Pop was pacing the room deep in thought when I walked in. “Hey Pop, you got a minute?” He seemed surprised to see me but recovered fast enough. “Of course, thanks again for finding your grandfather. Your mother is over the moon.”
“That’s what I’m here to talk about. I wanted to apologize for keeping this from you all this time.”
“It’s noth…. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m not really sure. I guess it’s because I felt like it was something I needed to do for Ma. I guess by now; you also know that I know what happened to Ma.”
He didn’t answer right away and wasn’t quick enough to hide the flash of pain on his face. I felt that shit in my chest. I’ve always known that he hated the fact that I knew, even though we’ve both been playing the guessing game, pretending that neither knew what the other was doing. Now there was no longer any need to keep it hidden.
“I know. Who’s this nun that you met with?” Now here is one of the things I’d struggled with. Should I tell him about what really went down that night? All of it? I’ve decided not to for multiple reasons.
One, he’d take the plane back to Sicily tonight and fuck his life up by going after Ricci blind, and two, I don’t want to put the things in his head that are now in mine. Which reminds me, I have to do something for Ma.
“She’s the one who helped grandpa get away from Ricci,” I told him about grandpa going after Ricci and what happened then, leaving out the part the others played; he doesn’t need to know that shit. Besides, that’s not why I’m here. I’m here because now that grandpa has been found, Pop has no reason not to go after Ricci. Now I have to find a way to keep him out of it while buying myself some time.
“You know Pop, it’s way off-topic, but we haven’t talked about my early enrollment in a while.” That coming out of left field stumped him.
“What?”
“School, your alma mater, remember, we applied, I got accepted, you were going to take me around to all your old haunts….”
“Yes, yes, we should do that when we get back, as soon as.”
“Awesome, now that this is behind me, I can breathe again. I think we should take the twins with, let them see what their futures are going to look like. And again, I’m sorry about the whole grandpa thing; I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, you know, and then things didn’t work out.”
“No, you did good.” Even his voice sounded sus. He was trying to weed me out, but he should know by now that I’m excellent at keeping my true feelings hidden. I don’t like deceiving him, but there’s no other way. I have to keep him out of trouble while plotting against Ricci, nothing new there, but now that game has changed just a little bit.
“I’m tired, Pop. I think I’ll turn in now. You’ll take care of grandpa’s papers and stuff to get him home with us?”
“Already made some calls, but since it’s this late, we have to wait until the morning. Don’t you worry, son, it’ll be taken care of. It might take some doing, but we’ll get him out of Europe in a matter of days. You kids are heading back with your grandparents and Sheila, your mother, and I’ll stay here for another few days….”
“No, why don’t we all just stay a little longer? We can do our classes online for the next week or so, no problem.” Yes, and I can give Gianna another couple of days before she learns about her dad.
“If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do.” He hugged me, and I could feel that he’d relaxed. I didn’t feel guilty about deceiving him because it was for his own good. I’ll do it every time.
DRACO
Okay, what the hell? Is the boy up to something or not? I’m confused as hell. I guess I can put his coldness aside as just being angry at reliving what had happened to his mother; somehow, I’m not so sure that I can let my guard down. Then it hit me. What am I so worried about? Now that my father-in-law has been found, there’s nothing stopping me from going after Ricci and putting an end to his pathetic existence. Then there’d be no reason for Gabe to do anything, and I can stop second-guessing my son.
I still have a lot of questions, though, like how the heck had he found the nun? Who is she? I know she was a cohort of Ricci’s since she’d been there the night he attacked Mr. Antonelli, shit, I don’t even know what to call him yet; Papa maybe like my wife? Anyway, back to the nun and the missing pieces of the story. There’s something there, I’m sure.
But the boy asked about university. That’s gotta mean he’s done, right? I wish I could believe that, but something in my gut is telling me to be cautious, which would mean me not trusting his word, which is a dumb fuck thing to do to my kid. Still, the boy is smart; I also know he wouldn’t want me to go after Ricci because of his fear that something would happen to me.
I don’t have to have that conversation with my son to know that he thinks that way; we’re so much alike that I can figure out that much. But what the hell am I supposed to do now? I can send my guys after Ricci, but that fuck is my mark and mine alone. I don’t plan to get caught, so I’m not worried about that shit. I just have to figure out when and where at this point.
The problem is that since Ricci has got it into his head to run for office, he’s never alone. Along with the security he’s always had because of his family wealth and standing, he now has even more trained men by his side. Sicily is not my battleground, so it would mean rearranging some things about my former plans. I can do that; I just have to get ahead of my son.
SOFIA
My Papa is here; he’s really here. I don’t think I have any tears left in me; I’ve cried so much in the last few hours that my eyes are almost swollen. He’s tired now, poor thing, and fell asleep just a few minutes ago, but still, I find it hard to leave his side. Part of me can’t believe that he’s here, and I haven’t even had time to wrap my head around the fact that it was Gabe who found him and brought him to me.
I felt like a child sitting there next to his bed, but I was afraid that I’d wake up and he’d be gone if I left. It took Draco coming to the door and knocking to get me to leave. “He doing okay?”
“Yeah, he’s fine; it’s been a long day for him. My Papa got so old.” I missed so much, and my heart aches at the state he’s in.
While I’d been living a life of luxury, he’s been shut away somewhere away from everything he knows, living as little more than a pauper. I know it’s silly to feel guilty about something I had no control over, but I can’t help it. “He’s going to be fine, sweetheart; you need to get some rest; we have a lot to do tomorrow to get your dad situated.”
Yes, he didn’t have anything with him, no ID, nothing. I’m sure Draco can handle it, but it might take some time. We’d already discussed staying here longer and sending the kids back home for school, but now I wanted my kids with me; I want family here. Another silly fear, but for whatever reason, I don’t want to let anyone out of my sight.
“Can we keep the kids here with us?”