“Dad.” I sigh as I enter the living room and he’s sitting by the fire next to Mom. Not that it’s cold this time of year in NY. But I know that sitting by the fire gives him a sense of superiority which is important to someone like him.

He always has to feel as if he’s above everyone including his wife. I can tell that she looks frail as she weakly smiles at me. Then she walks slowly to my side.

“Mom,” I whisper as I kiss her on the cheek.

“You look too thin. Are you eating?”

I raise an eyebrow at her question. Her eyes dart back to Dad and then she nods as she walks back to his side. It’s as if he’s sitting on a throne and she needs to be by his side. He doesn’t even look up at me.

Mom whispers, “We’re waiting on Valentino. He’ll be here soon. He was just a couple of blocks from here.”

I’m still fighting the hangover from last night. I don’t even know how I made it to the hotel suite. I was drinking one too many shots, and I could have come to the family penthouse. But there are one too many memories here. One of them is exactly the place that I was at the time I was told Silvia had been killed. That was when I went into a frenzy, and I had a crazy notion that if I never came back here, then I’ll never have to face the demon I became that night when I went on a killing spree.

Something that I ordered others to do, I decided to do myself. Dad told me to stand back and let him deal with it. The same way he’d indirectly told me to do on the video chat the other day.

I head to the bar at the side of the room, when he blurts out, “Haven’t you had enough to drink already?”

It was as if he had ears and eyes in every spot. He must have known about last night. I ignore him as I pull out his favorite bourbon and start to pour. I can feel his eyes on me, and he’s probably waiting for me to offer him a shot. This isn’t a social call; I came to an end this. Not to talk about my newly formed drinking habits.

That’s when Valentino walks into the room. He may be short, stocky and a few years younger than me, but he’d aged dramatically in such a short space of time as I watched his balding head approached me. Something I’d never noticed before on the video chat, but then I wasn’t observing his physical appearance, not like now.

“Well, well the prodigal son returns. How are you doing, Marco?” He smiles as he comes over to me and gives me a fake hug. He’s probably annoyed about my presence. Not only because of his wife, but Dad handed the business to him after I handed in my early retirement card.

I wonder if he’s slightly nervous about the idea of me coming back and taking over. A thing that’s the furthest from my mind.

“Valentino,” I say as I finish my shot and quickly pour another one. I need to have a clear head for this conversation, but judging by the cold stare of Dad and the nervous twitching of Valentino something’s gone down. Then Rick appears in the room, and it confirms for me that they’ve decided the next steps and the only reason that I’m here is not to form part of the decision committee, but to be advised about the next steps.

“Rick.”

He nods as confirmation of his appearance as he sits down and Dad nods in his direction. As if on cue, Mom decides to leave the room. She always did that whenever discussions took place. It was as if she had the mentality out of sight, then out of mind. I watch as she slides out of the room, but she’s limping, and I want to ask her if he’s hit her again. Something my dad does from time-to-time and I’ve never understood why Mom stays around and tolerates it. He treats her as if she’s his queen one minute and a piece of dirt the next. She’s told me that she stays out of loyalty, but that’s never made any sense to me because he’s far from loyal to her.

“This isn’t a fucking reunion,” Dad says as he stands up and starts to take the lead of the conversation.

This means that we all need to sit and listen to him like a Principal in talking to children in a classroom. He wants our attention, and I gave it to him without sitting down and pretending to be one of his disciples.

“Steven’s been killed, and we need to make sure that none of this comes back to us.”

“What about his family?” I spit out as I start to pour another shot. I realized this could be part of the reason why our leads always led to a dead end. Dad had told me to sort out Steven, but he’d already been one step ahead of me and had done that himself. Just as I suspected he would.

“Well, you have his daughter. What do you plan to do with her?”

He ignores my question as Rick’s eyes avoid mine. That’s why he had the video chat. All the shit about he’ll give me the chance to sort it out was all bullshit, and I should have known better than to trust his word. It was always good for shit. I quickly finish my shot with only one thing on my mind, getting the fuck out of here. “What about her?”

He coughs. “You fucking shit on me and you ask what about her? First of all, your mom and I were attacked last night while you were drinking your sorrows away and thinking about your cock and not your fucking head. You said that you were retiring, but your shit keeps coming back to haunt us. Like that fucking construction that you’ve got us involved in…”

I didn’t give him a chance to finish talking as I blurt out, “I haven’t got you involved. I’m just doing what’s right.”

He barks, “What’s fucking right? What do you think that means, Marco? I don’t fucking understand you. I don’t think that I ever will. Your poor mother’s been...”

“Hit by someone who isn’t fucking you!”

Valentino steps in at the rage that’s drawing Dad and I closer together. “Can we just settle down! We came here to talk about Leah. She’s the only one standing in our way.”

I shake my head. “What about his wife and daughter?”

Rick answers, “Well, they’ve been paid off. They needed money because they were living hand to mouth. We don’t need to worry about them. Ever.”

Maybe I’m not the only one growing soft. Before, Dad would have made sure that they were all dead. He would never pay them off. I wonder what changed his mind; I decide that in the grand scheme of things, that it’s not important. The best part is that Steven’s dead. Am I upset about it? No.

Surprised? Not really.

“We just need to know that you’ll take care of Leah. Right?”

Valentino’s question is directed toward Dad, and he only nods his head and turns back to his chair. The one that he loves to sit on as if he’s on the throne of the castle.

My eyes cut to Rick. I thought that he was working for me, but I can see that his loyalty lies with Dad.

He’s about to say something, but then I stand in front of Dad who’s now sitting down. I can see that he’s tired, just the same way that Mom was when she was in the room. “Leave her to me.”

He points. “You sure that you can take care of her?”

I nod, and then I hesitate as I’m about to walk out. I need to get the fuck out of here; it’s fucking poison as Valentino takes over from going to the bar and pouring himself a drink before offering it to the room as if he’s at a party. But there’s no celebration, and I don’t feel like drinking with them anymore. I could stay, find out how they’re doing, but I don’t give a fuck anymore.

Being in this house is building up a headache. One I don’t need right now. Especially as I stand and look at my mom.

She comes back in the room with a limp, and I feel sick to my stomach. I can see that I’ve done a lot more damage than I’d intended by bringing Steven into our lives. I hate myself for it, but as I take a last look at Dad, I figure out that I hate him even more.