Page 73 of Original Sins (Dark Odyssey 6)

I purposely decided to meet with my father now because I don’t want to get stuck talking to him about duty and responsibility.

We’re opening the sex club next Friday, so I don’t want him to hear about it and then ask me.

It’s right that I sit him down and talk to him properly.

He gazes at me with that smug expression known to most of us. I look like him. Christian looks like Mom.

I think because I look like him, he wants me to act like him and be him.

“You look serious, son,” he states as I sit before his grand mahogany desk.

“Just something I need to talk to you about. It’s not serious, but it’s important.”

“Sure, no problem. what is it?”

I pull in a breath. “Salvatore, Nick, Gabe, Christian, and I are going into business together.”

He temples his fingers, and the stern expression that taints his face is exactly what I expected.

“Business? What sort of business is this?”

“A sex club.”

Telling him I’m opening a sex club is not the part I have to worry about. It’s the fact that my time is going to be invested elsewhere.

“When did this happen?”

“It’s happening now. We bought the building, and we’re opening on Friday. The place still needs some work, but it’s nothing that will require too much effort once the contractors start their work.”

My father has no off switch when he gets an idea stuck in his head. There’s a reason why I grew up thinking I could own the world if I wanted to. It’s because of him.

He’s not used to being told plans aren’t going according to what he thought they were going to be. I’m not either, so I know exactly how he’s feeling right now as he stares back at me.

The reason he’s contemplating his next words is he doesn’t want to piss me off. He needs me and knows I don’t actually need him. My presence here is bound by my love and loyalty to him and my family.

If push came to shove, however, I’d take whatever road I need to in order to preserve what I want for myself.

“Georgiou,” he begins in a flat tone. “I’m not happy about this. The least you could have done is give me more of a heads up than this when all is practically said and done.”

“Pa, I didn’t need to give you a heads up because it’s something I want to do with my life, and I thought it would be cool to have my brother and my cousins on board.”

“None of them are like you. Not one of them, and when you all get together, it’s a disaster. They drag you down, and going into business with people like that affects everything else. In this instance, it will affect your standing in this company. People like them drain you of your resources.”

“People likethem?” He’s fully well aware he is including Christian in that mix and talking about family like they’re strangers. “Christian is my brother—”

“Christian is a dead weight.”

“Christian turned down M.I.T when he was fifteen years old.” I’m trying to tamp down my rage.

“Exactly. That’s the kind of guy he is. He turns away opportunity when it comes knocking on the door.”

“My brother is a genius, and he wanted to live a normal life. It was his choice. That doesn’t make him a dead weight, and as for the others, they’re all Yale graduates. None of them need to work here, and I don’t either, but we’re all doing it because it’s family. You’re just pissed because you think I won’t have time to excel the way you want me to here.”

“What is so wrong about that?” he throws back. “Am I not to be proud of my son’s work in the family business?”

“It’s not about that, Pa, and you know it. The last thing I am is a fool. So don’t treat me like one.”

He’s never said this, but his plans are obvious if you look a little deeper into what he’s like and if you know him.

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