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I look up at her sharply. “What woman?”
“The Mincetti girl. He said something went down between the two of you. And that you wouldn’t tell him what. He was just worried and he thought maybe I could get it out of you.”
“Fucking prick,” I whisper, because Cassie’s only a few feet away. “There’s nothing to tell. And I’m going to kill Mikey for saying anything.”
“But there is. She hurt you. I don’t know how but if I had to guess. She probably lied to you and she betrayed you.”
“It’s fine. Wouldn’t be the first time,” I mutter.
Elena winces and I immediately feel bad. I open my mouth to assure her but she shakes her head.
“No, it’s okay. I deserved that. I feel awful truly because I feel like you always have to go through this. I played a part in the reason you’re like this. You never really let anyone in. And it’s because you’ve been betrayed one too many times. You were betrayed when you thought mom abandoned us. And then I hurt you and now dad,” she says, her voice cracking. “And I just wish I could tell you that it’s okay to let someone in.”
Her eyes well up with tears.
“Hey, hey,” I say pulling her to me. “It’s okay. You know I hate seeing you cry. None of this is your fault.”
I blame our father solely for how messed up our lives are. Elena sniffs, pulling herself together. She leans away and offers me a short nod to show she’s okay.
“What I want more than anything for you, big brother, is to find a way to let someone into your heart. I want you to trust and to love and to see that there’s more to life than revenge.”
“Of course I know there’s more to life than that. But right now, that’s all I can allow my life to be. Maybe that’ll change in the future.”
Although I seriously doubt that.
“Okay,” she nods. “Just promise me you’ll try.”
“I will,” I say getting to my feet and getting ready to leave.
“There’s something else, Tony. Dad keeps calling me.”
I stiffen and look down at her with a raised brow. “You haven’t blocked his number yet?”
“I haven’t and I’m not going to,” Elena states. “It’ll be a very, very long time before I can ever forgive him. But I’d like to believe that that day will come. And Tony, I really think you could too.”
I scoff. “That’s never happening.”
“It could. You forgave me,” she points out.
“Elena, you kept your pregnancy and relationship hidden from me for what, a year? Salvador hid the truth about our mother from us for 15 years. He made that decision on his own and that decision singularly shaped who I am today. He watched me carry so much hate in my heart, so much anger towards her and he never said a thing,” I take in a deep breath. “It’s okay if you ever find it in your heart to forgive him. But there’s nothing that will ever make me even consider going down that route, I can assure you.”
“Okay,” she says. “I understand.”
“Good.”
After saying my goodbyes to Cassie, I leave the house and head over to the condo I’ve been staying at the past few days to get cleaned up. Once I’m done I receive a text from Roman asking me to come over to our base of operations.
“Hey traitor,” I greet Michael as soon as I walk through the door of Roman’s office.
He doesn’t even have to ask what I’m talking about. He simply rolls his eyes, “Don’t be dramatic, T.”
“What’s going on here?” Roman asks, his arms crossed.
“I would also like to know,” Enzo adds.
It’s a testament to how close they’ve gotten that Enzo’s currently seated in Roman’s chair. He always gets testy whenever I sit there. But ever since Enzo planned Rosa’s dream wedding, the bromance between both Dons has blossomed beautifully. I’m actually kind of jealous.
“You don’t need to know,” I inform them.
