-Vincent-
Our eyes stayed heavily on each other's for a while before he dug inside of the pocket to his jacket, pulling out a birthday card as he handed it over towards me. I looked down at the card resting inside of his hands before taking it in mine.
"Happy birthday." He said, his voice ridden of any emotion as he stared at me blandly and I opened the card, a scoff escaping past my lips as I looked back up at him. I ripped it in half and threw it over the railing of the lounge as I clenched my jaw.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him, my words coming out in the form of a growl.
"I came to see my boy on his birthday." He told me and I felt my eye twitch at his words. Twenty-seven years of my life and he still can't even build up the courage to call me his son.
"Originally, I stopped by the mansion a few days ago to check up on how things were going but I seen that you were not home." He said, picking up his glass that was next to him as he took a sip of his drink.
"I was busy." I grit.
"Doing what? Searching for the man that killed your mother? I figured you would have found him and killed him by now but I see that you're still as negligent as you always were." He scoffed at me.
"At least I'm actually putting in the effort of trying to look for him-"
"I've been looking for him too." He growled and I let out a humorless laugh.
"Where have you been looking Bruno? Cause I can tell you right now that you sure as hell aren't going to find him at the bottom of your tequila glass." I said and he clenched his jaw, setting his cup down on the table in between us that separated our chairs.
"Eighteen years ago, I lost my mother and my aunt on this exact day. Not a single day has gone by where I haven't stopped looking for Orlando, but what about you papa? What the fuck have you been doing these past eighteen years?" I growled out at him as I clenched my fist tightly.
"That's right, how could I forget. You've just been sitting around on your fucking ass while I've been over here, doing your fucking job!" I yelled at him and he stood up from his chair abruptly. I stood up alongside him as my chest started to rise and fall quickly.
"Do not raise your voice at me, I am your father. Show some fucking respect you ungrateful little shit!" He yelled at me, the dark and raspiness of his voice that used to send me cowering in fear as a child, echoing throughout my ear canals.
"Respect? You want me to respect you after everything you did to me as a child?! You abused me, left me nearly on the brink of death most of the time and you ask for respect? I have no respect for a disappointment of a father like you Bruno." My words dripped of anger and toxicity. He raised his hand and directed it towards my face.
My hand shot out and gripped his wrist tightly as my eyes burned with fury in the form of a glare. He seemed taken aback by my actions as he looked at our connected hands and a dark chuckle escaped my mouth as I pulled him closer.
"What were you going to do? Hit me?" I mocked.
"Let me make this clear papa," I grinned wickedly as I let my words linger in the air for a second. "You may be blood but I can assure you that you are no father of mine. Omar was a better father than you could have ever been." I seethed angrily and released his wrist from my hand, shoving it away from me.
"Your uncle was weak, just like you. You two always did have that in common and I blame him for turning you into a joke of a Don. Why couldn't you be more like Salvatore growing up, hm? Why couldn't you just do as you were told? Maybe then I wouldn't have had to beat some sense into you." He sneered.
"Don't forget that Salvatore used to be like me. He was afraid to kill too but after you took him in when Omar died, you brainwashed him into being one of your fucking soldiers who was always at your beck and call!" I raised my voice at him, my nostrils flaring as I tightened my jaw.
There was a time where Salvatore and I used to hate the way that we grew up. Neither of us wanted the life that we were given but it was inevitable. Whether we liked it or not, it was always going to be the life that we lived.
After our mother's died, that's when things changed for the both of us. I was the only person there that day Orlando came and killed my aunt and mother in front of me on my ninth birthday. My uncle, my father, Salvatore-they were all gone but when Salvatore came home to see his mother dead inside of my lap, he snapped.
For a while, he blamed me for not doing anything to stop his mama from dying and he stopped talking to me, only speaking to my father and my uncle. Not even a full year later, his father passed away and that's when he really lost it. If my father wanted him to kill, Salvatore would kill without batting a fucking eye.
He had it rough growing up. Losing his mother and father within such a close proximity really fucked him up in the head. I may be a killer but Salvatore is different. He shows no remorse for the people he's killed-no mercy. If anything, he's worse than I am. He doesn't care or sympathize with his victims. He doesn't do second chances. He's fucking mad.
People fear me but they really should fear Salvatore. He's slowly losing his goddamn mind and it's only a matter of time until he shuts down completely and goes fucking ballistic.
"I didn't have to brainwash Salvatore because unlike you, he killed willingly." He spat back.
"He was only willing to do it after you constantly drilled into our fucking minds that killing was what made us strong!"
"I wouldn't have had to if you both weren't such pussies! Your mothers babied you all the time and turned you both soft. Without me, you two wouldn't have made it one second in the life that you live now. You should be fucking thanking me for everything that I've done to you!" His words processed quickly throughout my mind and the next thing I knew, my fist was connected to the side of his face.
He stumbled back as he held onto the railing and I immediately latched onto his shirt as I bent his back over the rail, threatening to let him fall. People screamed as they looked up at us, running around and exiting the club. My eyes glared heavily into his own as he held onto my arm, afraid that I would drop him.
"I'd rather die before I thank a piece of shit like you." I growled in his face, hitting him harder and he chuckled, blood covering his teeth as he grinned at me.
"What the fuck are you grinning at?" I seethed, earning no response as he continued to grin. I let him scoot further along the railing until half of his body was dangling. My hand found the gun in the back of my slacks and I pulled it out, placing it under his chin.
