12. Allesandro
F or a moment, I wonder if I’m still in the cell holding Cristian and me. That somehow I’m hallucinating this…situation. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Because this? This goes against everything. Drawing a breath, I stare at Roman first.
“You are not my equal. You have no permission to speak my given name. Not yet. You are Cristian’s heir, and that affords you a level of respect, but until you take over from him, you. Are. Not. My. Equal. Unless, of course, you are planning to stage a coup,” I state with cold finality.
I hold up a hand to stop him from saying anything, before curling my hands into fists, the tension thrumming through me. I turn my attention to the two on their knees. The two who I had already given more allowances to than it appears they deserve.
“Padrone—” I shake my head when Cristian tries to intercede. I will not let him. Not right now.
“Ignacio. My Chaos. One of my longest serving Boys. And Benjamin… Not quite a Boy, but someone who chose to be in this Family. I gave you a chance to leave, but you were so in love with Ignacio that you stayed. So in tune as Emilio’s best friend that you offered your life to me.
Because that is the Martelli way. You pledged yourself to me—your loyalty stops at me and only me.
And now? Who does your loyalty belong to? ”
The silence speaks for itself, and I loathe every moment of this. I’d hate to put Ignacio down, but turning his back on this Family? Unacceptable.
Ignacio’s eyes close, before he takes a deep breath and opens them, meeting my stare without flinching. His dark gaze shows me every emotion, the chaos within himself as he struggles between us, which is exactly what I feared.
“I am loyal to both the Martellis and Amatos,” he says calmly. “We are no longer two, but one.”
Both Cristian and I hiss at that. There is no fucking way. The air becomes frigid as we both try to process that statement—that oath. I shake my head, unable to believe what I’m hearing.
“And is this why it took so long for you to find us? Were you so blinded by your own relationships that you did not prioritize finding the Heads of your Families?”
“That’s fucking bullshit!” Roman explodes.
For a moment, I wonder if others in my Family have chosen to cross over into the Amatos as well, but I deliberately don’t ask. At this point, I don’t want to know. Not yet. Not when I have to deal with this fuckery.
“You’ve had time to fuck. To fall in love. And I’m supposed to believe otherwise?” I sniff in disdain.
The two kneeling in front of me don’t so much as twitch, waiting for my final judgment. They offer nothing in defense, because there is nothing they can say. Not when they’ve gone against one of the main tenets of our Family—Loyalty.
“I have heard enough for now. Leave. I need to think more about this, and to speak with Cristian. It appears you’ve done enough damage while we’ve been gone, and we—as the actual Bosses—need to discuss where we go from here.”
I flick my fingers at my Boys, dismissing them.
As they scramble to their feet, I offer nothing else.
My love isn’t here, and without him, I am lost on this.
I know my own beliefs, but my Caro imprinted a moral compass in me—as twisted as it may be—and I need time.
I especially need to speak with my ally, and despite what Roman believes, he does not have the right to speak of this.
“Dad—” Roman entreats, but thankfully is cut off.
“No, we will speak later. Sei sul ghiaccio sottile, Figlio.”
I watch carefully as they all leave the room, and when the door finally closes, I take a deep breath before slumping in the chair. Silence reigns, and it carries on until the oppression is too much. Only then do I break it.
“These are not pairings I would have expected.” I turn to face my ally. “I cannot believe that they seem to have decided to merge…”
“I… Fuck .” Cristian seems to be in as much shock as I am. Shaking his head, he stares at me, pain and confusion pulsing from him. “My son… I believe him when he says it’s love. I cannot ignore that.”
“Believe it enough to risk the alliance?” I retort, startled that he’d even consider this.
Grinding his teeth, he rolls his shoulders back. “They were in charge. We don’t know what occurred while we were gone. I do not believe, under any circumstances, that my son was not working hard to find me. I am certain the same can be said of Emilio.”
It’s only years of practice that keeps me from rising to that, to blushing at the censure.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I can’t argue against this.
“Despite whatever happened, you are right. I cannot see Emilio standing idly aside when we were missing. Of course, I can’t believe Tennant would either. ”
I sidestep any comment about his son. I don’t know Roman well enough yet. My hope was that he leads like his father, but I fear emotion sways him too much. Emotion that could get my Family killed.
“What do you plan to do?”
“This is not only my decision,” I whisper quietly. “This is on us both. We have an alliance. It appears we’re being given an ultimatum—merge…or else.”
Cristian shakes his head in disbelief. “For now, we will need to play this by ear. I think we need to discover how far it goes. I will not hurt my son. I don’t agree with his choices, but if Ignacio is the right person for him…”
I grunt, unable to promise the same. At least, not yet. Still, I let it go. There’s plenty of other things to focus on right now.
“Let’s find out where we are with the doctors, and then I’ll work with your artist. I certainly need my Emilio here.”
“And it appears I need Tennant. There is a lot to answer for right now.”
We meet each other’s gazes without another word. Finally, Cristian shifts and reaches for his cellphone. He only taps it a few times before putting it down again. Now, we wait.
Hopefully, there is good news. Fuck knows we need some… I need Emilio to keep my sanity in check. Especially right now.