“Did this birdy also happen to tell you about the appearance of our favorite wedding crasher?”
“Only that you escorted her out.”
This time, I fake a left and throw out with my right, clipping Dante on the back of his neck. He retaliates instantly, and I have to take a step back in order to block him.
“What are they saying?”
“The smarter ones are saying you’re negotiating.”
I hit him four times, concise and short, alternating each hand. Each is absorbed by Dante’s gloves. “And the less smart?”
Dante retreats a few steps and begins to circle me again. “You don’t want to know.”
“And if I do?”
Dante shoots me a displeased look. “She’s a beautiful woman, Teo.”
When he lunges for me, I’m ready. On the second block, I counter with my own blow to his stomach, bypassing his defenses. It’s my window to get in and hit him hard.
A part of me rejoices as the reverberations shake through my body. Finally, a release to the frustrations of the last few weeks.So, I keep lashing out and meeting my mark with more and more force.
Dante can take it. Or at least, he can try to. His retaliations bounce off the side of my head, off my forearms, but nothing can stop me, not really.
When I finally relent, Dante looks more than a little winded. But before I can wince out an apology, there’s a slow clap from the sidelines.
“I think these days you might actually stand a chance against Mia,” a familiar voice heckles.
“Rocco?”
There, in the flesh, stands the Guild’s ex-don. Judging by his slight tan and lazy stance, he must have just returned from his honeymoon.
He grins at me easily. “You really got time to work up a sweat?”
“Who says I’m sweating,” I reply as I duck under the ropes to clasp his arm.
He pulls me into a hug with a laugh. “Damn, you weren’t joking.”
“What are you doing here?” I say as I pull away.
“Thought I’d come to see if you’d burned the place down yet.”
“Your vote of confidence is always so appreciated.”
Rocco waves at Dante as he approaches to lean over the rail. “Come to save us from his idiocy, boss?”
“I’myour boss, asshole,” I snap back, throwing my gloves at his face.
“Still an idiot, though.”
I turn back to Rocco. “You see what I’m dealing with here? Come on, let's head to the office.”
It still feels odd to call itmyoffice, but it is slowly becoming more familiar. There are little traces of me all over now, and I can safely spend an entire day without thinking of the man who had sat behind this desk for most of my life.
It helped when I had Giuliano Moretti’s portrait removed from the back wall.
Rocco follows behind me, only stopping to briefly greet a few people on our way in, earning us more than a few speculative glances.
Though I suppose the Guild has never had a past and present don who were on speaking terms before.
