Chapter Eighteen

~ Vittorio ~

I woke to someone knocking on the door. Besides the fact that I could have used a few hours more of sleep, getting out of a nice warm comfortable bed with a sexy man in it was not something I wanted to do, but whoever it was at the door was very persistent.

I groaned almost silently as I rolled to the side of the bed and reached for the lounge pants Luca had loaned me.

I grumbled to myself as I walked across the room and yanked the door open. "What?" I snarled in a whisper so i didn't wake Tony.

Luca cocked an eyebrow.

I sighed as I rubbed a hand over my face. "Sorry, man, you woke me from a dead sleep."

Not to mention a snuggle with a warm body.

"You might want to put these on." Luca handed me a stack of clothes. "Your Uncle Carmine is at the gate demanding to see you."

My eyebrows snapped together. "How did he know we were here? I didn't call him."

"I don't know, but he's making a lot of racket. If he doesn't quite down, the authorities are going to show up and I can't have that."

"No, no, of course not." I'd already caused Luca enough problems. I didn't want to cause him anymore. "Look, if it's okay with you, let him in and serve him some coffee or something. I need fifteen minutes to shower and dress, and then I'll be down."

"I'll give you twenty, but not a minute more. He's starting to get on my nerves."

"Oh, hey, did Vinnie's guys arrive?" I asked before the man could leave.

"Not yet, but they should be here soon. I talked to Vinnie and he's going to loan them to me for a couple of days just in case anyone decides to attack us again."

"Any word on who was behind the attack?"

Luca snorted as he waved a hand toward the bed. "Your boy there did a pretty good job. Those ass hats are all still unconscious."

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"I have them all locked up and under guard. The moment one of them wakes up, I'll be informed."

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to be there when you talk to them."

Luca nodded. "That would be fine."

"I'll be as quick as I can."

"Are you bringing Tony down with you?"

I glanced back at the sleeping man in the bed. "No, I think I'll let him sleep a little longer."

"You know he's going to be pissed at you, don't you?"

"Probably, but it's a chance I'll take. I want to meet with my uncle first and find out what kind of mood he's in before I introduce him to Tony. I have a feeling that that introduction is going to go sideways rather quickly."

Tony was not going to put up with any of my uncle's shit.

"You're probably right."

Oh, I knew I was.

"Okay, see you downstairs in twenty," Luca said before turning and walking away.

I carried the clothes Luca had given me into the bathroom and took the quickest show I remembered taking in years. I basically jumped in, ran a soapy washrag over my body real quick, and then rinsed off.

Once I climbed out and dried off, I went through the stack of clothes separating mine from clothes that would fit Tony. I left his in a pile on the counter and then dressed in the ones that fit me.

I walked out of the bathroom and headed straight for the bed, or rather the sexy man in the bed. I seriously didn't want to wake Tony, but Luca was right. He'd be pissed.

I sat down on the side of the bed and leaned over until I could press a kiss to Tony's forehead. He looked so sweet and innocent when he slept. He was the devil when he was awake.

"Tony, I need you to wake up for a moment."

Tony's eyelids fluttered and then slowly lifted. As soon as Tony saw me, a smile spread across his lips. "Morning."

I smiled back, liking this softer side of the man. "Morning."

Tony's brow flickered when his eyes dropped away from my face. "Why are you dressed?"

"My Uncle Carmine is here."

Tony's eyes rounded. "Oh crap."

Pretty much.

"I'll go down and deal with him," I told Tony. "I just wanted you to know where I was going."

"I'll get dressed."

Tony started to sit up, but I pushed him back down.

"I can deal with my uncle," I assured him. "You go back to sleep. You need the rest. When you wake up, there is a clean set of clothes for you on the bathroom counter."

"Are you sure?"

I smiled again, something warm igniting inside of me. "I'm sure, cara mia ."

Tony settled back against the pillows. "One of these days you're going to have to tell me what that means."

"It's a term of endearment like my dear or sweetheart."

It also meant my beloved, but I wasn't ready to think about that right now, let alone tell Tony. The words had just come naturally to my lips. They felt right when referring to him.

