- 3 hours ago
Vince buried his past with Dante, the mob heir who vanished five years ago. When Dante returns, he's still reckless, still devastating, still determined to win Vince back. But Leo, the fragile younger brother Vince saved, wants him too. Caught between two brothers, Vince must decide if the man who broke him once is worth the risk again.
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00:00I'm head of security for the Marchetti family.
00:03The day the Dawn's eldest son returned from abroad, he stared at me, frozen.
00:09You two know each other?
00:10I tapped the ash off my cigarette, expression blank.
00:13Not really.
00:15That night Dante shoved me against the wall and kissed me hard.
00:18He pushed up my shirt, his fingertips tracing the old scars along my abdomen.
00:22Not really.
00:23Vince, I know your body better than I know my own.
00:26Every inch of it.
00:29I leaned back against the wall, a cigarette dangling from my lips, eyes half-closed, letting him press into me.
00:35Five years.
00:36He'd gotten taller, broader, stronger.
00:38The little bastard wasn't satisfied with just my waist.
00:42His hands kept wandering lower with that maddening touch he'd perfected years ago.
00:46This was about to go too far.
00:48I narrowed my eyes and clamped down on his wrist.
00:50Enough.
00:51Dante didn't struggle.
00:52His palms stayed flat against my crotch and he hunched forward, dropping his forehead onto my shoulder.
00:56Vince, your pulse is racing.
00:58Your body's saying it missed me.
01:00So smug.
01:01So damn smug.
01:02That reckless, unshakable arrogance.
01:03The kind you only have when you know you're someone's weakness.
01:06I taught him that.
01:06I pulled his hand off me and slowly, carefully buckled my belt.
01:09Anyone touches me like that, I react.
01:11Don't flatter yourself.
01:12I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled his head off my shoulder to get a good
01:16look at him.
01:17Still gorgeous.
01:18Still had that face.
01:19The kind of face artists would kill to put on a statue.
01:21The kind of face that could make me do just about anything.
01:23But I'd already been burned by a pretty face once.
01:25If I fell for it again, I'd be the world's biggest idiot.
01:29I gave his cheek a light pat and smiled.
01:32You?
01:33You're nothing special.
01:53Once bitten twice shy, Dante was the snake that bit me hardest.
01:57I met him when he was 18.
01:59Crisp white button-down, private school badge, sleeves always fastened.
02:03And yet there he was, playing drums at the dirtiest underground rock bar on the east side.
02:08In a sea of piercings and cheap tattoos, he stood out like a saint in a place full of sin.
02:13That mix of choir boy and devil was deadly.
02:18I'd just gotten out of the military dishonorable discharge and was working security at the bar.
02:24I broke up seven brawls a week, and every single one started because of him.
02:29He'd toss a drumstick into the mosh pit, and all hell would break loose.
02:33Eventually, we'd caught up with him.
02:34A couple of thugs cornered him in the alley.
02:37I pulled them off.
02:39His shirt was torn, a red mark spreading across his cheek.
02:42He leaned against that filthy brick wall, watching me beat the hell out of two grown men and cheered.
02:48When I dropped the last guy, Dante walked over and stomped him hard in the grove.
02:53You wanted to fuck me, right?
02:55The guy howled.
02:56Alright, that's enough.
02:57I grabbed Dante's arm.
02:59He flashed me an angelic smile.
03:01Thanks for tonight, Vince.
03:02Then he stomped the other guy and winked at me.
03:04One for each.
03:05Fair's fair.
03:06I laughed despite myself, walked away.
03:10He followed me home to my run-down studio.
03:13Vince, I've got nowhere to go.
03:15Let me crash for one night.
03:18Please.
03:19What about your parents?
03:21Dead.
03:22I looked at that impossibly beautiful face, and I felt something give.
03:25That was my undoing.
03:27I let him into my bed.
03:31On the risk, I got off on giving him what he wanted.
03:34When I fell for him, I laid it out.
03:36Either we're together, really together, or we end this.
03:39Vince, we've been together this whole time.
03:41You were my first.
03:43You wouldn't just toss me aside, would you?
03:46He was 18, repeating his senior year.
03:50He didn't think about the future, but I did.
03:53My record was stained.
03:54My life was a dead end.
03:56But Dante had a shot.
03:58I pushed him to study, worked three jobs, poured everything into his future, handed him my whole heart.
04:02But Dante lied.
04:04A co-worker saw him at an upscale private club.
04:06I didn't believe it until I saw him with my own eyes, walking out with guys in tailored suits.
04:10I followed.
04:11I listened.
04:12Still messing around with that bodyguard?
04:15He thinks he's putting you through college.
04:17Dante doesn't need college.
04:19He's shipping out to Europe to run the family business.
04:21So, what's he like in bed?
04:23Dante took a slow drag off his cigarette.
04:26Open your mouth.
04:27He pressed the burning tip onto the guy's tongue.
04:30Say one more word about him, and I'll take your tongue.
04:35I wanted to beat the hell out of him.
04:37Instead, I called him.
04:38He stared at the screen.
04:40Didn't answer.
04:41He muttered.
04:42He's suffocating me.
04:44I called again.
04:44He sighed, his expression softening into that sweet mask.
04:47Hey, Vince.
04:48Warm honey.
04:49Broadway actors should take notes.
04:51Dante.
04:52Turn around.
04:56Pain shot through my wrist, dragging me back to the present.
04:59Dante had my wrist in a death grip.
05:02His strength was startling.
05:03Who else has touched you?
05:05Who are you comparing me to?
05:06Have you been with a lot of people, Vince, these past five years?
05:10His voice was light as air.
05:11His lashes trembled.
05:13If I said yes, he looked ready to shatter.
05:16I shook him off.
05:17None of your damn business.
05:19It is my business.
05:20His eyes lifted.
05:21The rims were red.
05:22You're mine, Vince.
05:23Mine alone.
05:24You don't get to try anyone else.
05:26Idiot.
05:28Downstairs, something smashed.
05:30Glass in China.
