𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 | 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐎𝐧𝐞 | ✓

Chapter 46

“Stop, Donatella. I know what you're doing, you're trying to poison my mind and make me hate him, but it won't work. Screw you,” he stood his ground, refusing to let her corrupt him with her lies.

“Pick. A. Side.” Lady Danger walked to him then stylishly crossed her arms over her chest. “Who is your loyalty pledged to? Us, or that hooligan?”

“I pledge my loyalty to the Bloodlust Bastards,” Ryat fearlessly said.

She laughed, mockingly. Her high-pitched voice making his blood boil and veins swell irritably.

“To who? Your little friends? Nonsense!” she slapped him brutally across the face, the sound echoing throughout the lobby. “Do you think the Mafia is some kind of joke? Something you can play around with as if it is a toy? This is real life. You were born to serve the Ravenhood Mafia, and that is exactly what you will do regardless of what you think or feel. That boy is your enemy. Do you hear me? Enemy! Not. Your. Friend. When will you understand that?”

Ryat looked at her with his blood boiling hotter than a thousand active Volcanoes. She had scratched his cheek with her long black nails.

“Family is above everything in the Mafia. I've taught you this. Blood is thicker than water–”

“Sometimes water is better than blood. You have some nerve to mention the word 'Family' when you paid someone to send me to jail for five years out of my life. You f**ked my father and made him k!ll my mother. Every bad thing in my life, every problem, you were at the root of it. You do not deserve to even say the word 'Family' because you don't know what the f**k a Family is!” his hands were shaking from the immense anger surging through his body. His veins were stiff in his arms and hands balled so tight he felt his nails digging into his palms. Even though warm blood trickled down between his fingers and dripped on the floor he balled them even tighter.

“Don't raise your voice at me!” she raised her hand to hit him again while he reached for his pistol.

“Enough!” Maria parted them, hands on their chests and pushing them away from each other. “That is enough. Donatella! Know your place. This is the Don of the Ravenhood. Don't ever speak to him as if he is a rookie boy under your control.”

“But Grandmother–”

“Get out of my sight,” she disdainfully looked her up and down. “Dom. Come, walk with me.”

She held his arm and led him to somewhere private where they could speak, leaving Lady Danger fuming in the lobby and screaming at anyone who walked by and looked at her. The two walked in silence except for the clacking of her heels against the shiny floor of the luxury Hotel.

Maria led him to the rooftop where railings were to prevent people from falling off. She reached in her bag and removed a black bandaid, which she placed over the cut on his cheek. They walked to the rails and looked down at the glamorous street lights, cars, buildings, people, among other things – she opened a cigarette box and handed him a cigar.

“I want to tell you a story,” she said after a while. The cool wind blowing her gray hair behind her.

“I'm not a kid,” he replied coldly.

“It doesn't matter. I'm going to tell it anyway,” she lit his cigar for him right after lighting hers. Another moment of silence passed with just them smoking while gazing into the see of lights. “Once upon a time, there were two little boys. They were the best of friends and promised to always be there for each other. Over the years their bond grew tighter until it was unbreakable – so they thought. One day, one of the friends moved to a different city without saying goodbye. The other was left alone. Over the years, the one that moved became a pro basketball player, the other became a feared drug lord. They never forgot each other.