Page 69 of Vicious Behaviors (The Next Vicious Generation #3)

Marcello nods as we all watch the pair walk away, both women raising the white flag and coming to a truce after such a horrific event.

“Anyone have Stella bawling her eyes out on their bingo card?” Lucky says behind us, half joking, half serious. “Yeah, me neither.”

“Come, bella. Let’s go tell Enzo and Alejandro the good news.

I haven’t had time to properly thank Alejandro for what he did for me, and now feels as good a time as any,” Marcello says with a shy smile, looking more like himself than he did a minute ago.

“Which reminds me… I have a lot to thank you for, too.”

“Let’s get your father home first. Then you can thank me for the rest of our lives if you want to.”

“ If I want to?” He cocks an eyebrow. “There isn’t a doubt in my mind. Like my dad once said, there was never a question you were the woman for me.”

“Marcello… Marcello, wake up,” I hear Selene’s soft voice beside me as she shakes Marcello’s shoulder to wake him from his slumber.

“Is everything okay?” I ask, wiping the sleep from my eyes.

“Everything is perfect, Izzie.” Selene smiles at me with tears in her eyes, Dominic and Giovanni standing tall behind her.

“Mom?” Marcello finally replies, awake, only to frown when he mistakes his mother’s happy tears for something else. “What’s wrong? Is it Dad? Is he okay?” he says, rapidly getting up from his chair, with me following suit.

“Everything is fine, my sweet boy,” Selene reassures, keeping her voice down to prevent waking up the rest of the family, who are all asleep in the hospital waiting area. “Your father has just woken up and he’d like to see you.”

“Me?” Marcello swallows dryly, his gaze shifting to Jude, fast asleep next to Mina, who is using his shoulder as a pillow. “You sure he wants to see me first, not Jude?”

“He’ll talk to your brothers and sisters in a bit, but for now, he’d like to see you.”

“Have… um… have you seen him? Is he… okay?”

Selene’s smile only widens. “Your father is stronger than you think. It will take more than a bullet to rip him away from his family.”

“You better fucking believe it,” Dom chimes in while Gio pats his shoulder in obvious agreement.

“Okay then,” Marcello says before giving my hand a light squeeze. But before he takes a step toward Vincent’s room, Selene halts him to a stop.

“You too, Izzie. My husband would like to speak with you and Marcello. Together.”

Now it’s my turn to swallow dryly. Marcello holds out his hand for me to take and then leads me to his father’s hospital room.

When we enter the sterile setting, with various machines making all sorts of sounds, it becomes a little overwhelming coming face to face with the reality of how close Marcello came to losing his father.

“Close the door, son,” Vincent says from his bed, his ashen face portraying the horrific event he just went through while his eyes maintain a bright glimmer in their hazel hue.

Marcello does as ordered and turns around to face his father, looking completely out of sorts.

“Isobel, sweetheart, pull up a chair. Marcello, sit here next to me.” He pats an empty space on the bed. I grab the chair in the corner of the room and position it close to the bed, just behind Marcello.

“Are you…” Marcello struggles to say, “Are you okay, Dad?”

Vincent lets out a long exhale, his eyes gleaming with nothing but love for his son, brought on by one little word.

“You have no idea how much I missed you calling me that. Somewhere along the years, my role in your life morphed into something I wish it hadn’t.

I was grateful that you accepted the role at the time, since I thought that’s what I had to become to better protect you.

But now?” he says. “All I see is the time I lost with my son.”

“It wasn’t your fault. You did the best you could with the knowledge that you had.”

“Did I? Or did I just exacerbate the demon to do its worst, just because I wanted it to bend to my will?” Vincent frowns.

“It’s okay, Dad,” Marcello retorts with a frown. “I get that you were afraid I might hurt one of my brothers or sisters without me being fully present to stop it from happening. I understand why you were frightened of me.”

“Marcello,” Vincent shakes his head, gripping Marcello’s hand and holding it tight to his chest. “I was never frightened of you. I was terrified for you. Suddenly, the docile boy I knew became something I no longer recognized. And I wanted him back. I wanted you back, son. It’s on me for not knowing the best way to expel that thing inside you.

I should have done better. I was the one who should have protected you.

And though some of my counsel did help you maintain some form of control, it pained me to see that my boy was no more.

That he would never return to me, no matter how badly I wanted him to. ”

“How… how did you find a way to tame yours?” Marcello asks hesitantly. Vincent doesn’t look put off by the question in the least. In fact, he embraces it.

“Your mother.” He smiles softly. “She was the one who kept all my darkest thoughts in check. As long as she was safe, happy, and standing at my side, the devil could never truly corrupt me. Only I had control over it, not the other way around. With her… with Dom and Gio, with you kids… I found a better way to face my demons. With all that love surrounding me, it became clear that darkness had no room in my life. And now, you’ve found that same light to hold onto in yours, haven’t you?

” Vincent’s eyes flick over to me as he poses the question.

“You have no idea the debt I owe you for saving my boy—not just with Haynes, but also with the torment he had to face on his own.”

Marcello stretches out his free hand to me, and I grab it instinctively.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Marcello,” I say with conviction.

“I saw how true that statement was when you came to my house yesterday, unafraid to tell me you were an undercover agent, knowing I could have killed you right there and then. Your love for my son saved your life as well as his,” Vincent says, then adds, “And probably mine, too.”

“I thought…” Marcello stammers, his eyes reddening.

“I thought you hated me. I thought you couldn’t love me because of what I had become.

Of the painful memories of the past that I might have conjured up for you.

But then you put yourself in harm’s way just to save me…

and I… I couldn’t wrap my mind around why you would do something like that. ” He begins to sob.

“Then I have failed you in more ways than I could have ever imagined. I would gladly stand between you and a firing squad if it meant I could save you. I love you, Marcello. Since the minute your mother placed you in my arms, I have loved you. And I will continue to love you until my eyes shut and my lungs take their last breath.”

Marcello bows his head on his father’s lap and begins to cry uncontrollably, letting all his insecurities, woes, and hurt pour out in this small room. I turn my head away slightly as Vincent sheds his own tears, knowing a man like him would prefer to cry without probing eyes.

I only turn toward them when their tears start to subside.

I then watch in complete awe as Vincent brushes Marcello’s hair dotingly, like a loving father would his child.

As I silently watch the two men begin to find their way back to each other through the dark, I feel an immense sense of love and hope.

After today, I have no doubt that they will slowly begin to heal old wounds and reclaim their roles as father and son, stepping back into the bond that has always belonged to them.