05:31Where's Vince?
05:32I need Vincent Cain!
05:33Get him here!
05:35Now!
05:35Tell him I'm having a breakdown!
05:37Tell him to come!
05:38Leo.
05:39Don Antonio's youngest son.
05:41Dante's half-brother.
05:42Four years ago, he was taken in a hit by a rival family.
05:46I happened to be the one who got him out.
05:49He survived, but his back was damaged.
05:52He'd never walk again.
05:54That was why Don Antonio brought me into the fold.
05:57Made me his head of security.
05:59Maybe it was because I was there in his darkest moment.
06:02Maybe it was something else.
06:03But Leo's need for me became all-consuming.
06:06In the early days after the rescue, if I wasn't in his sight 24-7, he'd have full-blown panic
06:10attacks.
06:11He'd scream, break things, lose himself.
06:14I shoved Dante aside and ran downstairs.
06:17The living room was a war zone.
06:18Everything smashable smashed.
06:20Leo sat rigid in his wheelchair, hands white on the armrests, chest heaving, gasping for air like a drowning man.
06:26I strode over and dropped to one knee in front of him.
06:29Leo, I'm here.
06:34The second he saw me, tears spilled over.
06:38His whole body sagged with relief.
06:40Vince!
06:41Where did you go?
06:42I couldn't find you.
06:43I had a nightmare.
06:44I looked everywhere and you were gone.
06:45I'm here now.
06:46You're safe.
06:48I lifted him out of the chair, cradling him against my chest and started up the stairs.
06:52I'll stay with you until you sleep.
06:54Dante stood on the second floor landing.
06:56Head bowed.
06:57Spine straight as a blade.
06:58As I passed, he caught the edge of my shirt.
06:59Vince!
07:00Leo curled against me, buried his face in my neck.
07:03His arms tightened around my shoulders.
07:04I pulled free of Dante's grip, kept walking.
07:07Before he closed his eyes, Leo held my hand in a fierce, stubborn grip.
07:11Don't go, Vince.
07:12Please.
07:12He was even younger than Dante.
07:14His feelings were easy to read.
07:15Childish neediness.
07:16That's all it was.
07:18I brushed the hair from his forehead.
07:20I won't go.
07:21Sleep.
07:23In the dead of night, Don Antonio called.
07:26It's Dante.
07:27He was street racing on the cliffs with the O'Connor kid, the Irish crew.
07:30They messed with his car.
07:31He nearly went over the edge.
07:32Now both sides are shooting.
07:33I'm pinned down on the west coast.
07:35I can't get back.
07:36Vince, handle it.
07:38By the time I got my people up to Hawk's Head Summit, it was already chaos.
07:43Dante had a switchblade in his hand, and he was about to carve out Connor O'Connor's
07:47eye.
07:47Fuck!
07:47I shouted his name and grabbed his knife hand.
07:50Dante, stand down!
07:54The tension in his muscles slowly faded.
07:56He looked up at me, face smeared with blood and sweat, and smiled that broken smile.
08:01Vince, I almost died tonight.
08:04I just wanted one eye.
08:05That's not too much to ask, is it?
08:07He laughed, soft and shaky, and let the knife slip from his fingers.
08:12But if you don't want me to, I won't.
08:14I'll be good, Vince.
08:15I'll listen.
08:16He tilted his chin up, eyes bright and wet, like a guard dog waiting for its master's praise.
08:21You always liked it when I listened.
08:22When he looked at me like that, it felt like I was his whole world.
08:25Like he'd let me break him, own him, ruin him.
08:28But it was all an act.
08:29I swallowed hard, looked away, folded the knife and slipped it into my pocket.
08:33Dragged Dante up by the collar and shoved him behind me.
08:35I scanned the ground, picked up a tire iron.
08:38Before the O'Connor kid could get to his feet, I swung it hard into the back of his knee.
08:43Revenge is still on the table, just not by Dante's hand.
08:46That's what the Marchenni family pays me for.
08:49The dirty work.
08:50I dropped a card onto the twitching bastard's chest.
08:53Call the number.
08:54Marchenni covers the medical bills.
08:57Best doctors.
08:58Try not to end up in the wheelchair.
09:01I dropped the tire iron.
09:03Grabbed Dante by the scruff of his neck.
09:05Dragged him away.
09:09Knew each other's bodies.
09:10Way too well.
09:11Fuck.
09:12A few more minutes of this and I'd be his all over again.
09:15As his mouth reached my abdomen, I grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanked his head up and punched him
09:19square in the face.
09:20Get the fuck off me!
09:23Dante licked the blood off his split lip.
09:26Smiled.
09:27Then he grabbed my hand and pressed it down.
09:29Hard.
09:31Feel that, Vince.
09:32Feel how much I missed you.
09:33His teeth were clenched.
09:34Every word punched out.
09:36I missed you so much I'm losing my goddamn mind.
09:39I seized him by the throat and shoved him back.
09:41Spare me the love-sync act, Dante Marchetti.
09:43You're the one who left first.
09:47Back then, my indulgence of Dante was pathological.
09:50Looking back, it's almost laughable.
09:52That night, when Dante turned and saw me, all the color drained from his face.
09:56I hurled my phone at his chest.
09:58Dante, I'm done with you.
10:00Get the hell out of my sight.
10:01When I turned to leave, there was a hole punched clean through my chest.
10:05Dante came after me.
10:06He wrapped his arms around me from behind and held on like a drowning man.
10:10His tears burned against my neck.
10:12Vince, you heard all of that, didn't you?
10:14I didn't mean any of it.
10:15I'll be good.
10:15I swear.
10:16I'll be good from now on.
10:17He was trembling so hard, I could feel it in my bones, pressing frantic, desperate kisses
10:22to my neck.
10:23Vince, don't give up on me.
10:25He had the nerve to cry.
10:27The nerve to hold on to me like he was the one who'd been wronged.
10:30I was the one who should have been crying.
10:32I shoved him off.
10:33Dante, stop playing games with me.
10:35I'm 28 years old.
