She mimics exactly how I feel.
It could be the twin bond, or maybe it’s just I don’t enjoy talking to my father, and Sophia shoving the phone at me makes me even more uncomfortable.
“Liam.” That tone tells me all I need to know. He’s pissed, and somehow, this is once again my fault.
“Father,” I say, avoiding Bristol’s stare as she turns around to face me. My legs are outstretched on the bed, and she sits between them, legs crisscrossed. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Cut the crap with me, Liam. Did you know your sister is planning on dropping out of college?”
I glance at Sophia. “She only mentioned it this morning. It was news to me as well.”
He scoffs and clears his throat. “If you want to go to medical school after college, then I suggest you figure out a way to make sure that your sister graduates.”
“That’s not … I don’t control Sophia, Antonio.” I don’t call him Dad or Father, certainly not when he pisses me off. He wasn’t around when I was born. It wasn’t until preschool that he miraculously showed up in our lives.
Also, I have some strange memories of him when I was little that I can’t decipher if they’re real or just bad dreams, like the one of him kidnapping me.
It’s all a blur, but it’s a dream that I have far too often, especially when I’m stressed. I’ve never told Mom or Sophia about it; what would be the point?
“As I’ve already informed your sister, if she’s going to drop out of school, then she’ll come home and get married.”
I glance at Sophia, now understanding the look of shock on her face.
He intends to marry her off.
An arranged marriage.
“No,” I say, my mouth growing dry. “That’s not happening.”
Sophia should have a choice in who she weds. While I’m aware arranged marriages exist within the mafia, my parents were never an arranged marriage. Hell, they were the epitome of two quarreling families, but it’s always been a choice.
Why are they taking that choice from her?
“This isn’t meant as a punishment,” Antonio says. “Your sister needs stability. Without a college degree, what does she intend to do with her life?”
“I don’t know.”
“Precisely. She needs someone to take care of her. I can find her a man who will do that, put her desires and the needs of the mafia first.”
Neither of us ever wanted to be like our parents, serving or working for the mafia. While I’ve known there was a chance I’d come to work for Antonio, he’s never forced it on me.
It had always been my choice.
He encouraged me to go to college, explore medicine, and decide what I want to do with my career. A part of me suspects that he wants me to come crawling back to work for him, but it isn’t what I intend to do.
There’s no malice toward Antonio.
He’s taken care of my sister and me. When he realized we were his children, he provided for us, sending us to private school, giving us anything and everything we could ask for.
But his money is covered in blood.
It’s why I want to go into medicine.
I want to do good.
To right his wrongs.
Not directly, of course, but I want to help people. Sure, there are all sorts of ways to do that, but I could never think about putting him behind bars. He is family. And family always comes first.
