Of all the Fridays for my father to call an impromptu family dinner, it had to be this one. The night I was supposed to meet Lauren at Velvet.
My parents usually hosted these dinners once a month as a way to sit down with the whole family: Dad, Mom, me, my brothers, and more recently, my cousin Aly and her boyfriend Josh. It was Dad’s way of pretending we were like any other family, crowded around the dining table and catching up on one another’s lives. In some twisted, narcissistic way, I sometimes thought that was how he truly saw it. That he’d deluded himself into thinking we all gathered willingly, happily, and not because if we refused he’d make our lives a living hell.
Everyone else knew what these dinners really were—just another way for Dad to exert his control over us, remind us who we owed our loyalty to.
I was especially pissed about dinner tonight because he had a habit of dragging them out for as long as possible, and it was a twenty-minute drive from my parents’ place in the suburbs to Velvet, without traffic. I’d have to keep my eye on the clock to make sure I got out of here in time to meet Lauren.
My parents’ house perched on top of a slight rise, just high enough to see the city spread out in the distance. It was a Tuscan-style villa, clad in light stone, with green shutters and a terra-cotta roof. Towering arborvitae lined the driveway, clipped tight to mimic the Italian cypress trees that couldn’t survive our winters. With the sun setting behind it and the outside lights kicking on, the house looked ancient and proud, like it had stood here for hundreds of years instead of being custom-built a decade ago.
I’d never hated the sight of it more.
I parked in my usual spot and was just pulling off my helmet when lights flashed over me. A luxury car rounded the circular drive, and I let out a relieved breath. Aly and Josh had made it. They’d had to skip the last dinner, thanks to their vacation, and Dad had been unbearable because of it. With them here, he’d (hopefully) be in a slightly better mood, and there’d also be more people for him to focus on besides me.
The car pulled to a stop next to my bike, and out popped Josh, grinning ear to ear. He was a big sonofabitch, not just tall, but broad, with the kind of flashy gym muscles women loved. Add in his dark hair, nearly black eyes, deep olive skin, and blindingly white smile, and he looked a little like a superhero. Right until you noticed the hellscape of ink crawling up his arms, each full sleeve filled with demons and ghouls and other dark ephemera.
He held a finger up while racing around to the passenger side. “One sec,” he said. “I need to get the door for my fiancée.”
I rolled my eyes. Josh had always taken great pride in calling Aly his girlfriend, and I’d had a feeling it was going to become unbearable once he finally popped the question. Looked like I was right.
Aly, not to be upstaged by him, shot her hand into the air as soon as her door was open. At first, I assumed she was flipping me off—she and I had a somewhat antagonistic relationship—but then I realized she was just showing off the giant rock on her hand. Josh offered his arm, and the rest of her appeared, dark hair pulled back off her face, skin a healthy tan after finally spending some time outside instead of stuck beneath the fluorescent lights of the ER she worked at.
“Oh, hi,” she said, still holding her hand up for inspection.
“He sent me a picture of it last week,” I told her.
She turned to Josh. “Hey!”
He ducked, looking sheepish. “What?”
“We said we were going to wait until tonight to tell my family.”
Josh waved in my direction. “Junior doesn’t count.”
I arched a brow. “Rude.”
He sent me a sideways grin. “Because you’re my friend. Aly said I could tell my friends.”
I huffed out a breath, feeling awkward. Sometime over the past six months, this giant weirdo who never took anything seriously had wheedled his way into my life, and, yeah, fine, I guess we were friends. I was still coming to terms with it, would never admit that I’d missed his dumb ass while he and Aly were away getting engaged and doing whatever else it was in the woods that had left them covered in head-to-toe scratches.
My gaze traced over their exposed skin. It looked like they’d fallen down a mountain. Through pricker bushes. The fuck had they been doing out there? Actually, never mind. I didn’t want to know.
Aly swiveled back to me, frowning. “You didn’t tell everyone, did you?”
“Fuck, no. You think I want to be the one to tell my old man that this guy is about to become part of the family?” I asked, thumbing toward Josh.
“Aww,” he said. “I missed you, too, buddy.”
He tried to boop me on the nose.
I slapped his hand out of the air and moved out of his freakishly long reach.
