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I take a deep breath. It feels strange to be here without Nyla. It’s always been the three of us.
“Our friend will be here after nightfall. You boys will be staying with me while here. I will teach you like I did my daughter.”
I pause and turn to my grandfather. I look him deep in his eyes. “Good, I want you to teach me how to take over and make everyone pay. This isn’t her fight anymore. It’s mine.”
I don’t have to explain who I’m talking about. I know from the look in his eyes, he understands who she is. He nods.
“Yes, we were right about you. This I will do, but you are wrong to think she will walk away. She has a score to settle.”
“No problem. I’ll give her that, but this is mine now.”
He gives another sage nod. We start to walk again. The weight of what I have planned settles in as my course is etched in stone. From this moment, all my actions will be to restore my family’s name.
Everyone before me has had a goal. I need to establish those and then carve my path through them. Those goals not in line with mine will be the ones annihilated.
“If you are willing to listen. I will teach you to play to win.”
“What about Riccardo? When do we get to deal with him?”
“Ah, I was told of your ambitions there. I am not done with my old friend, but there are”—he waves a hand in the air—“how do you say? Obstacles preventing a move against him. You will have to learn patience there. The only thing you need to know about Riccardo as of now is his plan.”
I spin on my grandfather. “Why not now?”
“Patience. Riccardo is not our endgame. You, as Don of this family, are. You do not fit the position now, but you will. I will make it so.”
“Why don’t I fit? I’m not afinook,Nonno. Neither is Jace,” I bite out.
He pats my cheek and smiles. “I never said you were. I know who you are, Michelangelo. You do not, not yet, but I know who you will become. You are the future. The future the families don’t see coming.
“Your mother started something, and you will finish it. The world is changing and if we don’t change with it, this thing of ours won’t exist. You will rise from the ashes, and it will be the example you set that will determine what this world will look like.
“So have patience, my Michelangelo. Be crowned the king, kill the enemy’s pawns, then you take his head,” Nonno says as he looks me in the eyes.
I nod my understanding. Determination fills me. I become Don and I get to create what my life will look like.
***
“Mama,”I say as I drag her into a tight hug after she slips into Nonno’s study where we’ve been waiting.
“My son. How are you? How are Dario and Dante?”
“Fucked up. They think you abandoned them. Frances lied and told everyone you took off. Not that you died.”
“What? That son of a bitch.”
“Oh, don’t worry. He’s on my list,” I snarl.
“No, Frances is mine. Where’s Jace?”
“I wanted to talk to you alone. Ma, I need to know what you intended to do with the families. What were you planning?”
“We have time for this, Gio. I haven’t seen my boys in months. Go get Jace for me. I want to see him before I have to go. I can’t stay long.”
“Are you not safe? Did Kington send the men you asked for?”
“Kington sent everything I asked for. Thank you. You did well, Gio. It’s just not wise for me to remain here for long. No one can know I’m still alive.”
“Okay,” I reply and pull her into another hug before I head out to get Jace.
