“Why are you doing this? Why won’t you talk to me? Gio, please,” I sob into the phone.
I hang up and toss the phone across the room. I’m so heartbroken. Wrapping my arms around my knees, I sob into them as I rock side to side.
I’ve lost everything.
CHAPTER 6
Intention
Gio
Three months later…
“Ah, my Michelangelo,” Nonno croons as he walks over and palms my face, then kisses my cheeks. “It’s good to see you. Look at you, you’re almost as tall as me, no?”
I chuckle. “Not yet, Nonno. But I’m getting there.”
He smiles and slaps my cheek, before turning to Jace. His eyes light up. Moving over to Jace he cups his face and kisses his cheeks as well.
“Welcome, l'altro mio nipote.”
Jace’s eyes go wide, but he catches himself and smiles. We have all always treated Jace like family, but I know for a fact he still feels like an outsider. My best friend has never felt like he’s had a family of his own.
It’s so clear having Nonno call him grandson means a lot to him. My grandfather has just earned Jace’s loyalty. I note the fact for later to make sure Jace remembers who his loyalty lies with first.
Nonno moves between us and places a hand on each of our backs as he guides us forward. I take note of the fact that while still a little frail, he looks better than the last time I saw him.
I take a deep breath. It feels strange to be here without Nyla. It’s always been the three of us.
“Our friend will be here after nightfall. You boys will be staying with me while here. I will teach you like I did my daughter.”
I pause and turn to my grandfather. I look him deep in his eyes. “Good, I want you to teach me how to take over and make everyone pay. This isn’t her fight anymore. It’s mine.”
I don’t have to explain who I’m talking about. I know from the look in his eyes, he understands who she is. He nods.
“Yes, we were right about you. This I will do, but you are wrong to think she will walk away. She has a score to settle.”
“No problem. I’ll give her that, but this is mine now.”
He gives another sage nod. We start to walk again. The weight of what I have planned settles in as my course is etched in stone. From this moment, all my actions will be to restore my family’s name.
Everyone before me has had a goal. I need to establish those and then carve my path through them. Those goals not in line with mine will be the ones annihilated.
“If you are willing to listen. I will teach you to play to win.”
“What about Riccardo? When do we get to deal with him?”
“Ah, I was told of your ambitions there. I am not done with my old friend, but there are”—he waves a hand in the air—“how do you say? Obstacles preventing a move against him. You will have to learn patience there. The only thing you need to know about Riccardo as of now is his plan.”
I spin on my grandfather. “Why not now?”
“Patience. Riccardo is not our endgame. You, as Don of this family, are. You do not fit the position now, but you will. I will make it so.”
“Why don’t I fit? I’m not a finook, Nonno. Neither is Jace,” I bite out.
He pats my cheek and smiles. “I never said you were. I know who you are, Michelangelo. You do not, not yet, but I know who you will become. You are the future. The future the families don’t see coming.
“Your mother started something, and you will finish it. The world is changing and if we don’t change with it, this thing of ours won’t exist. You will rise from the ashes, and it will be the example you set that will determine what this world will look like.
“So have patience, my Michelangelo. Be crowned the king, kill the enemy’s pawns, then you take his head,” Nonno says as he looks me in the eyes.
I nod my understanding. Determination fills me. I become Don and I get to create what my life will look like.
***
“Mama,” I say as I drag her into a tight hug after she slips into Nonno’s study where we’ve been waiting.
“My son. How are you? How are Dario and Dante?”
“Fucked up. They think you abandoned them. Frances lied and told everyone you took off. Not that you died.”
“What? That son of a bitch.”
“Oh, don’t worry. He’s on my list,” I snarl.
“No, Frances is mine. Where’s Jace?”
“I wanted to talk to you alone. Ma, I need to know what you intended to do with the families. What were you planning?”
“We have time for this, Gio. I haven’t seen my boys in months. Go get Jace for me. I want to see him before I have to go. I can’t stay long.”