Page 17 of Dangerous Contract: Part 2

Chapter Five

ORAZIO

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Very well...

His dad had saidvery well.

Those two words echoed through Orazio’s skull. What the hell did very well even mean coming from his father in a situation like this? Did that mean his father would be okay with Leo shooting Orazio or Rome?

Raz didn’t know. And his father’s expression was unreadable, causing him to wonder if he’d ever known his father at all. The air in Orazio’s hospital room was stifling as tension crackled like electricity between the family members.

Orazio and Rome remained defiant, guns aimed at their father, while Don Cattaneo stared back with cold fury. Neither side was backing down. The difference was Raz and Rome would never fire on their dad. But would their dad let Leo fire on them?

A day ago, Raz would’ve said that was impossible. Today, he didn’t know what his dad would do. He didn't know who this man standing before him was, but it sure as hell wasn't the father who'd raised him.

Or was it? Had his father been this cold all along, and Raz had just imagined the rare glimpses of warmth from time to time?Shit. That was it, wasn't it? Leo still had his weapontrained on Orazio while the security officers stood behind the don, blocking the exit.

Every breath felt like a challenge, a silent dare to make the first move. Don Cattaneo’s phone shattered the silence with its shrill ring. Their dad hesitated for a moment before answering, never taking his eyes off his sons.

“Hello. Shit. Can’t you handle it until I arrive? What the fuck am I paying you jackasses for?” The don closed his eyes and sighed.

Orazio finally noticed something about his dad. He looked tired. He also looked like he was unraveling at the seams. What the hell was his father keeping from him?

“Alright!” his father yelled into the phone. “Yes, I’ll be there soon. Don’t kill him. Do not harm one hair on him. We still need him alive.”

Alive? Was his father talking about Jacob Tatum? Was he fucking alive?

“Don’t call me with this bullshit again,” the don snarled.

The call ended, but the tension remained. The don looked at Orazio with disgust. It was a look he’d never seen his father direct at him before. It stung.Fuck that.It hurt like hell.

“You still have your gun pointed at me,” the don snarled. “I guess my theory was right. I guess you really will turn on your family for this woman. I’d sensed that by the way you behaved when I came to your room that night. You seemed different. You seemed weak, whipped.”

Orazio’s grip on his gun tightened, and he had to remind himself that the man before him was his father. Raz had sinned a lot in his life, but shooting his dad would not be one of his sins, no matter how much bullshit his dad said to him.

“You’re being led around by your balls, son. I didn’t raise you that way. A don cannot love a fucking woman that much. And why would you even want our former consigliere’s leftovers?”

Orazio’s hand trembled, his knuckles turning white. He could feel the heat of anger boiling inside him, but he refused to let it show. Instead, he smirked, meeting his father’s gaze.

“Love makes you do crazy things, doesn’t it, father? Isn’t that why mom ran away from you, because you were crazy, and she was scared of you? At least my woman doesn’t have to fear me. I’ll kill to protect her, but I’ll never harm her. You and I may both be obsessive when it comes to love. But we are not the same.”

“Shut up!” the don yelled.

“Why?” Raz asked. “Oh, so you can throw bullshit at me but can’t catch it?”

“What kind of son says that to his father?”

“What kind of father says shit like that to their son?”

The don’s eyes darkened, his fury barely contained. “Family is everything,” Don Cattaneo ground out, but his words were hollow.

Actions spoke louder than words. And the don's actions had proved that family didn't mean shit to him. If family was everything, why hadn’t he helped Orazio protect the woman he loved instead of sending her into the lion’s den?

No, Trevor was no lion. That bitch didn’t deserve such a title. His father had sent Monique to a cub. But even a cub would bite when it was cornered. And if Trevor hurt Monique, Raz would not spare his father his wrath. He couldn’t.

“Just know this, Orazio. When it comes down to it, blood is thicker than water. And love? Love is nothing but a weakness.”

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