“Well, well,” fatherly pride beamed on Liam’s face then. He drew Roman closer and put a hard kiss to his cheek.
While Aaron went to hug his brother, Liam looked to Imani.
“Thank you, angel,” He put a tender kiss to Imani’s temple before covering her waist with his palm. “When do I meet my grandson?”
Imani laughed and looked to Roman, who shrugged.
“Did I say something?” Liam asked.
“Roman believes it’s a boy too.”
This news ushered in another bolt of laughter.
Across the room, Humphrey and Athena looked on. Their expressions grim. Humphrey reached for his mother’s hand, not surprised when she clutched it in a crushing grip. In a show of understanding, he tugged her hand up and put a kiss to the back of it.
~35~
“You wanted to see me, Pop?” Aaron looked instantly apologetic when he saw that his father wasn’t alone, but with his closest friends and advisors.
“Come on in, son. We’re just finishing up,” Liam said as the men stood. “Drinks later,” he reminded them, watching while Aaron received warm hugs and cheek kisses from Tonelo Aliri, Beniton Calabrese, Marco Lucci and Fredrico Nandi.
“Sorry I interrupted, Pop. Your message said ASAP.” Aaron said when the others left.
“You did right, Aaron. Come and sit with me,” Liam led his second born to the living area that comprised an entire side of his office suite.
Aaron unbuttoned his pin-striped suit coat and settled to the chair flanking the one Liam had selected. “Everything alright, Pop?” he asked.
Liam laughed. “In this family?”
Aaron smiled, nodded. “What do you need?”
“I need you to keep the family from tearing itself apart.”
Aaron looked as though he’d just been asked to pole vault Mount Everest.
“The tragedies...so numerous and right on the heels of each other,” Liam noted. “Em’s betrayal, Stone’s death, this continuing nastiness between Humphrey, Roman and Vic...I fear we haven’t even reached the ugliest of it, yet.”
“I don’t know what I can-”
“You’re already doing it. Just by being who you are.”
Aaron smiled. “I’m no saint, Pop.”
“I don’t require a saint, boy. I require a knight and you are most definitely that,” Liam sighed, studied the midtown view beyond the majestic windows for a while. “I didn’t see how powerful Humphrey had gotten until what happened with Emilio. Even then, I stuck my head in the sand, too afraid to know what else he was up to.” Liam stood, moved closer to the windows. “My plan was to build a business my sons would want to run together and bring their sons to run while I sat back and enjoyed it all. Hmph...never took the time to ask my sons what they wanted.”
“Pop-”
“Despite all Humphrey’s power, he defers to you. He respects you. He always has.” Liam faced Aaron then. “I think it’s because he doesn’t understand you and that gives you power he can never compete with.”
“But how do I use that, Pop?”
“By challenging anything he tries that doesn’t sit well with you. He’s got stellar instincts as a businessman, but he also has your mother’s mind.”
Aaron frowned, curiosity keeping him silent.
Liam left the windows and walked his office. “Tesano was only supposed to be little more than a sewing factory and now...”
“Now you’re a captain of industry,” Aaron hoped to make his father smile.
Liam chuckled, but his humor didn’t hold. “I think Humphrey’s interests, his...way of doing things could ruin us all if his power at Tesano goes unchecked.”
“Pop are you asking me to save Tesano from Humphrey or Humphrey from himself?”
Liam squeezed Aaron’s shoulder, when he strolled past. “Humphrey’s path is set regardless of what we do. But Tesano, Tesano is the family. It’s our...respectability,” he resumed his seat. Leaning over, he drew a hand through the lustrous salt and pepper strands of his hair.
“I wanted to be an Italian who brought respectability to the country and maintained it, least ‘til my time here was up.” He fixed Aaron with a crooked smile.
Aaron clapped his father’s knee. “Tesano will always keep its respectability. I’ll see to it.”
“You may be in for a battle,” some of the humor had returned to Liam’s voice.
Aaron shrugged. “That’s what a knight is for.”
~36~
“It’s true. You only have to show up. My co-workers at the museum are handling all the arrangements.”
“Well thanks a heap, Imani, for not leaving your sisters-in-law at least one thing to do for your shower.”
