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“Sure thing.” He turned to Pina and winked. “Let’s grab some dinner and let the men fight it out, Doll. What do you say?”
She didn’t answer in any way, just got up and started walking. I hugged her waist and pulled her close when she walked by me.
“Tell me you’re alright again, Pina.”
“I am. You don’t have to do this.” She said, eying the dagger.
“He hurt you.” Her expression didn’t need any added words—I’d hurt her too, just not with my hands. “I’ll finish here and them we can talk.”
“You’ll listen to me?”
“Yes. Go home and grow my baby girl.” She nodded. “Do you want something else from him?”
“From Martino? No. I just want them to leave me alone.”
“How about an eye? You could keep it in a jar?”
Her mood lightened but Martino didn’t taste the joke.
“Just come home to me fast.” She leaned in to kiss my cheek, but pulled back when she realized the pain she’d feel because of her lips. If there was a chance for me to let Martino go before, that had just sealed his fate.
I watched my girl walk out of the room under Gaspino’s protective arm and when the door closed behind them, I turned to Bernoulli.
“You hurt women now, Martino? Wasn’t enough that you abandoned your own daughter like so much trash?”
The man was sweating.
“I take no judgment for my actions.” He said, trying to keep his composure. “She’s my kid. I was a good father to her, but Pina is still my daughter. I did to her what I thought was right. A father’s will should be respected no matter—”
“Shut the fuck up.” I cut him off. “I’ve heard this speech before one too many times. What? Did you and Fabiano rehearse together? You left Pina in Rome to fend for herself.”
“It was my mistake, Garon, but I know her. She’s capable. Pina never needed me to hold her hand or protect her. She always took care of her own business.”
It took all my restraint not to knock him out.
“She had no other choice because you’ve never protected her! It was all about Ariana in your house. That whore had you on a chokehold and you forgot your other daughter.”
“I…” he had no excuse. “The past is the past. Can’t you see, Garon? You having a child with my daughter is our chance to start over. We supported each other for so long. I accepted my blame for my daughter’s horrendous actions, she… she shamed me more than I thought possible, but now it’s time to let it go and focus on the future. You’re the father of my grandchild, Garon.”
“Not we.”
Martino looked at me confused. “What?”
“You saidwesupported each other. There’s no we, Martino, it was you and Fabiano. And he’s dead now. No one here wants or needs you around, get that through your fucking head. There’s no coming back for you.”
“Because of what Ariana did?”
“Because of everything you did after your daughter started fucking Fabiano. You didn’t lift a fucking finger to put her in her place because her being the Don’s mistress only fed your power. It almost got my sister killed.”
Mrs. Bernoulli came out of her silence vow even when she should have known better. Caputo men don’t hurt women, it was a rule, but my control was stretched very thin.
“Garon!” She yelled at me in her typical shrill voice. “How can you treat us like that? We took care of you all your life! We even kept your secret.”
For just one second I felt fear strangling me, but I pushed it away. It seemed I was wrong, there were more people alive who knew the truth about my birth, but if Mrs. Bernoulli thought I’d let her cage me into a corner, she was dead wrong.
“Speak one more word and I’m putting this dagger into your throat.” I told her through my teeth. My brothers were both watching me, tense, not sure where this was going. “Let’s get this over with.”
I threw the blade away and grabbed Bernoulli by the collar of his shirt, dragging him across the table. He tried to put up a struggle, but Martino wasn’t the man he used to be anymore. His body was weak and he knew there was no way out.
