Chapter 30
LEO
“You made a fool of us, throwing yourself overboard after your wife like that.”
My father’s cold glare reaches across the desk in his study to wrap like a fist around my throat, choking off the retort that burns like acid on my tongue.
I knew this meeting wasn’t going to be pleasant.
Especially when I left my wife sleeping in our bed on the far side of the house to come listen to the don rail on his point once again.
“How can we use the Tanaka girl as a weapon if you care more about her than her own brother?” he demands, planting his palms on his desk and rising to lean over it in his fury.
But he’s not the only one who’s pissed.
“Don’t call her that,” I state flatly.
“Call her what?” he scoffs.
“‘That Tanaka girl.’ She is Sora Chiaroscuro now, my wife. And it’s time you removed your nose from our business.
You’re the one who put this whole play into action.
It’s your plan blowing up in our faces, like I said it would, because the Tanakas don’t want an alliance.
Kenji doesn’t want this partnership. In fact, from day one, he’s done everything he can to sabotage it.
But you’re too blinded by arrogance to see it. ”
My father sputters, his face reddening as I rise to meet him on the field of battle.
“He threw her overboard,” I growl. “When no one was around to be hurt by it but her. She’s not a tool you can use because Kenji doesn’t care about her. He would have let her drown. You made your play, and it failed. Now I’m done following orders from you.”
Standing, I turn to leave, ready to walk away from it all if that’s what needs to happen.
“Don’t you turn your back on me, boy,” my father snarls. “You think that just because you’re my eldest, I won’t replace you?”
Whirling, I turn back to plant my palms on his desk as well, getting right up in his face. “Do it. I dare you.”
Silence stretches between us, the vein in my father’s temple pulsing as he considers his next move.
But as the seconds pass, I know he won’t go through with it.
He might not feel remorse if he killed me, but he would feel the backlash now that he’s pronounced me the imminent new don.
To revoke that now wouldn’t just cause turmoil in our family. It would make him look weak in front of the capo dei capi and every one of our allies.
“Your time is over, old man,” I state coldly. “I’m in charge now, whether you’d like to think so or not, and I intend to do things my way as the head of this family.”
Fury flashes across my father’s face, but a hint of fear lingers behind his eyes. “You’ve forgotten your place,” he warns, straightening to his full height.
“And where is that, exactly? Beneath your boot? I’m tired of being your footrest.”
“Your place is by my side, learning to be a good leader, not throwing temper tantrums like a little boy. Perhaps giving you a wife was a mistake. The new responsibility has certainly gone to your head,” he snaps.
“Maybe we should give her back, since she’s no use to us anyway.
You can get married to a good Italian wife when the time is right. ”
Hysterical laughter bubbles up from my chest at the ludicrousness of his suggestion.
My father, the one who all but forced this marriage down my throat, wants to send Sora back to her family now that I’ve taken everything she had to offer, now that I’ve seen the kind of family she would have to go back to, now that I know how impossible it would be for me to live without her.
Now he wants to change his mind.
“Now you want to let me have my way? Now that she’s been living in this house, sleeping in my bed for over a month?
You’re unbelievable. Here I was thinking you might someday want my opinion, but all you’re looking for is a good little soldier.
Well, I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear I have no emotions, no ability to fall in love, that I’m willing to use my wife for whatever the family needs—after all, our marriage was only intended to put puppet strings on the Tanaka family.
Wasn’t it? So, what should I care if we send her back?
” I’m breathing heavily by the end of my tirade, my chest heaving as I clench my hands into fists, using every last drop of self-restraint not to throw myself over my father’s desk to strangle him.
“That would be a start,” my father confirms, his smile failing to hide his thinly veiled malice.
“Well, you can forget it. I’m tired of dancing to your tune.
You want to pretend emotions make us weak, connections leave us vulnerable, but the strength I see in Sora has shown me the truth of it all.
With her, I could move mountains. You’re just a pathetic old man who’s going to die alone.
” My voice is low now, but it holds no less punch, and I can see when the blow hits home.
My father’s head snaps back, his eyes narrowing as I turn to leave once more.
“That’s it. You’re done,” he says coldly. “If you think I won’t name Giovanni my heir instead, you’ve sorely overestimated your position, Leonardo.”
Hand on the doorknob, I look back over my shoulder.
“Good. You should. I never wanted to be Don in the first place. It’s not an honor, it’s an obligation you, Father, forced on me.
I’m sick of the fighting, the bloodshed, the conflict, and all for what?
So I can rule over the underbelly of Chicago?
It’s hardly a kingdom worth claiming.” I sneer, all my bitter resentments flooding to the surface as I finally speak my mind.
“You know, Miko’s the lucky one for never earning your love—he doesn’t have to scrape and grovel pretending to be grateful for the shackles you keep on us. ”
The don pales, the fury washing from his face as I call his bluff and throw down my winning hand.
Because I’m ready to take my chances. I’m ready to walk away from this life and take Sora with me.
If we run far enough and fast enough, I’m confident I can outrun whatever penance my father intends to extract from me.
“You think I’ll let you just walk away?” he threatens.
“No, but I can promise you that nothing you say will make me stay.”
With that, I jerk open the office door and storm out.