Open Your Heart

Chapter 16

Watching the first tear fall was something he hadn't bothered with all those years ago. Now, it tightened his chest with emotion. Tony shook his head and forced himself to breathe. "I don't even know where to start, pops."

"Start at the beginning. Did this happen just today or...?" The blond shook his head.

"It's been happening."

"So... when did it start? How did it start." Standing, he leaned against his desk to try and get more comfortable, but he didn't think it would work. Not with the subject at hand. Tony looked down at his hands, toying with his fingers as he thought.

"It started right after Al left for college." That would have made Tony roughly fifteen. The knowledge had him swallowing back bile. "Sam called me into a closet, down on the first floor. One of the ones off by the garage. He said he needed to talk to me about something. When I got there he..." Tony closed is eyes and swallowed, his face paling. "I tried like hell to fight him, pops, but I...." He shrugged. "I wasn't good enough. After he was done, he said that... if I told anyone, he'd make sure it was all my fault. That everyone blamed me." Henroin was going to be sick, he just knew it. There were several things that nobody talked about, back then and even still to the present, especially when it came to men. Things like abuse and rape. Now that he was decades older, wiser, he knew better because what he'd seen in Hell had proven all of those things and more were a plague that had existed for centuries, if not millennia. Pushing off the desk, he wrapped his arms around his son and pulled him close. "After that night, he's called on me every week, at least. And once Al got back, he made sure to move the spot every time so we don't get caught. I guess we were too loud this time." There was a strain in the man's voice that had him cursing himself. How could he have missed this before? If this was really what had happened to his son, he'd not only ignored it, but he'd let Sam get away with it.

"This ain't your fault, Tony." Pulling back, he looked down at his son. Tony shook his head.

"I shoulda-"

"This is not your fault." One last, quick hug, and Henroin was moving to the door. Opening the panel, he met Orco's gaze. "Get me Alessandro." His friend nodded and headed off. Sam and Gio looked at each other quickly, but he caught the smile the two shared. Then, they turned and started heading off as well. "Hey! Did I say you two could go anywhere?" Again, they looked to each other.

"But Boss... I thought we were done here. I told you what happened." Sam took a step closer to him, a small smile curving his lips. Glaring at the man, he pointed to the wall.

"You told me what you told me. And now I'm callin' for my son. You got a problem with that?" The man stepped back against the wall and shook his head. Slipping back into the room, he moved back to Tony and wrapped his arms around him. Holding his son as the minutes passed he mulled over all of the things he wanted to happen to the men standing in the hallway. Before he could land on just one ending for them, there was a series of three knocks on the door. All perfectly timed and with the same force. "Entra." He didn't have to guess who it was, since his eldest had always been so particular about everything. It made him the best at what he did, after all. Standing at around five-eight, shorter than his little brother, Alessandro looked more like him than the twins did. With his curly black hair, olive toned skin, and discerning amber eyes, he had always been very popular with the ladies, even though he'd shown absolutely no interest.

Releasing his youngest, he motioned for Al to close the door and moved to sit back in his chair. As the eldest moved to sit, he looked at Tony and his demeanor seemed to change from stoic to one of worry. He didn't look at Henroin as he sat, instead he was fixated on his brother. "Papa, you called me?" Finally, the man looked up at him and he nodded.