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“Then tell them to leave. DeLuca business isn’t for outsiders.”
“My wife is a DeLuca whose counsel I’ve found to be invaluable. She stays.” I hold my hand out to her.
“I’ll return when your guest leaves.” As Tácito stands to leave, I catch his eye, then I tap a reassuring message into the device on my wrist.
I may need to exclude him from the meeting, but he is a part of my real family. His voice will be heard before I make any decisions. He nods without another word and leaves, shutting the three of us inside.
“I can’t believe you’re letting your wife whore herself in front of you,” Giulio sneers.
In a flash, I’m on him, punching him in his face and chest. “Never disrespect my wife.” I punctuate each word with another hit.
My father raises his hands in defeat, but I give him another few hits for good measure, only slightly appeased when blood trickles from his nose and smears the side of his mouth.
“My marriage works the way it was intended. You don’t get a say.” I stand up and look at my bloodied knuckles.
Sloane hands me a handkerchief and I wipe my father’s blood from my hands.
“Talk or leave.” I say as I resume my seat. “But know that if what you have to offer isn’t compelling enough, I’ll double my efforts to end your influence in Douglas.”
“Don Enzo won’t stand by and let you act out your adolescent tantrum.”
I stare with steely determination at my father. “I’ll make my amends to him personally should he have a problem.”
“Think of your brother’s future. Hurting me hurts him, too.” Giulio coughs, his arm cradling his ribs.
I throw some napkins his way. “Don’t spray my home with your blood. As to my brother, he’ll survive. I’ll protect him from your stink. Test me. I’ve already made great inroads in dismantling some of your operations.”
“You’re my son.” He walks toward the chair facing my desk.
“Don’t sit. You won’t be here long enough to get comfortable.” I stare at him with his blue eyes, not willing to bend more than necessary to end this confrontation.
“How can you turn on me this way?”
I scoff at his attempt to gaslight me. The nerve. “Turn on you? Are you revising history? You made the first move.”
Giulio sighs. “You’re right. I did, but I’m backing off. Just come back into the fold.”
His easy admission surprises me into momentary silence. Every time he’s hit at me, I’ve hit his organization even harder. Have I finally proved to him that my power is a match to his?
“Why should we believe you?” Sloane asks, a militant gleam in her eyes.
Giulio’s lips curl in a sneer at the sound of her voice. He’s never liked her willingness to question him, even when she feared him the most.
“You’ve made Valentino’s life hell since he was a boy.”
“I did what I thought was best for my child.”
“Best—”
“And now that I make my own decisions?” I interrupt Sloane before she launches herself at Giulio.
“I’ll respect them from now on.”
“I don’t buy your change of heart.”
“Good, my heart hasn’t changed. I still believe she will ruin your life, but you’ve made your decision and you aren’t my only child. I’m making this sacrifice to secure Sansone’s legacy and putting my personal feelings aside. You may be right that your brother will survive this war between us, but he deserves better than survival. He’ll run this organization one day, and I want to make sure he has one to run.”
Silence rings through the office following his admission. Has Giulio ever been this honest with me? Nothing in my memory comes to mind.
