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“I’ll be here all day, Dad,” I told him.
He mumbled something, but he was able to relax into the bed more comfortably within a few minutes. He also managed to stay awake, which wasn’t too surprising—my dad was stubborn as shit.
When the nurse left, he turned back to me. “As I was saying, Gabriel, please listen to me because this is serious.”
“I’m listening.”
“The deal with Tony? You need to give him the land, son. You need to give it to him,” he said, his words becoming more and more garbled as he spoke.
“Really? At a time like this, you want to talk business?” My blood felt like hot acid in my veins. Counting to ten, I did my best to calm down before I said anything else. After all, these could be some of the last words I ever spoke to my father, and I didn’t want them to be angry, hateful ones, even if that’s how he was making me feel.
“I’m not just saying this to get rich, though you know me, I always loved money.” He chuckled, even as his eyes drifted close.
“Dad, listen, I don’t want to talk about that. I just want to let you know that I love you, and I promise to take care of the family.”
“If you want to care for them, do… as… I… say…” his words trailed off into silence, and he let out a small snore after a second.
He was asleep.
That was it.
The last words he spoke to me were about some damned deal.
I was still that little boy, hoping and praying that my dad cared more about me than his damned business, and yet again, I was worried that I was being naive.
After some time at his side, I heard voices in the hallway. Roman was back from wherever he’d gone. I knew I couldn’t avoid my brother forever.
I stepped away from Dad’s side and into the hallway. Roman’s jaw tightened the moment he laid eyes on me. Before he could open his mouth, I stopped him.
“Now isn’t the time, Roman,” I said. “Besides, we fought about me seeing Dad before he dies, and I’m here, aren’t I?”
Roman visibly relaxed. “I’m glad you came; he’s been asking about you all day.”
“I’m glad I came too,” I said, still pondering over the words my dad had said to me. “Can I ask you something, Roman?”
“Sure.”
“The deal with Tony, you’re still handling it, right? You’re finding him another property?”
“I’m doing my best, yeah,” Roman said. “Why?”
“Just something Dad had mentioned, he insisted on talking about it.”
“Dad hasn’t been in on the deal since he got sick, he doesn’t know what’s going on with it.”
“Yeah, it’s been me and Roman,” Dante added.
I hated that Roman was bringing our younger brother into the bullshit, but he was a grown man, nothing I could do about it.
“Good, thanks. I appreciate that because I still want nothing to do with it.”
“Understood,” Roman said dryly.
Dante, always the mediator, piped in to change the subject. “How long are you going to be here?”
“Just a few hours,” I said. “I promised Bella I would be back before too late.”
“Is he sleeping?” Dante motioned toward the room.
