Page 54 of Cruel Lust

“You were outvoted,” Papa reminds him, but there’s no gloating involved. No chiding. It’s the simple truth. “There’s not much else to say.”

“I meant what I said in there.” My sullen brother meets my gaze. I’ve borne the weight of his disapproval before. This is nothing new. “She fucks up, you come to me. I take full responsibility for this.”

My promise earns me nothing but a snicker. “You must have a lot of faith in her,” he observes.

“I do. Get to know her. Do you understand?”

His head snaps back before he barks out a laugh loud enough to make us all wince. “Pardon me if I don’t give a shit about understanding her.” He snarls. “I can’t even understand you. I’m not about to waste more time.”

I meet his anger with blank acceptance. At the end of the day, nothing is more important than keeping Emilia safe and with me. I can let his bullshit roll off my back. “Fair enough.” I got what I need. I realized a long time ago I have no need for my brother’s approval.

“Leave us alone now,” Papa tells him and the others. “I would like a minute alone with Luca to catch him up on the state of affairs.”

The look he gives Dante could melt solid rock. It would appear my brother knows when he’s fighting a lost cause since he follows our cousins out into the hall without any more arguments.

Papa shakes his head with a mournful sigh. “I don’t like to see the two of you like this.”

“We’ve always been like this,” I remind him. “We’re oil and water.”

He isn’t comforted. If anything, his frown deepens into true sorrow that radiates from him when he looks my way. “That’s not going to fly once my time comes, and the family is left in his hands and yours.”

Everything in me recoils from the idea. “Don’t talk like that. That’s not going to happen for a long time.”

“I’m not so sure anymore.” He walks slowly back to his study and sits at his desk. Is he playing up his age to make his argument, or has he slowed down more than I noticed before? “Right now, the way things are looking and everything hanging over our heads, it’s a lot for an old man to handle. I’m not putting it on you entirely, but you’re not helping things.”

I perch carefully on the corner of the desk, glad we’re alone together so we can speak frankly. “What made you vote in favor of letting Emilia live if it means escalating our issues with Vitali?” I question, wanting to understand.

He’s never been somebody who likes explaining his choices, and it seems like this is no exception. After shifting uncomfortably in his chair, he replies, “For one thing, I’d be fooling myself to think she’s the end of it. I wasn’t born yesterday. Vitali isn’t going to turn over a new leaf and decide he wants peace and harmony all because I had a detective murdered at his order.”

“I see your point.” This is why he’s the head of the family. That’s why Dante couldn’t hope to fill his shoes, at least not yet.

Papa eyes me knowingly. “And I’m not going to have you resenting me for the rest of your life for taking her away. It would be one thing if family business involved carpentry or plumbing or some shit. I don’t need my son turning against me down the line.”

The idea startles me. “I would never do that,” I insist.

The corners of his mouth tug upward. “You already have. I won’t insult you by pretending I don’t understand why you did it, but you did. And that is not something I’m going to forget.”

He means it. No doubt. There’s nothing to do but accept it. “I meant what I said. I’ll do anything to make up for it. Whatever it is, you’ve got it. So long as she’s safe.”

“Yes, yes.” He sounds tired, and I know this marks the end of that topic. “Vitali wants two of our container terminals to run their weapons and stolen merchandise through.”

I wince at the idea. We’ve controlled those terminals for decades and collected hefty fees from outsiders in exchange for our protection of their less-than-legal shipments. “Nic told me earlier.”

“So he told you I offered him the drug trade in Harlem instead.” I nod, and he continues, “I hate to lose the territory, but they’ve been trying to get a foot in the door up there for years.

It could stave off any immediate violence until we get everything settled and looking legit with your girl. I told him we could let bygones be bygones, that the blood that’s already been shed can be forgotten.”

A nice thought, but I don’t have much faith. “Why do I feel like that’s not going to make much of a difference to Allesandro?”

“He’s looking for a reason to remind everybody his old man’s way of doing things is over. No diplomacy, no working together. He wants to take by force.” He rubs the back of his neck, then lifts his hands into the air. “What do I know? It’s a new world. Maybe that’s the way of it today. I’ve never been somebody who shies away from doing what needs to be done, but fuck. There used to be a code we lived by.” His slumped shoulders and sagging face bring his advancing age to mind again, and pain stirs in my chest at the thought of him stepping down. It would mean the end of an era.

“We’ll get through this. We always do.” It’s the only thing I know to be true. “I’m with you. Whatever it is we need to do.”

“Sure. You’ve proven that so far.” He is not going to let me live this down anytime soon, not that I expected anything different.

The door opens without warning, and I know who’s entering the study without looking by the way his posture changes. His expression softens, and his eyes go warm. You would never know we’ve been engaged in conversation about possibly going to war. “Mi amore, what is it?”

I turn to smile at my mother, who comes to me with arms outstretched. “How good it is to see you here.” At first, her touch is gentle and loving when she takes hold of my face and gazes at me through hazel eyes filled with love, but that doesn’t last long. She shakes my head a little, growling. “Don’t you ever do that to your mother again. No running off. We all need you here.”

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