10:37I just want someone for the long haul.
10:38I can't afford to play anymore.
10:40I loved him so much back then.
10:41Even knowing he was a liar, I still loved him.
10:44But I couldn't kneel at his feet and let him tramples what was left of my dignity.
10:48Dante didn't let go.
10:49He camped outside my shitty apartment like a stray Doberhan you couldn't chase away.
10:53He went to an underground club and deliberately drank something spiked.
10:57Deliberately let himself get dragged away right in front of my eyes.
11:00He watched me fight like a madman to pull him out.
11:03And when I did, he smiled and kissed me.
11:06If you hadn't come, I would have killed them all and turned myself in.
11:09I was shaking with rage.
11:12Dante, are you trying to destroy yourself?
11:17He was burning up, flush with fever and whatever they'd slipped into his drink.
11:23He bit my earlobe, my Adam's apple.
11:31If you stop caring, I'll destroy myself.
11:34If it doesn't matter to you, walk away now.
11:36Leave me for someone else.
11:38I couldn't walk away.
11:39I just couldn't.
11:41I couldn't watch him fall apart with someone else.
11:43Dante was heroin.
11:45Once you touched him, there was no getting clean.
11:47I knew every word out of his mouth was a lie.
11:49I knew he was manipulative to the marrow of his bones.
11:54And still, like a man possessed, I went back for more.
12:0423-year-old Dante pinned me against the door of my apartment.
12:08He kissed a trail.
12:09And then, right when the high was at its sweetest, Dante disappeared.
12:13No warning.
12:14No explanation.
12:15No goodbye.
12:16Nothing.
12:17Every promise that ever came out of his mouth was bullshit.
12:19He was never going to change.
12:21He would never change.
12:25I didn't mean to.
12:27Back then, I...
12:28Dante tried to explain.
12:29The words tripping over themselves.
12:31I cut him off.
12:32I don't want to hear it.
12:34It didn't matter anymore.
12:35When I was desperate for an explanation, he gave me nothing.
12:38Now, I had no use for one.
12:39I straightened my clothes and looked at him.
12:41Just tell me one thing.
12:42When you agreed to that race with the O'Connor kid, did you know the car was rigged?
12:46Dante laughed.
12:47A short, hollow sound.
12:49He met my eyes without flinching.
12:51Yeah.
12:52I knew.
12:53He knew.
12:55He got into a sabotaged car and bet his life on it, using himself as bait, just to reel me
13:01in.
13:02Dante was an artist with these stunts.
13:04He loved standing on the ledge, watching me panic, watching me tear through the world to save him.
13:11I'd be sick with worry, and he'd be standing off to the side, bashing in it.
13:15It must feel incredible for him.
13:18Just crook his finger, and he can yank every one of my strings.
13:22Watch me dance like a trained dog.
13:25It was cruel.
13:26Deeply, deliberately cruel.
13:29Five years, Dante.
13:30You're still running the same play.
13:31You're not tired of it yet?
13:33What are you trying to prove?
13:34That I've still got some pathetic leftover feelings for you?
13:39I turned my head and looked at him dead on.
13:42Let me be clear.
13:43The only reason I came tonight is because Don Antonio gave me an order.
13:47I wouldn't have showed up otherwise.
13:50You don't matter anymore, Dante.
13:54You want to die?
13:55Do it somewhere else.
13:57Don't get your blood on me.
13:58The smile on Dante's face slowly crumbled, piece by piece.
14:04If I don't matter, who does?
14:06Leo?
14:07Is that it?
14:08You've got your eye on him now, so you're throwing me away?
14:11His eyes were bloodshot, his voice cracking, his control completely gone.
14:16What's so great about him?
14:18He's not as good-looking as me.
14:19He's a cripple who can't even stand.
14:22Can he even get you off?
14:24Do you get hard-looking at him?
14:26Or is it just that you like them young?
14:29Eighteen, specifically?
14:30Shut your mouth.
14:31I punched him.
14:32My hand was shaking.
14:33Leo is your brother.
14:34You want to destroy me?
14:35Fine.
14:36Don't you dare drag him into it.
14:38Dante's head snapped to the side.
14:40His dark hair fell forward, hiding his eyes.
14:42For a long moment, he didn't move.
14:44Then, slowly, he lifted his hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
14:48His voice came out soft.
14:49Leo is not my brother.
14:51He raised his head.
14:52Those gray-green eyes were cold and still as deep water, too calm, unnervingly calm.
14:56Vince, did you give him your heart?
14:59My things.
15:00How could you give him something that belongs to me?
15:02He's not good enough for you.
15:04I'll show you.
15:05The only person in this world who deserves you is me.
15:11It was for in the morning when I got back to the Marchetti estate.
15:14The sky was still black, but the lights in the sitting room were on.
15:17Leo sat in his wheelchair, staring at the TV static.
15:20The moment he heard my footsteps, his face lit up.
15:22Vince, you're back.
15:25Dante followed me in, stopping just behind my shoulder.
15:28Leo saw him.
15:28His fingers tightened on the armrests.
15:30His expression flickered with something uneasy.
15:34Dante.
15:34Dante didn't even glance at him.
15:36I crouched in front of Leo's chair.
15:38Why are you awake so early?
15:40He dropped his gaze.
15:41I woke up and you weren't there.
15:43I couldn't sleep.
15:44Guilt twisted in my gut.
15:45I'd promised to stay with him.
15:46I broke that promise.
15:48Leo's eyes searched my face.
15:49Then cold fingertips brushed my lower lip.
15:51Vince, why is your mouth swollen?
15:53The touch against my still-heated skin felt wrong.
15:55I kissed him.
15:57Dante leaned past my shoulder and knocked Leo's hand away.
15:59Look closer.
16:00His tongue's probably swollen, too.
16:02Leo's face went chalk-white.
16:04Don't joke like that.
16:06Vince is a man.
16:07You're a man.
16:07How could you possibly-
16:08I reached out to Leo.
16:10Don't listen to him.
