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“Doesn’t that seem cruel to you, eh, Leo? You’ll steal a brother from me and a daughter.”
“Don’t pretend you care,” Leo snaps. “Leave now!”
“Not without Mia!” he snaps like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
“You need to take it easy,” Leo growls. “If she doesn’t want to go with you, she doesn’t have to. Don’t start throwing fits about it.”
Dad looks at me. Even now, with Dante standing right next to him, ready to crush him to pieces if he tries to touch me, a jolt of fear moves through me. I see Vito, the blood… I stand up straighter and stare him in the eye. I’ll look back at this moment someday. I want to be proud of how I acted in whatever messed up way I can be.
“I’m not going with you… or your sick friend.”
A glimmer of something nasty flits across Dad’s face, but he tries to hide it. “I don’t have to leave, Leo. I don’t have to goanywhere.”
“Don’t threaten me, Tony,” Uncle Leo snarls.
“I like the East Coast,” he says, moving toward the door. “I like the people. I like the atmosphere.”
“If you leave like this,” Leo snaps, “you know what it means. I’ve told you what’s happening. You need to agree.”
“I don’t agree to a goddamnthing,” Dad yells, the real him coming out at the end. It’s the version of him he’s always done his best to hide, except from me.
“Get out,” Alessia yells. “Both of you.Out.”
Dad and his friend rush to the door. Dante follows them slowly, his fists clenched, looking like he’s ready to tear Dad to pieces. I almost yell at him to do it. I know my man would. I don’t know what it says about me. The thrill of knowing that sends shimmers through me.
“We’re leaving,” Dad roars from the front lawn. “Thishouse. Hear that, Leo? Thishouse!”
Dante stands at the door, watching them go, shaking. Their cars screech away, kicking up smoke. Dante turns to me, his mouth twitching.
“What?” I whisper.
He glances at Leo.
“You can say it, whatever it is,” Uncle Leo says, sounding tired.
“We just started a war,” Dante says fiercely.
Leo sighs, nodding. “I’m afraid you’re probably right, but you did it, Dante, for Mia?”
“For Mia,” he says. “I didn’t want to have to lie to you, but I couldn’t let him hurt her.”
Uncle Leo nods, looking at me. I can tell he’s searching me to see if I really want this. Maybe he’s comparing me to how I was with Vito.
Maybe he can see the love in me. Thelove? The whatever-this-is, then. I almost laugh. Ruby called her relationship with Luca that once, but we’re not the same. We agreed that.
“Then thank you,” Uncle Leo says, looking at Dante. “You did the right thing. You saved her, but if there is anything romantic, it should end here.”
I gasp. Dante swallows, his throat bobbing. He looks even more tense.
“If Tony chooses war, it’ll be a political battle. He’s got some sway. Not much, but if one of my enforcers is seen dating his daughter…”
Dante swallows again. He’s got that ready-to-unleash rage look on his face, his posture, his everything. “That’s not his choice to make for her,” Dante snarls, “and it’s not yours, sir.”
“It’s what’s best for the Family,” Leo says. “I’m not saying forever, but while we wait to see what Tony does.”
So Dad isstillin charge, but I can see Dante’s about to make a mistake. He’s all flooded with anger from the standoff. He opens his mouth like he’s verbally going to destroy Uncle Leo.
“We get it,” I quickly cut in. “Don’t we, Dante?”
