Page 126 of Shades of Loyalty
She’sall I need.
Everything else doesn’t matter to me. Although the faint memories of my dream still linger in the back of my mind, my focus is on her.
It’s just her and me in the dark room, cuddled up in the bed. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Because she’s my calm during this storm.
Chapter Forty-seven
Daniel
When I woke up this morning, I already had a weird feeling. Maybe it was because of my nightmare, or because I knew I was going to have to talk to my father today, I don’t know.
But ever since I’ve been sitting in my office with him, the silence has been suffocating. The weight of last night’s memories presses down on me, and I can’t shake it.
I’m not really in the mood to plan my mom’s funeral. But then again, when would you ever be?
"Do we have a date set yet?" I ask, breaking the quiet.
My father nods and pushes a small pile of files toward me. "Scheduled one already. Look at this."
I hate looking at these papers. My mother’s name. The date of her death. The date of her funeral.
Planning my mother’s funeral with my father shouldn’t be enjoyable, of course. But there’s something deeply wrong about the way we’re doing this.
Just two men who never learned how to talk about their feelings, trapped in silence, flipping through files like it’s just another task to get done.
Maybe when I was younger, we talked. Maybe back then, my father knew how to comfort me. But I don’t remember.
What I do remember is how my mother talked to me when I felt bad. A faint memory flickers—a conversation with her the night my dad forced me to kill someone for the first time—but I force it away. I can’t think about that now.
I turn another page. "So… do we have a guest list?"
He nods again and gestures toward the pile I’m already holding.
The longer I sit here, the more it drives me insane. We’re barely speaking. Just existing in this cold, detached silence, checking off boxes for a woman we both loved but can’t even talk about.
I finally find the list. It’s… short.
My father. My siblings. Jennifer. Hayden. A few guys from our business—including Julian.
I knew he’d be there. Julian was like a third son to my mother. And I can’t blame him for wanting to say goodbye. My parents always treated him like family, even if I never saw him that way.
I still don’t like him. We’re still rivals, in some way. But we understand each other. At least, I think we do.
"Will the kids come, too?" I ask.
My father looks at me blankly. "Kids?"
I hesitate. "Enzo and Mary."
For a second, he just stares at me, like he doesn’t understand what I’m talking about. Then he nods slowly. "Ah, right. Yes. You should add them."
Jesus.
I’ve seen my father in love. I’ve seen him proud. I’ve seen him kill more men than I can count.
But today?
