would sound offensive to the man who seemed so keen on telling her his story.

Antonio made a shrugging gesture with his hands. “Well,” he said, “we can talk afterwards.”

The vagueness made her throat clench. But seeing as she had no other choice but to listen, she folded her hands in her lap and tried her best to listen without her heart ripping through her chest in fear.

              “If you’re familiar with the Del Marco name,” he began, “you’ll know that our roots run very deep in LA. Gabe Del Marco, my father, began our organization in the late seventies at first through drugs. Importing, distribution, selling, all of it.”

              Emma tried hard not to show her disgust. She saw his lips twitch with amusement at seeing her struggle. She couldn’t believe how frankly he was admitting to his criminal past. Wasn't he worried she might do something with the information?

              “He quickly was able to edge out or absorb any of his competition,” Antonio continued smoothly. “Once his territory was sizeable enough, he moved into several other fields, arms dealing, prostitution, loan sharking, tenement properties. You name anything with a whiff of the unsavory, and he dealt in it. And quite well, I might add.”

              No, he didn’t need to add. Growing up in LA, Emma had seen first hand the wide reach of the chaos and trauma the Del Marco Clan had wreaked. Although none of her foster homes had been in very dangerous neighborhoods, she still wasn’t completely shielded from the fallout a run in with the Del Marcos could cause.

              “And of course, in this business, strength and brutality is how you survive. Blood was spilt and lives taken in the name of the Del Marco Clan,” Antonio said baldly.

              Emma gaped at him. Had the head of the largest west coast gang in America just admit to the Del Marco Clan murdering for the sake of their crime syndicate? What was this man
doing?

              “It was at the height of all of this—about twenty years ago—that my father decided to remarry. He wanted a wife again. My mother had died only a year after I was born,” he explained with an aloofness that distanced him from the tragedy he was actually narrating. “In this business, it’s always smart to keep your distance from anyone not family. And as a man, it is especially true when meeting women. There were always tons of women who were throwing themselves at my father. They wanted a piece of the pie and live the lifestyle they thought a mobster’s girlfriend was entitled to.”

              Antonio shrugged and made a small gesture with his hand. “But my father was smart enough to know that was the quickest way to ruin. Those kinds of easy women were perfect targets to lure as moles by rival gangs. All it took was some money and something shiny and those women would immediately turn on anyone.

              “Anyway, about then was when my father met Charisse. She was a smart and kind woman who my father fell in love with immediately. She was good to him and also good to me, which couldn’t have been easy. A ten year old son from a previous marriage? But she accepted me and loved me. My father insisted on the fastest wedding possible. But Charisse was hesitant. She had a three year old daughter from a previous boyfriend who had run out on her. She was scared to pull her daughter into the kind of life Del Marco men led.” Antonio steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them.

“And rightly so. It was a life of constant danger and threat. But my father loved her and swore to her that he would protect her and her little daughter as well. Charisse eventually gave in and they were married soon after.”

Emma nearly forgot where she was. So enthralled by the tale of forbidden love and danger, she was completely lost in the story. And the added thrill of hearing intimate details of Antonio Del Marco’s life only heightened the experience.

“I, err, have never heard of Charisse Del Marco,” Emma said quietly. Almost everybody knew the family tree of the Del Marcos. She knew Gabe Del Marco had been widowed shortly after his son’s birth but she had never heard of him remarrying, especially to a woman who already had a child from a previous relationship.

Antonio’s jaw tightened a bit and his eyes turned a colder shade of silver. “No, you wouldn’t have,” he said, his voice edged with tightness. “Shortly after marrying, literally hours after, Charisse Del Marco was murdered.”

Emma gasped.

“They had been ambushed as they were leaving their private wedding dinner. Their car was shot sixteen times. My father was shot in the thigh and in his chest, puncturing his right lung. Charisse was shot twice in the chest and twice in the head. She was killed immediately.”

