Page 47 of The Sicilian Bastard
"Get rid of her." Vito brokered no argument.
I stared at him.
"That's an order, Luciano."
I looked at him more. I kept looking until he got uncomfortable as well. I was never getting rid of Araceli.
"I'll kill you first." I didn't have to raise my voice. Not with this.
Vittorio looked surprised. I looked at Agosto and he moved farther away from me. I had never threatened a family member. I had on occasion told their father that I would take care of him if he ever put hands on me again. That was a long time ago, though. But Araceli? No. She never asked to be here, and even though she was connected to the cartel, she still didn't deserve to die. I had to fight tooth and nail to protect her.
"That's not funny, Luci," Vittorio finally broke the silence between all of us.
"Do I look like I'm laughing? It's enough. She's mine and she's family." I handed the phone back to Agosto and stood to leave.
"We aren't done talking about this. Agosto, talk some sense into our brother, yeah? We need to figure out what to do with the cartel next. I'll call you back tomorrow and I'd better have an answer by then." He disconnected before I could argue more with him.
"What the fuck, Luci?" Agosto reeled on me before I could even plan a response.
His sucker punch took me by surprise. The little bitch. I spit out a wad of blood on the floor.
"That was a bitch ass move." I shoved him out of the way.
"Yeah, run like you always do. That's not going to fix this and it's not going to fix what you did to Araceli, either." Agosto stepped aside, giving me space to leave.
He was right, though. I was acting like a petulant child. We were too old. I needed to let go of past hurts. My siblings had started to show me that family means everything. They may have hurt me when we were younger, but we weren't that young anymore. If Agosto could tell me to get my head out of my ass, then I needed to. I was his elder brother. I should be telling him to grow up, but it was he who was telling me. He was here, telling me I was wrong. He was supporting me. My brothers were starting to show me what family is.
"That was uncalled for, but I can't have him threatening Araceli. She's mine." I sounded like some kind of he-man. I needed them to know my claim on her, though. If they knew, they would protect her. Even if I couldn't. Sometimes they would protect her from me. Like Agosto tried to do earlier.
"I understand that, but you need to remember that Vittorio is our Don. We can't threaten him. If he can't trust us, his family, who can he trust? You can't be rabid anymore. This can't happen again. Ever. Don't make me have this conversation with you again."
There it was. A peek into the real Agosto. He hid behind the laughter, booze, and women. The reality was he was as hard as the rest of us. Maybe even worse. I wore my wounds on my sleeve for all to see. Agosto hid. He acted soft, but I knew he was anything but. There was something that told me Agosto was hiding deeper than any of us could guess. I knew that one day he would explode under faking it all. When he did, I wanted to be as far away from him as possible.
I left the office and headed to the main kitchen. I should've been with Araceli, groveling, but I couldn't, not yet. Nicolo sat at the countertop nursing a beer, his gaze far away. I grimaced. This was going to be unpleasant. For him. Not for me. I walked up behind him and wrapped my forearm around his throat. We stayed like that. He kicked and tried to fight me off him while I applied more and more pressure. Just when he would've passed out, I let him go.
"That could've been your last breath. Remember this and get it together, or the next time you won't be taking another." I slammed his head into the countertop and watched with morbid satisfaction as his body dropped to the floor. Whistling, I stepped on his body on my way out. He wasn't family truly. He married into our family and I had no problem taking him out. Rosalina could find a better husband. She might be nasty, but I understood why. I wouldn't take her attacks personally anymore. Instead, I was going to be her brother. That meant protecting her from douchebags. That meant helping her get back on track. She might feel all alone in the world, but she wasn't.
I went to one of the libraries and hunkered down for the night. Araceli wouldn't want me to be around her. Not after what I did. She deserved a good night's sleep. I was going to give that to her. Then I would grovel at her feet and beg for forgiveness. It was what she needed and what she deserved. I hoped that she was willing to take me back. I hoped that everything I had done here hadn't broken her. I hoped she could be my light.
