29. Chapter 29
“Where’s the attorney?” I feel my brothers’ eyes on me and sigh, knowing I’m the one who has to speak to my father.
“She’s working from home today, Papa.”
He snorts. “Good. I don’t care for her. A woman needs to know her place.”
“Like my sister?” I mutter under my breath, but not quietly enough.
“Martina is where she is supposed to be. She knows her place. She’s fine. I talked to them the other day.”
Gio’s head pops up from where he’s been buttering his bread. “You spoke with her?”
Papa waves his hand. “I spoke to her husband, which is good enough. She’s still not popping out any kids, and she’s not getting any younger. She’s gonna have to stop embarrassing me, or I may have to pay a visit.”
My knuckles are white as I bite my tongue, close my eyes, and try to take in deep breaths.
I thank all my lucky stars Jasmine isn’t here, knowing my bull would have no problem reaming my father out for his misogyny.
The thought of her calms me, and I’m able to open my eyes again to see everyone has moved on, as though insisting my sister’s only purpose in life is to breed for men in power is your run-of-the-mill conversation.
“Where’s everyone else?” Gio asks, noting the lack of the capo and my uncle.
My dad sighs heavily and looks out the large window of the dining room as though he’s expecting company. After several moments pass, he finally speaks. “I didn’t invite anyone else. I need to speak with my boys.”
The three of us stare at each other as my father continues his gaze. We’ve had family dinners with the four of us before, but this time feels very different.
Papa takes a sip of his wine, but when he goes to set it down, he changes his mind and chugs it back instead. When he slams the glass back down on the table, he makes an earth-shattering announcement. “I’m dying.”
Luca’s jaw tightens, and Gio’s palms form fists. I sit there, stunned. The man we’ve all considered invincible admitted to us what we’ve always imagined unfathomable. I know my brothers are hurting, but if I’m honest, I’m not entirely sure how to feel regarding the news.
I do know if something isn’t said, the tension in the room is going to grow so thick we’ll all choke on it. “Did you find another gray hair today?” I quip. “Just because you’re getting a little older doesn’t mean you’re dying.”
“This isn’t a fucking joke,” he spits, eyes glaring at me.
“Then tell us what the fuck is going on,” Gio demands in a raised voice.
I’ve never seen him like this in front of our father.
When it comes to Papa, Gio is his right-hand man and takes everything he says in stride.
It’s only behind closed doors that he bitches about the man who has made our lives a living hell.
Papa darts his eyes of coal to my brother, but they soften at his favorite child. “I’ve been around a long time—too long in this world. We expect to go down in a fight, but I’m past all of that.” He looks at the three of us, then down at the table. “The cancer’s got me. Liver. Stage four.”
“Fuck,” Gio whispers, resting his elbows on his knees and putting his head between his hands. Luca stiffens.
“What can we do to fight it?” I ask, more for my brothers than my father.
“We don’t fucking fight it. It’s over. I’m done.”
Luca clatters his silverware to the table before he strikes it with his fist. “No.”
“What do you mean ‘no’?” Papa asks. “You can’t put a bullet in cancer. You can’t march it down to your torture chamber and beat the shit out of it until it goes away.”
“But there are treatments, right?” Gio asks, his voice strained.
Papa waves a hand. “I ain’t worth all that.”
“You are,” Luca insists.
Gio stands up. “We’ll find the best doctors money can buy. Make sure you get better.”
We all go silent as we await his response. When he takes a bite of his cotoletta, we resign that this is the end of the conversation.
“What do you want me better for anyway?” Papa mutters around a bite of food. “When I’m out, you’re in. You can run things and stop doing the dirty work.”
“Do you really think that’s what I want?” Gio asks through gritted teeth.
“I think you’re ready.”
“Ready for you to be gone?” Gio bellows. “Ready for you to give up? Ready to watch my father fade away and leave me to fend for myself?”
My father slams his hands against the table. “Ready for you to be a leader! Ready for you to continue making sure this family remains powerful and feared. Ready for you to be the man I know you can be.”
Silence lingers after Papa’s outburst, and when he has calmed himself down, he continues, “I’m ready for you all to be the men I know you can be.”
My eyes flash up to my father’s, but he quickly looks away.
“But before you can take over,” he says, “there are some things that have to be handled. First of all is finding the fuckers who keep infiltrating our warehouses, stealing our weapons, and killing our men.”
“Luca and I have looked into everyone to see if there’s a leak within, but we’ve come up short every time. Our men are loyal.” I admire the way Gio stands up for the men in our organization. He’s going to be a great don when the day does come.
Papa’s head bobs slowly as he chews another piece of veal. “That’s good, but someone is doing us wrong. There are more than our soldiers working for us. We got doctors, florists, drivers, chefs, even lawyers.”
I don’t miss how he spits the last word out with disdain.
“I can assure you our attorney does not have a hand in this.”
He throws his hands up. “I’m just saying none of this shit started until she came to town.”
“Jasmine would not betray us!” I’m shocked at the decibel level of my voice. I don’t think there’s a time I’ve ever yelled at my father. I hate that I fear him.
Papa wipes his mouth with his napkin and tosses it down on the table. “Yeah? How can you be sure? How do you know she isn’t at home sleeping with our enemy and giving them every piece of info she’s gathered on us?”
I inhale slowly so I don’t raise my voice again at my dying father. He might deserve it, but it’s not worth the fight. “She wouldn’t do that. She isn’t like us. She’s good. She’s honest.”
“Hmmph,” he grunts. “I don’t need good; I need loyalty.
Here’s what you’re gonna do—you’re gonna make that girl fall in love with you.
You’re gonna dine her, wine her, and fuck that broad so good she’ll be begging for you not to leave her bed.
You gotta make sure she would never turn her back on you. On us.”
What my father is asking for is everything I want.
I realize that making Jasmine fall in love with me is the end goal, because since she came into my life, there’s been no other woman for me but her.
I’m thrilled with the idea of both getting my girl and being in my father’s good graces for a change.
“And you think Dario can do that?” Gio quips, and I glare at him.
Papa studies me and then gives me a rare smile. “If any of us can, it’s him.”
And for the first time in twenty-two years, I feel like my father believes in me.