The fact was Lorenzo Valentinetti was an overgrown child.
I firmly believe that. He was a man who felt passionately, exhibited extreme protective tendencies and had the mind of a free spirit. He couldn’t be contained and those who tried, were doomed to fail.
I knew his family believed he needed a keeper and for a small-time, that was my sister’s job. She never complained, not once. She loved everything about her job. In fact, it was all she ever really talked about. Now that she was gone, I could see how her passing affected Lorenzo.
He was lost.
He didn’t know which way to turn.
He lost his best friend.
He was now forced to think and do it all on his own. He was going to make mistakes.
Trial and error.
It was a simple equation.
For someone like Lorenzo, what should have been learned at a young age was weighing heavily on him. For years, his family coddled him, allowed him to forgo growth so he could continue his childish ways. Now that adulthood had been forced upon him, his family was trying to squelch the man he was becoming.
Why? Because they didn’t like the man he was turning into?
It was not their decision.
It was Lorenzo’s. He had to forge his own path. Make his own decisions and I was going to make sure he had all the support I could give him. I may not know much about the man, but I knew my sister had faith in him, which was good enough for me.
Giovanni Valentinetti wanted his brother to grow up and be a man. Well I hope he was prepared for what was to come, because I wasn’t leaving until Lorenzo became the man he was destined to be.
Twenty-Two
Lorenzo
Leaning against the hall wall, I heard their conversation. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but when I heard Giovanni talking, I thought he had come to talk to me. I didn’t know what I could have done to warrant his early visit but I refused to leave him alone with Donatella.
My brother could be nice and compelling when the mood suited but I knew what lay beneath…a wolf. My brother was singular when it came to family matters. Nothing deterred him. If he wanted something, he got it by any means.
Of course, I should have known that Donatella was more than capable of handling anything my brother would throw at her but what shocked me the most, was her candid visceral nature when it came to defending me.
With subtle words, she respectfully just told my brother to fuck off.
I never heard anything like it before. I mean, I thought about saying those words many times but never did. Yet somehow, she just did and she made it sound so sweet and innocent.
I didn’t understand her. One minute she couldn’t keep her hands off me. The next she was laughing in my face, then feeding me breakfast. The woman was maddening. I didn’t know which way to turn with her.
“Problem?”
I jumped from my spot, turning quickly not even realizing I had my gun in my hand pointed directly at the man in front of me. Seeing who it was, I shook my head and lowered my gun. “I could have shot you.”
“But you didn’t. Means you do think before you act.”
“What are you doing here? I said, I wouldn’t leave my family while they needed me.”
“I heard you. That’s why I am going to help you clean this mess up.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“You sure about that?”
“I can handle it all on my own.”