“Why is it,” my mom called from the doorway, “that I always find you three loitering outside?” She stepped onto the front stoop and motioned us in. “The booze is in there, ya daft fecks. And it’s humid as a—”
“Mom, please,” I interrupted. “No more nun jokes.” She had a godawful habit of comparing the weather to nuns’ unmentionable places. Some of the worst I’d heard recently were, “Dry as a nun’s fanny,” “Cold as a nun’s teats,” and “Windy as a nun’s arsehole.” I didn’t know how many more I could take, especially if she made good on her threat to drag me back to church again soon.
Aly and Josh started toward her, both grinning. They might have hated my dad, but Mom had wormed her way into their hearts with her dark Irish humor, and they looked genuinely happy to see her.
“Sorry, Moira,” Josh said. “My fiancée just wanted to show off her ring.”
Mom made a noise I’d never heard before, halfway between a sob and a shriek, and launched herself at Aly. The sight rocked me back on my heels. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen her so happy, grinning and laughing like she didn’t have a care in the world. It made me feel like a bastard for staying away, for not spending more time with her. My brothers and I could escape our father; Mom was stuck with him.
Fuck, I hoped I was able to get free of Dad without risking my relationship with her.
As if I’d summoned him, Dad came racing out of the doorway, gun drawn, my brothers hot on his heels. “What is it? I heard you—” He caught sight of Mom pulling back from Aly and lowered the gun. “Why’d you scream, Moira? Jesus, you almost gave me a heart attack.”
“They’re engaged,” Mom said, holding up Aly’s hand.
My gaze lasered in on Dad, watching his eyes pinch and his mouth pucker as the news set in.
Be nice for once in your fucking life, I thought.
“I guess I should go get the good champagne,” he muttered, stalking away.
Mom let out a sigh of relief. For Dad, that was as nice as it got.
The longest hour of my life later, we finally sat down to dinner. I was supposed to meet Lauren at nine thirty, and I kept checking my phone for the time. At this rate, I’d have to run out of here as soon as we were done eating.
“You know the rule,” Dad griped. “No phones at the dinner table.”
I set it face down next to my plate. “I’m waiting on something from Vinny.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.
Dad eyed me, most likely wondering what the fuck I could be waiting on, but I held his gaze with unflinching focus, silently daring him to say something else. Mom chose that moment to clear her throat, a subtle reminder that first and foremost, we never discussed business during dinner.
Reluctantly, Dad turned to Aly. “June works best.”
She paused, plate held aloft while Josh spooned some salad onto it for her. “For what?”
“Your wedding,” Dad said. “The garden is at its peak then, and that’ll give us plenty of time to send out invitations.” His gaze slid to Josh. “Or for you to change your mind.”
Mom narrowed her eyes at Dad.
Aly’s glare was just as steely. “First off, we literally just got engaged. We haven’t even started planning yet, and second—”
“Good,” Dad interrupted, reaching for the stuffed shells Greg passed his way. “That means you’re not in any rush.” His focus dropped to where the table hid Aly’s stomach from sight. “I didn’t know if you’d just put on a couple of pounds, or if you were expecting.”
Shock rippled through the room. Shit, he’d gone there.
“Nico,” Mom hissed.
The table rattled as Josh pushed back from it, his expression darkening in a way that didn’t bode well for my father. I was half tempted to say something, but out of everyone here, Josh and Aly needed the least help defending themselves, and I wasn’t trying to make myself a target tonight.
“Everyone, relax,” Dad said, grinning in a way that made my hackles rise. “It was a joke. She’s, like, two percent body fat.”
Across from me, Alec shoved a forkful of cheesy pasta into his mouth and spoke around it. “Women don’t like it when you joke about their weight.”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Dad sniped, gaze shifting to Aly. “Sorry for thinking you were less sensitive than other women.”
Mom threw back her glass of wine like it was a shot, muttering darkly.
“Secondly,” Aly continued like she’d never been interrupted, “I’m not going to change my mind about marrying Josh.”
Dad’s expression turned calculating. “Lot of time before now and next June.”
Aly shook her head. “Who said anything about us waiting that long?”
“I told you,” Dad said. “The garden—”
Aly finally snapped. “Fuck the garden!” Josh put a hand on her shoulder, and she took a calming breath. “Sorry, Moira.”
