“Anyway.” Nina cleared her throat, then handed Eric back his handkerchief. “It’s been a long evening, and I have to get up early. I think I’ll turn in.” She walked to the door. “It was a lovely party. If I don’t see you, merry Christmas, Jane. Merry Christmas, Eric.”
Both Eric and Jane repeated her sentiments in oddly distant, maybe even shocked voices.
She turned to leave.
“Nina,” I called out, unable to stop my voice from cracking slightly. What was I going to say?
Wait.
Don’t go.
I love you.
Marry me.
“Merry—merry Christmas, doll,” I settled, knowing she wouldn’t appreciate my desperate pleas for devotion in front of Jane and Eric.
Still, I couldn’t help the last word. It just slipped out.
Nina paused for a moment in the doorframe, biting her lip. I could feel Jane and Eric watching us intently, but I didn’t dare check them. I knew if I did, when I looked back, Nina would be gone.
Then she looked up, her silver eyes practically ablaze in the moonlight streaming through the windows from the garden.
“Good night, Matthew,” Nina said quietly and left.
I stared at the empty doorway long after her footsteps had faded up the stairs.
“Zola.”
At the sound of my name floating softly on the night air, I turned. Jane was watching me with pure pity. Eric with something more skeptical.
“Hey,” I said, suddenly conscious again of my disheveled clothes. Jesus, I probably looked like I’d been fucking one of the caterers in their coat closet. “I, ah, I should go.”
“Well, before you do. I just thought of something.” Jane stepped away from Eric with a knowing glance. “Nina. Italy. It’s been a long time for her, hasn’t it?”
I nodded, massaging my neck. Everything suddenly hurt. “Yeah. Eleven years, I think.”
God, my chest hurt. Just the thought of her being there without me made me want to throw myself into oncoming traffic, mortal sin or not. Being without her was purgatory anyway.
“She’s met your family, right?”
I nodded. “The one time.”
Jane cocked her head. “Your grandmother speaks Italian, doesn’t she?”
“She does, yeah. So did my grandfather. They, um, came over when they were teenagers.”
“How about you?”
I shrugged. “I speak it all right. Not like a native, but I grew up hearing it a lot, especially when I lived with them. And then I was stationed in Sicily long enough to become pretty fluent. Why?”
Jane rolled her eyes at Eric, who just snorted and shook his head.
“I’m going upstairs to have a nightcap with Nina.” He dropped a quick kiss atop Jane’s head. “Catch him up quick, pretty girl. He’s kind of slow on the uptake.”
I frowned at him as he left. “What the hell was that supposed to mean?”
“Zola,” she said gently. “You need a better job than tending bar. And Nina…well, on top of the fact that she shouldn’t be going anywhere alone with Calvin’s trial about to start…she’s also going to need an interpreter, don’t you think? I know she speaks some Italian, but…”
“She’s not fluent,” I finished for her. Finally, what she was saying clicked. My eyes popped open.
Jane smiled, a mischievous grin that was almost childlike with glee. “What do you say? Want to surprise our girl?”
Interlude I
“Page Six”
New York Post
December 19, 2018
Friend or faux? Socialite indicted for fraud
Socialite and three-time divorcée Caitlyn Calvert (age 30) has been indicted on charges of fraud and identity theft related to the human trafficking case against New York real estate financier Calvin Gardner, estranged husband of Nina de Vries. Ms. Calvert, who was until this October known briefly as Mrs. Kyle Shaw, was charged with impersonating Ms. de Vries in order to use her name and connections to associate Ms. de Vries with a shell corporation that funneled money for Mr. Gardner’s trafficking operations. Ms. Calvert also faces civil charges in a suit filed by Ms. de Vries herself.
Ms. Calvert has a strong connection to Calvin Gardner, who was charged with masterminding a ring that trafficked underage Eastern European girls into prostitution in the Northeast in return for falsified immigration documents. His trial date was delayed again following the sentencing of his wife for accessory. A new date for the trial has been set for March.
“There’s even speculation that Caitlyn Calvert isn’t her real name!” said an anonymous source close to Ms. Calvert’s circle. A Post investigation revealed no records of a Caitlyn Calvert born anywhere in the Paterson, New Jersey, area, from which Ms. Calvert claims to hail.
Could Calvert be yet another pseudonym? Perhaps Calvertovsky might be more fitting!
The Village Voice
December 28, 2018
Trafficking ring mastermind files for bankruptcy
While awaiting trial on charges of fraud, money laundering, and human trafficking, Calvin Gardner’s company, Gardner Investments, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday afternoon. This can’t be good news for the scandal-plagued investor, whose ongoing divorce from socialite Nina de Vries has been widely publicized, particularly following his estranged wife’s guilty plea to aiding and abetting a human trafficking scheme allegedly masterminded by Gardner himself.
“Gardner Investments has been in trouble for a while now,” vouched a source from inside the company who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. “Mr. Gardner has always wanted to be considered one of the top investors in the city, but the truth is, he was always more like a little kid trying to play baseball in the majors.”
Though reports have confirmed that Mr. Gardner still retains his residence at the couple’s Upper East Side penthouse (despite the fact that it is owned by Ms. de Vries’s family), it’s clear that Gardner’s funds have quickly been drying up, as both his and his estranged wife’s personal assets have been frozen and under review during the divorce. He is reportedly doing everything he can to have the will of Celeste de Vries, Ms. de Vries’s grandmother and the former CEO and chairwoman of DVS Industries, overturned in probate.
“He’s been making the rounds trying to get loans and credit,” said another source from a competitive firm. “But people are just shutting