"Go on boy, kill me." He chuckled, the raspiness of his voice only making me angrier as unwanted memories of my childhood came back, flooding my mind.
"Your wish is my command." I smirked at him, clicking the safety of the gun off as I pressed my finger tighter on the trigger.
"By the way, who is this Emilia girl?" His words caught me off guard as they quickly processed throughout my mind. I eased my finger off of the trigger, my jaw clenching.
"What the fuck did you just say to me?!" I snapped, tucking my gun back inside of my slacks as I got a better grip on the collar of his shirt with both hands.
"So you're getting defensive, meaning that you must care deeply for her." He chuckled out, continuing to grin.
"No..it's something far more greater than care, isn't it? Don't tell me that you actually love her-"
"Shut the fuck up." I seethed, hitting him again and he let out a laugh, blood trickling out his mouth.
"On my way into town, I did a little research on you to see how things were going in your life. Imagine my surprise when I found out you had a girlfriend. You and your little Emilia." He let her name linger in the air as he laughed softly.
"I find it funny that she looks oddly a lot like Orlando, does she not? Same brown hair, same brown eyes, same last name." He grit the last part as his grin fell, a cold glare pulling over in his eyes as he clenched his jaw. "After all, Emilia Vasquez is her real name, no?"
I felt my jaw twitch as he shook his head at me, displeasure taking over his facial features while he glared into my eyes.
"You make me fucking sick. How can you live with yourself, being in love with the daughter of the man that killed your mother? She is a Vasquez boy!" He roared at me, his eyes widening in rage.
"She is nowhere even close to being anything like him!" I shouted back, just as angrily-if not even more angrier than him.
"I'm trying to protect you Vincent. She's Orlando's daughter! I wouldn't be surprised if she-"
"Protect me? Since when have you ever done anything for anybody except for yourself? Hm!?" I questioned him, earning a scoff in response.
"You're so in love that you won't even acknowledge the possibility that she will destroy everything we've worked hard-"
"Oh no, I've acknowledged it. But the thing is papa, i just don't fucking care." I told him, knowing my words would piss him off. He clenched his jaw, rage building up inside of his darkening eyes.
"You are ignorant! You are nothin-"
"Enough talking." I cut him off, letting him go as I shoved him off of the railing. His eyes widened, his fingers slipping past mine as he tried to grab onto me and I pulled my hand away from his reach.
A senile smile pulled across my lips as I watched his body crash through a wooden table below him, screams of people around him filling the club. Unfortunately, the fall damage he had taken wasn't enough to kill him. However, it was enough to injure him.
Turning around, I headed down the steps of the staircase as I turned the corner and I seen my eyes fall upon Emilia who glanced between the lounge and I, fear settled within her brown eyes. I froze in place at the realization that she must have seen me push him off and I grit my teeth.
"Emilia-" I walked closer towards her and she backed away from me, stumbling in her heels. She turned away from me, walking in the opposite direction as she headed for the dressing room.
I debated on going after her but I decided to just deal with her later. Turning my attention back onto my father, I walked up towards him. I tilted my head to the side as I watched him hold his arm, groaning in pain.
"Does it hurt?" I asked, picking up the bottom of my slacks before crouching down next to him. I poked what was most likely a broken arm with a small amount of pressure and he took in a sharp breath, confirming my theory.
"Good." I grinned, wrapping my hand around his arm as I gripped it with all of my strength. His eyes shot wide open as he let out a roar of pain and I smiled as I squeezed it harder.
"Fuck you!" He shouted at me, his breathing escalating from the immense amount of pain.
"Look at you papa. Look at how pathetic you are, crying over a minor fracture. Maybe you're just as weak as I thought you were." I chuckled softly, although, there was no humor inside of my eyes.
"You'll regret this." He growled out. I released his arm, picking him up by his shirt as he struggled to stand on his feet.
"I'm sure I will." I responded, unamused. "Now get the fuck out of my club." I demanded, shoving him away from me.
I raised my hand in the air, motioning for the security guards to come closer and they grabbed him, dragging him out of the club.
"You're going to regret this boy! Just you wait!" He shouted, his voice growing more faint the further he got from me. I rolled my eyes as I watched the guards toss him out onto the curb like the garbage he is.
I looked down at the broken wood pieces from the damaged table and back at my bloody knuckles before I remembered Emilia. My gaze shot up, my feet quickly moving towards the dressing room but I didn't see any sign of her things.
"You." I called out to one of the strippers, curling my finger at her as I beckoned her to come closer. She looked like she was debating on whether she should or not before hesitantly moving towards me.
"Yes Mr. Fontana?" She questioned, her eyes not breaking from mine as she gulped.
"Where is Emilia?" I asked and she looked relieved, possibly canceling out the theory that I was going to fire her.
"She said she wasn't feeling good so she went home." She told me and I clenched my jaw, digging my hand in my pocket as I grabbed my car keys.
I pushed open the back entrance of the club, heading for my car before getting inside as I made my way back to the mansion.
♠
Chapter 24! Done! Wooh!
Hey babes, thank you for reading chapter 24 of Emilia <3
I'm sorry for the late update. I was supposed to update yesterday but I didn't so, I decided to do a double update for you guys today as an apology for the long wait!
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!! Chapter 25 is out now, go check it out.
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