I turn my gaze to him slowly. “What are you talking about?”
“We were all close once. Me, your father, Jack, and Brenda, we thought we would take over the world.”
“What happened?”
“I did. I got entitled. I thought I could marry your aunt and keep Brenda as my goomah.” He chuckles.
He throws his drink back, then licks his bottom lip. “I should have known that shit wasn’t going to fly. Oni is as strong-willed as her mother. Brenda left me as soon as I proposed to your aunt.
“I was convinced she would see things my way and come back to me. In my world, we could never be more than what I was offering her, but I could still give her the best in life.”
“Looks like that shit didn’t work out for you,” I snort.
“Marone, I was crazy about that woman. Everyone knew it too. That’s why I was so furious when a year later she and Jack got together.
“I felt so betrayed. Never once did I stop to think about how Brenda felt. I let my ego and pride get in the way of everything.
“The business, our friendship, my relationship with your father. I made a lot of mistakes. Mistakes I’m trying to keep you from making.”
“By taking her away from me?” I seethe.
“By making you a better man than I was. All I have done has been for you and where you want to be,” he says.
“Whereyouwant me to be,” I snap back.
“Ah, so you don’t want my seat, is that what you’re saying?”
I sit back in my chair and work my jaw. All my life I’ve wanted to be Don. However, now I have to ask myself if it’s something I want or if this has been what he’s drilled in my head since I was a baby.
“Nah, that’s not what I’m saying, but what are you saying? I’m tired of your games.”
“My stupidity caused me to lose my best friend and allowed my enemies to take his life. I will forever regret that. I failed Oni, Brenda, and Jack.”
“Still not seeing what that has to do with me.”
“Those same enemies almost had Oni raped, tried to kill my only daughter, and sent my nephew to jail. This family isn’t done with the Sullivans or Abatos. They think they have evaded me. Finn thinks returning to Ireland for a little while will erase what he has done.”
“Why now?”
“There are things that only recently came to light concerning Jack and Finn’s involvement. Things I hadn’t been willing to see in the beginning because of my stubbornness.
“Once the Sullivans chose to come at me by targeting you, they got my attention. I have been plotting and waiting to get back at Finn. When this was just between us, I had been willing to play these games.
“However, I didn’t plan for you to inherit the shit between us. What happened in front of my estate was too much disrespect. Aiming at my children was the final straw.
“Sullivan thinks he has won. That isn’t going to work for me. It isn’t good enough for him to just take a break and then return to his former glory. Not after what they have done. This will be my wedding gift to you both.”
“What will?”
“The Sullivans, Abatos, and my seat. I’m going to teach you and your fiancée the art of slow, vicious, and painful revenge. Then you will be ready to be Don and Donna.”
I stare back at him and look him deep in his eyes. He always has an ulterior motive, but in this case, I’m not sure that I care. The Sullivans owe me blood.
“Are you finally listening? I am not your enemy,capisce?” he says as I stare at him in silence.
“Understood. I’m listening.”
Oni
