Page 58 of Princess's Revenge
It’s seven-thirty in the morning when I get to Andrea’s room. I was expecting to find the key on the inside because I know she spent the night with Francis—but to my surprise, it’s on the outside and it’s unlocked.
That’s showing a lot of trust.
Not only because she believed we wouldn’t kill her during the night, but because she assumed we’d respect their privacy and not walk in on them.
Well…either she trusts us or she just doesn’t give much of a fuck anymore.
Last night was a revelation for the lot of us. My father’s duplicity hadnotbeenwell received by Anthony and myself.
I wouldn’t say that Mike and Daniel were like our brothers…we didn’t doeverythingtogether…but they were like cousins. And—Cousins are close.They were family.
When they were killed and my father told us that we weren’t going to retaliate, he drummed it into us over and over again that—An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
I remember thinking to myself all those years ago,‘What kind of boss quotes Ghandi?’Turns out, he was just too ashamed to come clean and tell us he’d given the‘okay’to have not onlyhis best friend clipped, but the guy’s entire family as well.You have to have ice-water in your veins to do shit like that.
Was it for the best?
Who’s to say?
You can never tell about these things—What ‘might’have happened?
All I know is that it was wrong.
Perhaps in time, Mr. Lupertazzi would have come around. Perhaps in time, old man Cassaduchi would have backed down…I mean…it’s unlikely, but we can never really know.
Would Don Cassaduchireallyhave gone to war with us? Or was Don Lupertazzi right…that they wouldn’t dare?
What’s really been sticking in my craw—and Anthony’s—is that my father didn’t make his decision by consulting the other capos…which is exactly what heshouldhave done. That’s the wayour thingworks.
If you’re going to leave an opening against the boss, it’s got to be agroupdecision.
Anthony and I have worked our way up the ladder, maybe a little faster since our father became the boss…but we earned our stripes fair and square.
Since they opened the books for us and we gotmade, we’ve been our father’s consiglieres…his closest confidants in all the world…when it comes to business of course.
I always wondered why he forced out the older guys. Last night when we talked, he told us this was why—The guilt.He told us he couldn’t bear to look them in the eyes any longer and lie to them about the arrangement he’d made with the Cassaduchis.
What’s done is done, sure, but when we found out that Andrea was alive he should’ve told us the truth right away…not only after Andrea confronted him.
That made us all look like fools.
And I don’t like looking like a fool.
What’s worse is…I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust him again. He’s my father, my flesh and blood, he raised me…but he’s been lying to us for sixteen years!For what? Was any of this even worth it?
Did he step over the grave of his best friend so he could become the boss?
Not according to him.
He said he did it for us…to protect us and give us a future.
He said the Cassaduchis were an irresistible force…and that Don Lupertazzi was an immovable object—He saidsomething had to give.
I guess I’ll never know the real truth.
Even Joshua de Soto looked into my eyes for years and played along with the story.
My father sided with the enemy. They’ve been lyingforhim.