Page 61 of The Sicilian Bastard
Luciano
Ilooked down at my whole world sleeping. She might have thought I was talking out my ass last night, but I wasn't. My sperm could be latching onto an egg right fucking now. I sure as shit wasn't having my son out of wedlock. I gently moved out of bed and padded over to the dresser. I quietly opened the top drawer and moved around a few pairs of her underwear. There, on top of a garnet bodysuit decorated with leavers lace from La Perla, sat the ring box. I couldn't help buying new lingerie for Araceli when I went on an errand to get her the perfect ring. I opened the box and grabbed it. Her hand was flung over her face and I slid the ring on her finger. I stared at the pearl-shaped diamond surrounded by smaller black diamonds set in white gold. It was unique, like my woman. I kissed her finger. Not too hard. I didn't want to wake her. She deserved breakfast in bed. I had a lot to atone for. I left her sleeping on the bed and headed downstairs to make her everything.
"My office now," Vito said from behind me while I was facing the stove.
I was so wrapped up in my happy bubble, I didn't even hear him sneak up behind me. I didn't say anything, just followed behind him. This was where it got hard. I was going to have to choose. The family or my littlefiore.I crossed my arms and dug my heels in as soon as I entered the office. Whatever was going to happen, was going to happen. I had Araceli. I didn't need anything else. The pain that hit my chest told me the lie I was trying to tell myself wasn't believable, but I shook it off.
"I'm not giving her up." That was one thing you didn't do. I didn't let Vito start this meeting. I began disrespectfully. Vito didn't tolerate disrespect. He hovered over his chair. His ass hadn't even planted yet as he looked at me with shock.
"What's your plan with this chick then?" Vito crossed his arms to match mine. I forgot how stubborn he was. He had decided that Araceli was more trouble than she was worth and that was that.
"She's not a fucking chick. She's my woman," I grunted. I was feeling extra savage since I got Araceli back from Vegas.
"I didn't see a ring on her finger." Vito raised his eyebrows. Fucking dick. He always thought he knew better than everyone else. His ego was larger than the massive desk still sitting in his office. The desk was his father's and it was ostentatious at best. It didn't suit him. It made him look gaudy.
"Then look harder, you dick." I held back more curses. I wanted to tell him off. I wanted to break him down and build him back up. Vito's father wasn't a man and he sure as shit didn't teach him anything about love. Eunji did. Even from here, I could see that he was holding back a smile. I don't think it was a smile for me. His eyes were lighter. His shoulders were straighter. He was happy.
"You proposed?"
"Uhm, well, not exactly." I ducked my head, embarrassed. Araceli wouldn't care; she was mine and she knew it. I didn't ask her the question because I knew she would say yes. She would never say no. Therefore, there was no point in asking her. Why open myself up to rejection? I could do what she knew best. Take charge and demand she submit to me. Our dynamic was easiest that way.
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Vito shot me a look of pure venom. "You can't force her to marry you. She's a cartel princess. If she doesn't kick your ass, I sure as hell will."
"Fuck you, Vito, you aren't in charge of me anymore. I don't need to listen to you. I never have. You want to play Don? Play it with our other siblings, but not me." I wanted to beat my chest with my fists like an enraged gorilla. The silence stretched between us. Vito looked like he was going to jump over the desk and throttle me. I welcomed the fight. Two seconds passed, and then he was on me. He lept over the desk and slammed into me, but I was ready. We spun in a flurry of fists and grunts. I hit him a few times in the solar plexus, but he got me twice in the face.
Vito got the upper hand. He slammed me in the ground and wedged his knee into my back. He pressed me down and I knew what he wanted. He wanted me to yield. I forgot that for all my rage, Vito was the better fighter. He was cool as a cucumber. He never let his mask of control slip. The only time he did was when Eunji was involved. Eunji was the key to getting my way.
"Did you forget already everything I did for your woman,fratello?"Vito stopped pressing down on my back. His knee was still there but keeping me in place.
"No, I haven't."
"What about Rosalina? I have given everything to a family who doesn't want me. A family who doesn't give anything back to me." If I was leaving, then I was telling Vito exactly what it felt like.
"That's not true." Vito stumbled backward off me. I spun around, ready to defend against another attack, but Vito looked like I had stabbed him. His face crumpled up and sheer pain swam in his eyes. His eyes looked into mine, back and forth, searching for the truth.
"It is true!" I yelled at him. "It is." I softened the blow. "You were all perfect Picones. You weren't the child conceived out of betrayal. You all called me monster even before I had killed my first man. I never fit. I was the black sheep and you all just watched as I stayed that way. Rosalina was bitchy all the time. She made it her mission to take her pain out on me. Our mother. God, our mother was the worst. Behind closed doors, she would beat me bloody. She hated my very existence when she should've been hating herself all along. I was the product of her lack of loyalty. Your father? That man was the devil. He hated me and had every right, but did I deserve it? The hatred. The stigma. The pain. I never asked to be born!" That last bit I hollered at Vito.
"I didn't know that was how you saw things. I didn't know that was how you felt." Vito showed me more of his mask cracking.
"Yes, you did. You knew." I hung my head. There wasn't much that got past my brother. He knew; he just didn't care.
"I was being groomed." His eyes looked off into the distance. "I was being raised to be hard. He wanted me to be strong. There was no time for weakness. You weren't the only one who was given pain for feelings. Do you remember when you were five and you fell off the banister in the main hall?"
I laughed at the memory because Vito was there to help me clean the scrapes.
"You patched me up and told me that it was okay to cry." I smiled. That was one of the most pleasant memories of my childhood.
"Father saw from the top of the stairs. He looked at us with disgust and brought me into his office. He whipped me with his belt and left me locked in my closet for two days with only water to drink. He said he wasn't raising a soft Don."
I frowned. "That was the last nice thing you did for me."
"We all had things going on behind closed doors." Vito slid down the wall to the floor. There was blood dripping from a cut on his forehead.
"I guess we did." There was nothing left to say. I had to leave now. There was no way Vito would let me stay after my blatant display of violence against him. He couldn't trust me.
"I'll let her stay and give her a shot," Vito broke into my spiraling thoughts.
Stunned, I glanced up at him. He was giving me a true smile. One that he saved for Eunji. One that reached his eyes. I let out a sigh of relief. We weren't perfect. We weren't even fixed, but today, we crossed a barrier that couldn't have been crossed when the parents were alive. I walked out of Vito's office with my head held high. Eunji stood off to the side of the door, her hands wringing in her lap as she stood.
