I tried to think of what Victor could possibly have to say to me that I would even want to hear, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Many unanswered questions ran through my mind. I suppose I was just preoccupied with everything that had been piled on my plate since my mother’s death to dwell on my questions. Now that he mentioned it, they all came flooding back along with the resentment of not having the answers for ten years.
“Your father wasn’t always behind this life of ours. There was a time when we were first starting out that he was apprehensive over everything we did. I was thirsty for power and to own the streets of Brooklyn and because of my greediness, I didn’t always make the right choices and I never thought about the consequences. Your father was the opposite. He knew that we were taking on a dangerous lifestyle. He knew that every single move we made would follow us for the rest of our lives. I was wild and reckless and he was calculating and determined and when you put us together we were a lethal alliance because of how well we balanced one another.”
The anger faded away and was replaced by inquisition. Victor had my undivided attention as he brought me along for his stroll down memory lane.
“I was a cowboy leaving a trail of destruction behind me that your father wound up cleaning up. He would warn me against half of my decisions and try to sway me to go another route. His way wasn’t wrong, it was just a patient way that could still be affective but would take longer. I didn’t have patience, so of course, I never listened to him, but eventually he applied his own patience to his part of the job. Yes, he took orders from me, but he didn’t execute the orders in any other fashion but his own. He did things his way and I did things my way and together we ruled a very powerful organization.”
“How do I remind you of him?” I asked curiously. “I mean I’m not at all patient.”
He laughed. “No you’re not, but you have the same fierce determination in your eyes as your dad did. Your father would try to talk sense into me just like you did with Nikki. Your father felt he wasn’t good enough to protect someone’s life when he was able to take one so easily.” He cocked his head to the side. “You aren’t similar in that regard, but Val would take a life without hesitation, especially if it was to save someone he cared for.” He pointed to my chest. “That son, that right there is where you are, your father’s son.” He smiled. “You don’t even realize it yet, but you will and when you do, you’ll remember we had this conversation. You will remember me telling you how passionate you are and you inherited that from your father.” Emotion clogged his throat and he fought against it to continue.
“I love my daughter with every fiber of my being and it’s killing me to know that she is in danger, that my enemies would use her to get to me. If I had my choice, I would pick your father to protect her. That is not an option but I am confident that you will do the job, maybe even better than your old man after all you are cut from the same cloth.”
“You really cared about him, huh?” I said, looking away from him. I wanted to hate Victor for many reasons, but hearing him talk about my father it was evident that the man missed my father how could I hate him for that?
“He was my best friend.” He swallowed. “My brother.” He blew out a deep breath. “I never asked him to take those bullets for me. I never made him believe that my life was worth any more than his.” He said hoarsely his voice crackling as he spoke. “I hated that he died protecting me.”
“So did I,” I admitted swallowing against the lump that was wedged in my throat. “I hated that he chose his loyalty to you over his love for his family.” I ran my fingers through my hair taking a deep breath. I was beginning to realize that I may have misplaced my anger, putting the blame on Vic but the reality was my father made the choice that took him away from us and that was becoming too much for me to handle.
“I needed my father Vic so did my mother, but his ties to you robbed us of him.” I shook my head disgustedly. “I want so badly to tell you to go fuck yourself. I want to turn my back on you like you turned your back on me all those years ago. My father died for you and you just wrote me and my mother off---“
“I did nothing of the sort!” He said cutting me off desperate to set the record straight once and for all. “How do you think I knew about Maryann’s accident Michael? Did you even wonder or were you too intoxicated to care how we just showed up at your house that night?”