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Leo looks over at Dante slowly. Alessia rushes toward me, around the men. “Come on, Mia. You’ve been through a lot.” I won’t let her pull me away. I’ve spent too many years painting over the discomfort I didn’t want to experience. Now, I have to force myself to face it.
“Dante?” Uncle Leo says. “Elio told me it was a professional outfit, a mercenary-type group.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Dante says, his voice grave.
“It wasn’t him, Uncle Leo!” I snap. “Dante.”
Dante pauses, his chest puffing up as though he’s filled with emotion. He looks ready for a fight, prepared for a war.
“Dante,” Leo snarls, sounding like a much younger man. Aunt Alessia tries tugging on my hand again, but I stay where I am.
“Vito was going to hurt your niece. I stopped him. I didn’t mean for him to die. I took Mia because I thought you’d kill me for making a move against your brother’s man.”
“And takingMia!” Alessia hisses.
“Stop it,” I tell her. “Dantesavedme. Other men in his position would’ve let Vito treat me like crap. Dante got involved, even when he has his own problems to think about.”
“Shall we get him a reward?” Dad says in his mocking voice.
Behind him, his friend, the one with the slicked-back hair, keeps staring. Then it hits me where I know him from, and I want to scream.
“You lied to me, Dante.”
“He had to!” I snap. “Uncle Leo,Dadis… He’s wrong. He’s not a good person. I’m sorry. I wish he were. I wish he weren’t the way he is.” I don’t mean to, but I start to cry, and then Dad rolls his eyes.
“She can’t just use her fucking brat emotions to play on you!” he roars.
“Tony, stop it,” Alessia hisses. “Anybody could see you don’t care about Mia. I believe her, and if Dante saved her, we owe him.”
“You hear that, brother?” Dad says, laughing harshly. “We owe the cannon fodder more than we owe theFamily. He lied to you. He was going to keep lying. You never would’ve learned this if it wasn’t for me.”
“It doesn’t prove your point,” Dante snarls, staring down at Dad like he’s ready to leap on him. Dad is trying to act tough, but he’s purposefully not standing close to Dante. “I liedbecauseVito was a scumbag. He was going to hurt your daughter, Tony. Do you give a singlefuck?”
“Dante,” I whisper as his darkness seeps out, his hands clenched into tight fists.
“Tony, I think you should leave,” Alessia says.
“For Christ’s sake, Alessia, just do what you do best and shut your mouth.”
Alessia gasps. The room suddenly tenses up. Even Dad’s friend, the slicked-back pervert, looks shocked. Leo is completely still for a moment, but then it’s like he begins to shake from somewhere deep inside. He explodes into a roar, walking right at Dad.
“You think you can talk tomywife like that, Tony?”
Dante quickly steps between them, his arm raised. He’s not pushing Uncle Leo, but he’s keeping it as a shield there. Dad backs up. It’s like Dante’s mafia reflexes take over, or maybe he wants Dad for himself. “Relax, Leo. I-I didn’t mean it.”
“She’s right,” Leo growls. “I’ve ignored it for too long. All that stuff about leaving you behind. Life’s dark, Tony. I had to leave. I’m sorry, but you can’t keep using it as an excuse.”
“What are you saying?” Dad whispers.
“I’m saying we all accept the narrative that the mercenary group kidnapped Mia. Dante brought her home, and you return to the West Coast.”
“Why, Leo?” Tony snaps. “For one comment? I slipped.”
“Exactly, you slipped.” Uncle Leo sighs, the anger deflating out of him. “You’re always trying to put on a show. You don’t think I see it. Maybe you think the stroke changed me, but I see it. Your own daughter flinches away from you. She doesn’t want to touchyou.” Leo swallows like he might cry, as if saying this about his brother hurts him. “That’s not a good sign. Just-just go. You’ve got a good life out there.”
Tony stands up straight, adjusting his shirt. “I’ll go, and my daughter will come with me.”
I instinctively move back. Alessia wraps her arm around me. I lean against my aunt.