16:11Let me take you upstairs.
16:13Before I could touch him, Dante kicked the wheelchair back,
16:15grabbed Leo out of it, and slung him over his shoulder.
16:17I'll put him to bed.
16:19You've had a long night.
16:21Go rest.
16:22Vince!
16:23Leo struggled.
16:24I didn't move.
16:25I let Dante carry him away.
16:28Leo couldn't keep clinging to me.
16:29At the end of the day, I was just an outsider in this house.
16:35Don Antonio had hinted at it before.
16:38Vince, you can't be Leo's caretaker forever.
16:40There are some hurdles he needs to get over on his own.
16:43Over the past year or so, I'd been deliberately creating distance.
16:47Last night was just the first time he'd kicked up that much of a storm about it.
16:50When the Don started handing more operational control to Dante, he pulled me aside one day.
16:55Vince, Dante's methods are too extreme.
16:58I need you to keep an eye on him.
17:01You're the only one I trust for this.
17:03Extreme was an understatement.
17:05Dante didn't just take risks.
17:06He had a death wish.
17:08He was ruthless, reckless.
17:09The kind of vicious that left a trail of enemies in his wake.
17:12The worst was a knife to the abdomen that put him in the hospital for three months.
17:17I chain-smoked half a pack in the packing lot, then went back inside.
17:24I'm begging you, value your own life a little.
17:26Dante looked up at me from his hospital bed, pale and exhausted and still unreasonably beautiful.
17:31He gave me a weak, lazy smile.
17:33Kiss me, and I'll value my life.
17:36Kiss him, and he'd focus on his studies.
17:39Kiss him, and he'd stop going to those underground clubs.
17:43Kiss him, and he wouldn't leave.
17:45All of it lies.
17:47I looked down at him.
17:48Dante, don't embarrass yourself.
17:56The six months I spent shadowing Dante aged me more than three years of regular work.
18:00I was running jobs constantly, barely even sleeping at the estate.
18:07On the dawn's birthday, they held a banquet at the manor.
18:09The inside was all chandeliers and champagne.
18:11I was out back, crouched in the dark, smoking.
18:14I heard my name.
18:16Vince.
18:18I looked up.
18:19Leo was sitting on the windowsill of the second floor landing.
18:21He looked down at me.
18:23Vince, if I jump, will you catch me?
18:26I nearly swallowed my cigarette hole.
18:28I pointed a finger at him.
18:29Don't move, I'm coming up.
18:30I sprinted upstairs and pulled him off the sill.
18:32My forehead slipped with cold sweat.
18:33Before I could even start yelling at him,
18:35Leo wrapped his arms around my waist and held on like a vice.
18:41It's been 142 days since you came to see me.
18:44My throat tightened.
18:46Sorry, I've been busy.
18:48Busy, yes, but also avoiding him.
18:51Vince, I wish my legs worked.
18:53His tears soaked through my shirt, warm against my skin.
18:56If I could walk, I wouldn't have to sit here waiting for you.
18:59I could chase after you, like my brother does.
19:01I felt a sudden wave of heat wash through me.
19:04I tried to push him back.
19:05Leo let go of me first.
19:06Leo's hand slipped under the hem of my shirt.
19:09His palm was hot against the small of my back.
19:12Vince, I can do everything Dante can do.
19:15Be good to me too.
19:20That was when I realized something was wrong with the heat in my body.
19:23My strength was draining.
19:24I couldn't even shove him away.
19:26I'd been too focused on pulling him off the ledge to notice.
19:28There was a strange, cloying sweetness in the air of that room.
19:31Some kind of incense or diffuser.
19:33The situation was clear enough.
19:34Some kind of aphrodisiac.
19:36Leo pressed a line of damp kisses across my stomach.
19:38His hands were shaking.
19:40He was still crying, murmuring against my skin.
19:42Don't push me away, Vince.
19:44Don't push me away, Vince.
20:04Dante stopped.
20:05His foot hung in the air, frozen.
20:07He didn't bring it down.
20:08He didn't turn around.
20:09Vince, can you not protect him right in front of my face?
20:13He turned his head just enough for me to see his profile.
20:16The corner of his eye was red.
20:18I won't hit him anymore.
20:19Just don't be a hero for someone else.
20:22Please.
20:24I had no mental capacity for his drama right then.
20:26The drug was burning through me.
20:27It was becoming unbearable.
20:29I gripped his wrist, breathing hard.
20:30Get a doctor.
20:31I need an injection.
20:32Now.
20:33Dante didn't answer.
20:34He grabbed me and hauled me over his shoulder.
20:36Behind us, Leo screamed.
20:38Don't go, Vince!
20:39Don't you dare leave with him!
20:44Come, third floor.
20:46My study.
20:47An oil painting of St. Michael casting down the devil hung on the wall of the Dawn's study.
20:51Judgment, vengeance, same energy.
20:53Dante was kneeling in the center of the room.
20:55His back was straight, unbowed.
20:56The dome sat in his leather armchair.
20:58There was a rattan cane resting on the side table next to him.
21:00Balling with your own brother, Dante.
21:03Is this how an elder brother behaves?
21:05Elder brother?
21:06Dante's laugh was sharp and humorless.
21:07Have you forgotten?
21:08My mother only had one child.
21:10Antonio's expression didn't change.
21:13If you won't admit fault, you'll accept punishment.
21:21He picked up the cane and held it out to me.
21:26Vince.
21:27Do it.
21:28I opened my mouth.
21:29Don Antonio.
21:31Last night.
21:32The fault didn't lie with Dante.
21:34Antonio lifted his eyes to mine.
21:35His gaze was calm but utterly unyielding.
21:37Vince.
21:38Do it.
21:39I lowered my gaze.
21:40Yes, Don Antonio.
21:42There was no point arguing.
21:43The dome knew everything.
21:45This was the Marchetti household.
21:46Every detail of what had happened last night had reached him.
21:49Leo drugging me.
21:50Dante breaking down the door.
21:51He knew it all.
21:52But Leo was the chosen son.
