Lies of Omission : A dark mafia M/M, page 5
“Get. In,” Sal gritted.
Numbly, I did as he asked. The first thing I noticed was the smell. Like a new car and expensive cologne, and a hint of weed. His scent was all over the vehicle, and not only did my sense of smell like it, but my cock did too. I shifted before he jumped in so my hard-on wouldn’t be all that obvious.
I patiently waited for him to turn on the car, but he seemed to be deep in thought.
“How long?”
“What?” I questioned as I ran a hand over my curls.
Sal cut me with a glare. “Don’t play dumb, little cub. How long has that asshole been molesting you?”
My breathing hitched, and I shook my head. I opened my mouth to deny it, but Sal arched a brow.
“You have bite marks on your lower lip.”
“It wasn’t like that,” I felt the need to add. If only to make me feel better. Sal didn’t say anything. He just kept looking at me, waiting for me to answer his question. “We had a thing last year.”
Sal reached for the glove compartment, his hand passing my chest briefly. He pulled out a silver box and opened it. Inside were three rolled-up blunts.
“And he’s not happy about not being able to tap your ass anymore?”
I winced at his choice of words.
“What am I doing here, Zinnetti? Are you finally going to get your revenge on me? What my dad does isn’t any of my business, and even if it were, it’s not like I can stop it.”
Smoke was blown in my face, and when it cleared out, my gaze was locked with Sal’s amused smirk.
“You have a lot to say today,” he drawled.
“I’m tired,” I told him honestly.
“I’m going to help you, little lion, but I want something in return.”
EIGHT
18 years old
My ribs were killing me. Every breath I took was jagged and piercing. The effort it took every day to walk the fucking halls and pretend nothing was wrong was worthy of a fucking Oscar.
Armando looked at me and then back at the closed doors we had just walked out of.
“They’re fucking, aren’t they?” He was asking what I was already thinking.
My jaw went slack at his words. The way the debate teacher kept looking at Theodore Lyons was that of a predator. I knew it because it was the same way I regarded that little shit. Except there was something else in the teacher's eyes—something almost possessive about it.
“Seems like it,” I murmured, walking toward the parking lot with him.
Out of all of my cousins and family members, Armando was my favorite. It wasn’t just because we were closer in age but because he understood me without me having to say the words out loud.
His pace was slow, and I knew it was for my benefit, even if I had yet to complain about the pain I found myself in. We made it to our cars, and Armando paused before opening his door.
“You think that information is something we can use to our advantage?”
“I’ll handle it,” I told him.
The family had been going through many changes, and most of them hadn’t been good. The Zinnetti empire was crumbling. With my dad dead and Armando’s father in prison, the Zinnetti estate was a pit of snakes.
Armando seemed to be the only one I knew I could trust. It wasn’t nothing against the twins, but their father was very involved. Until we knew who could be trusted, it was best to keep the twins at arm’s length.
Once I saw Armando leave, I checked my watch and made my way up toward the school. Theodore should be coming out any second now—unless he was fucking the professor.
My lip curled at the thought of it.
Theodore looked at me with apprehensive eyes. He was sitting straight, afraid to move, even though my Jeep had more than enough room. Even though I offered him a deal, he looked at me like I had two heads. Maybe he was wondering if he should make a deal with the devil.
The thought made me smirk and made Theo shift in his seat.
“I don’t need your help,” he finally said, and my grip on the steering wheel tightened.
I didn’t let my annoyance show because emotions, whether positive or negative, could be used as a tool, and if my family taught me anything it was that having a poker face was key.
“Is that so?” I drawled.
I could see the unease on his face and the way the tendon in his neck thrummed when he swallowed.
“I have everything handled,” he bit out.
Without any warning, I slammed the brakes.
If it weren’t for the seat belt, Theo would have slammed face-first into the dashboard.
“What the fuck, Zinnetti!”
I raised a brow at him. The fact that the little shit had the audacity to get mad at me was somewhat impressive if I wasn’t annoyed by his naïve attitude.
“You’re getting really brave, little lion,” I taunted him.
He glared at me. I could see the rise and fall of his chest.
“I could make you disappear here just to prove that you have nothing handled.”
He gritted his teeth but didn’t say anything. I took that as my cue to keep on driving. Theodore was not at all happy with me, and something about that gave me immense satisfaction. When I was a few blocks away from his house, I stopped the car—this time slower than before.
“We wouldn’t want Daddy to get mad, would we?” I raised a brow as I looked at him.
His jaw was still set in a hard line, and his eyes burned with rage. I was waiting for him to tell me off—almost wished for it—but ultimately, he got out of the car without another word.
For someone who got stepped on at school, I didn’t expect Theodore Lyons to actually have a spine. I was trying to give him a hand, and he was refusing, and I think that was what pissed me off the most. He should be getting down on his fucking knees to thank me for trying to give him a hand. Sure, I had my reasons for helping him, but it beat having the senator's daughter as a backup.
