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“How long?” I barely whisper the words.
“Six to eight weeks. Maybe three months with extensive chemo and radiation, but I’m not doing that.”
“Fuck.” I close my eyes, fighting the pressure building in my head. I manage to swallow past the dry lump in my throat, but it takes a lot of effort. When I look at him, his face is stern.
“There’s a lot to be done in the next couple of months,” he says simply. “There are some things I need to tell you—places you need to go to retrieve things for Lele, Lucia, and Nick.”
“Things?” I’m not comprehending what he means. My mind is spinning in circles, and a wave of nausea hits me.
Rinaldo’s going to die.
Six to eight weeks.
I can’t grasp the idea. Of all the people I have ever known in the world, I trust Rinaldo the most. He’s always known what I need, always understood without needing an explanation. He’s the only one who has ever seen past what I’ve become and understood that there was once someone else inside of me—someone who was lost forever while I was overseas, restrained in a pit. He understood and accepted there was no changing it.
If he’s gone, what do I have left?
“Stay with me, son.”
“I’m right here, sir.”
“No, you aren’t. Focus, Evan.” I look at him, and he’s pointing to his eyes with his fingers. “Get your shit together. I need you to be strong for Gabriella and Lucia.”
I’m not together. I’m nowhere near together.
“I need to start thinking about the future,” Rinaldo says. “The future of my family, my businesses. Have a seat and I’ll explain.”
I refuse to sit down. I can’t even say why it’s important, but if I’m going to be forced to listen to this shit, I’m not going to sit down to do it.
“You know what I’m going to say.” Rinaldo sits up a little more in the hospital bed and reaches over to a glass to take a sip of water through a straw. “Lucia can’t handle the pressure—you’ve said that yourself. What did you think I would do? Turn all this over to Nick?”
I glare down at him, refusing to answer. I don’t want to have to tell him about Beni right now—not yet—but I may have to. I can’t let him start giving everything away to Beni without knowing what’s going on between him and Taylor.
“It’s you, son,” Rinaldo says. His voice is softer now. “It was always you.”
I flinch, actually taking a step back from the bed.
“What?”
“There isn’t another choice. Beni’s not really family, and I want my business to stay in my family.”
“I’m not family,” I remind him.
“Yes, you are.”
“I don’t want it.”
“That’s why you’re perfect for the job.”
No, no, no, no, no!
“I’m just a hit man,” I whisper. “I can’t do all this.”
“You know you can,” Rinaldo says. “There’s very little you haven’t already done in some capacity or another. You have the strength and the will. You have the respect. No one will cross you and live to tell about it, and everyone knows that. You’re a big part of the reason I’ve been as successful as I have. You are the best man for the
job, and I don’t have time to look for another candidate.”
“Rinaldo…” I don’t know what to say. I never wanted this. I don’t want this.
