Bella Mafia

Chapter 32

I was grinning like an idiot, so much so that Bri grabbed me and pulled me out of the kitchen and demanded details.

"First off, I'm not giving you details Bri.  It's your brother and that's just gross."   Bri scrunched up her nose in agreement and then I continued.  

"Second, it was amazing and I don't think that I could love anyone or anything as much as I love Vincent right now."

She grinned like I was earlier and said "Then I am definitely getting the sister I always wanted!"  She pulled me into a hug and we held each other for a moment and then she let me go.

"We have a date tonight" I told her.  "He said he wanted to take me to dinner but I only have three dinner-worthy dresses."

Pulling my hand, we headed upstairs.  "Let's attack my closet" she said, eyes gleaming. "Will you help me with my hair? I want an up do but it's so hard with my hair being so long" I explained. She said no problem.

"How about this one?" Bri pulled a tight fitting black lace dress from her closet. It was beautiful. The top portion was lace and the lace went down over the back but the middle was left completely open. Very sexy.

"It's perfect Bri! And it will hide this godawful bruise" I said rubbing my arm. "I don't need Vincent's attention to it all night, reminding him about what an asshole James is."

Bri's look turned serious all of a sudden and I knew where this was going, I just didn't want to dwell on it.

"You know he was probably taken care of, don't you?" I nodded and said "I've grown up in this life as well and yes, I'm sure I know what became of him, but Bri he was my first and it hurts knowing he turned out to be such a jerk."

A tear slipped out and I angrily swiped it away. "Please don't ever let Vincent know that I shed one tear for him. I stopped loving him two years ago. Your brother is my life now. You and this family too. Now, let's work on my hair."

I would not spend one more minute thinking about James. That chapter of my life was closed now and the minute I met Vincent, a new one began.

After playing around with various do's, up, down and partial up do's, we both agreed we liked the partial better.  Bri had magic hands when it came to makeup and hair styles.

After we finished playing, I took a quick bath and threw on a pair of black lace shorts and a mint green V necked tee shirt, then went down to join mama in the kitchen.

I'd been in there with Clarissa for about an hour, she was teaching me to make Vincent's favorite dessert, zeppole, when Alberto joined us.  I could tell something was on his mind right away.

"Calli, Vincent said that you have a degree from a prestigious university in forensics accounting, is this true?"  I nodded and he continued.  "Would you come and look at something for me when you are finished here?"

Clarissa said we were done for now and to go with papa, so we headed towards the study and when we got in there I noticed papers, receipts and files every where.

"Papa what's up?"  I asked concerned.   Pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing, he began.  "Vincent, I and some others have reason to believe that Dante Agassi, one of the winery's shareholders, is embezzling but we don't have concrete proof.

I know this is a terrible thing to ask, tesoro but can you help us?  My reputation as well as Vincent's and others is on the line and let's face it, I have trust issues with outsiders knowing my business."

My heart melted when he said that because he had just told me, in not so many words, that I was family and he trusted me.  I had to help and I was sure I could find him the proof he required.

"Say no more, papa.  Show me where you think it began, what you have gleaned and let me do the rest" I assured him that I would find what he needed in order to approach the other shareholders.

"Grazie, mi figlia.  I knew I could count on you" he placed a kiss on my forehead and then started to show me what he had.

We spent hours pouring over receipts, spreadsheets, inventory logs and the like and all of a sudden it started coming to light.  This Dante was good, but I was better.

He was creating documents to cover his tracks and he did a good job of it until about four months ago when it looked like he got sloppy and didn't change the date and invoice number on some of the documents.

Once I put that together and compared it with the P & L statements and other things, it was clear that he'd gotten away with almost a million and a half dollars from the winery.

I ran excitedly into the kitchen where Alberto sat having coffee with mama, waving papers around.  "I found it!" I yelled.  "I got you the proof!"

I started talking quickly and in layman's terms showing them both what I'd found and it didn't take them long to piece together the enormity of what had been discovered.

"Calli, darling, is it possible he was doing this alone or do you think he had help?"  This question came from Clarissa.

I thought for a moment and then asked a question of my own.  "Is this Dante smart enough, in your opinion, to do this alone?"

Alberto nodded yes.  "He's greedy and that would be the sole reason for doing this alone.  He wouldn't want to share any of the profits and if he did have help, he would tie up loose ends once he'd gotten the amount he wanted."

That made total sense, either way, so Alberto asked me to carefully put everything together so he could show Vincent and then the evidence would be put into his safe for obvious reasons.

They would present it at the next meeting and Alberto said that if Vincent agreed, I would attend so I could give further explanations.

"Whatever you need from me, all you have to do is ask.  This is my famiglia now and I want what's best for it.  I'm not naive enough to not know what will happen to Dante, but when you steal from your Don, you get what you deserve."

I couldn't help but notice the look of love and pride I received from both Alberto and Clarissa.  It was a look that a parent would give their child and I basked in it.

To have someone feel that way towards me was all I ever wanted from my parents but I had to go half way around the world to get it.

Bri burst into the kitchen asking me if I noticed the time.  Pulling my phone from my pocket, I screeched.  It was five till five! 

I hugged Alberto and Clarissa, then took off upstairs to get ready for Vincent.  I had been so busy helping papa that I hadn't realized how much I missed him.  I would show him later, for sure.