Page 40 of Fight Me Daddy

Gabriele

The chaosof the fight reached my ears before I even entered the building. I tossed my cigarette to the side and stepped on it. A long, high-pitched whistle snatched my attention and I nodded at Nic as he grinned and waved at me like a lunatic.

"Hey, Gabe," he said as he walked up to me, hands shoved into the pockets of his too-tight jeans. "You've finally popped back up."

"Yeah," I said with a shrug.

"Does Amadeo know you're back?" he asked as he glanced around us. "He's been losing his shit for days."

He didn't need to tell me. Amadeo had been blowing up my phone every few hours. I hadn't even listened to the voicemails he left because I knew they would contain the words "motherfucker" and "dumbass" among many others. His text messages gave me a clear view of exactly what he thought about me taking off.

"Are you going in?" Nic asked, changing the subject. "The fight's about to start."

"Yeah, I'm coming."

Nic walked backward as he stared at me. "You're quiet. What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. Let's go inside."

He held my gaze for a minute before he turned on his heels and started walking. I calmed down a bit when he did. I'd come out to the fight because Ama would be surrounded by people and I was a hell of a lot less likely to get into a fist fight with him.

We moved through the crowd and made our way to the seats that had been reserved for us. Nic slipped past Amadeo and sat on the other side of Six. Which left one spot for me. Right next to Ama.

Goddamnit.

"Sit down, Gabe," Amadeo said as his eyes slowly slid from the ring to me. "We need to talk."

I smoothed down my tie and took a seat. "I already know what you're going to say."

"Do you?" Amadeo asked as he stared me down, eyes blazing. "If you know what I'm going to say, then why the fuck didn't you get your ass back here faster? We're in the middle of a crisis and you decide to run off!" he hissed.

I tensed under his gaze. "I did. That was a mistake. It won't happen again, Ama. Trust me."

"Can I trust you?" he asked. "You left me to cover your mess. And Ma and Nonna? They're pissed off too. You know you can’t disappear like that without making them worry."

I frowned. "Yeah, I know," I muttered.

"Why didn't you come visit Dad's grave? You know how much that means to them."

I shrugged, my throat squeezing painfully. How could I explain to him that I couldn't go this year? Every time we went to the cemetery, I broke down in ways they didn’t realize. In ways I never allowed them to see because I waited until I was behind closed doors. I couldn't let them know how weak I was every year on the anniversary of Dad's death.

"Gabe," Amadeo called, his voice softer than it was before. "I know it's the hardest on you, but-"

"Don't," I snapped. "It's hard on every one of us. We all lost him."

"Yes, but that’s not the point," Amadeo said as he frowned. "You don't take it the same way we do." When I didn’t respond, Amadeo continued to stare at me. "You don't have to talk about it with me if you don't want to, but you need to talk to someone. I can't have you jeopardizing everything we're doing right now."

"I understand."

He watched me a moment longer and I felt his eyes as they tried to pick me apart. But I kept my face stoic. I wasn’t ready to be seen.

"Are we done?" I asked shortly.

Ama raised a brow at me. "We're done. For now."

I felt his eyes linger on me before he turned to watch the fight. My body relaxed for all of five minutes before I tensed again. Calix walked into the ring, his hair pulled up into a bun. On the side of his face was another bruise. But I knew for a fact that he hadn’t had a match while I was gone.

Where is he getting those from?

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