Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 85

*Shelby*

“Shelby, what are you doing here?” Giani asked me.

“I’m just exploring the area a little. My boyfriend bought a townhouse just down the road, so I thought I’d take the day and get to know the neighborhood,” I explained as Giani pulled me into a hug.

“It’s so good to see you. Is your boyfriend who I think he is?” he asked me with a raised eyebrow.

“His name is Michael,” I said simply.

“Not just any Michael,” Giani said with a smile. “Aubrey told me all about him. You are dating Mr. Michael Astor, arent you?”

“Yes, that’s the right Michael,” I said with a smile.

Giani and Aubrey had been dating for years, and I’d come to love him like a brother. He had a rather rough-looking exterior, the classic bad-boy look. However, he was one of the most kind-hearted and well-mannered men I knew.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, bumping his shoulder playfully.

“My family actually lives around here. We’re having lunch at the deli next door, and when I saw you walk by, I had to see what you were up to. You should come meet everyone,” Giani said.

Before I knew it, we were walking into a small family-owned deli, and Giani led me to an overflowing table that was filled with men of all ages.

“Everyone, this is Aubrey’s good friend Shelby. Shelby, this is the Carmine crew,” Giani started pointing out people individually. “This is my cousin Mike, that handsome guy in the corner is my Uncle Eddie, and this is cousin Ronald.”

Giani continued listing off names of his extended family members, and I tried my best to follow, but I knew I’d never be able to keep everyone’s names straight. I could only imagine Aubrey sitting at a Thanksgiving table, trying to memorize how everyone was related to Giani.

“Please join us, Shelby,” one of Giani’s many uncles said.

Giani grabbed me a chair and sat next to me at the end of the table.

“So what is it you do, Miss Shelby?” Uncle Eddie asked me.

“I’m currently studying at Harvard,” I said sheepishly.

A few of Giani’s cousins let out whistles, and I heard someone say, “Oh, she’s a smart one.”

“Not only that, she’s working at becoming a lawyer,” Giani added for me.

The one I remembered as Ronald slapped his hand on the table and smiled at me.

“We could use a good lawyer around here, Miss Shelby. Is it too early to ask you to represent me?” he said with a chuckle, and a few others murmured their agreement.

“I have a few more years before I can make any promises,” I said, laughing.

Everyone eventually went back to their previous conversations and finished their meals, leaving me time to talk with Giani.

“So how’s Aubrey doing? I haven’t heard from her since winter break,” I asked.

“She’s good. She just got a spot student teaching at one of the elementary schools. They put her in with all the kindergarteners. It’s the perfect fit for her. She loves it,” Giani said, pride swimming in his eyes.

“She’s amazing with kids,” I smiled.

In the lull in our conversation, I heard a name I recognized that made me stop and eavesdrop on the conversation.

“That bastard Blaine Blake. He’s worse than scum. If he dares show his face around here again, he’s going to have a lot of people to answer to, myself included.”

“How do you know Blaine?” I asked across the table.

Ronald looked back at me, interest in his eyes, “He’s the godson of my mother’s second cousin’s nephew’s, once or twice removed, can’t remember which.”

I tried to work out that connection in my head, but Ronald started speaking before I could figure it out.

“How do you know someone as slimy as Blaine Blake? He doesn’t seem like the kind of person someone as sweet as you would be hanging around.”

“Oh, no. I don’t know him well. I had a few classes with him at NYU. He didn’t have the best reputation back then. I heard he ended up in jail,” I quickly made up, slapping the truth on the end to hopefully add credit to my story.

“He was in jail there for a while, but some moron posted his bail. He’s been running with a really bad crowd these days. Rumors are going around that he’s causing a lot of trouble, digging himself into some holes he’s not likely to get out of. Promise me to stay away from him if you ever run into him again. That man is no good,” Ronald finished.

I nodded, not sure what to do with the information.

“I’m going to walk Shelby back to her boyfriend’s townhouse; I’ll catch up with you all later.”

“It was nice to meet you, everyone,” I said as I stood to follow Giani out of the deli.

