Page 16 of Consequences
“It’s true! We didn’t mean for any of this to happen, but we only had each other. The Amatos and Martellis…we were all that was left, so we made do. And…I fell in love with a Martelli. Unplanned, and maybe unwanted by you and Allesandro, but it happened, and I am not going to apologize for that. The Martellis have their way, I understand that, and respect it.”Swallowing, I meet the intense blue gaze of Il Padrone, hoping he can see the truth of my words in my own tear-filled eyes. “And I will accept whatever I have to, in order to be with one of the men I love. Because Idoknow what real love is. I've been lucky enough to experience it several times over, and I will doanythingto keep it.”
Il Padrone doesn’t answer me, instead he turns to Benjamin. “And you? Have you gone and not only disrespected my generous consideration, but fallen for someone else as well?”
I can practically feel the nerves rolling off Benjamin, and I close the scant few inches between us, taking his hand. Lio isn’t here, but he is both Benjamin’s best friend and mine, and so I will do whatever I can to support those he cares about—despite Benjamin still being unsure of me.
“Yes,” Benjamin tells his Boss, his voice a little shaky but clear. “Tennant and I are in a relationship.” He squeezes my hand as he says, “We fell in love first. If you’re to blame or punish anyone, it should be me. I am the one who broke things off with Ignacio.”
He lets go of my hand and drops to his knees. Offering himself up to Il Padrone’s mercy.
For a moment, I wonder if I’m still in the cell holding Cristian and me. That somehow I’m hallucinating this…situation. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Because this? This goes against everything. Drawing a breath, I stare at Roman first.
“You are not my equal. You have no permission to speak my given name. Not yet. You are Cristian’s heir, and that affords you a level of respect, but until you take over from him, you. Are. Not. My. Equal. Unless, of course, you are planning to stage a coup,” I state with cold finality.
I hold up a hand to stop him from saying anything, before curling my hands into fists, the tension thrumming through me. I turn my attention to the two on their knees. The two who I had already given more allowances to than it appears they deserve.
“Padrone—” I shake my head when Cristian tries to intercede. I will not let him. Not right now.
“Ignacio. My Chaos. One of my longest serving Boys. And Benjamin… Not quite a Boy, but someone who chose to be in this Family. I gave you a chance to leave, but you were so in love with Ignacio that you stayed. So in tune as Emilio’s best friend that you offered your life to me. Because that is the Martelli way. You pledged yourself to me—your loyalty stops at me and only me. And now? Who does your loyalty belong to?”
The silence speaks for itself, and I loathe every moment of this. I’d hate to put Ignacio down, but turning his back on this Family? Unacceptable.
Ignacio’s eyes close, before he takes a deep breath and opens them, meeting my stare without flinching. His dark gaze shows me every emotion, the chaos within himself as he struggles between us, which is exactly what I feared.
“I am loyal to both the Martellis and Amatos,” he says calmly. “We are no longer two, but one.”
Both Cristian and I hiss at that. There is no fucking way. The air becomes frigid as we both try to process that statement—that oath. I shake my head, unable to believe what I’m hearing.
“And is this why it took so long for you to find us? Were you so blinded by your own relationships that you did not prioritize finding the Heads of your Families?”
“That’s fucking bullshit!” Roman explodes.
For a moment, I wonder if others in my Family have chosen to cross over into the Amatos as well, but I deliberately don’t ask. At this point, I don’t want to know. Not yet. Not when I have to deal with this fuckery.
“You’ve had time to fuck. To fall in love. And I’m supposed to believe otherwise?” I sniff in disdain.
The two kneeling in front of me don’t so much as twitch, waiting for my final judgment. They offer nothing in defense,because there is nothing they can say. Not when they’ve gone against one of the main tenets of our Family—Loyalty.
“I have heard enough for now. Leave. I need to think more about this, and to speak with Cristian. It appears you’ve done enough damage while we’ve been gone, and we—as theactualBosses—need to discuss where we go from here.”
I flick my fingers at my Boys, dismissing them. As they scramble to their feet, I offer nothing else. My love isn’t here, and without him, I am lost on this. I know my own beliefs, but my Caro imprinted a moral compass in me—as twisted as it may be—and I need time. I especially need to speak with my ally, and despite what Roman believes, he doesnothave the right to speak of this.
“Dad—” Roman entreats, but thankfully is cut off.
“No, we will speak later. Sei sul ghiaccio sottile, Figlio.”
I watch carefully as they all leave the room, and when the door finally closes, I take a deep breath before slumping in the chair. Silence reigns, and it carries on until the oppression is too much. Only then do I break it.
“These are not pairings I would have expected.” I turn to face my ally. “I cannot believe that they seem to have decided to merge…”
“I…Fuck.” Cristian seems to be in as much shock as I am. Shaking his head, he stares at me, pain and confusion pulsing from him. “My son… I believe him when he says it’s love. I cannot ignore that.”
“Believe it enough to risk the alliance?” I retort, startled that he’d even consider this.
Grinding his teeth, he rolls his shoulders back. “They were in charge. We don’t know what occurred while we were gone. I do not believe, under any circumstances, that my son was not working hard to find me. I am certain the same can be said of Emilio.”
It’s only years of practice that keeps me from rising to that, to blushing at the censure. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I can’t argue against this. “Despite whatever happened, you are right. I cannot see Emilio standing idly aside when we were missing. Of course, I can’t believe Tennant would either.”
I sidestep any comment about his son. I don’t know Roman well enough yet. My hope was that he leads like his father, but I fear emotion sways him too much. Emotion that could get my Family killed.
