Page 22 of Dance of Ruin

I shake that thought away as Dad tears the wrapping paper off and pulls the lid off the box. His brows knit for a second as he looks down into it.

“What are these keys for?”

I grin. “Maybe we should go outside and see.”

He looks up at me, then at Carmine, his brows raised and a curious look on his face. “What are you two up to?” he chuckles, wagging a finger at us.

“C’mon and see for yourself, Pop,” Carmine grins as we all get up from the table.

We head to the front door, I swing it open, and Bianca escorts Dad outside.

“Holyfuck!” he chokes the second he steps outside. His hand flies to the railing to steady himself. “Are you fuckingkiddin’me?!”

Carmine and I glance at each other and fist bump behind Dad’s back as he howls with delight.

“That’s my car!” he roars, laughing. “Holy shit, that’smy exact car!”

“Happy birthday, Dad,” I say, wrapping an arm over his shoulders and patting his chest.

He turns to both of us, incredulous. “I… I don’t even know what to say…”

“Say you’ll take it for a spin right now,” Carmine chuckles.

Dad beams. “You know what? I think I might?—”

“Uh, before you do?”

We turn to see Bianca and Kratos still standing in the doorway, both of them with these weird, doofus-looking smiles on their faces.

“Bet she went all out with dinner AND movie coupons,” Carmine snickers into my ear before Lyra elbows him to shut it.

“Dad, I…well,we…got you something kind of special. It hasn’t arrived yet, but, well… We wanted to at leasttell youwhat it’s going to be today.”

Dad chuckles as he walks over to her. “Sweetheart, I don’t care if it’s an empty box. I love ya.”

Kratos clears his throat awkwardly. “Yeah, it’s, uh, not empty.”

Bianca’s face heats as she chews on her lip. Dad frowns in puzzlement.

“What is it, princess?”

“Dad?” She glances at Kratos. Kratos glances at her. Then they both look at Vito.

“You’re going to be a grandpa.”

They say it at the same time, and for half a second, the whole fucking stoop goes pin-drop silent.

Half a second after that, iterupts.

Vito is losing his mind, tears in his eyes as he swoops Bianca up in a huge hug. He turns to Kratos next, all but sobbing into the big guy’s chest before he pulls away, only to lose it all over again.

“I’m gonna be a grandpa!” He whirls to yell it to all of 5thAvenue. “I’m gonna be a fuckin’grandpa!!”

Lyra and Tempest freak out, rushing to Bianca and hugging and screaming and all of that. Dante grins, shaking Kratos’ hand firmly before he brings him in for a hug.

“Well holy fucking shit,” Carmine chuckles, shaking his head as he hugs our brother-in-law. “Got one past the goalie, huh?”

“You really want to hear the gory details?” Kratos grunts with a warning tone.

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