Chapter 50 Carter #2
Lio flinches. “I… No. The Martelli Family ended when Allesandro relinquished his place as Il Padrone.” Roman lets go of Lio’s hand and wraps an arm around his friend instead.
“Unlike you, I don’t have the same memories or trauma my father’s name brings.
Yes, my brother tried to kill me, but…” He raises his chin, a flash of defiance in his emerald gaze.
“He failed at tearing out who I am and what I stand for.” His breath hitches.
“The Martelli Organization is no more, and I refuse to put my Brothers through any more heartbreak by telling them they have to follow under a new name. Not when Il Padrone gave us our identities, a home, something none of us had before. So… I can stand before them, and ask that they follow us under the Council, without stripping any of us further away from who we were.”
I nod, understanding completely. It’s part of the reason I am keeping my Amato name. Cristian can see what he turned me into, what he turned both Roman and I into—the leaders this Family deserves.
“With us unifying, becoming a true Council of equals…I propose we do some reorganizing.”
Roman frowns. “What do you mean?”
Running a hand through my hair, I say, “Something I’ve noticed, with Jude especially, he says he is—not Roman’s Second, but a Council Second.
” I give them a moment to turn my words over.
“There’s a distinct difference there, I think.
And I want to capitalize it. As is, we are too separate.
If we truly want to take this Family into a new era, we need to tear down the old and come back with something new.
No more Seconds.” They stare at me in surprise.
“I am not saying we don’t need them, we do.
Otherwise, we’ll be dealing with too much day-to-day shit, and not looking at the bigger picture. We’d be too burnt out.
“No, we need people who can pass down our orders and edicts, who can listen to people’s grievances, and who can call us out on our shit when we’re failing to succeed or act in the good of the Family.”
“Sounds a whole lot like a Second to me,” Lio says.
I nod. “Yes, but there’s a difference. Notice, I never appointed one.
Marcus and Keegan both take on that role for me, but Keegan is the one who steps in the most. He is, for lack of a better term, my Voice.
He has all the power of a Second, but his position is clear.
He is the voice that our men hear. He is the one who brings me any necessary reports, and he is the one who has worked flawlessly with Jude to keep this Family running alongside me. ”
“Rather than Seconds, we need Voices. We need advisors, people we trust to lay down the laws we come up with as a Council. And we need them to work for us as a whole,” Lio muses.
“Yes.”
“So, no more separation,” Roman says. “All three of them will answer to us. They will work in conjunction with each other, and us, so that we can effectively do our jobs.”
“Essentially, though I would like to suggest one more change, and this will be the hardest of them all.” I look to Lio and soften my voice as I say, “I would like to put Benjamin’s status as a Voice up to a vote.”
He shakes his head. “No need. I spoke to Benjamin yesterday, and…he stepped down as my Second.” Pain crosses his features and my heart goes out to him, but this is the best choice.
“He…he admitted that he let the position go to his head, and it almost ruined who we are to each other. That, paired with other things, have changed him almost on an unrecognizable level.” Lio sucks in a deep breath.
“Which is why I propose we have him punished. He…hurt me, deeply. It’s not just personal, though.
He failed to do his duty, and I don’t want to believe it, but…
if it wasn’t for Jude and Keegan, the outcome of many things might have been different.
He did not do the job he was supposed to, and that type of recklessness is unacceptable. ”
“I agree,” I say softly. “There’s one problem with that, though.
Tennant will never allow it. When we had that first meeting at the Martelli Mansion…
on the way home, Tennant fought with Cristian about Benjamin.
Ten wanted to ask Allesandro’s permission to take any of Benjamin’s future punishments.
Whether he meant he wanted to be punished in Benjamin’s place, or he wanted to be the one doling out the punishments, I’m not sure. ”
“Ten won’t be a problem,” Lio reassures us.
“He won’t,” Roman agrees. “He loves Benjamin, but…Tennant also isn’t stupid. If the only way to punish him is to use Ten…well, I’m not above that.”
I huff a laugh.
“Benjamin responds to physical punishments more than anything,” Lio replies.
He looks pained for a moment before continuing, “Especially that of a loved one. I don’t know how he’ll respond after the last punishment he was given by Il Padrone…
It was almost a disaster, in that Benjamin lost himself and almost hurt me seriously, if not for Master stepping in.
Paired with his PTSD from Jax…I have no idea how he’ll respond. ”
“Tennant will take care of him,” Roman reassures. “He loves him, and from the very beginning, Ten has been working on Benjamin and his PTSD. Tennant likes to get into your head, he likes to break you down so he can remake you into something better. He won’t let Benjamin suffer.”
Lio looks at Roman. “Maybe Javi will work with Benjamin?”
Roman makes a face at the name of the new psychiatrist, but nods. “Could possibly work. Either way, Benjamin needs to be punished.”
Lio nods. “Yeah…”
“Okay,” I say gently, steering the conversation back on track.
“Two Voices: Keegan and Jude, and three Council members. There will be growing pains, as this is revolutionary, but I think we can make it work. We are here for the same reasons, and have a common goal. We have proved ourselves already; we know we’re effective. ”
“Will two Voices be enough?” Roman asks.
“Since Benjamin has been out due to his injury, we’ve made it work. If we find the workload is too much for only two Voices, then we could put it to a vote for who would take the third spot.”
“Hmmm…possibly Antonio or Marcus? Or even Tennant, as he was a Second before?” Lio says.
“They’d be good choices, but I wouldn’t overlook Ignacio in my vote,” I reply.
“He was the one who came up with the plan to rescue Antonio, and he and Marcus worked together to come up with a plan to save the two of you. Yes, he is Chaos, and can be unpredictable. However, that could be a boon for us. He sees things no one else would, due to his nature.”
“The same could be said for Tennant,” Lio points out.
“Yes, but Ten and I don’t work well together,” Roman says.
“He respects me, and is loyal, but we have two very different ways of seeing the world. And it doesn’t mesh well.
I’m not saying we couldn’t work together for the greater good of the Family, but we need a solid idea of what we’re looking for in a Voice, I think, before we decide to bring more in. ”
Lio inclines his head. “Fair enough. Two Voices, and if we need another, we will reconvene and take it to a vote.”
“That seems the most sensible,” I reply.
Roman drops his arm from around Lio and sits up straight in his chair. He takes a breath and slowly lets it out. “So, we’re really doing this. We’re dismantling the old regime and coming up with something that…will turn the world we live in upside down.”
“Yes.” I smile. “I’m quite looking forward to it.”
“Me too,” Lio says. “It’s time we moved out from under the shadows of the old Bosses once and for all.”
“We are one,” Roman replies.
A sense of euphoria hits me square in the chest, and my body begins to tremble with a mixture of excitement and fear.
“We are one,” I repeat. And nothing has ever felt so right before.