Page 41 of Unraveled

“But you took her away for a weekend.”

“So?”

“And you bought her a gift—I saw it, too, it’s not a little trinket, Gian,” his brother added quieter.

“Again, so?” Gian asked, his irritation rising.

“According to Dad, it’s one thing for you to hook-up with somebody and go your way. It’s quite another for you to be … getting cozy. It makes a statement that you might not want, or the family, if you get what I mean.”

“And Dad should mind his own business, too,” Gian said.

“Ma—”

“You know, out of everyone, I bet she’ll be the least likely to open her mouth and bitch about all of this. And do you know why? Because she knows I haven’t been happy on that side of my life in a long fucking time. You know that, too, Dom.”

Dom met Gian’s gaze, nodding once. “Yeah, I do know.”

“Then fuck off about it.”

“I don’t give a shit how it makes us look, as far as that goes,” Dom said, “but I worry about you, man. And how it might make a target out of you, given some of the rumblings and the recent changes.”

With that statement made, Dom nodded toward the new boss, an aisle over and two pews ahead of theirs. As he looked at the boss, Gian wondered how many eyes were watching him and his brother in that moment.

“Might he make a show out of you, to control those who favor you?” Dom asked.

“He’s got bigger worries,” Gian replied, “like keeping his older sheep happy and compliant. He’s not even looking at the younger men right now.”

Dom scoffed. “All he’s done is piss off a lot of made men.”

Yeah, that too.

Still …

“Don’t worry about me, or this, or my business, all right?”

Dom shrugged. “You say that like it’s easy, Gian. Grandpapa is dead—nobody’s looking out for you like he would have done, so I’m trying to. That’s all.”

“You’re not a made man yet, Dom. There isn’t a whole lot of looking out you can do at the moment.”

“I do what I can.”

That, too, was true.

Gian appreciated it.

But still … “Stop talking about all of this in church. No business on Sundays, Dom. It’s a rule.”

“But—”

“You’ll never get your button until you learn to listen more than you talk.”

Dom finally shut up.

Gian was grateful for that, too.

I got your gift, read the text message.

Gian smiled, typing back, Oh? Did you like it?