Sold To the Grizzly Don (Alcee and Bruno) novel Chapter 138

Chapter 138

“You think you were innocent in all of this?”

“Not my kid. Not my wife. Not my partner. Not my place. My place,” he waved around the room, “is to be the consigliere to the Don of the Lozano family and counsel him in matters which affect the family, which I am doing right now. As the best friend to the pair of you,” he waved between them, “I’m embarrassed.”

Bastiano sat up at the insult, “I embarrass you? Because I have a gay lover?”

“No and don’t you dare throw that shit in my face.” He gave Bastiano a glare which made him shrink. “Because you make your gay lover your fucking pet and you’re not man enough to set fucking boundaries and rules and it’s made the dickhead think he’s more important to this family than he is and before you both come at me with the fact he is the brother of the Don, I will remind you both, Corrado never publicly acknowledged him and your grandfather refused to accept him into the family. He was never meant to be part of the Lozano family because his mother got pregnant in a plot to try to get money from Corrado, money she got and spent. You went against your grandfather’s wishes by bringing a man into the upper echelons of the family knowing damn well the reason your grandfather never did was out of respect for your mother. I will give you three guesses who told him to protect your mother’s dignity.”

“My grandmother,” Torq groaned.

“Your grandparents revered your mother for giving you to them. They treated her as if she were the most important person in this family because she birthed your big fat fucking head. She gave them the heir. They did everything they did because in their mind she was the Madonna birthing the Christ. They didn’t bring him in out of respect for your mother. Tonight, you trampled on her respect, her dignity and you did not follow in your grandfather’s footsteps by protecting the mother of the incoming heir. If you really wanted him in, to give him a name, then, you could have done it quietly, respectfully and you should never, either of you, allowed the shit which took place at dinner to continue. Raniero knows he can get away with murder from the pair of you.”

“Fuck.” Bastiano rose from the sofa, moved to the window behind the desk, and sighed loudly before tapping his forehead against the glass. “Tito, I need to ask, when you close your eyes at night does your smart brain simply keep on going or does it ever let you sleep?”

Torq chuckled at the question, “it’s why he’s in the position he’s in. His brain is important to the organization.”

“I would very much like to not be the smartest man in the room all the time but with such great power comes great responsibility.”

“Fuck off,” Torq threw a paperweight at his smug friend who caught it with a laugh. “I owe some apologies out there but before I go eat a massive helping of humble pie with a side of whipped ass cream, can we figure out what the fuck we’re going to do with Raniero?” He swiveled in his seat to look at Bastiano. “The family is right, Bastiano. He was out of line tonight. The comment which made Antero punch him in the balls would be a bullet to the brain if he were anyone else. He called her a scheming bitch.”

“Your first reaction should have been to drop him.” Tito grunted. “If someone called Amal a scheming bitch I’d punch him out.”

“It’s because he’s Raniero! We’ve coddled him,” Bastiano whispered softly leaning against the window with his hands folded over his chest protectively. “I love the fucker, God help me I do, but when I say the man needs a serious spanking I’m not lying. I usually laugh his shit off but lately it’s getting worse. He’s entitled because he knows protect him.”

“Cianna goes back to Sicily” Torq said quietly.

“What?” Bastiano blinked in surprise.

“Cianna is going back. She’s not allowed in America or near my mother or my wife again. Her behavior tonight is the catalyst to everything and hearing my mother’s heart break again tonight has left me feeling unsettled. Tito is right. My grandparents adored her because she made the best of a situation and gave them me,” he gave a smug grin, “and I’m a great gift.”

“She should have swallowed you for sure.” Tito set the weight back on the desk. “I agree. I think Cianna here is a slap in the face to your mother. If she’d come in tonight with any kind of humility or meekness, I would support her being here and trying but she came in pouring kerosene and throwing matches. She acted more entitled than her son.”

Bastiano sighed loudly, “when we got back, one of the things she said was she deserved to held in higher regard and Brunella’s reign needs to come to an end. I told her she needed to shut her fucking mouth because Brunella was and always would be the mother of the Don and Cianna was always going to be the whore who purposefully got knocked up to trap a man. I also pointed out Corrado actually planned to get Brunella pregnant and wanted his son until he realized his son was going to take his place. Raniero got pissed off I told his mother off and I slammed out.”

“It’s settled then. She goes back.”

1/2

Chapter 138

“What if he wants to go with her?” Bastiano questioned Torq’s decision, the vulnerability in the question giving all three men pause.

Torq thought for a moment. “Then there is a decision to make, Bastiano. You can remain here in New York and continue a long–distance relationship. You can move to Italy, and I’ll switch your roles with the underboss there or,” he gave a sigh, “you evaluate whether Raniero is the one you want if he’s going to continue to be a problem. I will be having a chat with him in the morning and explaining to him this disrespect of my family will not be tolerated.”

“Understood.” Bastiano puffed his cheeks and exhaled and then gave a smirk, “kind of glad to get the bitch out–of my house though.”

Torq laughed. “I bet. There is one other thing I wanted to talk about.”

“What is that?”

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