"Yes, I know. You already said that."
"I'm gay as well," Vito said. "Although, no one knows except the three of us."
"Okay, so what's the problem?" Luca asked. "I won't share your secret."
"It's not going to be a secret much longer." Vito held up our clasped hands. "Tony and I aren't going to make some big announcement or anything, but we're not going to hide it either."
Luca's eyebrows shot up. He pointed a finger between me and Vito. "You two are...?"
"In a relationship," Vito stated firmly.
I beamed at the man. I knew how hard it was for him to step out of his comfort zone like that, and he was doing it for me.
I couldn't be happier.
Chapter Sixteen
~ Vittorio ~
"Congratulations."
I was surprised at how good it felt to be accepted for being gay. Granted, considering Luca was married to a man, I hadn't expected him to try and kill us or anything, but he seemed rather happy for us.
That was new.
It wasn't something I had ever experienced before.
I liked how it made me feel, like I wasn't a defect or something for liking men. I'd felt as if there was something wrong with me my entire life. Now, that thing I'd always been ashamed of was not being praised exactly, but it wasn't being ridiculed either.
"Vito and I discussed it and we decided to just let nature take its course. Like he said, we're not going to make a big announcement that we're both gay and in a relationship, but we're not going to hide it from anyone either. They will either accept us or they won't, but that's on them."
"You know I don't have a problem with it, right?" Luca asked.
"No, I didn't think you would. We just wanted you to be aware of it."
"Well, I think signing this peace agreement is even more important now. All of these men are gay and most of them are married as well. Speaking for myself, I'd actually prefer to be involved with someone that understands the life I live and accepts Nico as my spouse."
"He falls under the family veil," I stated firmly. "Of course I accept him."
"Vinnie explained to me what that was and I fully support Vito's words. We will respect it when it comes to Nico and the other spouses. I don't care if it's a man or woman."
"I appreciate that," Luca replied. "While I don't think anyone is going to take Nico out, that doesn't mean they haven't been rude to him."
I narrowed my eyes, anger infusing me. "One of our people?"
Luca shook his head. "Members of the Romano family."
Tony snorted rather rudely. "Sounds to me like the Romano family needs to be taken down a peg or two."
"Unfortunately, we have no way of doing that," Luca said. "If we mess with them, they are going to mess with us and I won't put Nico's life in danger like that."
"Can we just stop inviting them to parties?" Tony asked.
"It's not that simple, Tony," I explained. "If we stop inviting them, they would get insulted and an insulted mafia boss is never a good thing."
"Okay, so, if Luca, Vinnie and the others agree, everyone that is signing up for this peace agreement is gay, right?"
I nodded, wondering where he was going with this.