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“But I knew at least one of them! I knew them, and if they were part of a rival gang, I wouldn’t have.”
My father looked at me, his dark eyes full of sadness. “The drugs make you unreliable.” The disappointment in his tone sliced through me. “I’m grateful that you are okay.”
“And that’s why you are sending me away?”
The softness in his face evaporated. “You are the only child I have left, and I’ll be damned if you are taken from me. If I have to let you go to keep you safe, I will.”
Tears were streaming silently down my face. “Why does that sound like a goodbye?”
He sighed and turned his back on me. “You’ll be wheels up by tomorrow afternoon.”
As he walked out, I curled up and sobbed in the hospital bed.
I was broken, and I didn’t think that the pieces would ever be picked up again.
CHAPTERTHREE
Rain splattered against the window, drowning out the sound of the traffic below.
“It’s really coming down, out there.”
The sound of my father’s dress shoes on the floor of his office turned me away from the window. “We’ve had more rain this spring than last.” My school uniform contained a blazer, which I unbuttoned as I took a seat across from him. He’d summoned me directly after school, telling me that it was an emergency.
“Hopefully, the city doesn’t flood.”
I made a sound of agreement in the back of my throat. There was only so much talk about the weather that could go on between myself and my father. Not that we had more interesting things to talk about. Our differences made it difficult for the two of us to connect.
Matteo, my younger brother, was his favorite. Not that he’d ever say that aloud.
“I’m sure you are wondering why I called you here.”
My father’s hands were folded atop the desk, and he was staring at me with his intense, dark eyes. They were eyes Matteo and I had inherited. Both my brother and I favored my father over our mother when it came to looks, but my mother always said that I took after her in personality.
“Why did you not want to meet at the house?”
A grimace overtook my father’s face, and he squirmed slightly in his seat. Whatever possessed him to call me to the house, he didn’t want my mother or brother involved in it. That made me sit up taller.
This was mob business.
“Your uncle has been concerned about Luca. After everything that happened, he wants to ensure that he’s dealt with…things.”
My cousin Luca was next in line to inherit the family business. And as it were, our business was the mob. Though my father and uncle had made efforts to move our illegal dealings from the street to the boardrooms of New York City, they weren’t exactly legitimate.
Luca would take over one day, and my role was to be his second. As the first son of his uncle, I was the spare.
I tried not to let that title bother me.
“Luca seems to be doing alright.”
My cousin was better than ever.
My father nodded at this. “Yes,” he said, a small smile on his lips. “There’s nothing like a good woman at a man’s side to make them more responsible.”
The chair I’d taken up residence in was hard as a rock, and I tried not to shift in discomfort. Not that it was that hard. My father trained me my entire life to be uncomfortable.
Ingrid Wright was my cousin’s girlfriend. Unfortunately for her. Ingrid was a nice girl. One that I’d always liked. For a while when we were younger, I’d entertained the idea of asking her out. Not that I had.
The idea of bringing anyone into this life made me feel sick.
