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I’m not allowed to miss work and today – it’s taking me to Millerton. The irony is not lost on me. I’d rather be anywhere other than auditing a classroom on a college campus, while Christina would give anything to attend.
So instead of comforting her, I continue with the plan.
I kiss her forehead and step back, prepared to leave for my bedroom when she grabs my wrist to stop me.
“Wait,” she says. Her voice is soft but strained. She must really not want me to tell anyone.
My immediate reaction to that is anger. How dare she be embarrassed to admit what we are.
But as I look at her wide eyes and trembling lips, I can see it’s more fear than anything.
My poor, sweet girl. When I’m done, no one will doubt us.
“You didn’t tell me what you wanted,” she says.
“I know.” I offer her a tight smile and walk away without looking back.
***
She’s never far from my thoughts as I sit through the audited class, my eyes glued to the professor. According to reports, he’s had a few extracurricular hobbies, including reneging on paying us for the product he’s been told to move. I tap my pen against my closed notebook. I hate being back here. I got my business degree already and Enzo got his certificate in strategy.
It’s more than enough to run an empire. Being assigned to an enforcement beat feels insulting at this point.
The most useful part of my education here was the connections that money can buy. We’re the future – the cohort set to inherit the industry, wealth, and business of our fathers.
By the time class ends, I’m ready to fall asleep. I make eye contact with the professor and leave my calling card on his desk before I’m out the door. I shove my hands into my pockets as I stroll through the ornate corridors that lead into the courtyard. He will get this one warning – pay us and he can escape with his life.
If he doesn’t have it, he’ll quietly disappear like the others who have tried to double-cross us.
The Venitti Family has zero tolerance for that kind of bullshit.
Still, pretending to give a shit about school is a chore, and one better suited for those that work for me.
What good are final scores when the only test that matters is killing a man? I stretch my fingers at the thought. Enzo grew up in the action. He had his first kill ages ago whereas I’ve been kept in the shadows.
Forever waiting for my turn.
I respect the empire that my father has built. He never really attempted to be a good parent or to raise me like a normal child. But after my mother died, he at least tried. I suppose I would have done the same if faced with the same circumstances.
But I’ve never been normal. And he’s not much of a parent.
A breeze blows across the opening of the courtyard and the sun peaks out from behind a cloud.
I spot Enzo across the way, and nod, making my way over to him when I overhear Jimmy Cosa. The dumb-fuck has been in school for years – currently following in his daddy’s footsteps in law school.
I still, holding my breath back to hear better.
“You should’ve seen the way she looked in that dress,” Jimmy tells his little half-circle of losers. “I think even Father John wanted a taste of that before the end of Mass. The new Venitti is the new gold standard for pristine pussy.” They all laugh.
My ears burn. He dares mention my family’s name? Speak such vulgarities about Christina?
Whatever he says next makes everyone laugh, but my anger drowns out the words.
“What the fuck did you say?” I shove him against the stone pillar that separates the grounds from the alcove of the corridor.
I don’t give him a chance to answer.
With his shirt fisted in one hand, I punch him with the other, making a satisfying smack echo around us.
