Her Mafia Daddy (Book 1) novel Chapter 58

Rafael POV

Dimitri was home, so I wasn’t surprised when a knock sounded seconds later. I told him to come in and then my son strode into the room. I still remembered holding him as a baby, his chubby fingers wrapped around mine as he learned to walk.

I had been the one to break the news to him about his mother, had consoled him and dried his tears. I gave him his first gun and taught him how to shoot it. I was there to induct him into the ’Ndrangheta. Everything I had done for the last eighteen years had been for him. He would do this one thing for me.

“Sit down,” I barked and pointed at the empty seat next to Marco. My cousin started to stand, but I told him to stay. He was often the voice of reason when my temper got the better of me. I folded my hands and tried to remain calm. “I will ask you this once and only once. And I expect the truth, Dimitri.”

A flash of fear went through my son’s gaze, but he tried to smile through it. “Of course, Papà. I would never lie to you.”

“Are you gay?” He didn’t move, didn’t even seem to be breathing, as he stared at me. After a few very long seconds, he swallowed. “You wouldn’t ask if you didn’t already know the answer.”

“Still, I want to hear you say it. To my face.” His chin lifted, the Ravazzani pride and courage surfacing. “Yes, I am gay.”

I pounded a fist onto the desk again and closed my eyes. I had known it, but hearing him admit it twisted the knife in my chest a little more. “How long?” I rasped. “How long have you known?”

“Since always. There’s never been a time when I didn’t know.” Unbelievable. He’d hidden this from me his entire life. It felt like a betrayal of the worst kind, as if everything I’d known had been flipped upside down. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Dimitri ’s eyes bulged. “Are you joking? Because I knew you’d act like this.” He gestured toward me. “If I had known, I could have protected you. I could have made other plans. I never would have”

“You mean you would have sent me away. You never would have made me your heir.” Yes, that was exactly what I meant. I stabbed at the desktop with my finger. “You cannot possibly blame me for that. You know what happens to gay men in our world. I’d rather you were alive and somewhere else than here and dead. But now it’s too late.”

His face lost its colour but he didn’t look away. Resignation settled in his expression. “What are you going to do?”

“I do not want this life for you. I want you married, with children. Whatever you want to do once you have raised your children and become capo is up to you. But first you must give up this man and get married.”

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