Chapter 616: Trying Not To Get Stabbed

"Trying not to get stabbed!" Vee answered.

Another burst of shouting came through the phone.

Luca sighed. "I’ll be there."

"If your mother kills your father before you get here, I am not helping anyone hide the body."

Despite himself, his mouth twitched.

"Noted." He ended the call and turned towards Marco. "We gotta go. I need to put an end to this madness."

Marco did not move. His attention remained on Renato’s car.

The vehicle pulled away slowly.

Luca followed his gaze and understood why his brother stood frozen. He also knew standing there watching the car vanish was not going to make any of this easier. "Marco. Come on." He started towards his own car. "Before my parents send my wife into early labour," he muttered to himself.

Luca drove home like every traffic law didn’t apply to him. He knew his father had no survival instinct when Carol was angry.

By the time he reached the house, his patience was already dead.

He got out of the car and headed straight inside.

Marco followed.

The noise reached them before they even made it to the main living room.

Carol was still yelling.

Luca picked up his pace, rounded the corner and stopped.

The scene in front of them required several seconds to process. The first thing he noticed was the knife at his feet, probably thrown by one of them, Carol definitely.

The second was the position his parents were currently in.

Massimo had Carol pinned to the wall in a way no son should ever have to witness.

And definitely not with his heavily pregnant wife standing nearby looking traumatised by the entire situation.

Seeing his parents turn attempted murder into foreplay might finally be the thing that finished him.

Carol was breathing hard, still glaring at Massimo like she wanted to kill him.

Massimo, meanwhile, had the nerve to look amused, wearing a grin. He knew exactly how angry Carol was.

And he enjoyed it.

She was still his.

He knew he owned all of her even when she was mad at him.

"I didn’t think I would ever say this to my parents, but... HAVE YOU BOTH GONE MAD?!" Luca yelled the last part.

"I told you this was not going to work!" Carol snapped back. "I cannot be in the same room with this man!"

"What the fuck is wrong with both of you? Playing with knives with my pregnant wife standing three feet away? Are you... are you..." He stopped, stared at his parents, genuinely offended by the fact that somehow, in a room containing the Don of the famiglia, his mother, his heavily pregnant wife and Marco, he had become the responsible adult.

How the fuck had that happened?

Massimo finally loosened his hold on Carol.

She immediately stepped away from him, smoothing down her dress. Her breathing was still uneven. She shot Massimo a glare.

He gave her one right back, except his carried absolutely none of the hostility hers did.

That look said this argument was nowhere near finished.

Luca decided he did not want to know how they planned to finish it.

Across the room, Veronica was seated calmly on the sofa.

Luca turned towards her, questions in his eyes.

She gave him a small shrug.

At some point during the madness, she had decided intervening would only increase her chances of becoming collateral damage, so she had sat down and watched the entire thing unfold like a movie.

"I needed to talk to you anyway..." Luca said, turning back to his father. "But my God, sometimes you act like a child."

Carol snorted. "Sometimes?"

"Save it for later, Mum."

Massimo’s attention shifted past Luca. "Why is he here?" He pointed lazily towards Marco.

Marco stood near the doorway, silent.

"He has every right to be here, Don," Luca said.

"No, he does not. And prolonging the inevitable is only going to make it harder."

Luca held his father’s gaze.

This was it. There was no other way. Not one Massimo would accept.

"Which is why I want to propose a deal," Luca said.

"There is nothing you can say, Luca. Marco still dies."

Luca remained calm. He had expected that answer. He knew his father too well. "Even if I take over the famiglia?"

Massimo finally took the situation seriously. He turned towards Luca fully.

Of course, he pretended perfectly well that this was not exactly what he had been gunning for from the very beginning.

Nothing on his face that would give away the fact that he had spent days steering Luca towards this exact moment.

He simply looked at his son like the proposal had come completely out of nowhere.

Massimo folded his hands slowly in front of him. "I’m listening."

"Marco takes over here, and I move to Italy so you can retire," Luca explained.

Massimo studied him closely, as if he were looking for any sign that his son might still be speaking from emotion rather than decision. "I hope you know there can be no taking it back. You cannot suddenly change your mind once this begins."

"I know the rules, Don," Luca replied.

That answer seemed to satisfy him, although Massimo still looked as if he wanted to test every inch of the decision before trusting it.

"If Marco stays here, who will hold your right hand?"

"I’ll cross that bridge when I get there." Luca’s patience was already thinning. "Do we have a deal?"

Finally, Massimo nodded.

"Finish all business here and move to Italy. The rites have to be done immediately."

"I was thinking we could wait until the baby arrives."

"And risk you changing your mind? No."

"I cannot subject my wife to travelling right now."

Veronica was heavily pregnant. Luca was not about to start moving her across continents.

Massimo, however, did not appear remotely intimidated by his protective tone. "I will make sure she has the best comfort possible, Luca. Believe me when it comes to that. She will travel safely. She will have doctors, security, whatever she needs. I will not put Regina or the baby at unnecessary risk."

"Finish your business and leave for Italy," Massimo repeated.