Luca’s eyes moved from Scarlett to me, attempting to filter the truth. He could only find truth.
“That’s right.” She nodded. “You should be proud that the man who stands behind me is a reflection of your own father.” She took a step forward, and I grabbed her arms, but she went anyway, her chest out. “You forget that in his time men blanched at your father’s name too, but not once did he lay a hand on you or your brothers. He didn’t need to. He was the most powerful leader to ever rule this family. Your son is the same. He’s just as strong, and men will follow him into war and challenge him because he stands for something.”
Their eyes held, or maybe their wills. She battled this monster with will alone. Not even I could stop her. At this point, he would have beat me again if I picked her up and made her leave. He was fucking curious about her, about what she was going to say.
Finally, after a minute or two, her shoulders relaxed, and she sank back into me.
“Papà,” she said, her voice soft, going in for the kill, “your sons love you. If you could only—” She shook her head. “I have a question. For the both of you.”
He nodded. I did too. Like this was a fucking intervention.
“What is better—to be loved or feared? Answer wisely.”
“Feared,” we both said.
She nodded. “I understand, but I don’t agree—with either of you. I think it’s possible to be both, fearedandloved, and that’s whatNonnounderstood. His men loved and feared him. His sons, too. Fear will keep you in line, but love, love will keep you from turning against wherever your heart is.”
Luca looked at me and I didn’t move—even though I wanted to shrug. She was making too much sense.
He looked back at her.
“My husband,” she went on, “is your legacy, but he’s still just your son. Men, even back home, would call him that—son. Because they all knew he’d be a great one. A man to be proud of. But—” she lifted her trembling hands, palms forward, and then let them fall “—he never considered any of them his father. Only you. He only wants you. They all do. And if you find a way to be feared and loved, you will be even more powerful than your father—in the eyes of the world, and in the eyes of your sons.”
After a minute or two, he finally spoke. “Have mercy,” he said in Italian. “How am I supposed to respond to that? She is going to be the death of me! A lamb who can hypnotize the lion into thinking he doesn’t need meat!”
He turned from us, standing with his hands braced on the desk. After another minute, he turned back, his face settled into a decision.
“Lothario sent you to the Russian for help.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “But not directly. What other choice did I have?”
To cometo me, his look said, but he didn’t. “We are in his debt now.”
“No.” Scarlett shook her head. “We’re square. I helped him get on the boat undetected. He blew up the yacht afterward.” She went on to explain about the targets.
“Ah,” he said. “I see.”
Though he still didn’t like it, he understood the situation well enough that he couldn’t see any way around it. Honor was honor, and your word was your word. It made little difference to him. To him, a coward, a man who couldn’t keep his word or defend his honor, was a man better off dead.
“You make an allowance for this man because he took care of your wife in your absence,” he said, studying my face carefully.
“That’s the only reason,” I said.
The amount of respect I paid Lev had nothing to do with my own life. It had to do with my wife’s. She was alive, with all her parts, standing in front of me. He was owed that much.
Luca rapped on the desk once with his fist. “We will discuss this in more detail tomorrow.”
Snatching two pieces of paper off the desk, making a broom, he bent down, cleaning up the mess he made with the glass. Scarlett went to help him, but he waved her off.
Once done, he looked me square in the eye, nodded once, and then touched her on the cheek.
Scarlett seemed to be counting underneath her breath the seconds until he was gone, and once she felt he was, I didn’t even have a chance to stop her. She fell to her knees with a loud thud, crying into her hands.
“Scarlett.” I knelt beside her, attempting to take her in my arms.
She shoved me away. “I’m sick of men putting their hands on you! I couldn’t s-stand to see him b-beat you one more time!”
She said this as she thumped me with her fists.
