He’d always pry but pretend he wasn’t actually fishing for information.
Tonight, my father looks tired. The lines near the corners of his eyes seem deeper than the last time I saw him. There’re more gray streaks running through his perfectly placed black hair. Time is catching up with a man who has seemed invincible my entire life.
“I was,” I tell him, sliding the whiskey in front of me as soon as the bartender sets the glass down.
“It’s not safe for you there.” My father glances across his shoulder at me. “I thought you were smarter than that, Leo.”
“I have nothing to do with your business, Pop.”
His brown eyes narrow. “You’re my son. Whether you like it or not, you’re a target because you’re my blood.”
I take a sip of whiskey, listening to him go on and on about the danger I put myself in by going into enemy territory. I let him say his piece without argument because there’s no reasoning with the man.
“I forbid you to go there again,” he tells me like I’m a little kid and, somehow, he’s still in charge of my life.
I lean back and stare at my father, wondering if he’s high on a power trip or growing senile. “I’m a grown man. You no longer get to tell me where I can and can’t go in the city.”
“The Gallos are dangerous, my son. Santino is out of prison now, and I’m sure there will be a power play for him to regain some of the territory he lost in his absence.”
“Maybe he’s done with the hustle and is a changed man after prison.”
My father laughs cynically. “There’s no such thing. Prison only makes someone harder.” He pauses for a moment as he takes a sip of brandy before continuing. “And a better criminal.”
My father should know. He’s spent his fair share of time behind bars. Mostly when I was younger because he was a hothead, craving the spotlight and trying to live out hisScarfacefantasies.
“If something happens to me, the blood will be on your hands. I’m not part of your business and won’t let your world dictate my life.”
His stare turns colder. “If someone touches you, a war will break out. You are my child no matter how old you are, Leo. I will always try to protect you.”
“Maybe it’s time to retire, Pop. Ever think of that? Live a normal life away from the violence and without having to look over your shoulder constantly.”
He cracks a smile. “There’s no other life for me. Since your mother died,” he pauses and does the sign of the cross, “God rest her soul, there’s no reason for me to quit.”
My chest tightens. “Then we’ll have to agree to disagree.”
He places his hand on my arm, which is as close to affection as my father can seem to muster with me. “Nothing good can come of you going there.”
He’s wrong about that. If he knew I was meeting with Daphne Gallo, he’d literally shit a brick before stroking out on the barstool next to me. But that’s his problem, not mine.
I polish off my drink before rising to my feet. “I have to run, Pop. Anything else?”
He stares straight ahead, looking at the mirror behind the bar. “I don’t like getting reports on your whereabouts, Leo.”
“Then stop having me watched. Call your bulldogs off and remind them I’m not part of your business. I’m off-limits.”
“Naïve,” he mutters before I walk away.
I leave him sitting at the bar, nursing his drink and probably stewing over the fact that I don’t seem to follow his advice.
My sisters are so much better than I am at listening to my father. They always have been. They’re all pampered princesses, willing to take the dirty money to maintain the cushy and over-the-top lifestyles they grew accustomed to.
But I am nothing like them and never will be.
* * *
Daphne doesn’t look excitedto see me parked next to her Jeep behind the bar a little after midnight. “What are you doing here?”
“Get in.”
