Chapter 10: I don’t like you too!.

One of them opens the door.

"Mr. Luciano."

Cassian nods and we step inside.

The music disappears almost immediately.

The room beyond is quiet.....it’s luxurious and expensive. The walls are dark wood, with leather furniture arranged around a large table.

Men stand along the edges of the room, armed and Silent.

Ar the center...Uncle Lorenzo.

He sits behind a massive desk, one hand resting against the arm of his chair.

He looks older than the last time I saw him but not weaker. If anything, he seems more imposing.

This is what being Don has done to him.

Papa had commanded respect, Lorenzo demands it.

His eyes lift when we enter, they settle on Cassian first, then Olivia, rhen me.

The warmth in his expression disappears the second his eyes meet mine.....i expected nothing less.

My relationship with Uncle Lorenzo has never been good. He never liked me, I never understood why.

Maybe it was because I reminded him too much of Papa, maybe because I never hid the fact that I didn’t like him either.

Whatever the reason...The feeling is fucking mutual.

I walk forward anyway.

I don’t get to choose who sits on the throne, I don’t get to choose whether I respect the man sitting in it.

He’s the Don.

And I’m a Luciano.

There are rules to this thing.

I stop in front of him, lower my head and eyes slightly then bend my knees.

His hand extends, tbe gold ring on his finger catching the light. I take his hand and press my lips briefly against the ring.

"Good evening, Uncle."

His voice is flat when he responds.

"Evening."

That’s it.

No How have you been?

Nothing.

I straighten nd for a second, our eyes meet.

His are cold, mine probably aren’t much warmer.

Then when Olivia steps forward.,...

"Good evening, Uncle Lorenzo."

Everything changes.

His face practically transforms.

"Olivia."

His voice is suddenly softer, he rises from his chair, a smile spreading across his face as he opens his arms and she walks straight into them.

"How are you, Olivia?"

"I’m good."

"You’re too thin."

She laughs.

"You always say that."

"Because you never listen and eat more."

He kisses her forehead.

I stand a few feet away, watching.

And despite myself...I smile.

Because Olivia deserves that kind of love, she’s always been the softer one, the sunshine in our family. Even as children, she could walk into a room full of angry men and somehow make them smile.

She has this innocence about her.

Not stupidity.

Never that...Just a gentleness that doesn’t belong in our world. Sometimes I wonder how someone like her was born into the Luciano family.

Then I look at myself and understand the contrast.

Olivia is everything I am not.

She’s warm, inviting, patient.

I’m stubborn.

She believes people can be good.

I learned a long time ago that people can be very good at pretending and people ain’t shit.

She still carries pieces of the girl we were before everything changed.

I don’t.

Maybe that’s why Uncle Lorenzo loves her.

And why he has never known what to do with me.

His eyes eventually return to mine and the warmth disappears again.

"Sit."

I take the chair beside Olivia, Cassian sits opposite us.

The door closes behind him.

And suddenly...The room feels much smaller.

Lorenzo settles back into his chair, his fingers tapping against the desk.

"I didn’t bring you here for dinner."

I glance at Olivia.

I figured.

"Then why are we here?"

Lorenzo’s gaze settles directly on me and for some reason, a chill moves down my spine.

"I have something to tell you."

The room goes silent and judging by the expression on his face...I’m not going to like it.