Giovanni's Dahlia.

002.

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Giovanni.
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Darkness was me.

I was darkness. My father drilled it into me that I had no other choice but to embrace only the darkness of this world, that was why I hated him.

I spent my entire life hating my father and doing everything to counteract him. I left him, became an artist in Chicago, and enjoyed a quiet decent life of normalcy because my father hated it. He didn't believe we were normal.

Romeo Ravazzani, my father believed that we were kings. Kings of darkness. For generations, women in our family gave birth to mostly men and they were made to be kings. I didn't care though. My mother broke tradition when she had me and my sister Gianna.

For my traditional father, it was a shame that she had a girl child first. He hated Gianna and wanted nothing to do with her. He didn't abuse her, actively but he was as absent as possible. My father decided all his time to make me the next ruler of his dark empire. The next ruler that would carry on the blood legacy of my ancestors.

What my father didn't foresee was my hatred for him and how much it would drive and fuel me. An oversight on the path became a tool in my hand. I wield and use it time and time again.

I hated Romeo so much that I gave up everything, including my title as heir to the Las Vegas empire that my ancestors built. Everyone thought I was stupid but I knew very well the cost of that blood empire.

I was no stranger to darkness I basked in it. I just wanted nothing to do with my father and his empire. They were loud, damning and extravagant. They were veins and hypocrites.

Well, that hypocrite was dead now. He was gone and in the ground something I was so proud of.

I placed my foot onto the ground of Las Vegas for the first time in a decade. The last time I was here, my father made me leave. Well, I had to come back because he was dead now. I knew that the burial was important. It would not take place in the United States, my father asked to be buried in his hometown in Sicily Italy, something I didn't understand.

Well, I could never understand the man and I gave up trying to understand him almost two decades ago.

Gianna told me they requested my presence. Which made me wonder why she was back at home. Why she was not in France, enjoying the country like she was supposed to?

The man before me bowed, paying respect to me. I knew it all too well and I hated every aspect of it. My father made people start bowing to him like a king, he was self-obsessed and needed everyone to think he was some sort of a ruler.

My father was the only mafia Don who attempted to run for Governorship, which was crazy. Our rules secluded us from the underworld. Nobody agreed with him but he still ran anyway. He lost though, something I still shake my head in amusement till today.

"Good afternoon and welcome back to Las Vegas, Don Ravazzani." my eyes narrowed in a slit.

I knew my father had something up his sleeves. Even in death, he was still trying to control our lives. Well, I was prepared for him though. That position was not going to me but was going to my cousin Luca. He was the oldest and next in line if you remove my uncle. Luca's father.

Luca's father was not interested in anything that had to do with that sick empire. He was into philanthropy. He traveled all over the world to help people and I was proud of his legacy.

Luca raised his head and grinned, he yanked me into his arms and we hugged tightly. Luca stayed back and assumed the role of my uncle. He helped take care of the family business and played a big role in advancing the business.