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“I’ll call—”
“You have time now, Gabe,” she said before heading up the stairs. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
She was right. I had time. I wasn’t tired. Roman was clearly still up if he had just texted her.
Perhaps I should call him and see what he had to say.
If anything, I could officially tell him to fuck off about the property and be done with it, proving to Ava that that’s all he wanted from me. I stepped into the living area and closed the large doors behind me.
I hesitated for a moment or two before I called him.
He answered on the first ring.
“Gabe?” He sounded shocked.
“Yeah, Ava has been bugging me to call you,” I muttered. “What’s up?”
“Hell, I thought maybe you were too good for us now.” Roman let out a dry laugh. “Now that you’ve got your act cleaned up and shit.”
“No, I just haven’t felt like putting up with your bullshit, and no, I don’t want any involvement in any of your business dealings, especially regarding selling Mom’s property.”
“Slow down, Gabe. I just want to talk. Ava told me you were going to be a father. Congrats, man.”
I switched the phone to my other ear as I paced the room. “Thank you.”
“I hope to meet my little nieces or nephews one day, if you’ll give me that chance.”
Those words surprised the hell out of me. Roman had never seemed interested in kids before. It sent up a few red flags. I knew that Dad often liked to remind me of our familial connections anytime he wanted to propose an idea he knew I wouldn’t like. Was that what Roman wanted to talk about?
“Sure, maybe one day,” I said. “I’d love for my kids to meet my family, you and Dante especially, but only if you stop working for Dad and clean up your act.”
“That should be pretty easy,” Roman said, his voice suddenly turning serious.
“What do you mean?”
“I hate to be the one to break it to you, Gabe, but Dad’s dying.”
“Bullshit,” I said. “Dad tried to pull me back in by claiming he was dying from cancer. That was what, five years ago? So maybe find a new tactic if you want me to feel guilty.”
“It’s true though, Gabe. I’m not messing with you. He has end stage liver and kidney failure. All the drinking is finally catching up to him.”
My heart stopped momentarily. I didn’t want to believe it, and not just because my family had a history of lying. The idea that my dad, a man who had seemed to be immortal and managed to survive shit that would have killed most other people, was dying, didn’t feel real to me.
“I just spoke to him a few weeks ago. He sounded fine and didn’t mention anything about that.”
Roman scoffed. “Because it’s Dad. He’s not going to tell you he’s dying or show any signs of weakness. But he’s been placed on hospice as of last week, and we’re not sure how much longer he has left. So if there was ever a time to talk to him, if you have anything left to say to the old man, you might want to do it soon.”
I paused by the big picture window and looked out into the darkness. I searched for something to say but found myself coming up with nothing. I felt numb.
“Gabe?”
“I’m still here,” I said.
“Like I told you, I’m sorry to be the one to break this to you.”
“I appreciate it, Roman.” And I did. I still wasn’t sure if I believed it, but something in his tone told me he was being truthful. Either that or he’d become one hell of an actor over the last few years.
