Never Truth

9

While the room clapped in congratulations, my hands involuntarily followed suit, but my mind raced to grasp the implications. Before I could get far, I was drawn from my thoughts at the sound of my name. “Antonico Conti,” Enzo announced, all eyes landing on me. “Normally, these matters are handled on a smaller stage, but I wanted all my capos present today. Going forward, you will take on Gabe’s previous role in the outfit as capo.” I hadn’t been caught off guard in years, but his words had my heart stuttering in my chest. Hands patted my back warmly in congratulations, and I dropped my chin toward Enzo in acknowledgement of the honor he was bestowing upon me. The day had started out like any other, but I could hardly believe how vastly my life had just changed with the utterance of a few words. Capo. I’d been named a capo in the Lucciano family. Considering the bumbling legacy my father had established for me, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be considered for such a promotion. I would now outrank my father. Pride expanded in my chest and bubbled up until I couldn’t force down the smile that spread across my face. Not many men were selected at such a young age for advancement. Being named a capo was a remarkable honor, and I had every intention of proving myself worthy of the position. I had to force myself to set aside my racing thoughts and listen to Enzo as he continued. “We haven’t been able to corner Sal, but we will. I promise you,” he said with steely conviction. “In the meantime, I’ll be working hard to improve our relationship with the Gallos and the other families, along with other organizations.” The Lucciano and Gallo families had a long history of bad blood between them. Recently, Sal had stoked those fires further by having the Gallo Consigliere’s son killed and framing Enzo. While Sal’s treachery had been explained to the Gallos, it hadn’t fully eased the tension. The two families carried enough baggage through the years that even a small slight would be taken as a major offense, let alone the death of an important family member. We were lucky war hadn’t broken out. “In particular, we’re facing a major problem with the Russians. Yesterday, two of our soldiers were sent back to us with a message about a deal we have allegedly backed out of, so we’ll have to figure out what Sal’s done and find a way to smooth things over.” A message was a polite way of saying they’d been beaten half to death. The Russians were f*****g ruthless and only slightly less crazy than the Irish. It was never a good idea to cross either of them. Not wanting to push our luck by keeping everyone in one room for too long, Enzo finished his speech and closed out the meeting in a matter of minutes. I received several more congratulations on my way out and was introduced to some of the men I’d never met. The older men easily accepted me into the fold, and I was relieved to be so well received. So why in the hell did the meeting leave me wanting to put my fist through somebody’s face? The entire time I sat there, agitation bubbled up inside me like water in a boiling pot. It wasn’t until an hour later when I was taking out that unprovoked emotion on my sparring partner, Leo, when I finally caved and accepted the reason behind my anger. Seeing Enzo had taken me back to the lowest point in my life. He was a stark reminder of everything I’d lost. Not just the life I’d lost, but her—Enzo’s daughter, Sofia. Seeing him reminded me of her. Thoughts of her weren’t necessarily uncommon, but I no longer suffered the crushing anger and regret that came along with them. At least, not until I looked at Enzo and recognized her same hazel eyes in his. I had thought the emotions brought on from our separation had finally dissipated. Clearly, I’d been mistaken. It appeared all I’d done was bury the anguish deep inside me. One look at him, and it all came rushing back to the surface like water bursting through a dam. I shot my fist out in a wicked left cross that caught Leo on the chin. His head flew to the side, and he took a steadying step back. “Jesus, man! You tryin’ to break my jaw? I thought we were sparring here.” He took off his glove and massaged his face, the swelling already setting in. I let out a long sigh, my eyes drifting up to wander along the dusty rafters. “s**t, I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind and got carried away.” “I think you need to get back in the ring. When’s the last time you fought?” Leo leaned himself against the ropes, sweat dripping from his short blond hair down into his eyes. “It’s been a while. Guess I may not be doing that anymore … not sure. They made me capo today.” I removed my gloves and began to unwind the wraps from my hands without looking up at my longtime friend. “The f**k? And you’re just telling me now?” He was giving me a hard time, but I could hear the excitement in his voice. I raised my eyes to peer at him, the corner of my lip lifting in a smirk. Leo charged at me, wrapping his arms around my middle and hoisting me in the air with a whoop. “I knew my boy was gonna make it. You’re in the bigtime now!” “Put me down, dickhead,” I barked on a laugh. Leo dropped me before nailing me in the shoulder. “That’s great news, so what’s with all the attitude? How come you were pissed enough you almost took my head off?” I bent between the ropes and dropped down to the ground outside the ring. “Seeing Enzo just brought back a lot of s**t I didn’t want to think about.” “Ah, Sofia,” he mused knowingly.