Chapter Twelve

~ Vittorio ~

Tony was gay?

That shouldn't excite me so damn much. Tony was untouchable even for me. He was the boss, the head of the D'Angelo family. I had no business even thinking about waning to take him to bed.

I just couldn't seem to help myself.

Tony narrowed his eyes at me. "Is that going to be a problem for you?"

"No," I said quickly. "Even though no one knows it, I'm gay." If he could be honest with me, I could be honest with him. "I've worked really hard to keep that a secret though."

"Why?"

"Like Luca said, it's hard to be gay in the mafia."

"Yeah." Tony waved a dismissive hand at me. "I don't care about that."

"You should," I countered. "If anyone knew you were gay before this, it might explain why they are trying so hard to kill you."

"Does that mean every member of the D'Angelo family was gay? Even the thirty guards that died? Because it seems to me that someone is trying to wipe the entire bloodline out. I don't think they care who is fucking who."

Okay, he had a point, but still... "You need to take this more seriously, Tony."

"No!" Tony snapped. "You guys found me. You guys brought me here. You guys told me that I had to be the head of the family. I was perfectly happy living my life back in New York."

"Really?" I snapped right back. "You were happy living in a crappy studio apartment and working three jobs?"

Yeah, I probably shouldn't have raised my voice to him or said what I said. I figured that out just about the time he belted me in the mouth with the back of his hand.

"It might not have been perfect," Tony fumed, "but at least I could fuck whoever I wanted to and no one questioned me about it."

My jaw clenched as anger erupted inside of me. There might have been a bit of jealousy as well, but I'd never admit it. "Is that all you care about? Who you can fuck?"

Tony squinted at me. "Are you an idiot or have you just repressed yourself for so long that you don't know any other way to live?"

Huh?

"It's not a matter of who I fuck," Tony continued. "It's that I refuse to live by antiquated rules set by someone long dead and buried. How is it any of their business who's in my bed? What they need to be concerned with is if I'm a good enough shot to put a bullet in their brains if they piss me off."

I took a quick step back when Tony moved closer. At this point, as angry as he seemed, I wasn't so sure I wouldn't end up with a bullet in my brain.

"If they are so uncomfortable with who I sleep with then they shouldn't put their noses in my bedroom. It's none of their damn business."

As much as I wanted to tell him that I agreed with him, I knew it wouldn't make a difference. Once word got out that he liked men, a lot of people would be after him and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to protect him.

"And if their narrow minded values are bruised enough that they feel the need to kill me, then they can certainly try, but I haven't lived this long by being stupid and every instinct I have tells me that this has nothing to do with me being gay. It's about who my father was."

I couldn't say he was wrong there.

"Besides, the heads of four of the major families in New York, plus Luca here, are all gay and married to men. They seem to be doing alright. Why would it be any different for me?"

"He's right, Vito," Luca said. "Since I married Nico, there's been a little pushback from some of the others, but not as much as you'd think. Times are changing and the old guard is dying out. The new generation coming into power is a lot less concerned with who people are fucking and more with the bottom line."

"Besides," Tony said, "if they want to flaunt their holier-than-thou ideals, maybe they should look in their own backyards first. I'm a perfect example of how these idiots act behind the scenes. I am my father's bastard after all."

Another good point that I couldn't argue with. A lot of the people that held their rigid rules in place had mistresses and slept around on their wives and husbands. Many had illegitimate children like Tony.

It was a serious case of "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones".

I wanted to rub my hands over my face, but it still ached like hell. Instead, I dropped my head back on my shoulders and stared up at the ceiling while letting out a long, frustrated groan.

"Let's get the two of you to some guestrooms," Luca said. "We can continue this conversation in the morning after you've had time to rest up."

"One guestroom, please," Tony stated. "Nothing personal, but I'd feel better being placed in the same room as Vito. He's kept me alive this long. I'm betting on him to keep me alive in the future."

My jaw dropped just a little at those words. "You still trust me to keep you alive?" I had been more than positive I'd lost his trust when we started snapping at each other and he belted me in the mouth.

"I'm still breathing, aren't I?"

I wasn't sure if that was a reassurance or not. We'd been lucky. It was as simple as that. There was also the fact that Tony had hidden depths even I was in awe of. On the surface, he was just a punk kid from New York City. Underneath the surface, I think he had the makings of a great mafia boss.

"If you want to follow Franco, I'll arrange for a first aid kit to be delivered to your room. I'm afraid Nico and I have a prior engagement so I'll have dinner delivered to your suite, if that's acceptable."

"Yes, thank you," Tony replied. "And thank you for your assistance in this matter."

"Don't worry about it," Luca replied. "If the heads of the families worked together a little more often and became friends, there'd be a lot less trouble between us."

"You think it's that simple?" I asked.

"You were here at the conclave," Luca said. "You saw how the families from New York behaved. Four of the five families have a peace agreement between them and often work together. In my case, all five families stepped in to help me when Nico was kidnapped. Now, our husbands are all fast friends. I wouldn't dare create trouble for any of them. I like sleeping in my bed with my husband. I do not like the couch."

Tony let out a small chuckle. "You sound rather henpecked there, Luca."

I sucked in a sharp breath, sure we were seconds from dying.

Luca straightened up, stuck his nose in the air, and declared, "And I'm damn proud of it."

My jaw hit my chest.

"I'd like to meet your Nico," Tony said. "He sounds interesting."

"He's perfect," Luca stated. He clearly adored his husband. "He grew up in New York as well so you might have some things in common."

"Then I look forward to it."

Luca waved his hand toward the door. "Why don't we go and get you two settled?"

I picked my jaw up off my chest and then followed behind Luca and Tony. I wasn't sure what exactly was going on here. The two of them seem to be becoming friends.

