Page 7 of The Vatican
“That’s my son you’re talking about,” Uncle Phoenix drawled out.
“And I say that with all the love in my heart for the kid,” Uncle Ciro chimed back. “The kid’s a fucking natural at extracting information.” Uncle Phoenix shook his head. “And Emilio is following in his footsteps, in addition to the computer whiz shit. The boys are taking to the fighting and study of human anatomy like fish take to water,” he said proudly. “Once Matteo comes on board, they’ll be unstoppable.”
“And Cira?” Dad asked.
Uncle Ciro snorted. “She’s absorbing everything Mia is teaching her. She’d be fucking amazing if she didn’t spend all her time trying to find a way to take over the organization.” He looked over at me. “Dude, sleep with one eye open.One eye open.”
Dad smirked, then looked over at Uncle Phoenix. “Phoenix.”
“Speaking of psychopaths,” he grumbled, “Mattia and Bianca are going to make great assassins. But I think we need to reassess Massimo.”
“Why?” Dad asked.
“The kid’s too fucking sharp to be doing books or hits,” Uncle Phoenix said. “I know he wants to work with me, and I’ll be more than happy to take him, but…I don’t know. I think he can be more.”
“He’s only eighteen,” Uncle Ciro remarked. “Are you thinking he needs to go to college?”
“I’m thinking he’d make a hell of a lawyer,” Uncle Phoenix said. “I’m thinking maybe the kids who are choosing college should be questioned to see how they can help us outside these walls. We’d be untouchable with our own legitimate legal team. We could use a couple of doctors, too.”
It wasn’t a bad idea. Right now, we paid for those privileges, but our secrets would be more secure if our help came from within the family.
Dad looked over at me. “Son?”
“I think it’s a great idea,” I replied. “Right now, we pay too many outside sources to handle that kind of shit for us, but for all they do for us, the complete trust is lacking in those relationships. That wouldn’t be missing with family. Family attorneys and doctors are a safer bet in the long run. It saves us a shitload of money on retainers and under the table medical expenses, too.”
Dad leaned forward and places his arms on the table. “Okay. We’ll talk to all the kids who want to go to college and ask them what they want to go for,” he said. “However, if anyone of them are not interested in law or medicine, we don’t push them. Understood?” We all nodded.
Then, Dad turned his head my way, and the look in his eyes had me straightening my back. When I looked around, I notice all five men staring at me.
I turned back to my dad. “What’s going on?”
Dad cocked his head, and he stared at me in that unnerving way that only he could do. “We’ve been talking, Son, and…it’s time,” he simply said.
My father taught me ironclad self-control at a very young age, and I was doing my best to exercise some of that control now. I had to remember I wasn’t here as my father’s son. I was here as the next Benetti Underboss. I was here in an official capacity, and Dad would have every right to put a bullet through my head if I got crazy with him, or any of them, really.
See, I knew what he was referring to-or, rather,whohe was referring to. He was telling me they finally thought it was time for me to claim Saveria, and that was pissing me off.
I had wanted to claim her the night I had taken her virginity, but Uncle Phoenix had talked me out of it. They all had. They had reasoned that she would be feeling some aftereffects from what she had done, and I needed to give her time to process her emotions. And I had done it, believing they had a valid point. But then, Ria started spending all her time caring for her friend that had been raped, and that had also been understandable. Then it went to letting her graduate since she was so close to her degree. And now they were telling me it was time as if I were the one who’d been dragging his feet.
I’ve waited three fucking years to claim her.
I looked over at Uncle Phoenix. “Does she know?”
He shook his head. “No.” He leaned forward, mimicking my dad’s position. “We thought it’d be best if she heard it from you.”
I leaned back, and smirked. “You mean, you guys don’t want her pissed off atyou.”
Dad leaned back in his chair. “No,” he denied. “It means, Luca is going to be your wife. The start of your marriage is going to begin with that conversation. Therefore, it needs to be a private one between you and her only.”
“Plus, they don’t want her mad at them,” Uncle Ciro chimed in, confirming my suspicions. “They’re afraid she’ll be so pissed off that she’ll join forces with Cira, and we’ll all be fucked.” They all laughed around the table except for Dad. He was still pinning me down with that dark gaze that matched my own.
After a few seconds of the unflinching stare down, I looked back over at Uncle Phoenix. “If you’re ready to give her to me, then I want it done with the full understanding that Saveria will bemine, Uncle Phoenix,” I said. “There’s to be no interference from you-” I glanced around the room, taking in every man seated at the table. “-anyof you,” I clarified. “Saveria is going to be pissed as fuck at me for keeping this from her, and we all know it. Before I do this, I want your word that if or when she comes running to you guys for help, youwillsend her back to me.”
It was easy for Uncle Sal and Uncle Leo to give me their word because, even though they were blood, they weren’t as close to Dad as Uncle Ciro and Uncle Phoenix. But their word wasn’t the ones I really needed. I needed the word of the three men who hadn’t immediately agreed.
Assholes.
“Uncle Phoenix?” I prodded.
