Chapter 4: The Arrangement
The blue convertible sped down Harbor View Road once more racing the moon as it flitted in and out of sight through the branches of the trees lining River Road. The engine roared with life as Jason shifted gears and then accelerated. He always felt that it was such a pity that this beautiful machine was seldom driven in manual mode. He regarded it in a surprisingly poetic sense as though it were a caged bird unable to stretch its wings and know the full glory of flight under Spinelli's well meaning imprisonment. Spinelli only knew how to drive an automatic shift which meant that until Jason took the wheel the car couldn't reach its true potential, to fly across the winding surface of the road free and unfettered.
He glanced over at his silent companion. Uncharacteristically mute, Spinelli hadn't uttered a word since they had left the Davis house. He had simply reached toward the dashboard and turning on the radio selected a jazz station. Jason knew his friend better than anyone and it was obvious that he was suffering from a condition he had come to believe Spinelli might never again experience. He was showing all the classic signs of infatuation. He gazed pensively out into the night and occasionally, after raising his head to look up at the moon, an extended sigh of pure longing would escape his lips. His long elegant fingers tapped restlessly on the top of the car door and Jason knew he was itching to be reunited with his laptop. Hunched over his cyber companion until the wee hours of the night, he would probably release all his pent up feelings of romantic passion by writing some type of love poem or sonnet or something.
They were whipping by Greystone Manor and both men turned to look at the dark mass of the solid gates and the endless encompassing walls. Jason thought gloomily of the engagement party which would be held there tomorrow night and he knew the event was occupying Spinelli's mind as well.
Two months ago when Sonny peremptorily called him and Spinelli over to the restaurant to meet an associate of his, Giovanni Maretti, Jason had no idea what his old friend had in mind. Spinelli was equally at a loss for an explanation and clearly bewildered to be included in an invitation to break bread with a man who could barely stand to be in the same room with him.
At first the atmosphere between the four men, despite Conan's best attempts to engage the diners upon vital questions concerning entrees and wine choices, was subdued. Jason never made small talk and Spinelli was nervous and atypically quiet in an effort to avoid offending Sonny which particular event seemed to inadvertently occur anytime he opened his mouth around the crime boss. Yet, surprisingly, it was Spinelli upon whom Sonny appeared to focus his attention. He solicitously kept his wine glass full and plied him with questions that Spinelli answered in a small, uncertain voice, using monosyllables whenever possible. Meanwhile, Sonny's friend, Mr. Maretti, spent the bulk of the evening staring speculatively at Spinelli and his unnerving surveillance of the younger man made the hackles rise on Jason's neck. Spinelli himself was unaware of Maretti's unblinking regard because he kept his head bowed and his eyes fixed firmly on the various plates placed before him for the duration of the meal.
Finally, the interminable dinner was over and Maretti and Sonny each marked the conclusion of the occasion by drinking a glass of Cognac and smoking a Cuban cigar. "It's a deal," Maretti said, his dark eyes lingering once more on Spinelli who was, beneath Conan's disapproving stare, pushing a slice of tiramisu listlessly around a dessert plate with his fork. He reached over to Sonny and briefly shook hands with the other mob boss and then levered himself up out of the booth.
Sonny grinned, his saturnine face lighting up with pleasure, it was clear he had gotten something he wanted from Maretti but Jason didn't have a clue as to what that might be. "You won't regret it, Giovanni," he called after the departing man.
Maretti waved his cigar in a gesture of farewell, the smoke lazily wreathing toward the ceiling while Conan coughed affectedly and swiped at the offending trail with a bar towel, "I better not, Sonny, I better not."
Jason looked suspiciously at Sonny, "What was that all about, Sonny? What deal did you make with him and why was he staring at Spinelli like that."
Spinelli looked up startled, "Mr. Sir's bon ami was staring at the Jackal?"
"Yeah, he was," Jason growled, not moving his eyes from Sonny, "And I want to know why."
Sonny cleared his throat and blew out a smoke ring. He smiled at Jason and Spinelli, a shark-like flash of teeth in the dimly lit restaurant as his black eyes absorbed rather than reflected the light from the overhanging lamp. "Giovanni and I go way back but we've always been sort of friends, sort of rivals that type of thing."
"Frenemies," Spinelli muttered under his breath.
Sonny sent him a dark look of annoyance before belatedly remembering that he was actually happy, "Well we've both grown older and so have our children. Giovanni has a couple of sons, great boys, and the eldest will take over the business for him one of these days." A flash of pain crossed his face as he momentarily remembered that none of his sons would be inheriting his business. "Anyway, like it so often happens, it's his daughter who causes him a lot of heartache, a lot of grief. He was talking to me about that last week. We were commiserating over how it's easy to raise boys but with girls we got no clue." He grinned, a shark-like flash of teeth in the dim light. "Anyway, Giovanni was telling me about how he wanted Laura, that's his daughter and she's very pretty," this time it was obvious that Sonny was talking directly to Spinelli who looked back at him timidly, his expression entirely uncomprehending, "To settle down, get married and to have babies. You know. so he can become a grandfather and stop worrying about what his little girl might be doing that could reflect badly on him."
