The showdown is about to begin, and House is becoming more and more anxious. Will he be able to hide it from everyone? We'll see.
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Chapter 175.
As I limped back to the Locarnos, Jess and Nina near the tables set up for the party, I debated how much to tell them. They needed to be vigilant, but not frightened. In the end I decided the basic facts would work.
"Edgar just called. Molino arrived at the fruit company, and Morgan and his guys are leaving there in forty-five minutes," I told them.
Marcello looked at his watch. "That means they'll be here in a little more than an hour. It's five thirty now. I'll go tell my people."
"And I'll tell mine," Ricky said, walking off with his uncle.
Watching them go, I saw Tony Locarno enter with three bruisers and talk to Bernini, who continued to guard the door.
I rubbed my hands together and smiled. "I think we're in for a bit of a show."
Jess frowned. "I thought everything was happening in the background, that we wouldn't even know what was going on."
"Just go about your business," I told her. "Pretend it's a party like last Saturday night. They'll keep you out of it."
"You can't know that."
How could I convince her? Especially when my own nerves were frayed and I was doing all I could to keep from showing it.
It was Nina who put a hand on Jess' shoulder. "We have to trust these guys to do everything they can to keep us all safe. Right now, we still have tons to do. Come on." She steered her sister toward the tables. "Show me who you want to sit where."
I closed my eyes and sighed. There wasn't much I could do either to help the people guarding us or to help the catering company. Except for Taub, my team members had found things to do to help.
Wilson showed up as my eyes scanned the scene. "Looks like the Locarnos brought lots of muscle."
I nodded. "The opposition is on the way." I kept my face impassive.
"What? And you're just standing here like a general surveying his troops?"
"More like a king viewing his subjects."
If I thought he'd laugh at that, I was wrong. Then again, he was my very own Eeyore.
"Wilson, did you ever think about the fact that, no matter how much we do to control our destinies, there are always factors we can't control?"
His eyes narrowed. "You're scared. The great Gregory House is frightened about what's going to happen. The man who's been reassuring everyone that it's all covered is shaking in his boots. If he were wearing boots." He laughed briefly. "It's a serious threat, isn't it?"
"Yes, unfortunately. No one has the complete picture of what we're up against. Morgan's a loose cannon. Bev says Molino usually holds back until he's sure of victory, but this is a different situation. And the people in danger are the women we...we love."
"You realize what you just said, don't you?"
"What, admitting my feelings about Jess? Haven't I already shown how I feel?" I balanced on my cane and looked at the floor. "That alone is scary." My voice was faint even to my own ears.
"To be so vulnerable? It's time you joined the rest of the population of this world."
I stared at him. Maybe that's what I was anxious about. I'd never been mainstream. Was I starting to be? How boring! No, even if my emotions and actions resembled those of everyone else, I was still myself. "That's not quite what I meant. Even if I have feelings like other people and show them, that doesn't make me John Q. Public."
He smiled but didn't reply.
A commotion at the entrance to the restaurant caught our eyes and ears, but it turned out to be nothing. Only a customer who had a reservation yet still had to wait for a table.
Then Bev arrived with her sister. No one was quite ready for them, but Marisa was definitely surprised to find us all waiting for her.
"You two can sit here." Nina led them to the table in the center of the space decorated for the party. "Marcello, please join them. You, too, Ricky."
The two men, uncle and nephew joined the sisters. I'd never seen such a big smile on Marisa's face. Everyone else sat at the surrounding tables, including the bodyguards who were dispersed around the area.
A few bodyguards remained near the front door, blending in with customers waiting for tables. Bertoli and Tony Locarno stood talking near the hostess podium. Neither one was smiling.
The waiters and waitresses, including Petey, Ellie, Tina and Julio, brought out platters of food, starting with an assortment of appetizers. Everything kept to the black and white theme, but I wasn't sure Marisa noticed until Julio wheeled out the ice sculpture of a microphone. Her eyes sparkled even brighter than the chandelier overhead.
Taub approached congratulate her on her recovery and then started to leave, but Thirteen called him over to sit with her, Foreman, and one of the bodyguards. He couldn't refuse.
