Page 43 of Corporate Bondage

Chapter Eighteen

(Gio)

“Okay, Gio, out with it,” Ma remarked. “Why are you pouting?”

I glanced away from her to my brother and father sitting around the table, their faces turned toward me in expectancy. I hadn’t been aware that they sensed my bad mood. I had truly tried to entertain them at my restaurant, but my jokes fell flat, and my laugh sounded hollow even to my ears.

“It’s nothing, Ma,” I responded. Maybe if we had been alone I would have sought her advice about what to do. My common sense told me to walk away from Keith and start fresh with someone more suitable, someone with fewer problems and fewer insecurities. My heart told me to not give up on us but to fight for our love to the last breath. Even if he rejected me, to fight. Ideally, it took two to make a relationship work, but sometimes one person had to bear the brunt of all the work. I was feeling the brunt of this relationship, and I hadn’t even spoken to Keith since he stormed out of my apartment.

I’d called him several times throughout the day and had left him another voicemail before I left home for the restaurant, to have dinner with my parents. When it came to Keith, I found begging wasn't beneath me at all. I wanted him back. I had almost given up after he walked out. Too much had transpired between us, and the explosive fights were draining, but then I remembered our conversation in my kitchen while we ate ice cream no one else had tasted but us. I remembered the way he spoke to me before he left. He hadn’t bellowed in anger. He hadn’t lashed out at me with his fists. He had spoken softly, his eyes full of disappointment and hurt. That had fueled my decision to not give up on us. What we had was real. It might have been a little different, but by God it was real, and I wasn’t going to let it slip through my fingers.

“Are you sure about that, son?” Pa asked. “It’s not the restaurant, is it? You’re not having any financial problems because Niccola and I can take over things and—”

“No, dad, I’m still turning in profits,” I said, cutting him off. I didn’t want his hand nor my brother’s in my restaurant. They would only fuck it up with their illegal activities. “I’ve a ton of ideas to keep things fresh and exciting.”

“Hmm, then at least tell us what’s bothering you then,” Ma persisted.

“You might as well get it out,” Nic stated. He had been in a foul mood all night, barely speaking, but he didn’t have anyone questioning him about it.

I glanced from one face to the other and then the next. It was time to tell them. They were all here together, and there was no bickering. They were all looking at me with interest.

“I’m gay.” Just like that, I said it. As soon as the words came out I wondered if there was a better way I could have put it to cushion the blow. Then I decided I didn’t want to euphemize anything, so I repeated. “I am a gay man.”

“Oh, baby,” Ma’s tone held disappointment, but she reached across the table to place her hand on top of mine. “We’ll support you regardless.”

“You can’t be fucking gay!” Pa exclaimed.

“Dad, I assure you that I am,” I answered calmly. “I’ve been there first hand and I’m positive that I’m a hundred percent gay.”

Nic grunted and shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. Everybody’s gay these days.”

The way he said it made it sound like it was a fad that would go away with time. I frowned at him. “I can’t speak about everyone else, but I’m speaking on behalf of myself. I’m in a relationship— sort of— and it’s with a man. I care about him.”

“That’s enough!” Pa snapped. “There’s no queer in this family, and you’re not going to be the first one!”

“It’s not something that I can turn on and off, Pa.”

“You better fucking find a way to stop it because I will not allow it.”

My anger rose and coupled with my frustration about my relationship with Keith. “I’m thirty-fucking-two years old, Pa. I’ve been making my decisions who I slept with since high school. This is none of your business. I am simply being courteous because you are family. I would hope you would support me, but if you don’t, it won’t change who I am or my preference.”

“I need a fucking smoke!” Dad jerked a cigar from the inside pocket of his jacket and a lighter.

“This is a non-smoking restaurant.”

He glared at me and jerked to his feet. He lit the cigar before he even reached the exit of the restaurant. Ma rose to her feet as well, always the loyal wife. “Let me go talk to him, figlio.”

“Ma, it won’t change anything,” I told her.

She shook her head. “I don’t believe that. I held this family together all these years despite everything we have been through, and I am not going to let it all be for nothing!”

She hurried toward the exit leaving me with my brother. Well, what else could go wrong? Everybody was pissed off at me. Keith wouldn’t answer my calls. Tate had barely answered and had hung up on me after telling me they had found Bryan. Now my whole family was upset with me too.

“If it’s any consolation, I don’t care one way or another who you fuck with,” Nic remarked. “To be honest I like it both ways. Sometimes I feel for some pussy. Other times I’d rather a dick and occasionally I dig both at the same time.” He smirked and winked at me.

I shouldn’t be surprised at Nic’s words because of his personality. Really, he was a guy who was as shrewd as a fox, but I didn’t see him letting gender getting in his way. He’d take whatever walked his way.

“You’re bi?”

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