Breath on a mirror

Chapter 4

Antonio Dante DiNozzo Senior woke up as the maid opened his curtains and placed his breakfast tray in his lap.

"Thank you Maria." He said as he stretched noticing his lawyer and his son sitting in two armchairs in the large and expensively furnished room.

"Consigliori." He acknowledged, "Salvatore? I didn't think you would be here for a few days."

"Don DiNozzo." The aging lawyer said, giving deference to the man in the bed.

"I take it by the fact you two have decided to invade my privacy, that there is a problem?" He asked sipping from his coffee cup.

The elderly lawyer nodded and waited to be given permission to speak.

The Don waved his hand and motioned for his son to speak first.

"Papa, you know about Tony?" he asked worried not knowing if his father knew about the accident.

The old man nodded, "It is a dark day for our family, Junior was a thorn in my side, his behavior was hard to cope with, but he was my eldest son….Are we sure that this was just an accident?" he asked.

Sal nodded, "I was contacted by some Navy cops apparently Tonio took his son and abandoned him…."

"You were told never to speak of that child in my presence, he is meta razza...a half-breed. He is not full blood Scillian, his father was warned when he married that English puttana that he was dead to the family." The old Don coughed as he ranted to his son.

"Father...my brother made a mistake, I know...but he is dead now...you have a chance to bring his son into the family." Sal argued.

Don looked over at his son, "You look so much like your brother….so...so much." he said sadly.

"Don DiNozzo...it will look bad on the family if we do not take the child in. We cannot afford to lose face with them it may affect your business interests. If we do not protect one of our own how can we protect others under your protection?" The old lawyer said.

The old Don laughed, "Giuseppe, you always were a shrewd man." he stated.

"There is another matter, the….woman that Antonio Junior married, Elizabeth Paddington...she had money, and a lot of it. It is being kept in trust for the boy." Giuseppe said.

"How much?" Sal asked interested.

"Close to thirty million dollars." The lawyer informed them.

Sal's eyes widened. "The boy has that much?"

The old Don shook his head, "No...you will have that, you will take over raising the child the money will be paid to the family in tribute, except for what you need to raise the boy. We cannot have him living with that American family."

Sal looked up in surprise, "You want me to take that...I mean the boy?"

"Your twin brother was stupid, he was a target for our enemies, the boy is a result of your brother's folly. However he is a DiNozzo...He could be groomed to a job in the family, maybe a low level enforcer." The Don said his mind working.

Sal nodded, "I will contact the authorities, let them know I am in Italy and that I have heard about my unfortunate brothers passing, I will ask about the well-being of Anthony DiNozzo...Junior?" he asked his father who nodded, "The title is his now….Salvatore, you will need to take one of the Long Island properties that Tonio had, you will now be given his part of the family, make me proud."

"I will Papa." Sal said already thinking about how he could make his father proud and spend the money that the boy's inheritance would bring him. Then something occurred to him, the reason he had left Sicily in the first place... "Papa...but what about the Macaluso family...They are still after me."