AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s what I need to find out.”
Joseph glanced toward my father. “Luciano was supposed to be killed that day, but Mother Nature got in the way. Is that what you’re saying?”
My father lifted his head, staring the man in the eyes. They had an odd friendship of sorts, which I had never noticed before.
“I’m going to venture a guess and say yes, but we may never know what he was told,” I said quietly.
“I can’t tell you how sorry I am about your brother. He was a good man, a good leader, Gabriel, but I see an entirely different set of strengths in you. You are the epitome of your father,” Joseph said in total respect.
While I normally would have bristled, this time I lowered my head to him out of the same level of respect.
They wasted no time leaving, which was fine by me. I had other, equally important things to do. Like spending time with a beautiful woman.
“He and I were friends, you know, when I first came to New York.” My father said the words so quietly I almost didn’t hear him.
“What changed?” I’d heard that from our mother, finding it tough to believe.
He laughed and swirled his empty glass. “Family obligations. You grandfather still wielded power over me.”
I finished off my drink, surprised that it took my Pops a full two minutes to rise from his seat. Whether or not he was proud of me I’d likely never hear. For today, that was just fine. He’d opened up more than he had my entire life.
I started to leave when he cleared his throat.
“You did good, son. I’m very proud of you.”
I’d waited my entire life to hear the words from him. Today, I realized they no longer mattered. I wasn’t particularly proud of myself.
“I never told you how sorry I was about Mary.”
He’d never comforted me given the circumstances. Why now? “It was difficult.”
“There was a chain of events that started the situation.”
“What do you mean?”
He glanced in my direction. “I made a rash judgment, which resulted in the loss of innocent lives. After that I received threats that I didn’t take seriously.”
“Threats?”
“To hurt my family.”
A strange pinging sensation occurred in my ears. “What are you trying to tell me?”
He kept his eyes locked on mine. “That Mary didn’t need to die. My arrogance killed her. My sense of being untouchable. A god.”
I was sucked into a vacuum, my mind spinning. “She died because of you? You didn’t warn me? I would have kept her safe.” Anger swept through me, hatred for the man spiraling. I couldn’t do it.
“I didn’t think the assholes were serious. By then you weren’t a part of the business. They targeted you because of that. Because you wanted to live a normal life.”
Exhaling, I was sick inside, enraged that my father would keep something like that all these years. I did what I could to keep from lashing out. I’d been the one to tell him to stay out of my life.
“What else are you hiding, Pops?”
The quiet was overwhelming. Then he laughed softly. “I could never lie to you, son. You had an ability unlike anyone else to see through my bullshit and everyone else’s. Your mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few months ago. It’s been under control with medication, but she’s starting to slip. I plan on spending what time I have taking her around the world. Anywhere she wants to go. All those years I’d promised her we’d go to Europe and Singapore and never kept them. She never complained, never once said anything about the fact I was far too busy to care about my family.”
I tipped my head, studying him intently. Now I fully understood why he’d shared the horrible story.
He was terrified I was just like him.
