Chapter 47 His Brother Is Alive
"Cedric, his brother is alive."
Cedric blinked. "What?"
"Dante Falcone. He was saved by your father and some people that are yet to be known.he was supposed to have been executed fifteen years ago for killing an undercover cop. My father built the case against him." Marcus pulled out documents…court records, execution orders, official-looking papers with government seals. "But the execution was faked. Paid off by the Falcone family. Dante's been living overseas, building their international operations."
" You said my father….”Cedric's mind was racing. Falcone had mentioned his brother briefly…said he was "abroad," that he was "complicated."But he'd never said he was supposed to be dead. Never mentioned an execution or a faked death or any of this.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because Dante is coming back. My sources say he's already in the country. And Cedric…" Marcus's voice dropped. "He's not happy about you."
"About me?"
"About Gianni having a…" Marcus struggled with the word. "A relationship. With a man. The Falcone family is traditional, old-school Italian mafia. They don't…they're not exactly progressive about these things. And Dante especially, he sees it as weakness. As something that could damage the family's reputation."
Cedric felt cold settling into his bones. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying you're in danger. Real danger. Dante sees you as a liability, and in their world, liabilities get eliminated." Marcus leaned forward, his voice urgent. "I'm saying you need to get out of that house before Dante comes for you."
"Falcone won't let anything happen to me."
"Can he stop his own brother? Can he choose you over his family?" Marcus's eyes were intense, pleading. "Because that's what it's going to come down to, Cedric. You or the Falcone legacy. And I don't think you're going to like which one he chooses."
"You don't know him…"
"I know more than you think." Marcus pulled out more papers…surveillance photos, transcripts of conversations, financial records. "I know about the protection rackets he runs. The businesses he extorts. The people who've disappeared when they got in his way. I know about the warehouse fire in Brooklyn last year that killed three people…competitors who were cutting into his territory. I know about…"
"Stop." Cedric's voice was sharp. "Just stop."
"You need to hear this…"
"Why? So you can detail every terrible thing he's done? So you can make me see him as the monster you want him to be?" Cedric stood abruptly. "I know what he is, Marcus. He's never lied to me about the kind of man he is or the things he's done."
"But do you know specifics? Do you know about the families he's destroyed? The lives he's ruined?" Marcus stood too, his voice rising. "Do you know that three months before you met him, he had a man tortured for two days before killing him? That man had a wife, Cedric. Kids. And Falcone made him suffer because he stole from the wrong people."
Cedric felt sick, but he forced his voice to stay steady. "What do you want from me, Marcus? You want me to leave him? To come running to you?"
"I want you safe! I want you away from a man who's going to get you killed, either directly or because you're collateral damage in his war with his own brother." Marcus's hands were shaking. "Please, Cedric. I'm offering you witness protection. A new identity. A fresh start away from all of this."
"And my family? My mother, my sister?"
"We can protect them too. Move them somewhere safe…"
"They already are safe. Falcone made sure of that." Cedric grabbed his hoodie. "You know what the difference is between you and him? He actually did something. You're offering me hypothetical protection from hypothetical danger. He gave my mother a job. He's paying for Lily's therapy. He's sending me back to school. Real, concrete things that actually improve our lives."
"With blood money…"
"I don't care where the money comes from!" Cedric's voice cracked. "Do you understand that? I don't care. For the first time in six years, my family isn't drowning. My sister is talking again. My mother isn't working herself to death. And yeah, it's because of a man who does terrible things. But those terrible things have given us a life worth living."
Marcus looked stricken. "You can't mean that."
"I do mean it. And you know what? That makes me complicit. That makes me just as bad as him in some ways. But I'm okay with that." Cedric moved toward the door. "I'd rather be complicit and alive and happy than moral and dead."
"Cedric, please…" Marcus grabbed his arm. "At least take this. Read it. The information about Dante, about what's coming. You deserve to know what you're walking into."
Cedric looked at the folder Marcus was pressing into his hands. Thick with evidence, heavy with truth he wasn't sure he wanted. But he took it anyway.
"I'll read it," he said quietly. "But it won't change anything. I'm not leaving him."
"Even if it gets you killed?"
"Even then." Cedric pulled his arm free. "I'm sorry, Marcus. I'm sorry you threw away your career chasing Falcone. I'm sorry you lost everything trying to bring him down. But I'm not your redemption. And I'm not leaving."
He walked out into the rain before Marcus could respond, the folder tucked inside his hoodie to keep it dry. Marco was out of the car immediately, umbrella in hand, reading Cedric's expression.
"Bad?" he asked simply.
"Complicated." Cedric climbed into the car, his hands shaking. "He says Dante is coming. That I'm in danger."
Marco's expression went carefully neutral. "Mr. Falcone has been expecting this. He has plans in place."
"Does he?" Cedric looked at the folder in his lap. "Or is he just hoping his brother will accept this? Accept me?"
"I don't know," Marco admitted. "But I know he won't let anything happen to you. Even if it means going against his own blood."
They drove back in silence, Cedric staring at the folder, wondering if he really wanted to know what was inside. Wondering if ignorance wasn't its own kind of safety.
When they arrived at the mansion, Falcone was waiting in the foyer. He must have been watching for the car, because he was there the moment Cedric walked in, his eyes immediately going to the folder.
"What did he tell you?" Falcone asked, his voice carefully controlled.
"That your brother is alive. That he's coming here. That I'm in danger because of what I am to you." Cedric held up the folder. "He gave me this. Evidence, he says. About your business, about Dante, about things you've done."
Falcone's face went very still. "Are you going to read it?"
"I don't know." Cedric looked at him…really looked at him. This man he loved, who was beautiful and dangerous and had blood on his hands. "Do you want me to?"
"I want you to have all the information. To make choices with your eyes open." Falcone's voice was rough. "But I'm not going to lie…some of what's in there is going to hurt. Is going to make you see me differently."
"Will it be lies?"
"No. Marcus is a good investigator. If he says I did something, I probably did."
Cedric took a shaky breath. "Then maybe I don't want to know specifics. Maybe knowing you're capable of terrible things is enough without cataloging exactly what those things are."
"That's avoidance."
"That's self-preservation." Cedric set the folder on the entrance table. "Marcus says Dante is coming. That he's not happy about us. Is that true?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"And I'm handling it." Falcone moved closer, his hands gentle on Cedric's face. "My brother doesn't get to dictate who I love or how I live my life. I've made that clear."
"But he's family. Your blood. The Falcone legacy." Cedric searched his face. "Can you really choose me over all of that?"
"I already have." Falcone's voice was absolute, certain. "The moment you walked into my life, I chose you. Everything else is just details."
"Details that might get me killed."
"Details I will handle." Falcone pulled him close. "I won't let him hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you. Do you believe me?"
Cedric wanted to. God, he wanted to believe that love could be armor against violence, that Falcone's protection would be enough. But he'd seen too much, knew too much about how this world worked.
"I want to," he said honestly. "I'm trying to."
"That's all I can ask." Falcone pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Come on. You're soaked and freezing. Let's get you warm."
As they climbed the stairs together, Cedric glanced back at the folder sitting on the entrance table. All of Falcone's sins documented in paper and ink. The truth about the man he'd chosen, waiting to be read.
He left it there.
Some truths, he decided, could wait.
Right now, he just wanted to be held by the man he loved and pretend, for a little while longer, that love was enough to keep them safe.
Even if he was starting to suspect it wasn't.