By the time I made it to the Zinnetti estate, I was still pissed. As soon as I parked, I noticed all the cars in the driveway and groaned. The house would be bustling with activity.
When the famiglia got together, it was never good.
I checked my phone as I walked into the house, and the lack of messages from Armando could go either way. One, nothing important for me to worry about, or two, shit hit the fan, and he was held up for the moment.
As I walked in, I noticed men lounging around. Some nodded, others ignored me. This was fine by me. I just wanted to get to my room and not bother with anyone. My feet had just touched the first step of the stairs when I heard my name being shouted.
“Sal, my boy, come over here.”
I winced at the sound of Uncle Louie’s voice. Turning around, I saw him sitting down at the dining table, Armando to his right. The asshole smirked at me. He didn’t let me know we had a full house, or else I would have bailed or made my way through the back and left him to deal with Uncle Louie alone.
“Uncle Louie,” I murmured as I took a seat to his left.
Uncle Louie wasn’t really our uncle. He wasn’t a relative of the Zinnettis, but he had been around since the beginning when he took us strays under his wings, acting as a great-granduncle to us. I didn’t usually mind the rambling of an old man, but I wasn’t too keen on listening to it today.
“Come sit, come sit. Tell me how you have been.”
“Yes, Sal, I was just telling Uncle Louie all about the debate team.”
Uncle Louie’s eyes were on me, and how he smiled at me reminded me of a turtle since he was bald and hadn’t bothered to put his dentures on today. There was nothing fake about his expression. He was genuinely interested in what we got up to in school.
“I knew Amado and Gennaro made the right decision when they enrolled you in that school. Luciano fought it, saying that a Zinnetti didn’t need a degree to obtain power.”
The disdain in Louie’s tone was evident. He wasn’t a fan of our uncle Luciano. Hell, apart from the twins, no one was. He was a force to be reckoned with. He was of the belief that having friends meant you gave out knives to have your back stabbed. My zio Amado and my father Gennaro knew that in this new age, you needed more than a high school degree, and our current schooling would look great on any resume--practically guaranteeing us any college of our choice.
“Brute force doesn’t get you anywhere nowadays,” Armando added thoughtfully.
I craned my neck to ensure no one was listening to our conversation. This was a pit of snakes, and you never knew when someone was slithering in the corners, waiting for the perfect ammunition to rise in the ranks.
Times were so much simpler when we were kids—back when Armando and I had our fathers watching our backs. Amado was dead, and my father was in prison.
Amado was the first to suggest growing our empire through other means. He knew that for the next generations to survive, they would need to adapt.
That was why Armando was dead set on us having an education. He wanted to honor the wishes his father had for this family, even if everyone else thought it was no longer necessary to do so.
“Keep your head up. Don’t trust anyone. Survive.”
Those were the last words my father said to me before he was locked away.
Now, even if I wanted to get information about what he wanted, it was too suspicious. The walls had eyes and ears everywhere.
That was why I had to do whatever was in my power to help him out. Even if I hated to admit it, I needed Theodore Lyons more than he needed me.
NINE
There was a knock on my door first thing Saturday morning. I groaned and debated ignoring it, but even if I did, my father would still barge in.
Shit.
Did he somehow find out that Zinnetti had brought me home? How would he feel knowing I accepted a ride from the enemy?
I still couldn’t wrap my head around yesterday's shit show. No doubt, one of the staff told my father the time I came home, so he was probably satiated I had attended debate club. I wondered if he would be seeing William tomorrow at the golf club.
One hundred and seventy-five days more to go.
“Theodore!”
The voice on the other side of the door wasn’t my father’s, so I didn’t rush to get out of bed.
“Come in!”
Julia walked in with a smile on her face, and I instantly perked up.
Not that I didn’t love that she was here, but ever since I started to fend for myself, my father had told her to take the weekends off, so she usually only came during the week. And since no one ever expected single father Judge Lyons to host a thing, there was no need.
“Morning Julia, don’t you look very beautiful this morning.” I grinned at her.
“Your flattery will not work on me. Hurry up and come downstairs before your breakfast gets cold.”
I instantly got up because if Julia came to get me and made me something that was waiting for me, it meant that my father wasn’t home, so at least I wouldn’t have to deal with him.
As soon as I reached the bottom of the stairs, the fresh smell of baked flour greeted me. My mouth watered. I could see a stack of homemade tortillas already there.
“Julia, I will marry you first thing Monday morning if you keep making me these,” I told her as I reached for a tortilla and bit into it.
“They’re still too hot. They will give you a tummy ache, cuidado.”
I just gave her a grin. I loved Julia even if she believed that going out in the winter with wet hair or walking barefoot would give me a cold.
“It will be worth every second of pain,” I told her as I rolled the tortilla and took a bite.
She just rolled her eyes at me playfully but then sighed and motioned for me to take a seat.
“How’s school going?” Julia asked as she stirred the pot.
