Page 60 of Jackpot Joker

“Lie down and shut the fuck up.”

Chapter 29

“Where’s the attorney?” I feel my brothers’ eyes on me and sigh, knowing I’m the one who has to speak to my father.

“She’s working from home today, Papa.”

He snorts. “Good. I don’t care for her. A woman needs to know her place.”

“Like my sister?” I mutter under my breath, but not quietly enough.

“Martina is where she is supposed to be. She knows her place. She’s fine. I talked to them the other day.”

Gio’s head pops up from where he’s been buttering his bread. “You spoke with her?”

Papa waves his hand. “I spoke to her husband, which is good enough. She’s still not popping out any kids, and she’s not getting any younger. She’s gonna have to stop embarrassing me, or I may have to pay a visit.”

My knuckles are white as I bite my tongue, close my eyes, and try to take in deep breaths. I thank all my lucky stars Jasmine isn’t here, knowing my bull would have no problem reaming my father out for his misogyny. The thought of her calms me, and I’m able to open my eyes again to see everyone has moved on, as though insisting my sister’s only purpose in life is to breed for men in power is your run-of-the-mill conversation.

“Where’s everyone else?” Gio asks, noting the lack of the capo and my uncle.

My dad sighs heavily and looks out the large window of the dining room as though he’s expecting company. After several moments pass, he finally speaks. “I didn’t invite anyone else. I need to speak with my boys.”

The three of us stare at each other as my father continues his gaze. We’ve had family dinners with the four of us before, but this time feels very different.

Papa takes a sip of his wine, but when he goes to set it down, he changes his mind and chugs it back instead. When he slams the glass back down on the table, he makes an earth-shattering announcement. “I’m dying.”

Luca’s jaw tightens, and Gio’s palms form fists. I sit there, stunned. The man we’ve all considered invincible admitted to us what we’ve always imagined unfathomable. I know my brothers are hurting, but if I’m honest, I’m not entirely sure how to feel regarding the news.

I do know if something isn’t said, the tension in the room is going to grow so thick we’ll all choke on it. “Did you find another gray hair today?” I quip. “Just because you’re getting a little older doesn’t mean you’re dying.”

“This isn’t a fucking joke,” he spits, eyes glaring at me.

“Then tell us what the fuck is going on,” Gio demands in a raised voice. I’ve never seen him like this in front of our father. When it comes to Papa, Gio is his right-hand man and takes everything he says in stride. It’s only behind closed doors that he bitches about the man who has made our lives a living hell.

Papa darts his eyes of coal to my brother, but they soften at his favorite child. “I’ve been around a long time—too long in this world. We expect to go down in a fight, but I’m past all of that.” He looks at the three of us, then down at the table. “The cancer’s got me. Liver. Stage four.”

“Fuck,” Gio whispers, resting his elbows on his knees and putting his head between his hands. Luca stiffens.

“What can we do to fight it?” I ask, more for my brothers than my father.

“We don’t fucking fight it. It’s over. I’m done.”

Luca clatters his silverware to the table before he strikes it with his fist. “No.”

“What do you mean ‘no’?” Papa asks. “You can’t put a bullet in cancer. You can’t march it down to your torture chamber and beat the shit out of it until it goes away.”

“But there are treatments, right?” Gio asks, his voice strained.

Papa waves a hand. “I ain’t worth all that.”

“You are,” Luca insists.

Gio stands up. “We’ll find the best doctors money can buy. Make sure you get better.”

We all go silent as we await his response. When he takes a bite of his cotoletta, we resign that this is the end of the conversation.

“What do you want me better for anyway?” Papa mutters around a bite of food. “When I’m out, you’re in. You can run things and stop doing the dirty work.”