“This is why you should have just stuck to the plan and kept your eyes on the fucking ground,” Gianni snarled. “Marry another Bloodborn and move on.”
“I can’t do that.”
“You can, and you will,” my dad continued. “Tomorrow night, you will be at the house. We’ll start with getting you some suits.” He eyed my jeans and leather jacket with disgust. “And then we’ll get to work. I’m done with your nonsense, Desiderio. It’s time to grow up.”
“And growing up means what? Being unhappy for eternity?”
“If that’s what you choose.”
“But I don’t,” I argued. “I can be happy and successful. You just need to let me—”
“Don’t tell me what to do.” His chest swelled and his fists tightened at his sides. “You are my son and you will act as such.”
“Dad—” I pleaded for him to understand, but I knew it was useless. He had made up his mind. He turned and motioned for Gianni to follow him.
“Stay up tonight, so you can sleep during the day. Be at the house by sunset.”
They left, much quieter than they’d arrived.
I paced all night long, trying to figure a way out of it. To explain it to Scout. I fucked up by telling Aleida, I knew that. Now, to keep Scout safe, I had to do this. So, in the morning, I called her and prayed she picked up so I could lie out of my ass for the millionth time.
“Hello?” she said after the click.
“Scout? Hey.”
“Good morning! What are you up to today?”
“Actually, I’m about to go to bed. I, uh, I need to explain some things.”
“Okay? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, of course. It’s just… I’ve been thinking a lot about my future, our future. This summer was too much for me. You don’t want to do that, and I can’t do it without your support so I’m done. I’m getting out of that business.”
“You are?” Her voice was so hopeful it nearly shattered me to lie to her.
“Kind of. I’m not going to be on the road. I’m taking a job under my dad. I’ll be working with him and my brother, and they do business at night.”
“At night? That’s odd.”
“Organized crime doesn’t sleep,” I tried to joke but she didn’t laugh. “I’m getting fitted for suits tonight.”
“You’re starting already?”
“I wasn’t given the option. They considered the summer my time off.”
“But you still worked. We—”
“I know,” I cut her off. “But they are kind of set in their ways. They also want me to focus on learning the ropes. I won’t be available for a few weeks.”
“Weeks?” Her voice cracked, and it shattered my heart. “What happened to wanting me to move in and never be away?”
“I know, I know. This is something I have to do. I’ll try to call when I can. But I need to get this done so they can stop bitching about it. By the time our birthdays roll around, we’ll be together, celebrating again. Maybe afterward, we can see about moving in together.”
“Desi, that’s two months!”
“Six weeks,” I argued. “Just for six weeks, please, can you do this? I’ll send you your half of the money we earned this summer and you can relax, do your art, and get things in order to move, okay?” My stomach was in knots. Would she do it?
“Okay.”
“And don’t hurt yourself,” I added quickly.
“Okay!” she said and slammed the phone down.
