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“Do you want to go back to jail?” I asked, digging my fingers into his arm.
“No. But I have to be prepared for all possibilities.”
“Think positive,” I implored him. “We can make this work. We have to.”
Donato already had his phone against his ear. “Zegas. Come to me immediately.” He dropped into his chair and tossed his cell on the desk.
“I’m out.” Daniel’s voice was quiet, but certain.
Donato nodded. “I’d expect nothing less.” He fidgeted with a pen on his desk, the move at odds with the power he exuded. “I’ve wanted that for you for so long.”
They looked at one another. I felt their connection, one forged by years of looking out for one another, through good times, and some pretty rough ones. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Daniel finally asked.
“When I gave you that folder, itwasmy way of telling you,” he reasoned, and when his eyes filled with something that looked like compassion, Daniel turned away. “You were a good kid, are a good man. He was a piece of shit, and fucking with you was the last mistake he ever made. I toyed with him for a few years by making his life a living hell, but it ate at me that he was still breathing. I came to see you as my son more than his, and you deserved better than what he gave you.” Daniel flinched when Donato called him his son, and I ached for him. “I know you would have wanted to handle it, but you wouldn’t let me doanythingfor you. When you called me that day, I had to take that thorn out of your side.”
“You didn’t do anything for me?” Daniel asked incredulously. “You saved my life. Taught me everything I know. Treated me like family even when I was a shit. I don’t know how you get that I haven’t let you do anything for me. The way I see it, you’ve done more than I can ever repay.”
Donato was on his feet in an instant, his hands on Daniel’s shoulders. “You are a gift I never thought I’d receive.” Daniel swallowed hard when his eyes got misty. “I never said anything to you because you told me never to mention your father again. It hurt you to even think about him, and I wouldn’t be responsible for bringing you any more pain.”
Daniel stood and put his arms around the only person who’d ever been a dad to him. He rested his cheek against Donato’s shoulder, and I heard Donato take in a sharp breath. Daniel wasn’t an affectionate person, but he was clinging to Donato like the desperate fifteen-year-old he’d once been. Donato held onto him even more tightly.
“Thank you,” Daniel finally said, reluctantly releasing him.
“Can you forgive me?” he asked.
Daniel appeared startled by the question.
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
“I took away any chance he might have had at redemption. I took away the only blood you had left.”
“And in doing so, you saved me. The bastard would have never changed. You kept me from having to kill him myself. You’ve lived with that burden so I didn’t have to.” There was still disbelief on his face.
Donato patted his shoulders. “I’ve been afraid one wrong move would drive you away from me. It’s been such a fine line to tread, and I’ve walked too carefully. I’m sorry for that.”
“The only reason I stayed in this business is because I thought, if we didn’t have that connection, we wouldn’t have one at all,” Daniel said truthfully, his shoulders relaxing as if a great pressure was relieved by admitting that out loud.
Donato’s smile was bittersweet. “We’ve been dancing in circles around one another when we should have approached this the way we do everything else. Aggressively.” Daniel nodded. “I love you, Daniel. I should have told you that a long time ago.”
I blinked, stunned into silence by his admission. Daniel’s throat worked. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
“I just wanted you to know,” Donato said, letting Daniel off the hook.
I reached for Daniel’s hand, braiding our fingers together. He squeezed and sucked in a breath.
“I love you too.”
That was it for me. Tears flowed from my eyes. Those words were so difficult for him to get out. Pride filled me that he pushed his fears aside.
Donato cleared his throat as a single tear cascaded down his cheek. “You’ll stay for breakfast.”
“Yeah,” Daniel said. “We’ll stay for breakfast.”
Chapter Forty-One
Vivian
Present
