Page 22 of Gratification in Gluttony

And Toni? He laughed and offered Gem a well-deserved high-five. Gem took it, kicking out his leg in a quasi-curtsy.

“Always coming in clutch,” Toni said, and Gem batted his lashes.

“I aim to please.”

“How dare you come in here and insult this family,” Bett snarled, jumping to her husband’s defense.

“I didn’t insult this family,” Gem said, pointing at Sal. “I insulted his family. There’s a difference. Unless there’s some incest-vibes I haven’t picked up on.”

Dismissing Gem like he was shit on her shoe, Bett turned her fury to Toni. “You’re just gonna stand there and let him run his mouth? Ma is bed-ridden, and you waltz in here making jokes?”

“If Ma is in such dire straits, why are all of you out here talking to me?” Toni demanded. “I don’t even know what happened because no one is telling me a godsdamned thing!”

The door behind Sal, which Toni assumed led to some sort of recovery room, opened, and Toni’s father, Mr. Marlyn Maryno himself, stepped into view. He was shorter than Toni but not by much. His skin was heather gray with charcoal stripes, his fins prominent and regal. His hair was thick and streaked with white, but his black eyes were as sharp as ever.

His gaze pinned Toni to the floor, and for a brief moment, Toni felt like a kid again, small and powerless. But the moment passed, and he stood tall. Because he wasn’t that little boy no more. He was a man now, a man of his own fucking making, and he wasn’t afraid of Marlyn Maryno.

“Hey, Pop,” Toni said.

His father blinked at him, practically looking right through him. Then he grunted wordlessly. A tiny, one-syllable sound.“Hm.” Then he turned and walked toward the window, hands slipping into the pockets of his slacks.

It was a brazen dismissal, the ultimate slap in the face, and nearly every one of Toni’s siblings ducked their heads or darted their gazes away. Like they were ashamed for him. Or ashamedofhim. One and the same, really.

It hurt; of course it hurt. But it didn’t hurt as badly as it might have years ago. Before therapy, before Toni had rebuilt himself from the ground up to finally be a man he could be proud of, that blase snub would have flayed him open.

But now? It was just a small ache, like an old wound, long-healed but scarred over. It hurt like that, and Toni took it. He took it because he was strong enough now to bear it.

“She in there?” Toni asked Flo, and his sister nodded.

Just once.

“Okay.” To Gem he said, “I’ll be right back.”

“Take your time.” Gem winked at him. “I’m perfectly comfortable right here.”

Ignoring his siblings—who he believed genuinely loved him, just didn’t love himenough—Toni strode purposefully for the door to his mother’s hospital room. Sal, of course, just couldn’t help himself. He shuffled over to block Toni’s path.

“The doctors said she needs to rest,” Sal said primly. “She don’t need any more stress right now.”

Toni sucked his teeth, then leveled Sal with a dangerous smile. The other Elas jutted his chin stubbornly, but Toni heard the slight stumble in his heartbeat. It sharpened his grin even more.

He may not work for his father anymore, and he may not have ever been good at the more… cutthroat aspects of the family business. But he was still a fucking Maryno, and he would remind Sal of that.

“It’s laughable that you think you have even a sliver of a chance at stopping me from seeing my own fucking mother.” Toni tiltedhis head, smile still stretched obscenely over his face. “The only reason I haven’t flattened you to the floor already is because I would never do that in front of my niece. So, think very carefully about how far you’d like to push me right now.”

“You can’t speak to me that way,” Sal spat.

“Watch me.” Toni placed three fingertips on Sal’s chest and added just enough pressure to move him one single step, clearing his path to his mother. Then he dropped the chilling smile and grimaced, wiping at the spittle Sal had sprinkled all over his face. “And say it, don’t spray. My gods, what’s wrong with you? I only let people spit in my mouth if they ask nicely.”

Gem snorted loudly, breaking the tense atmosphere, and Toni chuckled, sending his best friend a more genuine smile over his shoulder as he pushed into the hospital room and let the door swing shut behind him.

Chapter seven

Goldi’s Left Breast

Toni expected to findhis mother asleep or at least heavily medicated. He assumed she’d be deathly pale and frail-looking, eyes sunken in, skin thin and stretched over her bones as she fought for life. He was prepared to say goodbye, however difficult that would be.

He did not, however, expect to see Goldi Maryno sitting propped up by pillows, her hair in curlers, licking her thumb so she could turn the page of a fashion magazine as she sipped on a mimosa. She glanced up at the sound of the door clicking shut, doing the slightest double-take as her perfectly plucked brows rose half an inch in surprise at his appearance. Then she returned her attention to her magazine.

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