Page 25 of Inherting the Mafia

Uh...

"You are." I seriously doubted his marriage with Nicky was platonic.

"I am." The smile on Vinnie's face spread into a wide grin. "I refused to let myself get tied down with a bunch of decrepit old men that are living in the last century and I also refused to give Nicky up."

"Good choice."

"I lost a few family members because I refused to conform to their belief system, but not the important ones. My grandfather even gave us his blessing when we got married."

"So, what is your advice then?" I asked. He had to have some reason for bringing this up.

"While I don't think you should compromise who you are to be the head of the D'Angelo family, be careful. Not everyone is going to understand you being gay. When I spoke to my grandfather earlier, he told me that Vito's Uncle Carmine is one of those decrepit old men with the antiquated belief system. So, be careful."

I pressed my hand to my stomach when it knotted with unease. "Really?"

"Apparently, they've known each other since they were kids. My grandfather said that Carmine wasn't like that when they were kids, but I guess something happened when he was a teenager and it changed him. My grandfather never said what it was, but I gathered that it was pretty bad."

"I refuse to pretend I'm straight," I told Vinnie. "Not even for some decrepit old men."

I shuddered just thinking about it. Me and female squishy bits did not mix. I'd never even seen a woman naked in real life and I had no plans on doing so. Woman could be beautiful in their own way, but naked woman gave me the heebie-jeebies.

"Good for you." Vinnie chuckled. "Just be careful and don't flaunt it. It could get you killed."

"How did you do it?" I asked.

Vinnie shrugged his shoulders. "I think I was lucky. My grandfather knew I was gay from a young age. He just wanted me happily married to someone that loved me. He didn't care if it was a man or a woman."

Wish I had a grandfather.

"Just be careful, Tony. I'm not telling you to stop being gay because we both know it doesn't work that way, but be careful how you express it. Not everyone will accept it."

"Yeah, I'm not sure I can do that," I admitted. "I'm gay and I'm not ashamed of it. If they want me to be the freaking boss of this family, they are going to have to accept me just the way I am."

Vinnie chuckled as he patted me on the shoulder. "Good for you."

Pretty sure it was going to get me killed, but I refused to compromise my morals or myself. If they wanted me to be the head of the D'Angelo family, they were going to have to accept the fact that I was gay because I wasn't changing for anyone.

"I'm not sure how much you know about the families in New York City, but there are five families here. Four of them are the heads of their families, gay, and married to men so we all know about being gay in the mafia. If you have any questions about navigating the narrow paths of this world, give me a call. We might be able to give you some pointers."

"I will," I said, and I meant it. If Vinnie knew of others in the business that were gay and living the life they wanted, then making a connection with them would be in my best interest.

I'd still need to talk to Vito about it, but maybe I wouldn't tell him I was gay, not yet anyway. I still needed to settle in as everyone was telling me.

"Here they come," I said when Vito and Fred started walking toward the door between the office and the hangar. "Hopefully, they have found something that might help us catch whoever is doing all of this."

"I'd be willing to offer whatever help I can to find this person, or persons. Taking out the heads of families is bad enough. Taking out an entire family is reprehensible."

"Thank you."

"Spouses and children of mafia families are off limits in disputes," Vinnie explained. "Granted, not everyone follows that rule, but most do. It also means that there is a high probability if someone violates that rule, the other families would get involved. It's kind of a sacred rule that no one violates because they want their spouses and children to fall into that category as well and if they don't respect it with others then they can't expect others to respect it for them."

This was a good rule. I was certainly in favor of it.

"Since Nicky is my acknowledged and legally wedded husband, he falls under that veil. That means if anyone goes after him, I can take them out and the rest of the families won't sanction me. If you ever do get interested in someone, I'd suggest you marry them quickly so they fall under the family veil. It could save their life."

A little creepy, but nice to know any way.

That didn't mean I planned on getting married anytime soon. My dating life hadn't been horrible, but it hadn't been perfect either. Most guys my age were too busy partying and havinga good time to care about real relationships, and I was only interested in a real relationship.

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