Page 7 of Beni

“Come on, this isn’t a big thing,” Bene muttered. “We just had some fun, and got into a fight. It wasn’t like we killed someone.”

“Yet.” Gian lifted one shoulder, his tone cold and flat as he continued on with, “You have not done something I cannot fix yet, and I do not want to reach that point with the two of you. I need you to learn to respect and value your place in this family and business. Apparently, I am not the right man to teach you. I thought the two of you would be like your other brothers—this is what you wanted, and so you would fall into line, and settle out of your wildness. Instead, you’ve used your status and privilege as an excuse to become worse.”

Beni knew exactly what his father was saying.

And how he would fix it.

Correct an issue before it gets worse.

That was the Guzzi way.

“We’ll start with a year away, and go from there,” his father stated.

Even Marcus looked up at that, although their oldest brother stayed quiet.

Gian nodded. “A year away, mentoring under a different organization. Your uncle in Chicago is willing to make a place for the two of you in the Outfit. I will reconsider after the year is up, depending on how well the two of you have done.”

“What?”

“We’ve never worked for the Chicago mob,” Beni said.

Bene scowled. “I fucking hate Chicago.”

They did have a lot of family there, though, being as it was where their mother came from, and where her family remained. Or rather, what was left of it.

Gian shrugged, a faint smile curving his lips as he replied, “In case you didn’t get the memo, boys, it’s no longer about what you want—I’m doing what’s best for you. Otherwise, the more you both act out, the worse my fears become about what will happen to the two of you when I’m not looking. I can’t always watch over you. Marcus won’t always have time to look out for the two of you. And you’re scaring your mother.”

That did it.

Just the mention of hurting their ma.

It was enough to set them straight.

Or, mostly.

“So, Chicago,” Gian said, “you’ll leave within the week. Do make sure to spend as much time with your mother as possible before you go. Understood?”

What choice did they have?

“It’s not so bad,” Marcus said over his shoulder, “Chicago, I mean.”

Beni didn’t believe that. Not for a second.

“And it’ll be good for both of you,” he added quieter, “even if you don’t think so right now.”

Right.

Time would tell, wouldn’t it?

“The most important lesson a woman can learn in business,” a smart woman once told August Rivera, “is that she will always have to work twice as hard to be viewed as even half as good as a man in the same position. You’ll always have to work for it. They never will.”

That woman?

Her ma.

Ada wasn’t wrong, either. Her mother liked to hand down those little tidbits of information whenever she thought August was listening. Truth be told, she listened far more than she didn’t. Her drive to be successful was in the fabric of her being. All she had to do was look to her parents for the reason why, too.

Her mother, now a fine jewelry designer who immigrated from Nigeria with a small savings and a hope and dream, built her company, Ada’s, from the ground up. She was the very definition of blood, sweat, and tears.