Emma bit her lower lip as she thought of this poor woman who had been gunned down. “Did they ever find out who did it?” she asked. She had a good idea though.

Antonio confirmed her hunch. “The Cavalli Family,” he said, naming the notorious east coast mafia that rivaled the Del Marcos in size and reach. “At the time, my father had been trying to edge into the New York market and the Cavallis were not happy about it.” Antonio pressed his lips. “So they sent a message about their displeasure.”

Emma couldn’t believe it. She felt like a movie was unfolding before her. The two largest crime syndicates in the country fighting over territory, a woman in love caught in the middle, and all of it ending in murder—it was beyond surreal.

“My father recovered but he was never the same. I think he was too broken to lead. He managed to keep the organization together for another fifteen years or so. We never lost territory but we didn’t grow either.” Emma noticed his jaw tighten again. “I think he held on just long enough for me to take over. After his sixtieth birthday, he shot himself in the head.”

Emma had known about Gabe Del Marco’s death. It had been in the papers everywhere. People were predicting that it would be the end of the Del Marco Clan. No one thought the group could continue without their leader.

Until Antonio had stepped in.

Emma shook her head. None of this made sense. “But what—”

Antonio interrupted her. He straightened his legs and began to talk more briskly, having now passed the more emotional part of his story. “And then from here, I think you’re more aware of the history. Once I took over, I realized that times were changing and the money wasn’t in drug smuggling anymore. It was in real estate, bonds, and overseas development. In other words, it was in what was commonly considered “legitimate” businesses. While my father had been falling apart, the Cavallis had nearly tripled their wealth and power by becoming real estate moguls and funding the right super PACs and lobby groups. So I began to quickly change our interests, building up a huge empire for the Del Marcos that could now be taxed.”

Emma quirked an eyebrow and Antonio lips twitched. What was
seen
was taxed maybe but she was damn sure the Del Marcos weren’t
that
quick to be so transparent with the IRS. Not with their checkered background.

She shook her head. “I still don’t understand why I’m here,” she said. “Why would any of this be related to me in any way?”

              Antonio paused. He rested his chin on his fingers and regarded her with a steady silence that made Emma’s blood hum. “Aren’t you curious as to what happened to Charisse’s daughter?”

              So caught up in the details of Charisse’s gruesome and tragic murder, Emma had completely forgotten about the woman’s child. “Oh!” she said, a little surprised. “Of course. What happened to her?”

              Keeping his eyes pinned on her, as if carefully studying her, Antonio continued, “My father had failed to keep his promise to Charisse in keeping her safe. He swore he wouldn’t fail her daughter. So he swept the entire murder under the rug so no one would know about Charisse and her daughter and then sent the little girl away.”

              A funny feeling of uneasiness began to creep into Emma’s bones. “Away? Where did he send her?”

              “He wanted her away from danger but close enough to keep an eye on. Initially, he sent her away, leaving her in the care of the state. No one would ever think a Del Marco would be in state care. That meant she was safe. She had anonymity. She was in the foster care system for a few years until my father finally was able to find suitable adoptive parents.”

              Emma could hear something akin to a rushing river in her ears. She felt hot and numb and prickly all at the same time. “Foster care,” she echoed softly.

              Antonio nodded. “My father eventually was able to locate Charisse’s parents, her daughter’s maternal grandparents. He convinced them to adopt Charisse’s daughter but only under the condition that they never reveal their connection to her. The more distance my father could put between himself and Charisse’s child, the better. And until they died, the Grants were given money to help raise and care for Charisse’s daughter.”

              A ringing sound echoed in her head. “The Grants,” she whispered. Oh god, this wasn’t really happening.

              “Yes, you’re probably familiar with them,” he said in slow measured tones. “Doug and Ethel Grant.”

              Emma didn’t know if she wanted to faint or throw up. Probably both.

              “Charisse,” she whispered, almost gasping. “Charisse is…was….She….”

              Antonio nodded. “Charisse Grant was your mother. And Gabe Del Marco your adoptive father.”