"Sonny," suddenly Jason was extremely worried, he didn't at all care for the direction this conversation appeared to be heading, "What kind of deal did you make?"
Sonny looked over at Jason, impatience written across his face, he didn't appreciate being questioned by his second in command. "I made an arrangement, Jason," he replied deliberately, "That in exchange for us combining resources and territories, I promised him a husband for his daughter."
"A husband!" Jason tossed his napkin on the table and stood up, "That's going too far, Sonny. You had no right to make that promise." Jason was furious, his fists were repetitively clenching and unclenching as he valiantly fought to control his rage at his partner and long time friend. "C'mon, Spinelli we're leaving." He snapped his command at the bewildered hacker who stood up in uneasy compliance not quite understanding why the two men were suddenly fighting but feeling dimly anxious that he was somehow the cause of their quarrel.
"It's not your proposal to accept or refuse, Jason," Sonny said with a smooth reasonableness, "It's the kid's."
"He would say no anyway," Jason retorted stubbornly, "I'm just saving him the trouble."
"Spinelli," Sonny switched his attention to the younger man, "You would like to be instrumental in making the organization bigger, making it run more smoothly and most of all, making it safer for Jason by substantially reducing the number of his enemies, wouldn't you?" He cocked his head inquiringly, staring directly at Spinelli while ignoring Jason's outraged glare.
"The Jackal would aspire to do all that he could to ensure Stone's Cold safety and longevity," Spinelli answered Sonny cautiously, his eyes darting apprehensively between his irate mentor and the unruffled mob boss.
"Well, then it's settled," Sonny grinned, leaning back into the booth, he stretched his arms along the curving back and carelessly flicked cigar ash onto the floor. There was a responsive groan from the bar as Conan miserably registered the desecration of his once spotless floor. "Spinelli wants to do all that he can to help the organization grow and to keep you safe."
"He doesn't know what you're asking him to do to make that happen, Sonny," Jason ground out, his face an implacable mask of dissension.
"Au contraire, Stone Cold," Spinelli spoke up, his voice soft and hesitant, "The Jackal surmises that the agreement to obtain all those salubrious outcomes rests upon the lynchpin pact of Mr. Maretti marrying his daughter off to a suitably stable candidate who will provide her with security via hearth and home."
"See, Jason," Sonny looked at Spinelli with an oddly alien expression of approving benevolence, "The kid totally gets what's being asked of him. It's not like he'll lose out by it either, the Marettis are an old fashioned family. Laura comes with a dowry which includes some prime waterfront properties down the coast a ways."
"So, that's what this is all about," Jason said with ill concealed disgust, "You're planning to sell Spinelli to the highest bidder. Well, forget it that's not going to happen!"
Sonny scowled at his partner. His brow creased in anger and his eyes flashed dangerously, "It's not your decision to make, Jason, it's the kid's." He cocked his head and looked expectantly at Spinelli who was still standing, gracelessly trapped between the banquette and the table. "How about it, Spinelli? Are you willing to do me and Jason," he nodded dismissively at Jason who was standing there and silently fuming, his jaw muscle clamped tight and twitching under the strain as he glared balefully at Sonny, "This favor? I promise you, it won't go unrewarded."
"Sonny," Jason began, his voice heavy with warning when Spinelli put up a hand to prevent him from finishing whatever he was intending to say. Jason stopped speaking and looked over at the hacker with a quizzical expression as he waited expectantly for him to be the one to put Sonny in his place.
Spinelli shook his head, his shaggy hair flying outwardly with the emphatic movement, "No reward is deemed necessary. The Jackal is more than willing to participate in this endeavor for the reasons already made manifest."
Sonny appeared a little unsure as to what Spinelli was saying, "Does that mean you'll do it?"
"No, it doesn't!" Jason said just as Spinelli overlapped him and replied, "Indeed, it would be my honor to be of service to Mister Sir, the organization at large, and most especially to Stone Cold."
"Spinelli," Jason turned to hacker and ran an agitated hand through his hair, it was clear his usual composure was shaken by the younger man's unexpected answer. "This isn't right and I don't want you to do it. I am fine, I can take care of myself and as to the security of the organization…" He paused and sent a challenging stare at Sonny, daring him to interfere, "Sonny will just have to find some other way to co-exist with the Maretti family and to get those piers, like buying them."
"Yet all those same goals can be assured through a much less complex and circuitous method, Stone Cold, by a simple ceremony, a joining of hands and interests as it were." Spinelli argued back, his green eyes shining with determination.
