Dante stepped forward and produced a box of cigars from his inner pocket when he saw George raise his hand. He handed a cigar to George while answering the earlier question.
"Richie and Angelina's planes should be landing within the week, sir. I already tasked a few men to make sure they are taken care of."
George nodded gratefully while taking a cigar. He put it in his mouth, and Dante helped him light it before he took a drag.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
Dante suddenly went down on his knees beside George when he heard him coughing! George punched his chest in pain and bent over, and Dante's face morphed into one of worry as he brought out his phone to make a call to a doctor! George immediately put his hand on Dante's shoulder and shook his head while laughing between the coughs.
"No, no need for that. I'm just an old man getting by on his years. Cough! Cough! The doctors won't be able to do anything for me."
Dante frowned at George's words, but he eventually nodded and put his phone back. He helped George to sit properly and made sure everything was okay before he went back to stand behind the man. George sighed as he looked out into the lake again. He was getting so old that he couldn't even take a single puff from a cigar without coughing like he was about to die. How pathetic.
"I don't think I have long left in this world, Dante."
George suddenly repeated his words from earlier, and Dante frowned as he said,
"You're going senile in your old age, sir. It's a good sign, so I'm sure you still have a few years left in you."
George laughed again at Dante's bluntness, and it took a few seconds before he finally felt himself calming down. His face began to look wistful once again, and he said,
"You know, Dante. I sometimes think about what will happen to my empire when I am no longer here. I have been alive for a long time, and I have seen three generations come and go, but my empire is still here. It is still standing strong. Even with the threat of the Romanov and Bellagrini families looming over us, our business is still managing to compete. But I do not have long in this world—No, Dante. Do not interrupt me. We both know it is true. I will die soon. It is a sobering thought, but a man must know when to accept reality. And after I am gone, there will be a war between the three families for the title of Kingpin. I love my children, Dante. They all possess their flaws and they have made many mistakes, but they are still my children. And I could never love anyone more than them. But when I think about the coming war and the chances of those three surviving it, I feel an ache in my heart. I know that they are not built for this world. I feel I have failed as a father to all of you."
Dante grit his teeth so hard that they almost cracked in his mouth! Dante couldn't stand hearing George talk about himself like this! If there was one person who didn't deserve such sadness, then it was this man! Everyone in the city saw George as a killer and a ruthless ganglord, but Dante was the only one who knew the truth. In the five years that Dante had spent as the right-hand man of George Lucas, he had seen a loving father, a kind leader, and an understanding man who only wanted what was best for his family! George was the one who gave Dante the chance to become part of his family, and Dante couldn't think of a better man than him!
Dante spoke up in a calm voice.
"You have done the best you can for your children… for all of us in the family. I have stood by you for so long because I saw greatness in you, just like you saw potential in me years ago. So don't beat yourself up too much, sir. You have been a good father and an even better leader. Besides, you don't need to worry about your children. They might be running into a den of lions, but they won't be alone. I'll stand beside each of them for as long as they live, and I'll make sure they live to see three generations, just like you. I swear it on my life."
George smiled. He planted his fishing rod in the ground to stabilize it, then brought his hand up and reached for his watch. The watch was made from pure platinum that cost a hundred times more than gold pound for pound. George had worn this watch all his life, and Dante had never seen the man without it for even a single day. Dante watched in slight surprise as George took the watch off and looked at it with a faraway gaze before he finally sighed and stood to face Dante.
Dante was still standing calmly with his hands behind his back, but now his brows were furrowed in surprise as he wondered what the hell the old man was doing. George asked Dante for his hand, and Dante tilted his head to one side and said:
"Sir, that watch… it's been with you for years. I don't deserve—"
George cut him off before he could say anything more.
"You deserve it far more than anyone else, Dante. I am an old man who has made many mistakes in his life, but out of all the things I have done, you are the only thing that I can say with complete confidence that I am most proud of."
George put his hand behind Dante's neck and brought Dante's head down roughly to look him in the eye with serious intensity, and when he spoke, Dante could tell that George meant every single word!
"I am proud of who you have become, my son. Very proud."
Dante felt a strange emotion bubble up from deep within him at that moment! He didn't know what it was, and he would probably never be able to describe it in his life. But if he was asked to compare it to anything else he had ever felt, then he would say it was similar to what he felt when George came to save his life five years ago. For that split moment in time, Dante finally understood what it truly felt like to have a father. Dante nodded to George silently, and when George asked for his hand again, Dante didn't refuse him.
George took off the ten-thousand-dollar watch that Dante wore and threw it into the lake behind him before he clicked the platinum watch into place on Dante's wrist. Dante looked at the watch with a faraway gaze and appreciated the craftsmanship. The watch was custom-made with a sleek design and a black face that seemed ot absorb all the light that came close to it. There was no brand name on it, but there was a date written in pure silver against the black watch face and it read: 1666. Dante could only wonder how George managed to get a watch that was this old!
Once George gave Dante the watch, he turned back around to the lake and sat down before picking up his fishing rod once again. He then spoke up while waiting patiently for a fish to bite.
"There's been a development in the third district. Do you know about it?"
Dante immediately nodded. Stockham City was divided into twelve districts that were split evenly among the three large families as territory. Each family controlled four districts, and none of the families were expected to trespass into the territory of any other one. There was once a time when George had been in control of eight out of the twelve territories, but as he aged, he slowly lost more and more of his land until things became as they were now!