What I'd like is for her to meet someone outside our world.
"I didn't say I want to marry him or even sleep with him, but boys are limited for me. What I really want is my scholarship if I can get it, if I pass the audition."
But Lyndall's beyond gifted, and it chuffs me enough, this part of the conversation with all the things left unsaid, that I smile.
"Dad probably killed him, Enzo. And he didn't deserve that."
"No, he didn't. Luke's alive."
Lyndall's eyes widen, and she gasps. "Where is he? Can I see him?"
"I thought you said you want to get into your music school."
"You idiot. We're friends. I'm the one who had the crush. I had one on Cade, too. And we're friends. I love Violet. I'm allowed feelings, right? Luke did nothing. Dad jumped to conclusions. It clearly runs in this family."
Clearly, it does.
"Look, he's fine. And he's somewhere safe from Dad."
"He's a good guy. Just talk to him, and you'll see."
"Fine. I'll talk to him."
And then I'll decide if Lyndall can see him or not. It's fine she says he's a good guy, but what if this kid did have designs on her? She's pretty and smart and the daughter of the powerful man he was working for.
Nabbing her is a sure-fire way to the top. Or into an early grave. It's a gamble, I know that.
But I need to see if he's pure when it comes to her before I let her see him.
"Go to bed. I'll let you know?—"
"Bed? It's almost four p.m.!"
"Fine. Do whatever you were doing, and I'll call you for dinner."
Her eyes grow big again. "Can we have tacos?"
"Maybe."
She heads off, and I decide to go down and do some work before Lola finishes work.
I need to do something to get my mind off her and the fact I'm not there.
I settle behind my desk when my cell rings.
It's Dad.
"Father?"
"Don't be a little shit," Dad says. Then he pauses. "I've been thinking about what you said, and I'll step back. For now... Give you control."
I'm glad I'm not holding anything because I would fucking drop it.
I don't really want to be a mafia don, but I do like the idea of modernizing, of making it into something of my own. Somehow, I don't think Dad will let me take complete control, not really, and he'll want it back, but that's okay. If I can shape it, then maybe, just maybe, when he decides to step down in the end for good, I can take over.
Still, I don't trust him, not fully.
But I can test it a little. There are things Dad would blow up at and come down with an iron fist if I said them and he was in charge. Like...
