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I get to my feet, taking Ophelia’s hand in mine. “I didn’t love her,” I tell him. “But I do now. I will not hurt her like you hurt mother. I’m not you. I will do things differently.”
“You will fail,” he wheezes. “I can tell by looking at you.”
“We’ll see about that, won’t we? You want to tear up the forms before the commission see them? You be my guest. I don’t give a shit anymore. What matters to me is her.”
“You won’t have any money if I do that. You’ll have nothing.”
“You’re wrong. I’ll have the love of a good woman. You had that and you threw it away and for what? To sleep around with no guilt? To prove to yourself that you didn’t need anyone else around? Look at you, father. You think you’re some genius of a Don. You were going to give the empire to Michael for him to burn through at the track or the card table. You want the empire to end, fine, go right ahead. I don’t really give a shit what you do.”
I start to walk away but I turn back because he’s laughing. A laugh that I haven’t heard since I was little, the one he used to use when Michael was slamming my head into the floor. “What’s so funny?” I ask him.
“You’ll see soon enough,” he says, pointing a finger at me. “You wanted the empire. You got it. You’ll see that it takes up all your time. You think you’ll be able to run things and make it work with her? You’ll see. It’ll swallow you like it swallowed me. That’s the price of taking over. You don’t get to be happy. No one does.”
He piles up the papers in front of him. “Signed on the dotted line. It’s your responsibility now and I’ll tell you why I’m laughing. I just signed the death of your relationship, right here. One year from now, you’ll be alone and she’ll hate you with every fiber of her being. Mark my words. One year. Enjoy it while it lasts you ungrateful son of a bitch.”
“Come on,” I say to Ophelia, leading her out of the boardroom. “Let him think what he wants. I know the truth.”
“What truth?” she asks, still sounding nervous.
“Our future’s going to be what we choose to make of it, not what he predicts.”
Forty-Five
Ophelia
Ican’t stop thinking about what Vincenzo’s father said. The entire drive back to his place, I’m thinking about it.
A year. The business will swallow him whole. He won’t have time to spend on me. He was using me to get what he wanted.
It all goes around in circles, not helped by the plug in my ass distracting me from being able to think clearly.
When we get to his country place, I’m in a daze, saying little. Vincenzo accompanies me inside, sitting me down on a long couch in the lounge nearest the door, telling me he’ll be back shortly.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now. Do I believe all those things? Could they be true or were they the last spiteful lashings out of a dying man?
I feel sorry for Vincenzo. Bring brought up by a man like that cannot have been easy.
Is it over? Now he’s got what he wanted, will he want me anymore?
It’s ten minutes before he comes back in. He looks pleased with himself. “I’ve confirmed it with the commission,” he says. “I am in charge of the eastern seaboard. The empire is mine to control.”
I look at him for a clue about where this is going. I shift in place, wincing slightly as he walks toward me. He smiles when he reaches me. “You did well to keep the plug in for all this time,” he says. “It is time you were rewarded.”
“About what he said,” I ask, not sure how best to word things. “Do you think it’s true? Do you think it won’t work between us?”
“What do you want?” he replies. “Do you want this to end? Do you want to go back to your ordinary life. Financially you will be better off than before but you will be alone. You were happy to be alone before you met me. Do you want to be alone again?”
“No, but …”
“There is no but. If you want to be with me, be with me.”
“You’re willing to commit to me?”
“What do you think?”
From behind his back, he brings out a silk blindfold, placing it over my eyes, tying it behind my head. I can’t see a thing through it. “What are you doing?” I ask as he takes my hands in his.
“Do you trust me?” he asks.