21:54The one he had failed to protect.
21:56The one he needed to shield from shame.
22:03Punishing Dante was how he restored order.
22:05And it was a message to me too.
22:07Know your place.
22:08There are lines in this house.
22:09Don't cross them.
22:10One hundred strokes.
22:11Dante didn't bend.
22:12Didn't make a sound.
22:13By the end of it, I was sweating more than he was.
22:16He pushed himself to his feet.
22:18Leaned into me for support.
22:19And looked at his father.
22:27Are we done?
22:29Can I leave now?
22:30I helped him out of the study.
22:32He was silent the whole way.
22:33Lost in some dark corner of his own head.
22:35At the turn of the third floor hallway, he suddenly shoved me against the wall.
22:39His mouth right next to my ear.
22:40His voice was low and rough.
22:42Vince.
22:44Let me buy you a whip.
22:46If I misbehave, you can use it on me.
22:48His eyes were rimmed red.
22:50That low voice cracked with something raw.
22:52Earlier.
22:53Thinking about you hitting me, I...
22:55He exhaled shakily.
22:56It felt good.
22:57I took a breath and said,
22:59Dante.
23:01Yeah?
23:03Don't be a degenerate.
23:07I had just gotten Dante back to his room when my phone buzzed again.
23:13I stood outside the door for a long moment, gripping my phone.
23:16Then I went back in.
23:18Antonio was standing by the window, a glass of bourbon in his hand.
23:21Not familiar with him.
23:23Isn't that what you said?
23:25I stayed where I was.
23:26He didn't push it.
23:28Leo spiked your drink.
23:30You ended up in Dante's bed.
23:33It wasn't a question.
23:34He knew everything.
23:38It was an accident.
23:40The drug...
23:41I'm not interested in the mechanics.
23:45He set the glass down and walked over to me.
23:48His gaze fell to the marks on my neck.
23:50The ones my collar couldn't hide.
23:52He looked at them for a beat, then looked away.
23:54You've been with me for four years.
23:57You've been with me for four years, Vince.
23:58In that time, I've trusted you with both my son's lives.
24:01You've never let me down.
24:03He paused.
24:04But now you're sleeping with my eldest.
24:07Tell me.
24:08The next time someone needs to take a bullet or pull a trigger for this family, can you do it
24:13without your personal feelings getting in the way?
24:15I didn't answer.
24:16There was no answer I could give that wouldn't be a lie.
24:23I assigned you to watch him.
24:25Not to fall into his bed.
24:27Leo's fixication on you.
24:29You're not blind.
24:29You've seen it.
24:30And now Dante, too.
24:32Do you want my two sons tearing each other apart over you?
24:36I can resign, Dantonio.
24:38Resign.
24:39He looked at me.
24:41The silence stretched.
24:42You've been inside this house for four years.
24:44You know things.
24:46You've seen things.
24:47Do you really think I can just let you walk away?
24:49No.
24:50Of course not.
24:50The Marchetti family business wasn't clean.
24:52Once you were in, you didn't get to just hand in your notice.
24:55But I'm not an unreasonable man.
24:57His tone eased just slightly.
24:59You've bled for this family.
25:01You saved my son.
25:03I'm not going to have you buried in a ditch somewhere.
25:05He walked back to the window, putting his back to me.
25:08His voice carried a note of exhaustion I rarely heard.
25:10Vince, you're not stupid.
25:12You understand the position you're in.
25:14Don't make this harder than it needs to be.
25:17I stood there for a moment.
25:20Understood, Dantonio.
25:21Keep watching Dante.
25:22Don't let him get himself killed.
25:23He's still my son.
25:25A pause, then, like the drop of a blade.
25:27But that's all.
25:28You and him know your limits.
25:35Antonio said he wanted me to watch Dante.
25:37Then he shipped Dante off to the West Coast for a month and kept me in Ironport running
25:40a state security.
25:41The message was transparent.
25:43He was putting distance between us, deliberately.
25:45As for Leo, I was pulled from his personal protection rotation.
25:48The times I saw him became rare.
25:50Sometimes I'd catch a glimpse of his wheelchair at the end of a hallway.
25:53He wouldn't scream anymore.
25:54Wouldn't throw things.
25:55He'd just sit there, watching me.
25:58And the light in his eyes would dim a little more each time.
26:01I remembered what the Don had said.
26:03Leo had to cross this bridge on his own.
26:05If I couldn't give him what he wanted, the kindest thing was to stay away entirely.
26:10When Dante came back from the West Coast, something in him had shifted.
26:14He worked harder, more recklessly.
26:16Word got around that he'd walked into a sit-down with the O'Connor crew alone and walked out
26:20with a signed deal and fresh bandages under his shirt.
26:24I didn't ask how much of that recklessness had to do with me.
26:28I'd already decided to stop digging.
26:30So we settled into an unspoken arrangement.
26:33The heir and the head of security.
26:36Living under the same roof.
26:38Maintaining a careful, brittle distance.
26:41It held for months.
26:43Right up until a photograph shattered it.
26:48I'd been ordered to accompany the Don to an undevoable business dinner.
26:53A private club.
26:54The kind of place where deals got made in leather booths over expensive scotch.
26:59I drank too much, covering for the Don as the glasses kept coming.
27:03At some point, Antonio called over one of the club's boys to bring me water.
27:08I watched the boy's overly attentive smile with a kind of numb ethos disting.
27:13I brushed him off as politely as I could manage and retreated to the restroom to be sick.
27:19I was bent over the Sinsk, splashing cold water on my face, when Antonio walked in behind him.
27:25He looked at me in the mirror and held out a handkerchief.
27:28Clean yourself up.
27:29Words going around that my head of security nearly drowned in a toilet bowl.
27:32I took the handkerchief.
27:34Thank you, sir.
27:35He watched me wipe my face.
27:37The silence stretched a beat too long.
27:41Dante's back.
27:42What are you planning to do about the situate between you two?
27:47I stopped.
27:49I crushed the damp handkerchief in my fist.
