Shock seeps into the expressions of the other capos. Riccardo stares at me, hatred burning in his eyes. But he shuts the hell up.
“Vincenzo will be in touch with you all about next steps. We’ll meet again in one week. I expect updates from all of you.” Itake one more look around and bite back a smile. The looks of astonishment on their faces are fucking priceless. I file the picture away. “Any questions?”
Nothing.
“Good. We're done here.” This time, I smile. A real one. “Enjoy your dinner.”
I turn and walk out. Lochlan rushes to catch up with me. He opens the door of his car for me and I slide into the seat. I wait until he presses the ignition button and pulls away from the curb before letting out the breath I’d been holding.
“Holy shit,” I breathe, clasping my shaking hands. I grip my knees to steady them.
“You were incredible.” Lochlan's voice is low, warming me. “Fucking incredible.”
I look at him, a smile playing at my lips. “Yeah?”
He grins. “Yeah. The way you shut that asshole down? The wine bottle line? They were eating out of your hand by the end of that speech.”
Something flares in my chest. Pride, maybe. Or relief. Or the strange, addictive pleasure of hearing him say I did well in the face of adversity.
I think I love it all, if I’m being honest.
“I wanted to strangle him,” I admit. “When he called me scared.”
“I wanted to strangle him, too. But you handled it way better than I would have.”
“Did I?” I lean my head back against the seat, a deep sigh shuddering my shoulders. “I feel like I just ran a marathon. My heart is ready to explode out of my chest right now.”
“That was the badass boss that your dad knew you’d become if the situation called for it. He always saw it in you. That’s why you were the only one he’d ever consider to lead his organization if he couldn’t.” He reaches over and takes my hand. His thumb traces circles on my palm and my heart pumps evenharder. “You okay? You should be proud as hell at what you accomplished back there.”
“I’m good.” I turn my head to look at him. “Hey, speaking of my dad, can we go to the hospital? I want to see him and tell him about what happened.”
“Of course.”
He makes a quick left and heads toward the hospital. I settle back against the seat and watch the city slide past while I process everything.
I stood in a room full of men, all of them criminals who've made a life of danger and intimidation. Men who didn't think I belonged in their world. And I made them listen.
Not because of my last name. Not because of Lochlan standing behind me. Because of me.
That feels... new. Good. I clasp my hands together. Terrifying and exhilarating all at once.
We get to the hospital a few minutes later and head up to the ICU. Lochlan waits for me outside the room so I can have privacy. My mom isn’t here so she must’ve come earlier with Luna.
I walk inside, cringing at the bleeping machines, and pull the chair close to his bed. Settling into the seat, I lean forward and take his hand.
“Hi, Dad.”
Silence hovers over us, as usual.
“I had a meeting with the capos today. Riccardo went behind my back and met with a couple of the guys to try to convince them I’m not fit to lead your organization.” I pause, a smile tugging at my lips. “I shut him down in front of everyone. You should have seen his face. I thought his head was going to spin off his neck.”
The machines beep. Steady. Constant. At least he’s still with me.
I run my finger over the top of his hand. “He was challenging me about how I handled an attack on Moretti’s restaurant acouple of nights ago. Don’t worry. The family is fine. But three thug Russians showed up looking for blood. So they got it.” I bite down on my lip. “I took one of them out myself. Cracked a wine bottle to the head when he pulled a gun on Lochlan. Lochlan handled the other two.”
I stare at his face, willing some reaction. A twitch. A flutter of his eyelids. Anything.
“Lochlan thinks you signed the contract because you knew I could do a good job with your organization, that you believed in me. He also tells me all the time that I’m killing it, which I’ll never get tired of hearing.” I blow out a breath. “I had my doubts about all of this, Dad. I didn’t think I’d be able to do the job. But I am. I'm holding things together. I'm protecting the people who depend on us.” My voice thickens. “I'm making you proud. At least, I hope I am.”