“Meh, so-so. I’m glad it’s senior year, and then I can leave this place.”
I quickly realized how insensitive this sounded when I saw her face fall. She would be one of the people I would miss leaving behind—her and Lea.
“What have I told you, Theodore? Don’t be in such a rush to grow up. Once you start, you can’t go back,” she chastised me.
I think she sometimes forgot that there was nothing good to return to. Being an adult would get me far away from my father; that was all I wanted. I had been bound by my duty to him and my family for far too long, and I wanted a chance to spread my wings and finally be free.
“I’m going to miss you the most, Julia,” I told her softly. We both knew I was lying. Lea took the number one spot in my heart, and she damn well knew it wasn’t because she was my so-called girlfriend.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I will make sure to tell that to Leanna.”
I was sure she wasn’t fibbing, and Leanna would take offense for a second, but she knew better than I did what it felt like to be trapped in a home where your parents were absent ninety-five percent of the time.
She knew our cage may stretch and come with unlimited funds—but at the end of the day, the leash was still there.
A few minutes later, Julia was handing me a plate, and the worried look she had earlier crossed her features.
“Is something wrong?” I asked as I grabbed another tortilla and rolled it up.
“Come on, eat,” she waved me off. “The food will get cold.”
I did as she asked, even though it felt like something was still amiss. It was halfway through my food when I could no longer enjoy the tortillas because it felt like something was wrong, and it made the food taste bland that I said something.
“What’s going on, Julie? You’re rarely here on the weekends.”
Her sigh was heavy, and that right there said it all. She opened her mouth, and I felt like I was on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what she had to say. She immediately closed it, and I silently groaned.
When she finally spoke, I dropped the half-eaten tortilla. Out of all the things she said, I was not expecting that.
“Your father said he no longer needs my services,” she told me, and I stared at her dumbfounded for a few seconds before I could reply.
It made no sense at all.
One more person who ended up leaving.
My eyes felt heavy, and my throat constricted. I blinked away the feeling. If there was one thing Judge Lyons didn’t tolerate, it was weakness. As a little kid growing up without a mother, I remembered all the times I would start to cry—and instead of consoling me, my father would remind me that men didn’t cry.
It took me a few seconds, but I regained my composure when I spoke again, my tone flat.
“When?”
“My last day was yesterday,” she added softly.
I didn’t even need to clarify if my father offered her some notice. The devastation on her face said it all, and the only reason she was here was because of me. When I was very little, I used to follow Julia around while she cleaned and cooked. As the only female in my life, I was fascinated by her.
When my father was around, she was cold—still courteous, but cold. It stung when I was a kid to see her switch back and forth between being affectionate to me and acting like she didn’t know me.
It wasn’t until I was older that I realized that she did it for a reason, and that reason was my father.
“See, I told you I would miss you the most,” I tried to joke, but it came out weak.
“Oh, Theodore,” she sighed. “I didn’t see it coming. You know I wouldn’t have left you, right?”
I nodded.
“Whenever you need a pick-me-up, you can always go down to where the other side lives, and I’ll be happy to host you.”
My mouth felt dry when I tried to swallow.
“What will your husband think?” I croaked with a small smile.
She pursed her lips, but I could see the tension leave her shoulders.
“It was bound to happen next summer,” she said, and I knew she was right. “This isn’t goodbye forever, okay?” Julia reached out and took my hands in hers, and I nodded.
By Sunday, the house felt too big for just my father and me. The rooms seemed to echo, and the kitchen where Julia spent most of her time was spotless. Suddenly, I felt like I was just a stand-in within my own house.
There was nothing of this place that felt like mine—not even my room.
Feeling like the walls were suddenly closing in on me, I took off and I ran.
TEN
One hundred and seventy-five days left—and I was already suffocating.
Running was something I was good at. I was an expert at running away from my problems. Were they even a problem if I didn’t have to face them head-on?
That was how most of my Sunday morning was spent. As soon as Julia left, I couldn’t stand to be in the house. I just began to run. I ran away until I couldn’t feel my feet. I ran some more when I began to hear my father's voice. My breaths were jagged, and my sides hurt when I heard Williams's voice, but still, I ran.
Last night, I was too exhausted to think, and I passed out.
Now, I could admit that I had overdone it. My legs were sore since I wasn’t used to exercising. My steps were slow and I was aching in places I didn’t know I was capable of aching.
My father was not waiting for me when I went downstairs Monday morning. I guess he figured he had already fucked up my life enough for a month, he would give me some reprieve.
Lucky me.
I knew I usually didn’t eat in the mornings, but this morning, it hit me the hardest that Julia would no longer be there. It really made me think of all the shit I’d taken for granted. Of course, today, of all days, I was hungry, having skipped dinner last night.
By the time Leanna picked me up, I was already in a foul mood.
“No food this morning?” She looked at me expectantly, and I felt like I had been sucker punched.
“Julia doesn’t work for us anymore,” I managed to answer through gritted teeth.