27:51Sir, I won't cross the line.
27:53You have my word.
27:54Antonio studied me in the mirror.
27:56Those gray-green eyes, so like his son's, held something complicated.
28:00Something I couldn't read.
28:02An assessment.
28:03Maybe a flicker of something else.
28:05He didn't say anything more.
28:06He just put his hand on my shoulder for a brief moment, then left.
28:09That hand on the shoulder.
28:11That brief, fatherly gesture.
28:13It was captured by a lens watching from the shadows.
28:19The photograph came from Leo.
28:21He'd gotten to someone at the club.
28:22Money.
28:23Threats.
28:23Who knew?
28:24The angle was damning.
28:26Antonio standing behind me, one hand on my shoulder, leaning in slightly.
28:30I looked pale and wrecked from the alcohol.
28:33It could easily be read as something intimate.
28:36The worst part.
28:38My collar was open.
28:39I'd unbuttoned it myself, splashing water on my face.
28:42Dante received that photo while I was already on a plane.
28:46Antonio had sent me south to handle a dispute at the docks.
28:49I was gone for two months.
28:50When I came back darker, leaner, still covered in road dust.
28:53The first thing I heard was that Dante was at the Azure Bay Hotel, on a bander so severe
28:57that no one could get near him.
28:59Antonio's message was one line.
29:00Go get him.
29:01You're the only one he'll listen to now.
29:02I didn't even put my bag down.
29:04The suite was chaos.
29:05No one noticed the door open.
29:06I scanned the room twice before I found Dante.
29:09He was sunk into a corner sofa, a bottle of whiskey dangling from his fingers.
29:14There was a boy on each side of him, tipping glasses to his ribs.
29:17He drank whatever they gave him.
29:19When the glass was empty, one of the boys started unbuttoning Dante's shirt.
29:23He leaned in close, going for the mouth.
29:25Dante just lay there, motionless.
29:27I loosened my tie and crossed the room in three strides.
29:29The boy was practically draped over Dante now.
29:32He was cupping his face.
29:34Yeah, I'm...
29:35You're Vince.
29:36I'm right here.
29:38You want me, Dante?
29:40You're Vince?
29:41Then who the hell am I?
29:43The boy froze.
29:45I peeled him off and dropped to one knee beside the sofa.
29:48I braced a hand on the back wreath and pad Dante's cheek with the other.
29:52Your father sent me.
29:54Are you coming with me or not?
29:58It was the middle of the night.
30:00I didn't take him back to the estate.
30:02I got a room in the same hotel and made do.
30:04I woke early, washed up.
30:06Dante was still out cold.
30:07I decided to slip away first.
30:09I was reaching for my phone on the nightstand when a hand clamped around my wrist and yanked.
30:13I hit the mattress.
30:14A hot, solid weight prizzed me down.
30:16Dante buried his face in the curve of my neck.
30:18Vince, did you sleep with Antonia?
30:22My entire body went rigid.
30:24Where had this come from?
30:25Before I could form a single word, Dante sunk his teeth into the side of my neck.
30:29I hissed in pain.
30:31Vince, let me say no.
30:35His tears were soaking into my skin.
30:38Lie to me if you have to, please.
30:40Just say no.
30:41If you say no, I'll convince myself to forgive you.
30:45I exhaled.
30:48Who told you this?
30:52Dante's body locked up.
30:54Then he was off the bed, yanking on his clothes in furious silence.
30:58He grabbed my gun from the nightstand.
31:00I caught his arm before he reached the door.
31:03Where the hell are you going?
31:04He looked at me.
31:06Those gray-green eyes were dead, empty.
31:12To kill Antonio, my temples throbbed.
31:17I didn't sleep with Antonio.
31:19I'm asking who fed you this lie.
31:21Can you hear the words coming out of my mouth?
31:26Dante's eyes went wet and wild.
31:28Stop lying!
31:31He pulled a crumpled photograph from his pocket and threw it at my chest.
31:36It was the photo from the club.
31:38Antonio's hand on my shoulder.
31:40My collar open.
31:42The angle made it look like something it wasn't.
31:45Antonio's face had been burnt through with a cigarette.
31:54Leo gave this to you?
31:56Dante glared at me, jaw tight.
31:58That was a yes.
32:00Looking at him standing there like a betrayed husband in a bad opera,
32:03I almost laughed.
32:05Relax.
32:06Nothing happened.
32:08Pants stayed on.
32:10Then explain the photo!
32:12I couldn't give him every detail of that conversation.
32:18It's not what it looks like.
32:22Dante's face crumbled.
32:24Vince, you're such an asshole.
32:26You won't even bother to explain anymore.
32:27You don't love me anymore.
32:30Dante.
32:31Between you and me.
32:33Who's the real asshole here?
32:34The anger I'd been swallowing for five years.
32:37Finally boiled over.
32:38You're the one who lied to me.
32:39You're the one who vanished to Europe without a single word.
32:41You're the one who came back and couldn't keep your hands off me.
32:43Leo gives you a photo with zero context,
32:45and instead of asking me, you go get wasted.
32:47If I hadn't come to get you last night,
32:48you wouldn't even know who said you woke up in.
32:50My voice cracked at the end.
32:51My eyes were stinging.
32:54It's a good thing I don't love you anymore.
32:56If I still did,
32:58you would have carved my heart out and fed it to the dogs.
33:01Dante panicked.
33:02He stumbled forward, grabbing at me,
33:03his hands clumsy and desperate.
33:05No, Vince.
33:05No, I knew it was you.
33:07I knew.
33:07The second you walked in that door,
33:09I saw you in the mirror.
33:10I was pretending.
33:11I just wanted you to be jealous.
33:12Please don't be mad.
33:13I'm yours.
33:13I've only ever been yours.
33:14I would never let anyone else touch me.
33:16Do you think I'm stupid?
33:17I know who I'm kissing.
33:19If I ever slept with someone else,
33:20you'd leave me so fast,
33:21there'd be nothing left to chase.
33:23I punched him,
33:24square in the face.
