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"I didn’t tell Giosuè everything. I didn’t want to worry him. I knew you were in the mob, and to be honest, I didn’t know who you’d side with. My family or our debtors."
A snarl escapes me. "This distresses me more than you can know, boy. It’s not fair that your father became responsible for your uncle’s mistakes. That’s the downside of having close family—you feel obligated to help even when you shouldn’t get involved. Sometimes, the best decisions you can make are ones that seem cruelest in the moment."
"My father went to the loan shark and offered to take on my uncle’s debt. My father obviously couldn’t pay off the loans, so the loan shark chopped off his pinky and fed it to sharks."
"You’ve got to be fucking kidding."
"My dad went to another loan shark and got another loan. He’s been doing that every twelve months for the past four years. When one comes due, he borrows money from someone else."
"That’s horrible."
"It really is."
"The interest he’s paying must be exorbitant."
"The total balance is up to five million dollars. Every year, it doubles."
My head explodes.
What. The. Fuck.
My precious boy’s family has been in trouble for years and I’ve done nothing to help.
I pry the race car out of Dino’s fingers, then hold his hands. "Today, you’re going to learn how to ask for help, pretty boy. There’s nothing wrong with seeking assistance from people who have your best interests in mind."
Dino’s eyes well with tears. "It’s tough when no one will loan you money. I’m too young to help my father and I could never pay off his debt with a job. It wouldn’t pay enough."
"That’snotwhat I meant. You need to come to me when shit gets tough like this. Damn, boy—I’m upset that you didn’t tell me this earlier. All you’d have needed to do was confide in Giosuè who’d come to me."
"We weren’t together yet."
"That doesn’t matter." I lean in, my breath hitching. "You really think I wouldn’t have helped a pretty boy like you?"
Dino ticks his eyes up, and the tears that slip out of them break my heart.
I brush tears out of his left eye.
A torrent spills out of his right eye, so I thumb those away next.
Then, because they keep coming, I lean in and brush my lips across his cheeks. "Hey."
Dino’s eyelashes flutter across my lips. "Is my dad going to die?"
"No, boy." I push out a growl as I dry his cheeks with my lips. "Lemme grab my checkbook—shit, I’ll put it to use for once. I haven’t written a check in ages. I tell you what, I’ll help your father set up a charitable foundation so when I pay off his debt, it’ll be a tax write off for me."
"That sounds kinda illegal."
"Not if you bribe the right people, baby boy. Not if you bribe the right people."
I lean in and crush my lips to Dino’s.
Rage—it flames inside me, charging behind my temples.
But I don't pay attention to it.
Not at this wonderful moment.
Here, now, Dino was brave and confided in me.
