Page 79 of Spider Demon's Kiss

“First of all, you better watch your fucking mouth before I cut out your tongue.”

“Dante!” Ma said shocked.

“Dante, you can’t talk to Pa like that,” Matteo chimed in.

“I can’t talk to Pa like that, huh? You think you can talk to me like that? You wanna see what happens if you keep talkin’?” I said readying to shift.

Matteo backed down. I continued.

“You all might be thinking that I’m referring to Kuroi. Although it is a special occasion to have my husband here with the family for the first time, I’m not. Who I’m referring to is…”

I turned behind me and retrieved the box. Forcing it onto the table in front of me, I untied the bow holding it together and lifted the top off.

“…it’s Uncle Vinny.”

Pa looked into the eyes of his brother’s head and gasped. He flung himself back in his chair in shock. Everyone did, except Kuroi. My husband, instead, stuck a roll into his mouth, which was a bit of a taboo because at this table, we didn’t eat until after we prayed. But he was new here, so I didn’t correct him.

“What the fuck, Dante?” Lorenzo said after scrabbling away from the table.

“Oh, don’t thank me for Uncle Vinny being here. You have to thank Pa. Isn’t that right? Because after years of banishment, Pa offered our Uncle Vinny a deal. He could come back as long as he did one thing for Pa, kill me.”

Everyone gasped.

“Don’t fake your fuckin’ surprise, Matteo. I know you were in on it.”

“I swear to you, Dante, I could never go through with it. I could never betray you like that!” He proclaimed now fearing for his life.

“I don’t know if that’s true. But you didn’t and that’s what’s important. That’s why your head isn’t in the box next to his. Do you understand me, Matteo?”

When he didn’t respond, I repeated it louder.

“I said, do you understand?”

“Yeah, Dante. I understand.”

“Good.”

I turned to Pa and circled the table to where he still sat, his eyes darting between his brother’s head and me.

“Now the question is, what do I do with Pa? You hired someone to kill me. A family member, no less. And why? Because I married someone who will probably end up being the love of my life.”

I got close and looked him in the eyes.

“Ya know, if you can’t accept that, I should probably put you out of your misery now. Because neither he nor I are going anywhere. Would you prefer that, Pa? You want me to put you out of your misery?”

Pa’s mouth moved without words coming out. I could see that he wanted to shift but he didn’t dare.

“What was that? You need to speak up a little louder. Everyone here needs to hear what you say.”

“I can accept it,” he said practically shitting himself.

“And you’re not just saying that, right? Because I remember what you taught us about how to handle liars.”

“I’m tellin’ you the truth,” he said still in shock.

I dipped my chin in satisfaction.

“Good. Good. Then that’s settled. Come on everyone, take your seats. Let’s enjoy Ma delicious Sunday dinner.”

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