“Of course I would. At least I will have peace of mind knowing where you are.” He shakes his head and points to my plate. “Now, eat before I force feed you.”
I lean in and place a kiss on his chin. “Thank you.”
I don’t look at him as I pull away. I just smile and dig into the delicious food because, if I do look at him, I may change my mind and be as obedient as he wants me to be.
twenty-one
Gabriel
Everything looks the same as it did twenty years ago. Well, at least from the outside. I haven’t visited this place in years, but I made sure to support the younger generation as best as I could. It was better for them not to be affiliated with me; that’s why I left.
I push open the door of my old gym; the first one I ever visited. One that gave me some purpose and saved Salvatore from his demons when we were teenagers. It gave us discipline, taught us how to stick with our goals, and that there is no failure in life. Everything that happens is just a lesson. If we fall, we stand up and keep going. I at least had a good family, one I grew up knowing I wanted. The love my parents had for each other was rare, and I wanted that, only I didn’t get it. I got betrayed by the woman I gave everything to. And now what I have is a marriage with a woman who keeps pushing my buttons and drives me crazy. A woman I can’t control, not even a bit. Not that I want to. I never have that desire, but at times like this, when the danger is everywhere, it would be useful.
But since she doesn’t want to listen to a word I say, I guess we’re doing this her way. Hence why I’m here. I know I can rely on Boris to give my wife the opportunity she wants.
“Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Are you sure you entered the right door, pretty boy?”
I turn to my right and face a five-foot-five woman with a scolding look on her face.
I pull my lips into a smile. “Ivana, long time no see.” Ivana is Boris’s ride or die. They never married, but they both come from fighting backgrounds. After Boris almost died in an unfair fight, they decided to stop and teach others how to fight with respect and integrity. “You still look stunning as always.”
She crosses her arms in front of her. “Flattery will not get you anywhere. You think disappearing from our lives and showing up ten years later being a smartass will make me soften to you? You're wrong.”
I exhale. Ivana doesn’t know who Salvatore and I are. Well, I’m the son of a soldier, so nobody, but Salvatore is the heir to the Cosa Nostra, and Boris wanted to keep her from knowing.
“I need to talk to Boris. Is he here?”
“He won’t be happy to see you. He lost a lot when you quit.”
I look around the gym, and memories of what I promised him hit me like a truck. “I lost more that night than he did.”
She huffs and passes me. “You know where to find him.”
I look at her walking away and shake my head, begging the old memories to go away. I’m here on business, and no matter what has happened, I need to stay focused on now and the future.
My eyes land on the gym’s interior. From the outside, it has stayed mostly the same, but inside, there have been a lot of changes.
I walk past the ring I used to fight in and smile, remembering the first time I kicked Salvatore’s ass, and he was bad at taking the defeat. I enter the door at the end of the corridor that leads toBoris’s office. I stop in front of the open doors and take in all the mess in front of him. His head is deep in paperwork, his glasses on the tip of his nose. I smile and knock. His head shoots up, and he stills. Disbelief fills the room before I break it.
“I didn’t expect this reaction. From what Ivana told me, I was expecting that your stapler would be flying toward my head.”
“I’m considering that. But I would need to find it first.” He takes off his glasses and leans back in his chair. “What brings you here? I was sure I would never see you again.”
I hide my regret under a smile. “I never thought I would be back. But I’m here on business, and you're the only one I can trust.”
He chuckles. “Business and trust. I lost trust in you a long time ago, and I don’t do business with the mob.” His gaze pins me with accusations.
I nod. “I understand you're angry, but this has nothing to do with me. Well, not directly.”
“I’m not interested.”
I take a deep breath and walk inside, taking a chair in front of his desk. My eyes focus on the floor. “I needed to leave that fight, or I would have killed him in front of everyone.” I close my eyes and take a breath, revealing exactly what happened for the first time. “That day I came back home unexpectedly, I was supposed to be preparing for the match. I forgot something, and now I can’t even remember what it was. I came home, and she was in the shower. The bed was a mess; the bed I used to sleep with her in. There was a used condom at the foot of the bed. I just stared until she came out of the shower. She was shocked to see me and tried to get out of the situation. She knew I knew. I went to that fight filled with anger and rage, ready to kill her and him with my bare hands.”
I look at my hands. They weren’t smeared with blood before, small crimes here and there with Salvatore. I wanted a way out,and I almost got it with her until she betrayed me. Since that day, my hands hold the blood I spilled for Cosa Nostra and my don.
“Then the fight started, and I was winning as always, until I lost focus when she showed up like she didn’t do anything. He hit me and smirked when he saw my attention was on her. He hit me one more time, and when we landed on the floor, he said he enjoyed taking what was mine. I didn’t think anything of it. I fought him off me, but at the next kick, he said he enjoyed taking my woman and fucking her all night.” I shake my head. “It all clicked. Every time I was making appearances before the fight and he wasn’t, he was fucking my fiancée. That was when I exploded. I couldn’t hold myself back anymore and started to punch him. When he smirked at me with blood covering his face, I realized his plan, and I wasn’t going to jail and losing my freedom after everything I had already lost. So, I left the game.” I finally look up at him, and his jaw is clenched. “I’m saying this because I want you to understand. I didn’t quit because I was afraid of failure; I quit to save myself.”
He nods. “I never liked her, but you were so obsessed with her.” He places his hands on the table. “Not that it matters, anyway. I’m still mad at you, but I do understand.”
