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Twenty Five
RAOUL
Seeing my father's car parked up outside my house when we return home is the last thing I need right now.
I meant every word of the promise I made Evelyn tonight, but I still have to figure a way of dealing with the situation. When we step into the hall, I kiss her cheek and tell her to wait for me upstairs.
Father never visits, he hardly ever leaves the house these days, so him being here is a bad sign. And I don’t want Evelyn to be around if he’s here to lose his shit.
I follow the scent of cigar smoke and find him waiting for me in my office, a bottle of my finest malt on the table beside him and a crystal glass in his hand.
“For what do I owe the pleasure?” I grab a glass for myself from the cabinet and take the seat opposite him, trying to act normally.
“You are risking everything this family has worked for,” he bites at me coldly. “You left the Quinn girl at the restaurant to search the city for some cheap whore. What’s going on with you up here, Raoul?” he taps the fingers that are holding his cigar against his temple, and I have to squeeze the armrests of my chair to stop myself from launching at him.
“I don’t care if you are my father, or head of this family. You ever call her that again and I will put you on your ass and make sure you never get up again.”
“Oh, so you're threatening me now? Your own flesh and blood. What’s happening to you, Raoul?”
“I love her,” I look up at him and admit. I don’t care if it makes me sound weak, or if he hates me for it. It’s the truth and my only explanation.
“You love her, Raoul? You don’t know what love is. Love is building a legacy for your family. Love is securing that legacy for their future. And you want to throw all we’ve worked on for some girl.”
“She’s not just a girl, I’ve loved her since I was a kid. I want to be with her.”
“Do you know how weak and pathetic you sound?” he mocks me. “You are the future of this family. You are strong. I saw it in you the day you put a bullet in that man’s throat, Raoul. That’s who you are, what you were born to be. Men like us, make decisions that won’t just shape our own futures but all those around us. We don’t fucking love. Love confuses those decisions.”
“I get that, you’ve drummed it into me since I was five years old.” I scrub my hand over my face and try to figure how the hell I’m going to pull this off.
“Then why are you not taking it in?” Father yells, tapping at his head with his fingers again.
“I’m taking it in. I’ve been taking it in all my life,” I snap back, slamming down my glass.
“Don’t worry about your legacy. It’s safe. I’m just enjoying the girl while I still can,” I lie to get him off my back. “I apologized to the Quinn girl, she was fine about it.” My words satisfy him enough to slowly sit back down.
“You know, Raoul, you don’t have to give up everything. That’s the beauty of having money, just because you will have a wife doesn’t mean you can’t allow yourself some fun.” He pours himself another measure. “Set the girl up somewhere, keep her as a pet if she means so much to you. I’m sure she will be grateful for whatever you offer her.”
“What?” I stare at him like he’s a stranger. All our lives, we’ve been taught about loyalty and trust, hearing these words come from the man who’s preached that to us doesn’t seem real.
“You really think I’ve been faithful to your mother for thirty years?” he scoffs at me before taking a swig from his glass, and I swear I could get up and shatter the thing against his face.
“Evelyn will never be anyone’s whore.” I feel my temperature rise as I clench the armrest of my chair a little harder.
“Do your duty, marry the Irish girl, put a Burlusconi in her belly, and secure everything your grandfather and I worked for. Stop chasing around after fantasies, Raoul, it’s your time now. Don’t let this family down.” He finishes his drink and gets up, tapping me on the shoulder and making his way toward the door.
“Who told you where I was tonight?” I question, before he has a chance to leave. Briella Quinn doesn’t seem the kind of girl to tell tales, which means I have a snitch.
“Ludo may spend all his time here, but he still works for me,” Father reminds me.
“And Mother, does she know about your other women?” I ask.
“What could she do if she did?” he shrugs confidently, seeing himself out. As soon as the door closes behind him, I let all the rage in me unleash, throwing my glass at it and shattering the crystal to pieces.
I have to wait for my temper to calm before I go to Evelyn. I won’t let her see me like this. Too much has happened today and I can’t risk her trying to run from me again. There's only one way to release this kind of tension and I storm through the house, heading to the staff quarters. When I get to Ludo’s door I don’t bother to knock and I find him sitting in his armchair drinking a glass of red wine. He’s listening to some orchestra music from his vinyl and his eyes bulge open at my disruption. I waste no time, gripping him by the collar and lifting him out of his chair.
“You backstabbing piece of shit.” I slam a punch into his face, hearing his jaw crack against my knuckles. “I trusted you and you couldn’t wait to screw me over.”
“That’s a good right swing you have there,” Ludo recovers himself, wiping the blood from his lip with his finger. “Let it not be forgotten who taught you it.”
