Sempre (Forever Series #1)(39)

“It’s different. Someone ought to lock him up, but she’s just a girl. She’s harmless.”

Vincent looked up again at those words, blinking a few times. “Are you suggesting you’ve never hurt a girl before, Carmine? Because I think a few would say differently.”

The room remained silent. Carmine had no response. Vincent pushed his files aside and took off his glasses, sighing. “Look, she’s locked inside because I don’t have the time or the energy to take her anywhere, and there’s no one else to do it.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” Carmine said. “I don’t even have enough gas in my car to take myself anywhere right now.”

“How do you plan to get to school?”

Carmine shrugged. “Siphon the gas from your car while you sleep.”

Contrary to the tension in the room, Vincent actually laughed at that. “You probably would.”

Carmine smirked. He would.

Vincent opened his top desk drawer and pulled out the silver American Express card. “I tell you what—I’ll make you a deal.”

Carmine eyed him skeptically. “I’m listening.”

“I’ll give you the credit card back if you make more of an effort.”

“What, like keeping my room clean?”

“I said an effort, not a miracle. And what I mean is straighten yourself out. Stop the fighting, stop the drugs, pass your classes, and when I ask for a favor, I want you to actually do it.”

“Fair enough,” Carmine said, grabbing the credit card before his father could change his mind. “I’ll make an effort.”

“Great, because I need a favor.”

Carmine stared at him, not at all surprised.

“We need groceries,” Vincent said. “Enough stuff to last a while.”

“Like food and shit?”

“Just food, Carmine. But yes.”

“And you want me to get these groceries? On my own?”

“Of course not,” Vincent said. “Since you’re so concerned, take the girl with you.”

Carmine looked between his father and the credit card. “Is this a test? Because not two goddamn hours ago you said I was still cut off.”

“Things change, son.”

“What changed?”

Vincent shook his head—evading again. “You want a chance to prove yourself? Do it. But don’t screw up this time, Carmine. If something happens to the girl, there will be more dire consequences than being cut off financially.”

Carmine stood up, figuring he needed to leave the room before his father came to his senses. “Does this mean I’m no longer grounded?”

Vincent sighed. “You’ve been grounded since you were thirteen, and you’ll continue to be grounded for as long as you live under my roof. Not that being grounded has ever stopped you before . . .”

“So basically, I’m not really grounded.”

“Were you ever?”

Carmine laughed. “No.”

13

Sunny Oaks Manor, located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, looked like an upper-class apartment complex. The only thing that gave away its true nature was the staff, wearing the typical medical scrubs. Everyone was friendly, the facilities modern, but none of that mattered to Gia DeMarco.

Vincent had done everything in his power to make her comfortable, insuring she had the biggest apartment and as many luxuries as allowed, but she held resentment that she’d been forced to move. Sunny Oaks wasn’t her home, she’d told him, and as far as she was concerned, it never would be.

Gia sat in her chair at the window in her front room, dressed impeccably in a blue dress and black pumps as she gazed out at the courtyard. Vincent perched on the arm of the chair across from his mother, not surprised in the least when she refused to greet him. Same story, different day.

“It’s nice outside,” he said, attempting conversation. “We could go for a walk.”

“I haven’t seen you in months, Vincenzo,” Gia said, her voice venomous. “Months.”

Vincent sighed. “It’s been three weeks.”

“Three months, three weeks,” she said. “May as well have been three years. You don’t care.”

“I do care, but I don’t live in Chicago anymore, remember?”

“Don’t remind me,” she said. “I hate thinking my only son abandoned his family.”

Vincent knew by family she didn’t mean blood relatives. She was referring to la famiglia, where her true loyalty lay. If ever there was a stereotypical Mafia wife, dedicated to the lifestyle until death, it was his mother.

“I didn’t abandon anyone,” Vincent said.

“You abandoned me,” Gia said. “You stuck me in this hospital.”

“It’s not a hospital. It’s a retirement community.”

“I don’t belong here,” she said. “I’m not sick! Your father, God rest his soul, would be ashamed of you.”

That was nothing new. “How about that walk now?”

“I don’t care what these quacks say,” she said, ignoring his suggestion for the second time. “They can’t be trusted. They’re all probably working for the government. Kennedy always had it out for your father, you know. He tried to bring him down.”