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“So what, Johnny Vitale spins some story and you believe it? About what? My father making marriage plans for a fucking newborn?” I stare at him and honest to God, I feel pity for the man.
I don’t think a single soul in this universe has ever felt pity for Dante Carluccio, but here we are.
“Is it really that crazy? Set me up with Paulie, and you merge the families. Or maybe Johnny, like he thought, and then he’d have good standing with the family. Think about it, Dante. It makes sense. Fuck, they were willing to do it with a congressman. Imagine the power if they had a politician and the rival family who has turf they want?"
He doesn't speak for long moments that stretch for a lifetime.
He's either going to believe me or not.
He's either on my side or he's not.
“How can you believe him, Delilah? He tried to kill your sister. He wanted to kidnap you.”
“What does Johnny have to lose, Dante?” No answer. “He says there’s proof. In your brother's things. Gave me all the details where to find it.”
“In Tony's things? Those are all boxed up.”
“Who has access to them, Dante?" I ask, but I know the answer.
I know the answer because Johnny told me, but it's confirmed on his face.
“Me.” I raise an eyebrow. “And my father.” His face looks resigned.
“They're going down whether you want it or not. This is bigger than you, bigger than us.”
"Nothing is bigger than us, Lilah." I sigh, wanting so badly to believe him, but it's just not . . . true.
“We don’t work,” I say in a whisper, knowing that is the truth.
“The fuck we don’t. We work in all the ways that matter, Lilah.”
“It’s bigger than that, and you know it. The world . . . is more than that.”
“You love me, yeah?”
I stare at him in disbelief.
I can't believe he's pushing this now, of all times.
“Don’t do this, Dante.”
I have waited for weeks for this conversation. Some kind of confirmation that he feels the way I do, that the draw isn’t just mental and physical but goes deeper. That what we are is more than obsession and sex.
And now, when the world I thought I understood is crumbling beneath me, he wants to do this.
“I am so fucking tied up in you that I won’t let you go easy.”
“There are things you don’t know.”
“Then tell me.”
“I can’t, Dante.”
“Tell me. You want revenge, but there are other ways to get it. We both know that. What made you walk into Jerzy Girls and sell your soul to me? It wasn't just what happened with your sister. Help me understand.”
How much do I tell him? I think to myself, the scales tipping tumultuously.
How do I explain to him it wasn’t just Johnny?
