Page 5 of Beni

He loved this place.

Just not right now.

“Can I go home?”

“No,” Marcus deadpanned.

He wished he was surprised.

Then, Marcus spun on his heels with a wave of his hand, saying, “Let’s go, better not keep Papa waiting any longer on the two of you.”

The twins shared another look.

Still, they followed after their oldest brother in silence, even though Marcus continued chastising them up the driveway, and into the mansion. His bitching didn’t stop even as they walked through the grand foyer, taking one of two curved staircases to the second level of the mansion where their father’s office sat overlooking the front yard.

Nostalgia.

That’s what it felt like to step foot inside his father’s office. There was something about the rich tapestries imported from France, the darkly stained desk and bookshelves his father ordered from Italy, and the handmade rug his mother brought back from India after a trip that just reminded him of times long past.

And several trips to this office.

For reasons just like this morning.

Gian, an older reflection of his sons, stood at the front of his desk. He used his thighs to rest along the edge, and folded his hands on his middle. Like his older brother, his father was already dressed in a three-piece suit, his hair slicked back and ready for a day of business.

It was Saturday, right?

Work for the mafia didn’t stop.

Only on Sundays.

“A sore sight, the two of you, oui?” his French-Italian father asked.

The smartass he was, Beni decided to reply the same way they had retorted to Marcus outside with, “You should see the fucker that tried to slander our name.”

It was not the right thing to say.

Even though Marcus often mirrored his father in appearance and behavior, he did not have the same attitude that Gian did. Marcus had a much longer string of patience that could take a few tugs from the twins before it snapped altogether. Gian was not the same.

His father drew in a steady breath, pursed his lips, and gave them that look. A silent, excuse me, do you want to try that again? It was the only second chance their fathered offered now that they were grown men out on their own. He wasn’t sure when that changed—around seventeen, he supposed, when they graduated high school and decided to go into the family business. The dynamics of their family had to change with their circumstances.

Gian was no longer just their father.

He couldn’t be when he was also their boss.

Out of all five Guzzi brothers, it was Beni and Bene who struggled the most to make the change. Marcus did fine, ready to take his place at their father’s side in business. The other twins in their family, Chris and Corrado, didn’t have much of a problem differentiating their father from the man who raised them, and the one who ran a criminal organization, either.

The younger twins, though?

A constant struggle.

Beni was never more aware of it than now.

Bene shuffled on his feet beside Beni. “Listen, Papa, we were only making a point, okay? People can’t run off at the mouth about—”

“Made men don’t fight, and certainly not in a public club where it causes them to be arrested.”

“We’re not made yet.”