33:26He hit the floor,
33:26and I kicked him for good measure.
33:29Was it fun?
33:30Goddamn Lunatirk.
33:34Dante told me the truth,
33:36eventually.
33:37That summer, five years ago,
33:38Antonio found out about us.
33:40He gave Dante an ultimatum.
33:43Either he got on a plane to Europe and stayed there,
33:46or I would be arrested for aggravated assault within the week.
33:49Three separate counts.
33:50Antonio had security footage of every brawl I'd been in.
33:53Every fight Dante had deliberately provoked.
33:57It was enough to put me away for a decade.
34:00So you just left.
34:02I was 18.
34:03Dante wasn't looking at me.
34:05I was an 18-year-old kid whose own father had never once looked at him with anything but resentment.
34:10I had no money,
34:11no power,
34:12no way to protect you.
34:14The only thing I could do was get on that plane and stay as far away from you as possible.
34:19Five years.
34:20Five years I'd spent hating him,
34:22thinking he'd gotten bored,
34:23thinking I was just a game to him,
34:25and the whole time he'd been shoved out with a gun to his head,
34:28not his mind.
34:30Why didn't you tell me?
34:33Because I promised Antonio I'd keep my mouth shut.
34:36And because I knew you,
34:38you would have gone after him.
34:39You'd just gotten out of prison.
34:40You would have been destroyed.
34:42He let out a ragged breath.
34:45I was just a useless son.
34:47Who couldn't protect anything.
34:49The only thing I could do was stay gone.
34:51He reached out.
34:52His fingers hovered near mine,
34:53hesitant,
34:54like he was afraid I might pull away.
34:56Vince,
34:57can you forgive me?
34:58Just one more time?
35:02It took me a long time to process that.
35:05To reframe five years of bitterness into something else entirely.
35:09Dante started orbiting me again.
35:12Antonio had officially moved him into the front-facing side of the business.
35:16He was drowning in work,
35:18but every night my phone would light up.
35:20A blurry photo of his dinner.
35:21Just two words.
35:22Miss you.
35:23I didn't reply much.
35:24Not because I didn't feel it.
35:26Because I was still learning how to trust him again.
35:28As for Leo,
35:29Dante paid him a visit.
35:31I don't know what was said in that room.
35:32But after that day,
35:33Leo started seeing a psychiatrist.
35:35He stopped waiting in windows.
35:37If we crossed paths in the garden,
35:38he would turn his chair around and wheel himself the other way.
35:41I talked to Antonio exactly once about it.
35:44He hates me.
35:45He hates that I didn't go for his mother first.
35:47He hates that I chose Leo.
35:52He doesn't hate you.
35:53He was using you to hurt me.
35:55Don Antonio,
35:57I'm done being tangled up in your family's wounds.
36:00I just want to do my job,
36:01collect my pay,
36:02and live my life.
36:04Antonio was quiet for a long time.
36:06Then unexpectedly,
36:07Dante has never fought for anything in his life.
36:09You're the first.
36:11I didn't respond.
36:14Not long after,
36:15the Greyvale project needed someone to manage it on site.
36:18I volunteered.
36:19Greyvale was small,
36:20a quiet manufacturing town.
36:22Nothing like Ironport.
36:24Don Antonio had acquired a few factories there,
36:26consolidating them into a mid-sized operation.
36:28I went in as an operations manager.
36:31A promotion, technically.
36:32A graceful exile in practice.
36:35Dante showed up on a random Tuesday
36:37while I was stripped to the waist,
36:38hauling crates in the warehouse with the crew.
36:41I'd been bored.
36:43Antonio made you a manager,
36:44not a dock worker.
36:45I wiped the sweat off with a towel and ignored him.
36:48He started critiquing my office.
36:50The desk was wrong.
36:51The chair was an ergonomic disaster.
36:53He wrote a thousand-word mental essay
36:55on a second-hand figurine
36:56I'd picked up at a flea market.
36:58I washed my face.
37:00What do you actually want, Dante?
37:02He looked at me with fierce,
37:03naked stubbornness.
37:04Come back to Ironport with me.
37:05No.
37:07He exploded.
37:09Look at the way you're living!
37:10You weren't pale to begin with,
37:12and now you're three shades darker.
37:14When I walked in,
37:15I thought I was looking at a human chocolate bar.
37:17He reached up and rubbed a hand
37:18over my freshly buzzed head,
37:20visibly pained.
37:21And the hair,
37:22that old style looked so good on you.
37:24You look like a farmhand.
37:26I'd lose you in a cornfield.
37:28I almost laughed.
37:32Dante.
37:33I looked at him.
37:34This is who I am.
37:36This is the world I come from.
37:38This is the life I should be living.
37:40Putting on a suit and tie
37:41doesn't make me one of you.
37:42I got lucky.
37:44Manager isn't bad.
37:45It's better than most people get.
37:46And I'm comfortable here,
37:47more comfortable than I ever was
37:48at that estate.
37:50I spent the first half of my life
37:52getting knocked around
37:52by the wind and rain.
37:53The second half?
37:54I just want peace.
37:56Quiet.
37:57My own life.
37:59Ironport is too big for me.
38:00Dante stopped.
38:01The fire went out.
38:03He stood there silent
38:04for a long time.
38:06I miss you.
38:08All the time.
38:09I swallowed and looked away.
38:11Let it go.
38:12The Don's waiting for you
38:13to carry on the family name.
38:14Dante looked at me
38:15with dark intent.
38:17Vince.
38:19Sometimes I really want
38:20to kiss your mouth
38:21until it stops
38:22saying stupid things.
38:24He lunged.
38:25Carry on the family name?
38:28I'm going to make sure
38:29Antonio Marcheo's bloodline
38:31ends with me.
38:33I grabbed his hair
38:33and twisted away
38:34from his mouth.
38:35Didn't you just call me
38:36a human chocolate bar?
38:38Dante was working
38:39on my belt.
38:39His breathing
38:40was already uneven.
38:41I love chocolate.
