I grinned at that. If Rosaria would have made a splendid queen, his son would have been after her, not my wife. Rosaria was too ruthless for her own good.
My father looked at me, giving me the floor.
Mac slid a photograph closer to me. I slid it to my father. He looked at it, then slid it toward Paolo. His eyes took in the photograph, and his entire demeanor became as stiff as the wood bracing the weight of his arms. This stiffness was no more apparent than in his jaw. He slid the photograph to his son.
Francesco looked it over. “SignorinaNovak came to me with her fears. She accused Rocco Fausti of being in a position of power, just as Avelina had felt the same.SignorinaNovak told me Rocco Fausti had gotten her pregnant. She feared for her life, since Rosaria Caffi had unexpectedly lost hers. Perhaps this is not the case withSignoraCaffi, however, it is not my job, as it is yours to judge.” He nodded respectfully to my father. “I can only listen to the accusations of a fearful woman and be kind to her.”
“A woman who has proved to be a liar,” my father said.
Even if she was a woman, to call her a liar was a high offense in our family.
“Proved?” Paolo asked.
“Massimo Fausti bore witness to the exchange Ita Novakclaimed she had with Rocco Fausti,” my father said. “As soon as we locate Ita Novak, the child she claims is my son’s will be tested for paternity.”
Paolo stared into the distance, perhaps thinking of his next move. Even if he forfeited the meeting, apologized for wasting the king’s time, there would be a punishment. My father was keeping his wildness in check, but given his mood lately, I could feel how hard the bars that kept his temper in check rattled. It was as if the rattling was inside my own ears.
“Tell me, Paolo, did you expect a challenge from this meeting today.”
Paolo nodded. “I am still not swayed. I feel what fate started all those years ago should have been allowed to continue. Perhaps Aria Bella would have carried on her great-aunt’s love for my direct line.”
My father grinned. “Tell me, are you implying the daughter of my heart has no sense of direction when it comes to her heart.”
“I am not,” Paolo said respectfully.
My father nodded. “I did not think so.” He tapped on the table once, twice, three, four, five, six, seven times with his pointer finger. “I am not in the mood for false dramatics, Paolo. The situation between your grandfather, our uncle, and Avelina Simonettibears no weight on the situation between your son, my son, and his wife, Aria Bella. It makes no sense. It has no merit. The letters clearly prove who Avelina Simonetti loved. Perhaps if there was more, the connection stronger, I would have agreed. Only a foolish man would.”
Paolo sat up some, realizing my father was implying he was that fool.
“However, I have known you my entire life,cugino. We share blood. Grandparents. You are no fool. This is where our similarities end. When my brother, Lothario, attempted to keep the throne, you were on his side of the war. You were. Until you attempted to overthrow him. It has been no secret that you covetthe very seat I am sitting in, as your son covets the idea of my son’s wife.”
Paolo said nothing. He knew better.
The air in the room was thick with tension. The kind of tension that carried the scent of blood on its wings—the kind of tension that made every man in the room bloodthirsty. My father was on the cusp of standing, leaning forward, and perhaps, ripping Paolo’s throat out with his teeth. The men around me were feeding off his temper and vibrating with the slightest signal to move.
My father stood, leaning over the table some, and no one who claimed a brain would question the dangerous animal inching closer to the surface of his skin.
“What would you say,cugino, if I said no more challenges would be issued in our family. Speak wisely, but also, with a truth that belies your cowardly nature.”
Paolo rose to his full height. As if an invisible string had been pulled, both sides stood, standing behind the men who led them.
“Calling me a coward justifies the use of violence in our family,” Paolo said. “This justifies the challenges that are our birthright.” He hit his chest. “The romance and the ruthless. What will you say next,cugino, that we will no longer battle our enemies, as well?”
“What will I say next?” my father breathed out. He smiled some, and I braced for it. He easily reached across the table and took Paolo by the throat, all his power concentrated in his hand.
Paolo’s eyes bulged, but he was a formidable opponent.
Perhaps this was why my father had been almost pleased Paolo had come forward and intended to start a war.
“This is what I will say next. As your king, it is my decree that there will be two sides to this war over the challenges. My side will stand for the challenges between blood to cease. Your side will stand for the challenges to live on. I will represent my sideon the field. You will represent yours on the field. We will come together with clashing swords, and the victor will live to tell the tale.”
And change the course of this family as we knew it when my father was crowned victorious.
Brando glanced at me. Mac glanced at me.
Every man in the room knew what was at stake.
The history of ourfamiglia,and the direction it would take in the future to come.
