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“I don’t want to be in the car when he throws up,” Salvatore declares. “Want to split an Uber?” He asks his little brother.
Luciano simply shrugs. “You guys going to be okay if we head out?”
Dante shuts Niccolo’s door and climbs in the front passenger seat. “If we’re not, it’s becausethat onegot us T-boned,” he gestures toward me.
“It was one accident,” I seethe, glaring at him. “And it wasn’t even my fault.”
Salvatore snickers and elbows his little brother. “Let’s go. They’re probably fine.”
I mumble under my breath, “Not if I kill them first.” I should have stayed in the library and studied instead of responding to Niccolo’s 911. What a fucking nightmare.
“Do you know where I live?” Dante asks once I climb inside. “Out by the airport, between?—“
“Yeah, yeah, I remember.” He resides in a beautiful compound halfway between Rosedale and Manhattan. It’s impossible tomiss—it’s the only structure in the area that breaks up nature with its utilitarian design. “What happened back there? Nic texted me to pick him up. I haven’t heard from him since Tuesday.”
Dante fiddles with the radio, transitioning from Taylor Swift to Kenny Chesney. The melody of‘No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems’fills the car, pulling us back to the early 2000s. “We’ve been dealing with shit. Shit you’re probably responsible for.”
My grip tightens around the steering wheel as I speed through a yellow light. “What? I just told you I haven’t spoken to Nic since Tuesday. How am I responsible for any of what you’re going through?”
“Your uncles,” he explains matter-of-factly. “You know they killed our father?”
I open my mouth to respond, but I can’t seem to form words. My brain is telling me to apologize and offer whatever I can to make amends for my uncle’s mistakes, but I can’t wrap my lips around the sentences.
Dante watches me struggle for something to say for a long moment before letting me off the hook. “Relax, little Lucatello.” He leans back in the chair to make himself comfortable, reclining the seat until he’s stretched out. “I think it’s one big orchestrated event that will effectively take the Terlizzis off the map by replacing our family with yours. Nic assures me you aren’t part of the family making these decisions.”
“I’m not part of the family at all,” I swiftly correct him. “My mother never wanted this for me.”
Dante extends a hand to pat my lap, a gesture that’s meant to be comforting but feels condescending. “That’s tough, cookie.You’re a part of it now. And luckily for you, you have Nic. He wants to keep you safe.”
I shove Dante’s hand away and shoot him a glare. Niccolo groans in the backseat and makes a few mumbled remarks, but I can’t understand him. “I have a plan already. I don’t need you.”
“Sure you don’t,” he chuckles. “What’s your plan? You gonna kill Giovanni?”
My stomach churns. “N-no,” I stammer. “I was going to leave after graduation.”
“Well, that won’t do our family any good. How about you wait until we kill Giovanni, and then you can bask in the benefits?”
I’m going to be sick. I don’t like what my uncle is doing, but I don’t want him dead. “You can’t be serious.”
“Serious as a heart attack, little Lucatello.” He motions toward the road. “You’re about to miss my exit.”
As I get off the highway that leads to Dante’s house, we finish the rest of the drive in silence. I’m afraid if I say anything else, I’m going to hear more about the Terlizzi plan than I want to know. I’ve always accepted that my mother and stepfather were part of a sinister organization, but it wasn’t what I wanted for myself. I’ve always maintained a distance from my family’s crimes and avoided asking any questions about them. Now, I feel thrust into a scandal that has nothing to do with me.
“He loves you, you know,” Dante says as we pull off the road toward his place.
My grip on the steering wheel tightens. “I know,” I respond, my voice shaky with emotion. But the realization that he had confided in his brother about it catches me off guard.
Dante yawns as we pull up to the gate surrounding his compound. A bodyguard comes to my window, and when he sees Dante in the front seat and Niccolo in the back, he bows his head and clicks a button that forces the metal barricade to open. “Power has its perks.” He tosses me a lazy grin.
“Is he okay?” I look in my rearview mirror to check on Niccolo in the backseat. He’s curled up, snoring softly.
Looking over his shoulder, Dante smiles fondly at his sleeping brother. “He’ll sleep it off. We made some decisions tonight that I think are weighing heavily on his soul, but he’ll be alright.”
I’m tempted to inquire about those decisions, but I know it’s not my place to ask. “I mean, is he okay after the death of your father?”
The grand courtyard unfolds before us, a dazzling display of lights streaming in every direction. The warm glow casts a mesmerizing spell, beckoning us deeper into the heart of the estate. Rows of sparkling lanterns line the pathways, leading to hidden alcoves and secret gardens. Dante has a beautiful home.
“Nic had a complicated relationship with Fausto. I think he’s glad Father’s dead but also upset that he’s glad about it. He’s confused,” Dante explains. “I think we all are. Fausto Terlizzi was a hard man to get along with. There were things that he believed in that the rest of us did not. While we went along with him, it was because we had no choice,notbecause we agreed with him.”
