Page 85 of End It All

"Ah, shit," Cesare mumbled as he stared at me. "Piangerà sicuramente, vero?" When I continued to stare at him, he frowned. "Listen, me leaving had nothing to do with you. Believe it or not, my children were never why I moved on."

"Then why?"

He shrugged. "People love us for a short while, but eventually it all goes to shit. No one wants to deal with the constant crap they have to deal with when they're with us."

"But Benito and Giancarlo and?—"

My father waved a hand. "Trust me, in a few years, they'll be in the same place. There is no happily ever after for men like us. Once you realize that, you stop trying to chase it. Get drunk, have a smoke, fuck any hole you fall into and leave it at that. If you go out chasing someone to cure your loneliness, it's just going to end in disaster and then you're back at square one. Now, seriously, don't fucking cry or I'm going to have to punch you."

I laughed bitterly and chugged more of the vodka. No, I wasn't going to cry, there was no reason to. Quincy had made it clear where I stood with him. And he'd shown me that I was playing a game that I couldn't win. Fuck it. I would go back to being the same Blake I had always been, the one that survived.

Once I wiped my mouth, I passed the bottle to him. "Why did you come for me? How'd you know where I was?"

Cesare took a swig and grunted. "I've always known, but I decided to let you have your freedom. Like I told you before, Iwant you to be part of this family, but I won't force you. Your last name isn't even Vitale."

Pain shot through my body.Thanks for reminding me.

"Do you want it to be?" Cesare asked, interrupting my thoughts.

I blinked at him as I took the bottle back. "What? Why?" I remembered something about Benito working on it, but was this the better option? A backup plan?

He shrugged. "I could use someone on my side. There's a place for you here, Blake. You're my blood. I want you to stop fucking around with trash and take your rightful place."

I shifted in my seat. "Benito's in charge."

"Not for long," Cesare countered. "The position was given to him temporarily and he decided to steal it from me. However, our extended family sees the troubles he's had. We know he can't handle this. It's best he steps down, peacefully, and go play family man."

The uncomfortable feeling in my chest expanded. Right, they had talked about people being brought over from Italy. It must have been the family that they spoke about, and who knew how many acquaintances they might have contacted. I tried not to squirm, but even listening to what my father said made me feel like I was committing treason against Benito and the rest of them. They had tried to take me in, to pull me close. And, even if I didn't want to admit it, I'd enjoyed that.

"You think because you're playing fucking family with your ‘brothers’, all of a sudden you know how this life works? You don't know shit."

My stomach tightened thinking about Quincy's words. Maybe he was right. I was kidding myself when it came to all of them. None of this was supposed to happen. Coming here had been such a colossal mistake, and I just wanted to go home.

"You took care of whoever made you look like that?" Cesare asked, gesturing toward me with the cigar in his hand.

I nodded. "Yeah. Taken care of."

Cesare beamed. "Good job. I'm proud of you."

I held my breath, waiting to feel something from his words that years ago would have made me do backflips. Now? It was hollow. His praise meant very little to me. The only person I had wanted to hear say that he was proud of me didn't want me around.

Then why was he holding on so tightly and fighting so much?

I shoved that thought aside. Quincy didn't know what he wanted. Maybe he didn't want the Vitales to be pissed at him if something happened to me or he was just losing his damn mind, but I wasn't going to play myself into thinking that he actually gave a damn. That was too stupid, even for me.

"Where are we going?" I asked, taking the bottle back from him again.

"My place," he said. "Not a hotel. Even though you ran off, I think I can trust you now."

"You researched me, didn't you?"

"I did."

"And you found out I really was your son? Did a whole DNA test?"

"Yes," he answered honestly.

Like father, like fucking son. I nodded. "At least you're smart."