Page 75 of Toxic

"I'm not going to allow anyone to threaten our port," he says.

I continue slamming my fists into the bag. "Give Papà some time to process our conversation."

Gianni stops, turns, and wipes the sweat off his brow. "And if he doesn't agree?"

I keep punching, hoping it doesn't come to that. At this point, my father will know we went behind his back, and it's not something I welcome into our lives.

"Don't tell me you're taking his side now," Gianni states.

I spin to him and lower my voice so my other brothers can't hear. If Gianni and I are doing this, I'm not putting their relationship with my father at risk. "You know how I feel about this issue." I tap Gianni's head. "Think, brother. Deep down, you know it's better to get Papà on our side."

He moves his head out of the way and sneers at me. "We're running out of time. Every day we don't act is another day we risk losing the port." He waves his hands between us. "Our future."

I step closer so our faces are an inch apart. "You don't do anything without me, do you understand?"

His face turns to stone.

I put my hand on his shoulder. "Gianni—"

"Hearing you loud and clear." He shrugs out of my hold, tears his boxing gloves off, then picks up a rope and starts jumping.

My phone rings. It's the tone I set for Bridget, so I leave the gym and catch it before it goes to voicemail. "Hey."

"Did I interrupt you?" she asks.

"No, dolcezza. Did you miss me?"

There's a brief pause before she quietly admits, "Yeah."

I grin. "Good. Do I get to see you tonight?"

The line turns silent.

My smile falls. "Bridge, what's going on?"

"I think we need to cool it. My father is asking a lot of questions."

"Yeah, he talked to mine, too. Let's just come clean."

"No."

"Why? What's the big deal? We don't have to tell the kids if you aren't ready."

"We definitely arenottelling the kids."

I run my hand through my hair, pushing down the frustration that's been growing the last few weeks. No matter what I say to Bridget, she still doesn't fully trust me. Every time I broach the subject about telling our families, she squashes it. She still sees me as the same guy who didn't grab my chance with her when I could have in high school. I reply, "There's no reason to hide it from our fathers."

"Says you."

I ask her for the hundredth time, "What exactly are you scared will happen?"

Her voice turns stern. "I'm not getting into this."

"So you're going to blow me off like we don't exist just because your father is asking questions?"

"Don't be so dramatic, Dante."

I snort. "I'm the furthest thing from dramatic, and you know it."

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