My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 681

Chapter 681

Nobody trusted anybody.

Dad sat beside me on the cold stone bench, his black cane resting between his knees. He hadn’t said much since we arrived.

Neither had I.

For a long time, all we listened to was the wind moving through the trees.

I broke the silence, “They’re never going to let me leave.”

Dad turned his head toward me, “We’ll find a way.”

I gave a small shake of my head, “No,” I laughed quietly, but there wasn’t any humor in it, “You don’t understand. Vincenzo. He’s too powerful. He already said no. And when Vincenzo says no,” I stared at the grass beneath my shoes, “People stop arguing.”

Dad watched me without interrupting, he simply leaned back against the bench.

“He gave Mom his word. He won’t change his mind. There isn’t a man alive who can’t change his mind,” I looked at him, “You haven’t met the real Vincenzo.”

The corner of his mouth moved ever so slightly, “I have.”

Before I could answer, Dad reached into the inside pocket of his coat and pulled out a silver cigarette case. He opened it, took one cigarette, then a lighter. The flame had barely flickered to life.

“Don’t,” the voice cut across the cemetery.

Dad didn’t even look up.

One of the Capone guards had already stepped forward. His pistol was raised, “Smoking isn’t permitted anywhere inside the Capone cemetery.”

Dad looked at the burning lighter in his hand before calmly lifting his eyes to the guard, “And if I decide otherwise?”

The guard smiled, “If a single piece of ash touches this ground, I’ll make you pick it up with your mouth. You’ll clean this cemetery yourself.”

Then Dad slowly closed the lighter, and he slipped the unlit cigarette back into the case, “As you wish.”

The guard lowered his weapon. Without another word, he returned to his position several yards away.

Dad watched him go. Only after the guard’s back was turned did Dad let out a quiet breath through his nose.

I shook my head, “There’s no changing his mind without a war.”

His jaw tightened slightly, “There has never been a city I couldn’t enter. There has never been a negotiation I couldn’t finish. And there has never been a problem that didn’t eventually present a solution.”

I searched his face, “You really think you’ll find one?”

“I don’t think,” he answered immediately, “I prepare. Principessa, I have no interest in starting a war with the Capones.”

He tapped the handle of his cane once against the stone.

“If Vincenzo believes this is finished, he’s making the same mistake many men have made before him.”

A knot formed in my stomach, “What are you planning?”

His gaze settled on me, “I haven’t decided yet but…”

I leaned forward, “Daddy, if even one Capone gets hurt because of this. If you touch any of them. I’ll never forgive you. I mean it. If one drop of Capone blood is spilled because you’re trying to get me back. I’ll never look at you the same way again. I’ll never come to Philadelphia and you will never see me again.”

Dad didn’t answer, he studied me first, then, slowly, he nodded once, “So that’s where your heart is.”