Wilson and I sat at the next table with Hal Beck, one of the oncology staff doctors who treated Marisa, and his wife Doreen, a short and chubby woman who turned out to have a wicked sense of humor. I looked at Beck in a new light; any man who'd appreciate a woman like this enough to marry her was okay in my book.
As we talked, I sampled the cheese tray. I'd never seen the almost black one before. It turned out to be white inside the black waxy seal and to taste like a creamy smooth cheddar.
Surprisingly, the first of the enemy camp to arrive was Peter Giordano. Contrary to what Bev said, there was a tall, dark and handsome man with him who had to be Carlo Molino.
Bertoli and Toni Locarno barred their way into the restaurant. Although they kept their voices low, by their body language it was clear they were arguing with the two new arrivals.
After a few moments, they allowed Giordano to walk our way, escorted by two of Locarno's bodyguards. He made straight for Jess and Nina. In a loud voice he said, "I came to wish my daughters well."
The sisters wore identical scowls. Jess spoke first. "Thank you. Now you and your pal..." She indicated Molino with her chin. "...can go. We're having a private party here, and I know for a fact you weren't on the invitation list."
"Oh, Jess, I'm not here to make trouble," he whined and reached for her arm, but she shrugged him off.
"Don't touch me," she spat.
"Nina, at least you won't send your father away," he pleaded in a hurt voice.
Nina shook her head. "You lost your right to call yourself our father a while ago."
Giordano swallowed loudly enough that the whole room must have heard it. Then he caught sight of Bev. His eyes narrowed and he frowned as he approached her. "You. You've been spying for this lot all the time?" Anger flared in his cheeks.
"Mr. Giordano, we're trying to have a party for my sister, a celebration of her recovery. I'd like you to leave." She turned away from him, then turned back. "Oh, and I quit."
Giordano looked dejected as he made his way back to the front of the restaurant with the two bodyguards following. The look he gave his pal Molino was a mixture of disappointment and anger, then he walked out of the restaurant alone.
Molino's mouth formed a snarl, but he remained. He pointed to a table for two near the front.
Bernini shook his head and pointed to the door. It was like a pantomime, an old-fashioned silent film.
Molino glared at him and then at Locarno but left. I was itching to know what he'd said to Bernini and Locarno, but before I could find out, six men burst through the front door. The nearby bodyguards were able to grab two of them, while Morgan surged forward toward the area where we sat.
Edgar was at his left shoulder. Before they reached us, Edgar grabbed him and spun him around, then took a well-aimed swing at Morgan's jaw. Morgan shook it off but seemed put off-balance by Edgar's behavior.
I allowed myself a brief smile before Morgan and his remaining men stormed our tables. The bodyguards were out of their seats in seconds and formed a wall protecting Bev and Marisa, as well as their guests. Wilson stood, too, but I wasn't sure what he could do to help.
"Morgan," he called, and the man turned to look at him. "You know the cops are on their way. They're ready to arrest you for your assault on The Black Keys."
I stared at Wilson. Was he bluffing? Or had he actually called the cops after I told him Morgan was back in town? The important thing was whether Morgan believed him.
"We'll be out of here before they show. If we can't get at these lovely young women, there are plenty of others here tonight. I'm sure Mr. Bernini wouldn't like it if we made a shambles of his place."
His bluster was enough for all of Bernini's men and those who came with the Locarno's to surround Morgan and his few thugs. Morgan ignored the fact that the odds were against him. He threw a punch at the nearest man, knocking him into the ice sculpture. With his elbow, he incapacitated Foreman, who'd stood to lend a hand, but then Morgan tripped over Thirteen's strategically placed leg and fell.
The men who came with Morgan didn't give up either. They fought back the bodyguards who surrounded them until Morgan rose to his feet again. With a sneer at Thirteen, he moved quickly. Pulling a gun from his waistband, he reached for Jess, yanking her toward him and then pointing the gun to her head.
"This one comes with me." His voice penetrated the blood that rushed to my head. All I could focus on was the stricken look on Jess' face as Morgan back out through the fighting men.