𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄

II

D

'You don't deserve to be with her. She doesn't deserve this life—this shitty fucking life and yet you brought her into it!'

Olympia's words weighed heavily on my mind days after our argument. The guilt I felt overpowered any logic or calculated thought in my mind, further festering into the reality my sister prophesied.

'You did this to her!'

Pursing my lips together, my eyebrows scrunched in thought as I continued to drown myself in guilt. Blinded by my desires and selfish wants, I ignored my sister's forewarnings in my pursuit of Mina. I should've listened despite how much I wished to continue things and though I had no regrets, there was no denying I was to blame for what happened to her.

I should've protected her better.

I should've been there with her the day everything happened.

With her pregnancy, emotions were at an all time high which only amplified my apparent faults. We still had to talk about it but there never seemed to be a good time to address things. I didn't want to force her to talk to me, I wanted her to be comfortable enough to approach me on her own.

I had to wait.

She was going through such a traumatic experience while carrying our child. I wanted to help her, I wanted her to talk to me but she was struggling to open up. It hurt to watch but how I felt didn't matter. She was hurting more.

I was in the dark where I felt lost and useless. I didn't know whether my encouraging words would help or trigger her. She was only getting used to me being so close to her again compared to the initial days where she flinched at the mere sight of me.

Acknowledging her initial reservations in keeping her pregnancy hidden, my thoughts of her fearing me came to the forefront but I couldn't dwell on them long.

"Damien." I was pulled from my thoughts at the sound of my father calling my name. Looking up to meet his neutral expression, I could clearly see the slightly annoyed gleam in his dark eyes. "Did you hear what I said?" He asked.

The abrupt meeting my father called was urgent. Despite successfully beating Vincenzo— the betrayal of my father's caporegimes and our accountant, left us vulnerable.

My father aimed to shake us from our brief vulnerability and out of the stagnancy we found ourselves in with limited leadership.

The only way to do this was by making me Don sooner than he anticipated. The process of passing the mantle of Don was underway and in the coming months I was expected to take on the leading role. When that happened, I would be able to choose my second in command, my consigliere and my own caporegimes.

I already knew who I would be choosing but I failed to act on it these past few weeks as I was plagued with worry and guilt over Mina.

My father knew that the situation with Mina was distracting me. I had no desire to prioritise the Famiglia over Mina, she had my attention and she was my top priority.

My father had yet to address my lack of enthusiasm when it came to the idea of becoming Don but I knew he wouldn't hold his tongue for long.

"Were you not listening at all?" He pestered me with a look of disapproval.

I pursed my lips together, unable to respond. He shook his head, sighing lowly before waving a dismissive hand, signaling for everybody in the meeting to leave.

I watched as Roberto, Ricardo, Sergio and the others rose to their feet in unison to leave the room. Leo squeezed my shoulder reassuringly before exiting the meeting room last.