Tony's smile grew sleepy. "Mmm, I like that."

"I'm glad." I leaned down to press another kiss to his forehead. "Go back to sleep. I'll come wake you when I'm done talking to my uncle."

I waited until his eyes closed before getting up and walking out of the room. I shut the door firmly behind me before making my way downstairs and heading for Luca's study.

I could hear the yelling before I reached the door.

I sighed as I pressed two fingers to my temple and then took a deep calming breath. One of these days my uncle was going to be the death of me. I just hoped it wasn't today.

I knocked and then opened the door, stepping inside the room. My Uncle Carmine stood toe to toe with Luca, who had his arms crossed and was staring down at him with a look of utter distain on his face.

"I demand you let me see my nephew right now!"

Luca rolled his eyes before turning to look at me. "It's too early for this shit."

"Uncle, have you lost your mind?" I snapped as I hurried over to pull Uncle Carmine away from Luca. "You don't speak to the head of another family like that."

It was a good way to end up dead.

"Nephew!"

When my uncle rushed toward me, I held out a hand to stop him and looked at Luca. "Can I have a few minutes with my uncle?" I glared at Uncle Carmine. "I need to remind him of the rules of etiquette."

"I'll go see if Sophia has started breakfast yet," Luca said as he started out of the room.

I waited until the door closed behind him before turning on my uncle. "Are you insane? You don't talk to the head of another family like that." I know I had already said that, but apparently it needed to be repeated. "Luca could—"

My uncle reared back. "Luca? You call Sabatino by his first name and you want to remind me of the rules?"

"He told me to," I retorted.

"He's the one that kidnapped you, Vito."

Man, my uncle needed to get a clue.

"And who told you that?"

"It doesn't matter," Uncle Carmine insisted. "We just need to get out of here."

I narrowed my eyes, a sliver of unease sliding down my spine. "Why?"

"Look, our men are waiting outside the gates. As soon as we get out of here, they are going to come in and take Sabatino down. None of the other families will sanction us considering Sabatino took out the entire D'Angelo family."

He really was insane.

I took a hasty step back from my uncle. I didn't want to catch whatever had made him crazy. "Luca didn't kill the D'Angelo family. He wasn't even in the country when it happened."

Uncle Carmine snorted. "But his men were here. You don't think he could have ordered someone to set the bomb? He was probably out of the country to give himself an alibi."

"He was out of the country rescuing his husband. He could care less what was going on with the D'Angelo family."

"Look, the Romano family promised me that if we could take Sabatino out, they would sign a peace accord with us. Do you have any idea what that means? With the D'Angelo family gone, we can—"

"Who said the D'Angelo family was gone?" Tony asked as he walked into the study. "I'm still here and last time I checked you couldn't sign a peace agreement without my signature."

Uncle Carmine's eyes rounded. "You're alive."

"Very much so," Tony replied.

"But they said you were dead."

"They who?" I asked.

"The Romanos. They showed me pictures of the crash scene. There were even pictures of Sabatino's guards pulling Vito out of the wreck, but they said you burned up in the fire."

Tony snorted, crossing his arms. "They lied."

"Oh, we were kidnapped all right," I said. "We were taken to a warehouse right here in Palermo."

"See?" Uncle Carmine asked with righteous indignation. "I knew it was Sabatino."

"It wasn't actually," Tony said. "Luca rescued us."

Uncle Carmine frantically shook his head. "That's just what he wants you to believe."

Tony's eyes narrowed, and that was never a good thing. "Why are you so against Luca Sabatino?"

"Because." Uncle Carmine stomped his foot. "He's not the kind of man that should be in charge."

Oh, I could see where this was going.

"And why is that, Uncle?"

"He's married to a man," my uncle insisted.

"He is," Tony agreed. "That man's name is Nico and he's very nice."

"He's gay!"

"News flash." Tony leaned his upper body closer. "So am I."

My uncle's mouth dropped open.

I smirked as I stepped over to Tony, grabbed his hand, and brought it to my lips, pressing a soft kiss to the top, before turning to look at my uncle. "Since Tony and I are now involved, guess that makes me gay as well."

