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He stood up from his desk and walked towards the bar cart, which gave me pause. He never drank. At least, not anymore. My mother said it was because he didn’t want my brother and I to pick up any ideas. I suspected that she put a stop to it. “Don’t tell your mother about this,” he said, sipping from the glass. “You know how she feels about drinking.”
This time I did chuckle. “And fast food. She’s lucky she didn’t make Matteo and I the most hated guys in school after she tried to get the school to serve vegan options and have Meatless Mondays.”
My father shook his head at my mother’s quirkiness. It was odd to think about the two of them together. My mother was lightness and fun. When Matteo and I were children, she filled our rooms with books and turned the house into a fort. Though my father was not as hardened as my uncle, he was much darker. Even when I was a boy, I sensed it.
He leaned against the wall, examining me. “You said that the family doesn’t need you. You are wrong.”
I snorted. I didn’t mean to, but his words were comical in their ridiculousness. “You’ve told me a million times that things are different now. We aren’t at war with anyone, and frankly, a Harvard education would be more valuable to me than sticking around the city.”
“Don’t let your Aunt Sasha hear that you think Columbia isn’t good enough. She won’t be pleased.”
I did not crack a smile, and my father sighed after a few moments. He drained the remainder of the glass and placed it down on the cart before heading to his desk. “A friend’s daughter is going to be staying with us.”
The shift in the conversation confused me. Normally, I knew what my father was going to be telling me. He was predictable, despite what he might think. But he’d never allowed someone to come and stay with us before.
“What does that have to do with Harvard?”
“My friend is entrusting us with his daughter’s safety.”
Still not understanding what this had to do with me and my college education, I sat back, waiting patiently for him to say something. Though I appeared not to care, there were many questions swirling in my mind.
Who the fuck was coming to stay with us? And more importantly, why?
“I need you. The family needs you to keep this girl safe.”
“Why not have Matteo or Luca do it?” I asked.
A flash of grief overtook my father’s eyes. It was so quick that I might have missed it if I blinked. But I never blinked. After all, my father taught me how to school my features. He probably hadn’t expected that I would be so good at it.
“You and I both know that neither Luca nor your brother can be trusted with such a thing.”
The tightness in my jaw was painful as I smashed my teeth together in frustration. Why was my future being derailed because of my brother and cousin? They were just as much a part of the family as I was. More so, in Luca’s case.
Not that I could say any of that. Because at the end of the day, my father was right. On the outside, everyone thought that Luca was the dangerous one. But my cousin was a hothead with a penchant for being violent without thinking.
It was me they needed to be worried about. There was just as much anger inside of me as there was in Luca. I simply knew how to channel it.
“Why is this girl coming to stay with us? Who is she?”
My father shook his head. “That’s not important. The important thing is that her father believes she is in danger. He’s an important business associate on the west coast, and we need to ensure that she’s taken care of.”
Translation: her father was part of the mob, and I needed to keep this girl from getting into whatever trouble her father was concerned about.
If mine was putting me on it, she was likely some sort of errant party girl who was being sent away to clean up. If there were real danger involved, I was sure my father wouldn’t have her in our home.
“Eli,” his tone dragged me out of my thoughts, “if you prove that I can trust you, then, maybe next year, we can discuss you going away.”
“Next year? Maybe?”
He folded his arms on the top of the desk. “That’s the best you’re going to get from me.”
Silence stretched between us. I considered telling my father to fuck himself. I wasn’t stupid. By not giving me a promise of freedom, he wouldn’t have to honor it if he didn’t feel like it. But if I didn’t take up his offer, there was absolutely no chance of leaving the city. Or rather, no chance of doing it with his blessing. And though I didn’t think that my father would ever kill me, I knew there were other ways he could hurt me.
“Fine,” I said, irritated. “I suppose I’m in.”
* * *
“What do you think?” My mother stood back, assessing the pillows she’d just piled on the bed. They were in various shades of pink and cream.