Mom waved her off and reached for the bottle of wine, upending it over her glass.
This was going well.
“We’re not having the wedding here,” Aly said, her gaze back on my father. “We can barely get through five minutes of dinner without you pissing everyone off.”
Dad shrugged, unbothered. “Lot of time for news to get out about your boyfriend’s father, too.”
Suddenly, everyone’s focus swiveled to Josh, questioning. Mom and my brothers didn’t know about Josh’s dark past, only me and Dad.
And Aly, who looked ready to spit nails. “I warned you not to bring that up again.”
A memory flashed through my mind of Aly, Josh, Dad, and me all locked in Dad’s study, Aly just as angry as she was now, vowing to never speak to my father again if he outed Josh’s secrets.
Dad’s eyes glittered with dark light. “Have the wedding here, and I won’t.”
“I’m not doing this with you,” Aly said. “We’re leaving. Sorry, Moira.”
“Don’t be,” Mom said.
Josh and Aly said their brief goodbyes to the rest of us, and the only thing that kept my old man quiet throughout their departure was Mom glaring daggers at him.
“I’m done, too,” she said when they were gone, grabbing her wineglass. She paused at the door and shot Dad one last hostile look. “And don’t bother coming to bed later.”
“Ooh,” Alec said after she stormed out. “Someone’s sleeping on the couch.”
Dad turned to him, silent, his eyes begging Alec to say one more word so he had someone to vent his anger on. Alec wisely shut up and stared down at his plate.
And then it was my turn to bear the brunt of Dad’s focus. “What are you waiting on Vinny for?”
I cocked an eyebrow. “I thought there wasn’t any shoptalk at dinner?”
Dad planted his elbows on the table and leaned forward, dark eyes sparking with menace. “Why are you avoiding the question, Junior?”
Thank fuck I had an actual excuse to have my phone out and didn’t need to lie. Lies never lasted long with my father, because he was paranoid enough to double-check every word said to him, even from his own sons. The last thing I needed was for him to catch me in one right now. I wouldn’t put it past him to have someone tail me, and I couldn’t risk him finding out about Lauren before I was ready.
“Vinny’s down at the docks making sure that customs agent’s palms are greased,” I said.
Dad frowned. “He trying to demand more money?”
I nodded.
Greg blew out a breath. “Why? The boat’s full of olive oil, not coke.”
“Fake-ass olive oil,” I reminded him.
Greg frowned. “So? Get rid of him and find an easier agent to work with.”
I shook my head. “There’s too much heat in this city right now. We don’t need to add another dead body to the pile. Especially because it would lead to an investigation, and if the Feds start digging, the trail might lead back to us. Plus, there’s no time. The next shipment comes in later tonight.”
Dad tipped his chin in my direction. “What Junior said.” He wiped his face with his dinner napkin and set it aside. “Actually, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something. We’ve been thinking about expanding imports. I’ve spoken to Lorenzo, and we’d like to see you take the lead on this.”
Alec nearly choked on his pasta. Beside him, Stefan went still.
Greg let out a low whistle and patted me on the back. “Looks like you’re getting promoted.”
I shut my expression down, my mind working on overdrive. This wasn’t Dad being some gracious benefactor. This was his response to me pulling away. It was his last-ditch effort to tie me closer to him in a setting where I couldn’t refuse. Because there was no logical reason for me to decline the offer.
And while I wanted to break free more than anything, as of right now, I wasn’t ready, didn’t have something to fall back on, had no plan in place for how to deal with the fallout of severing ties with my old man. Which meant I had to say yes.
By heading our oil operation for Lorenzo, I’d be taking on more responsibility than ever, more risk. My head would be on the chopping block if we got caught, and I’d be the one spending my life behind bars.
Heat crawled up the back of my neck as my temper reared its ugly head. I wanted to scream. I wanted to rage. I wanted to flip this fucking table over and beat my father to within an inch of his life. But I had to keep myself in check, had to keep him from growing even more suspicious of me than he already was.
Dad tipped his head sideways, gaze narrowing, a grin spreading over his face that looked more like a baring of teeth. “I can trust you with this, right, son?”
I had no choice but to agree, so I forced myself to return his smile. “Of course.” The lie tasted like ash in my mouth, like the ruined embers of my dreams. “I won’t let you down.”