Uncle carmine's eyes snapped to me. "You can't be gay."

"Been gay since I was twelve years old," I stated firmly. "Well, probably before that, but that's when I figured out I liked guys and not girls."

"You can't be gay in the mafia!"

"Well," I started, "considering a peace agreement between Luca and four of the five families in New York is in the works, and they are all gay, pretty sure gay in the mafia is here to stay."

Uncle Carmine's head jerked back. "What?"

"I've already spoken to Luca and Vinnie Borelli and they are both on board. Vinnie and Luca are currently speaking to the other five families in New York to see if they are interested, but yeah, we've all agreed to not only have a peace accord between our families, but to meet up once a month to keep the peace between us." Tony tilted his head a little. "Funny, the only family not invited to join was the Romano family."

"So, basically, three of the four families in Italy plus four, possibly five of the families in New York City have all agreed to peace between our families. The only one not on board with this is the one family not invited because they can't stand gay people." Tony smirked. "Imagine that."

Uncle Carmine stumbled back, collapsing into one of the chairs. "You haven't even been in Italy for more than a couple of days. How did you get them to all agree?"

Tony's eyes rolled. "Must be my winning personality."

"Things don't happen this way!"

Tony snorted "They do in my world."

He walked over to sit on the couch, crossing one leg over the other. I naturally followed, sitting down next to him and stretching my arm along the back of the couch behind him.

When Tony pulled out a knife and started cleaning under his fingernails with it, I leaned back. I didn't want anything to happen to my uncle, but I wasn't stupid enough to get between Tony and his prey.

"It's like this, Carmine. I am the last remaining D'Angelo. At some point, I am sure I will decide to have kids and I'll pass on the bloodline to the next generation, but until that time I am in charge." He pointed the knife tip at himself and then back to Carmine. "Me, not you. Understand?"

"Yes, of course, but—"

"No buts here...well, unless you count mine and it's a little sore after the pounding Vito gave me last night."

I tucked my lips in and bit down on them to stop myself from laughing when my uncle's face paled. I knew Tony was going to toss things upside down, but I hadn't exactly been expecting this.

"Do you see how he is speaking to me?" Uncle Carmine snapped as he glared at me.

"I do," I admitted, "but he's right. I did give him quite the pounding last night."

Tony must have liked what I said because he leaned over and pressed a kiss to my cheek before patting it. "Be a good boy and I'll let you do it again tonight."

I could be a good boy.

"You're insane," Carmine whispered. "You're both insane."

Tony was up and over the coffee table, the knife blade pressed against Carmine's throat before the man could even get up. "What part of this aren't you getting, Carmine? I am the head of the D'Angelo family. Vito is my underboss. That puts you third in line, not first. What I say goes. If you don't like it, get the hell out."

"Are you going to let him do this to me?" Uncle Carmine asked me.

I shrugged as I crossed my legs at the ankles. "He's the boss."

Carmine gaped at me. "I'm your uncle."

"Boss and lover trump uncle."

And always would.

Tony pressed the blade into Carmine's throat just a little harder. "And you'd better keep that biased gay bullshit to yourself if you decide to stay. I won't stand for it."

"If word of this gets out—"

"I don't care if word gets out," Tony interrupted. "It's not my problem if other people don't agree with the fact that I like dick. It's their problem, not mine."

"You'll get us all killed."

"Yeah, probably, but I plan to have a lot of fun before then."

When Carmine looked at Tony with eyes the size of saucers, I couldn't help chuckling. He was experiencing Tony at his finest. It was glorious to watch from the sidelines.

Tony walked back over to sit down next to me, going back to picking at his fingernails with the tip of the knife. "Now, what are we going to do about the Romanos? It seems to me that not only do they want to use Luca as a scapegoat for my death, but they want to use Uncle Carmine here as their instrument of death. Either way you look at it, they get off scott free while someone else takes the blame."

"Leads me to think that the Romans are behind the bombing," I told him.