His family murmured ‘goodbyes’ and ‘nice to meet you toos’ as I walked out the door. I fell into step with Giani as he walked down the sidewalk. Once we were out of sight of the deli, he pulled me aside.

“Aubrey told me someone was attempting to blackmail you with some pictures this summer. I saw your face when you heard Blaine’s name. He’s the one blackmailing you, isn’t he?”

I nodded my head, the tears pricking the corners of my eyes.

“I’ve heard about Blaine before now. He owes a lot of dangerous people big sums of money. This blackmailing has started up again, hasn’t it?” Giani asked in a whisper, concern etched on his features.

“He’s Michael’s half-brother,” I admitted. “Michael’s father was having an affair that no one knew about. Blaine was the result. They both found out about the relationship from a DNA ancestry website. After that, Blaine’s been doing everything he can think of to blackmail Michael out of his inheritance,” I explained.

“So now he’s trying to use you as a way to get to Michael,” Giani said knowingly. “But things are getting worse, aren’t they?”

I nodded my head, and tears started trickling down my cheeks.

“The car accident,” I said, barely loud enough to be audible.

“Goddamn, Shelby,” Giai said, putting his hands on my shoulders, so I was looking directly at him. “Are you okay?”

I nodded quickly and did my best to wipe the tears from my cheeks. Giani continued to stare at me, intent on making sure I was okay.

“I am now. It was hard to believe at first, but the more evidence they found, the clearer it was that it wasn’t an accident. It was intentional. After I got back home, I received threatening text messages, and just yesterday, I got a note delivered directly to my address trying to get me to help Blaine blackmail Michael. Blaine also broke into Michael’s penthouse in New York and stole all of our emails, texts, and pictures,” I took a deep breath, but Giani waited for me to continue.

“The FBI showed up at my apartment to question me, and we were just questioned at Michael’s office again yesterday. At first, we kept quiet, but we finally gave the agents Blaine’s name. I hope they replace him soon, but even with Michael’s security team looking for him, no one knows where he is.”

I surprised myself by telling Giani so much. However, after all the years I’d known him, I realized I could trust him.

“Blaine has been an extremely busy man, but I have eyes on Blaine, or I should say I have someone, a friend, who’s watching him at all times. I’ll make sure he stays away from you, Shelby. You don’t need to worry anymore,” Giani told me.

“What do you mean? Why do you have someone watching him?” I asked, staring at him, confused.

“Remember how I said he owes a lot of people a lot of money? Well, my family is one of the ones he owes. We’ve been watching him to make sure he doesn’t try to give us the slip. He won’t get far without someone in my family knowing about it,” Giani continued.

I stood there silently for a minute, trying to process what Giani was telling me. I thought back to all of the times I’d asked Aubrey what Giani did for a living, and she’d always been extremely vague. She came up with different answers, all revolving around him working for his family’s business.

I quickly came to the realization that Giani’s family business might be a bit more nefarious than I’d ever thought him capable of.

“Giani, are you telling me that you are part of the m–” but Giani stopped my questions with a quick shake of his head.

“We don’t need to put labels on what I do for a living. Labels can be dangerous in my line of work,” he said, but he gave me an almost imperceptible nod.

“Okay,” I said, nodding back at him.

“Shelby, if this piece of s**t, Blaine, ever reaches out to you again, I need you to let me know as soon as you can. Can you promise me that?” he asked, looking extremely serious.

“Okay, Giani, I will. I promise that I’ll tell you the minute I hear from him again.”

“Good, I’ll watch out for you, but you have to help me do that. Now, let’s get you back to your man’s townhouse,” Giani placed a hand on my back and led me back to the sidewalk.

We walked quickly back to the townhouse, changing our topic of conversation back to small talk about school, the weather, and Aubrey. Once we got there, Giani waved goodbye, shutting the wrought iron gate behind me and watching to make sure I made it in the front door, which I bolted behind me.

Knowing I had Giani and his giant family, that may or may not be in the mob, watching my back helped relieve some of my anxiety about Blaine. If he was running from that many people, how long could he realistically keep it up?

Now I just needed to replace a way to tell Michael.