Not sure how I felt about that.

Granted, having Luca Sabatino as a friend could only help us, just like having Vinnie Borelli as a friend could help us. It was the fallout when my uncle discovered this friendship that worried me. He was already against Vinnie simply because of who he married. He'd go through the roof over Luca and Nico.

I seriously needed to get my head examined. I was pretty sure I was going crazy because having them as friends actually sounded like a good idea to me. If there were more gay friendly people in the mafia, maybe Tony's life wouldn't hang in the balance.

Maybe I could actually have a life.

Once we reached the grand staircase, Luca gave us a small bow, which was odd.

"I'll have my butler see you to your room," he said. "I'm needed in the kitchen."

The kitchen?

He must have seen my perplexed look because he chuckled. "Today is cookie baking day and I never miss it."

Cookie baking day? He was blowing us off to bake cookies?

Was this man insane?

"Can I come out now?" someone called from the other room.

My eyebrows shot up when Luca smiled.

"You can come out, cuore mio. "

A blond haired man just a couple of inches shorter than Tony walked out of the doors to our left and hurried to Luca's side. I recognized him from my previous visit.

Luca pressed a kiss to his forehead and then turned to look at Tony. "Nico, this is Tony D'Angelo, head of the D'Angelo family, and his right hand man Vito. This is my Nico."

Tony must have understood the situation because he didn't offer his hand. Instead, he gave Nico a respectful nod and said, "I'm pleased to meet you, Nico. Your husband said you grew up in New York City?"

Nico nodded.

"I lived there all of my life until about twenty-four hours ago."

Nico's face brightened. "Really?"

Tony nodded. "I had an apartment over in Bushwick."

Nico squinted at him. "I'm not sure where that is."

"If you don't know where it is, you don't want to know. Trust me."

Having been in Tony's neighborhood, I fully supported that. The place wasn't a total dump, but close to it. Even armed, I'd be wary of walking home at night.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your family," Nico stated.

"Thank you," Tony replied. "Even though I never knew any of them, it would have been nice to get the chance."

That was something I hadn't really given any thought. I'd been so concerned with finding out who placed the bomb at the wedding and protecting Tony that I had totally forgotten that he'd lost his entire family. There would be no chance in the future to meet any of them.

He basically had no one.

"Please show our guests to their suite," Luca told his butler. "Sophia is arranging a tray for them."

"Yes, sir," the butler replied.

"Vito, I had you placed in the suite you occupied before so you should know where it is. If you need anything, just ask one of the guards or servants. We can meet up after breakfast to discuss the situation and make some plans. Does that sound all right to you?"

"Yes, thank you," Tony said.

Luca pointed to me. "Keep an eye on that one. If you do decide he needs a doctor, tell one of my guards and they will let me know."

Tony nodded.

Luca and Nico walked off into the room to our left leaving me and Tony standing there with the butler. When the man politely bowed and gestured toward the stairs, Tony stepped over to take my arm.

"Take your time," he said. "We're in no hurry."

I looked at the stairs and groaned.

"Maybe there is a bathtub. A long soak will make you feel better."

I knew for a fact that there was a bathtub. As Luca had said, he was placing me in the same room I had been in before. It was actually a really nice room. I'd been impressed with the accommodations when I was here last time.

Going up the stairs was an exercise in agony. I was pretty sure the adrenaline I'd been running on before was starting to fade. I needed to get cleaned up, treated, fed, and then into bed. I was going to crash soon.

When we finally reached the door to our suite, I was leaning heavily on Tony. I felt as weak as a newborn kitten. Not the impression I wanted to give my boss.

The butler opened the door and Tony and I walked inside. Tony stopped right inside the room. He was looking around the room with his mouth hanging open.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Tony?"

"Do people really live like this?"

I chuckled lightly. "You should see your villa."

It was just as fancy.

Tony led me over to the couch by the fireplace and helped me sit down. He knelt down on the floor in front of me before glancing at the butler. "Did someone find a first aid kit? And we'll also need a bowl of hot water and some clean rags."

"A clean change of clothes wouldn't hurt either," I pointed out. "Something for tonight and something for tomorrow." I grimaced as I glanced down at my dirty and torn suit. "These have about had it."

"I'll see to it immediately, sir," the butler replied.

"Thank you," Tony called out as the man left, closing the door behind him. "Let's get some of this off of you."

I stared down at Tony as he pulled my shoes off and then my socks. He was being incredibly gentle, which kind of surprised me. Over the last twenty-four hours, I'd seen the strength in this man, the fierceness. I'd even seen him kill a man and threaten another one.

Gentle was at odds with that behavior.

"You handled yourself pretty well out there tonight," I told him. "You've got some skills." I hadn't expected him to be able to handle himself. I had been quite surprised when he had.

"Oh yeah? Are my skills good enough to be a mafia boss?"

"They could, but they could also get you killed."

Tony's frown was instant, curving down the corners of his lips. "Aren't you just a ray of sunshine?"

Would this man ever be serious?

"Look—"

"No, you look," Tony snapped. "I get that the mafia life is not for the faint of heart. Truly I do. But I refuse to pretend to be something I'm not."

"This isn't about the gay thing, Tony." Well, it wasn't all about the gay thing. "You don't seem to be taking any of this seriously."

"I take it plenty seriously," Tony replied. "I also think it's stupid as shit."

Tony continued to help me undress while he talked, still being gentle. He unbuttoned my shirt and carefully slid it down my back and off my arms.

He did leave me in my pants.

Couldn't decide if I was grateful for that or not.

"Thank you."

"For what?" When Tony lifted his head to look at me, our faces were inches apart. I could feel his warm breath blowing across my face.

My breath caught when his gaze lowered to my lips.