"True, but is it all the Romanos or just a few of them? Like that nephew that pissed Luca off?"

"We should probably talk to Luca," I suggested. "It also wouldn't hurt to get Vinnie on the phone. Maybe he has some insight that we don't have."

Tony hopped up and started for the door. "I'll track down Luca. You deal with your uncle before I do. I don't want to pay for a new rug. We can call Vinnie when I get back."

"Yes, Boss."

Tony stopped and glared at me.

I smiled. "Yes, cara mia ."

I waited until Tony had left the room before rubbing my hands over my face and then dropping them into my lap so I could look at my uncle. "Do you want to die because I'm pretty sure Tony is willing to accommodate you if that's the case?"

"You can't be gay, Vittorio."

"Why not?"

I'd been gay all my life.

"Because I don't want you to die!"

"Pretty sure being gay does not kill you."

"You'd be wrong," Uncle Carmine whispered as he turned to look out the window. "Being gay in the mafia does kill you, or at least the people you love."

Wait...what was going on here?

"Uncle Carmine?"

There was no happiness in the smile on my uncle's face when he turned to look at me, just sadness. "His name was Leonardo Borelli. I met him the summer I turned sixteen. He was everything a red blooded teenager dreamed about. Handsome, charming, smart. He was perfect in every way."

I blinked in surprise. "You fell in love with a man?"

Granted, I'd never really seen my uncle with women, but I'd never seen him with men either. I always thought he was too dedicated to his job to be involved with someone.

Carmine's hands were shaking as he pulled his billfold out of his suit pocket, opened it, and then pulled out a faded photograph, handing it to me. "This was taken that summer."

It was an old faded photograph of two dark haired teenagers standing next to each other, arms around each other's shoulders. Any stranger looking at it could have easily thought they were just friends. I could see the glimmer in their eyes as they looked at one another.

"Knowing how things were in the mafia and that we were from different families, we decided we were going to run away together, but the night we planned to escape we got caught."

Uncle Carmine took the photo when I handed it back to him and stared down at it as if it was his most precious treasure. "They killed Leonardo right in front of me, but not before torturing us both first. They wanted to make sure we learned our lesson to not mess around with other men."

Carmine put the photograph away and then stared at me with tears in his eyes. "I didn't want that for you."

"Who did this?"

"Does it matter?" Uncle Carmine asked. "It was a long time ago, over fifty years. The people that killed Leonardo are long gone and buried and I've never repeated that mistake."

"So, what? You've been alone all these years?"

I'd at least fooled around a bit when I was out of town.

Carmine stared down a simple silver ring on his finger and smiled, again, not with happiness, but with sadness. "My heart will always belong to Leonardo. It doesn't matter if he is here or not."

Sadly, this was the kind of love I wanted. I just wanted it without the whole dead part.

I got up and walked around the coffee table before sitting down on it right in front of my uncle. I grabbed both of his hands with mine. "Uncle, you've always been someone I've admired and looked up to. You became a father figure to me when my parents died, but I can't live my life like you do. I want love in my life, even if it gets me killed."

I was praying it wouldn't.

"And you think you'll get that with a mafia boss?" Uncle Carmine asked.

"I think I'll get that with Tony. Him being a mafia boss has nothing to do with it."

"It has everything to do with it," Carmine insisted. "If the other families find out that the head of our family is gay, what do you think they will do?"

"Depends on the family. I'm pretty sure we're in the clear when it comes to the Borelli and Sabatino families. In fact, I think that it improves our chances of peace with them. That just leaves the Romano family and I am pretty sure they are the ones trying to wipe our family out, but that has nothing to do with me or Tony being gay."

"How do you know that?" Carmine asked. "It could have everything to do with you being gay."

"Because if it did, then why take out the entire D'Angelo family?" I was getting really tired of Uncle Carmine's denial. "If they wanted me dead, they could have just killed me, but instead, they took out the entire family. Why? Because I'm gay? Because Tony is gay? I don't buy that. They didn't know we are gay when they attacked us."

"How do you know?"

"Because I just came out of the closet yesterday."

And I had no plans on climbing back in.