Jason wasn't worried about Sonny's opinion or authority in the matter. After all he had years of experience of contravening his decisions when they proved deleterious to the organization or anyone unlucky enough to be caught up in his grandiose, ill planned out schemes. He was also more than capable of standing up to him on Spinelli's behalf but it was his roommate's unforeseen attitude of cooperation which worried him. Spinelli had a mulish expression on his face and Jason knew from bitter practice that in such circumstances it was almost impossible to swerve him from his chosen course.
"Spinelli," he started, his voice beseeching him to understand the gravity of this rash decision, "You believe in true love and soul mates and romance but this proposition..." Jason stopped talking as he cast helplessly around for the magic words which would make his case but language was never his forte. Still, he had to try because Spinelli's future happiness was at stake. "Isn't anything more than a short cut to a business deal that can be achieved some other way and if it can't-well, then too bad!"
Spinelli heard Jason out politely, his lips curling into a small smile when his mentor mentioned his predilection for romantic love, "Stone Cold is correct that is how I used to view love as something ordained by the stars and serendipity. Yet, alas, life itself has proven over and over that such a philosophy is little more than a fallacy better left to lie fallow between the aegis of immortal poetry and interchangeable romance novels. I have determined that the incarnation of love in the actual world is much better undertaken as, are most things, with pragmatism and a lack of emotional investment."
"Spinelli, you can't believe that, not you…" His voice faltered, Jason didn't know what else to say to convince his roommate that his decision wasn't a prudent one.
It was true that it had been a long time, years actually, since Spinelli had fallen under the spell of one of his ill fated infatuations which used to occur with monotonous regularity when he first came to live at the penthouse. Still, he couldn't pinpoint precisely when or, more importantly, why the younger man's view of love had undergone such a radical transformation.
Sonny was quiet throughout the duration of Jason and Spinelli's conversation. He was simply content to let them argue it out since he too knew how impossible it was to alter the hacker's mind once he was set upon a course of action. Yet, it appeared now might be the right time for him to intervene in support of Spinelli's position. "Jason, nobody's twisting the kid's arm. He's telling you that he understands what's involved and that he wants to do it in order to help us out."
Sonny knew he shouldn't give into the unwise impulse, but he was unable to quell the cocky grin that rose to the surface as he registered Jason's frustration at not being able to get through to Spinelli. It was a rare occasion indeed when Spinelli went against Jason's wishes and even more singular when Sonny and Spinelli were in accord on an issue and the mob boss was going to bask in his unanticipated victory. Sonny had realized that Jason would oppose this plan from the start and he thought that Spinelli would most likely follow his lead as he almost invariably did. It was quite a pleasant surprise to find that he didn't have to bully or pressure Spinelli into doing what he wanted because truthfully, he doubted he could have overcome Jason's resistance or contravene his influence over Spinelli.
"Stone Cold, the Jackal appreciates your concern on his behalf but he assures you it isn't necessary. Arranged marriages have existed for millennia. They used to be the societal norm and have recently been enjoying a resurgence in some countries like India which have a venerable heritage of embracing the practice." Spinelli paused and peered at Jason's face to try and determine what impact his words were having upon his roommate's overt disapproval of Sonny's plan. "Actually, the divorce rate for arranged marriages is lower than that of purely love based unions. The family of the bride and groom try to match the prospective couple in terms of social stature, income, cultural and religious backgrounds. While I am sure it is initially a difficult adjustment, over time the couple usually comes to a point where they each appreciate and love their partner. The eventual bond formed with the addition of children into the family unit is a remarkably enduring one. I prefer to think of it as the perfect melding of mind and heart."
"That sounds great, Spinelli, really," Jason said testily, "But that's not what is happening here. Sonny is using you as a bargaining chip and neither he nor Mr. Maretti appear to be the least concerned about you and uh, Lisa…"
"Laura," Sonny and Spinelli corrected him simultaneously.
"Laura," Jason growled out between gritted teeth, "Having any compatibility. As a matter of fact she sounds like she causes a lot of problems for her father and he wants to hand her over in order for you to fix her behavior. That isn't a fair assignment for you to be expected to undertake Spinelli and it's certainly not what a marriage ought to be about."
Jason's voice softened as he looked directly at Spinelli, his voice and demeanor both formed into a pleading combination as he fervently attempted to get him to agree to drop the whole stupid idea so that they could go home and forget tonight had ever happened. Personally, Jason didn't care what problems such a contrary resolution would cause between Maretti and Sonny. As far as he was concerned, it would serve them both right for trying to treat these two young people as little more than pieces in an intricate game of chess.
Spinelli sighed as he endeavored to placate Jason's concern, "The Jackal has no intention of marrying the young woman sight unseen. He will meet her and make a decision as to the probability of such an alliance being successful. Is that enough of a concession for Stone Cold to allow the plan to go forward?"
Jason shrugged unhappily while he intentionally ignored the gloating grin on Sonny's face. He knew he was close to punching his partner and such an action on his part would just make the situation that much worse though he thought it might definitely make him feel better. "If that's what you want," he said in baffled resignation.
A/N: Reviews are always appreciated