38:43Now give me a taste.
38:50That night Dante
38:51told me more
38:51about his mother.
38:52She'd been taken
38:53by one of Antonio's enemies.
38:54While she was being held,
38:55Antonio was in another
38:56part of the city,
38:57standing outside
38:58his mistress's delivery room,
38:59waiting for Leo
39:00to be born.
39:01By the time he finally
39:02went after her,
39:03she was already dead.
39:04Dante hated Antonio
39:05for it,
39:05and Antonio
39:06couldn't stand
39:06to look at the son
39:07who wore his dead
39:08wife's face
39:08and carried all
39:09her unspoken
39:09accusations
39:10in his eyes.
39:11Vince.
39:12Dante held onto me
39:12so tight it felt
39:13like he was trying
39:14to crawl inside my skin.
39:15No one has ever
39:16loved me.
39:17No one took care of me.
39:18No one protected me
39:19except you.
39:20No one taught me
39:21to value myself.
39:22No one taught me
39:23how to love another person.
39:25Before you,
39:25I didn't know
39:26how to do any of it.
39:27I know I'm childish.
39:28I know.
39:30I'm sorry, Vince.
39:31I just...
39:31I needed so badly
39:33to prove that you'd
39:33keep loving me,
39:34that you wouldn't leave.
39:35His hair was damp
39:36at the temples.
39:37Don't leave me.
39:38Don't give up on me.
39:39Teach me.
39:40I'll learn.
39:41I'll learn to love you
39:42the way you deserve.
39:43His voice dropped
39:44to a murmur,
39:44barely conscious.
39:45The pillow was soaked through.
39:47The man was made of water.
39:48I ran my hand over his hair
39:49and pulled him in.
39:50I let out a long breath.
39:51All right, enough sleep.
39:53You disaster.
39:55The next morning,
39:56Antonio called him
39:57back to Ironport.
39:58I stayed in Grayvale
39:59T-Baseball on the radio.
40:02Sunsets,
40:03a semi-retired old man's life.
40:06Dante flew in
40:07whenever he could.
40:08When he came,
40:08I was there.
40:10When he left,
40:11I didn't chase.
40:14T-Baseball.
40:16Sunsets.
40:20Once standing at the door
40:21before a departure.
40:22Vince,
40:24I keep feeling like
40:25you don't love me
40:26the way you used to.
40:27I saw the hurt in his eyes.
40:2926 years old,
40:30and he still looked at me
40:31with that same blazing,
40:32desperate intensity
40:33he'd had at 18.
40:35I knew what he wanted to hear.
40:37I'd held back from saying it
40:38because I was afraid.
40:40Afraid that if I gave too much,
40:42he'd start wasting it again.
40:44I didn't have anything left to waste,
40:46but I wanted to be honest.
40:49Dante,
40:50it's not that I don't love you.
40:52It's that you've made me afraid to trust.
40:56You've been so desperate
40:57to prove I still love you.
40:59Have you ever stopped to think
41:00that maybe I'm the one
41:01who's been living with fear?
41:02He looked at me for a long time.
41:05Then he stepped forward
41:06and pressed his forehead to mine.
41:09That's okay, Vince.
41:10It's okay.
41:11You don't have to love me a lot.
41:12Just stand there.
41:13Let me do the loving.
41:16I'll love you enough for both of us.
41:19Months later,
41:19Dante broke with his father completely.
41:21He'd stolen the necessary documents
41:23and flown me to a city hall
41:24three states away.
41:25We registered as civil partners.
41:28Antonio called me late at night.
41:30I could hear Dante on the balcony.
41:32Taking the brunt of another call.
41:35Tony,
41:36it's found of that.
41:37That's the end of town.
41:38If you like him,
41:39keep him.
41:40Why do you need a piece of paper?
41:42Decent people who are together
41:44get registered.
41:45It's what you do.
41:46He's a man
41:47and he's my employee.
41:49Look,
41:49slant to death.
41:51Just faint to where
41:51the gods is right.
41:53Do you understand
41:53what this looks like?
41:54What people will say?
42:15Dante cut him off.
42:16Dad,
42:17his tone wasn't angry.
42:19He's old-fashioned.
42:20Without that paper,
42:21he'll never feel secure.
42:22It was steady,
42:23certain.
42:25This has nothing to do
42:26with men or women.
42:27Nothing to do with status.
42:31I love him.
42:32I need him to feel safe.
42:33That's all there is.
42:34You've never loved anyone.
42:36No one's ever loved you.
42:37You wouldn't understand.
42:38I could hear Antonio's voice spike.
42:40The words indecipherable,
42:41but the tone unmistakable.
42:42He was unraveling.
42:43The night was so still
42:44I could hear every crack
42:45in his composure.
42:46In the end,
42:47he accepted it.
42:48A man who'd failed his son
42:50in every way that mattered maybe,
42:51he knew he had no standing
42:52to object.
42:56Some time later,
42:57Antonio called me directly.
42:58He didn't speak for a long time.
43:00Vince.
43:00A pause.
43:02In his entire life,
43:03Dante has bowed his head
43:04to me exactly twice.
43:06The first time,
43:07he was 18.
43:08He got on his knees
43:09and begged me not to ruin you.
43:11The second time was today.
43:12He called to tell me
43:13he'd gotten registered.
43:14He told me that if I wanted
43:15to keep calling him my son,
43:16I'd have to accept it.
43:17I lost.
43:18A father who never once won.
43:19In the end,
43:19I still lost to my own son.
43:21I looked out the window.
43:22Dante was on the balcony,
43:24fussing over my two
43:25half-dead potted plants,
43:26doing a terrible job of it.
43:28The sun was catching in his eyes.
43:31Don Antonio,
43:32you didn't lose to Dante.
43:33You lost because you never
43:34learned how to love him.
43:35Silence.
43:36Then the line went dead
43:37with a soft, final click.
43:42Dante.
43:42He turned around.
43:43His eyes lit up
43:44that same light,
43:45just like when he was 18.
43:47I love you.
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