Sal pats my hand, “Reese, watching the two of you has made me the happiest that I’ve been in years. I miss my wife dearly. You would have loved your nonna, she would have been inamorato with you. Milo left her too soon.”
“If you’d still like to visit…” I begin, throat becoming thick, realizing Salvatore promised to be out of my life after tonight once he told me the reason why he’s been so invasive in my life. I clear my throat, beaming at him. Perhaps I have never been surrounded by people who cared deeply for each other, but I suggest, “Feel free to come by every once in a while, I’ll bake cannoli for you again.”
I stare at a man who has taken lives and not only that, set wars in procession, and my heart feels light, and airy and heavily consumed with love all at the same time. I never had grandparents prior to the shock of learning about Sal.
“I don’t mind.” He pauses for a moment, and then adds, “If you’re inclined, I might also like to meet my grandchild too.”
As soon as I nod in agreement, my eyes widen and I determine that maybe I shouldn’t have been so gullible... My mother, Lolita, is led into the dining room. Her plush lips are tensed, cat-like gaze in slits, as a man grips her slender bicep.
“Mom,” my voice is but a whisper. Gathering my wits about me, I shout, “Mom!” I push from the heavy chair so hard that the sound of it screeching over marble scrapes at my eardrums.
“What is my mom doing here?” I glare at my grandfather, gripping my fork on the table so tightly that my knuckles ache.
“To tell the secrets she’s kept.” His lips barely move. There’s a level of polarity that I’ve noticed in my mother from time to time as a child, the same rift is now my grandfather. But I do not believe he suffers from any psychosis aside from a mission to be king. My hand hurts as I let the fork go.
Sal glares through my mother and a cool chill trickles down my spine.
His gaze is deadly. He means my mother harm, and that is something I will not allow…
46
Evan
My words echo into Reese’s ear. As I glance into her eyes, I perceive that she hasn’t caught a single word I’ve said. A single request to just hear her grandfather out has woven through her ears yet again. No, she is standing, as is Sal. But Reese is holding a fucking steak knife to his neck.
A sea of guns CLICK from their safety position.
Lolita shouts, “STOP!” as does Salvatore.
The men wait to be retold their order, they don’t seem to comprehend since their Boss is being threatened. Though under other circumstances, I presume that their allegiance would have indicated for Reese to be shot the second she showed aggression to the Boss.
A trickle of blood dots the fat, fleshy folds on his neck.
“Leave my mother alone, Sal,” Reese says. I calculate how to extract the knife from her hand, but any sudden movement and Giugliano’s carotid artery will rain with blood.
He turns his face to her, his neck spearing into the tip of the knife a tad more. Salvatore stares Reese eye to eye, stating, “Lolita has things she needs to say to you. And if she doesn’t say them, I cannot guarantee my love for you will save her life!”
Reese’s hand is shaking, “If you murder my mom, I’ll… she… she is all I have, Sal, please!”
“Then implore your mother to be utterly motherfucking transparent, Reese. That’s the only promise I can offer you at this time.”
Reese bites her bottom lip.
“Get that motherfucking gun outta her face!” I shout at the closest guy next to us.
Sal finally looks around him once more. He again orders, “Stand down! Reese is not to be hurt regardless of what transpires.”
The knife is lowered from his neck, and Reese hands it to me. I take my first breath in ages, bringing my arm around Reese’s tiny waist, claiming what belongs to me. Not an hour ago, while before her and my child, I made a claim to keep the two safe. I don’t give a fuck about her mother.
“Mom,” Reese says.
Lolita is seated across from us at the center of the table. “Is this necessary?”
“Talk, Mom,” Reese says, eyebrows furrowed. She pushes her way into my arms, I grimace as I pull her tightly to me, and we sit. The rest of Reese’s family waits for Salvatore, once he sits, they slowly make their way into their own chairs.
Reese’s mother rolls her eyes. “Must I speak with all of these people in here?”
“Talk now!” Reese slams down a hand against the table.
Lolita’s mouth is set to reprimand her daughter, but a goon places a hand on her shoulder.
She turns to glare at him, and then turns back around. Arms folded, Lolita begins, “I met your father in college, Reese. Milo was going to be a doctor at New York University. He chose to attend in the States, that’s what he told me. He was handsome, but too short my tastes. Milo had completed his GE courses with a 4.0, and had just started on his concentration when I found out he was the son of the Boss of Bosses.” Lolita’s eyes shift toward Salvatore. “I suggested—”
“You manipulated,” Salvatore interjects.
“I suggested to Milo to change his major to something more appropriate,” Lolita replies. For someone knee deep in the heat, she has a frown on her face. “I stopped seeing other men when Milo grew the fuck up and decided to become a cop. Milo worked his way up the system. He had an objective of becoming a Fed. He wanted to prove himself to his father, Giovanni never gave him a job.”
“A job!” Salvatore rubs a hand over his mouth, he’s at the edge of insanity. And I realize that the
