I backed away slowly, my heart thundering in my ears. "I...I need some air," I stammered out, the words feeling thick and clumsy on my tongue.My legs trembled like a newborn calf's beneath me, but I had to get out of this suffocating room. I had to escape the D'Erricos and the toxic cloud of violence and chaos that seemed to follow this family everywhere they went. Turning on shaky legs, I practically bolted for the door, the plush carpeting muffling my hurried footsteps. I didn't look back, didn't pause. I heard Diana's cries echoing behind me telling me to wait but I just ran blindly, my vision growing fuzzy around the edges as panic gripped me in its vice-like clutches.I didn't even know where to go everything seemed so hazy. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I burst through the doorway and skidded to a halt in the blessedly empty passageway. I immediately bent at the waist, hands braced on my knees as I gulped down precious gulps of air. But it didn't seem to be enough
"Just hold on," he muttered, already moving swiftly down the hallway in the opposite direction Diana had gone. "And keep your head down."I had no choice but to obey, burying my face against the crisp linen of his suit. I had no choice but to obey, burying my face against the crisp linen of his suit as he cradled me securely in his arms. With each urgent stride he took, a thousand frantic thoughts whirled through my mind."I don't want you here when things get messy," Giovanni's deep voice rumbled close to my ear, as if he could sense the questions brewing inside me. "And trust me, it's going to get really messy."I pulled back just enough to search his expression, but his ruggedly handsome features were set in a grim mask of determination. His jaw worked tensely as we hurried around a corner."What about Diana?" I blurted out before I could reconsider. Was she able to escape? What exactly would happen to her? Surely Giovanni wasn't just going to abandon his own cousin?His hazel eye
As the sleek black sedan glided up the winding drive, I couldn't help but think about what would change from what i judy witnessed tonight. I couldn't shake the we crossed the threshold into the marble-floored foyer, I couldn't shake the insidious feeling that something fundamental had shifted, as subtle as a whisper of wind before the coming storm.As soon as the car parked into the driveway, the driver alights from the car and opens the door, Giovanni speaks to him in low tones to which he nods as GIovanni leads me carefully to the entrance of the mansion. "Welcome back."Darva's toneless voice made me start. She emerges from a side hallway, her movements sharp and eerily precise as always. I watch her, my senses sharp. "How was your evening, mistress?" She blinked at me with those dispassionately blank eyes.I opened my mouth, but now words came out. How did one respond when their evening was ultimately ruined in that manner."It was...fine." I lie, hoping she couldn't see how s
Giovanni regards me with a measured gaze.He steepled his fingers, taking a deep breath before continuing. "On the surface, we present ourselves as a successful family-owned automotive business - a legitimate front that allows us to move freely in polite society. But in truth, we are part of a much older, more complex organization with roots stretching back centuries."Giovanni's expression took on a grim cast as he spoke the next words. "We are a powerful criminal syndicate, an intricate network akin to the legendary Five Families that once dominated the American underworld."I felt the breath leave me in a sharp exhale at his baldly uttered confession. "Let me explain. In the 1920s, a man named Mattia D'errico reorganized the Italian-American gangs in New York into five distinct families - each with its own territory, hierarchy, and leadership that answered to an overarching governing body. For a time, D'errico envisioned himself as the supreme 'boss of all bosses' that would rule
I clutched the envelope tighter against my chest, crumpling the thick paper beneath the desperate constriction of my fingers. As if the delicate paper could somehow shield me from the oncoming flood of truth that threatened to sweep me under its raging currents."It's nothing," I lied, the words tasting like bitter ash on my tongue as I averted my gaze from Giovanni's piercing stare. "Nothing to worry about."A soft exhalation, edged with something between a scoff and a rueful chuckle, brushed past his full lips. "On the contrary, Tessoro. The way you're looking at me now..." He shook his head slowly, waves of ebony hair slipping over his brow. "The way you're clutching that letter as if it might dissolve you where you stand - that's precisely what has me worried."His deep timbre seemed to reverberate through me, sending an involuntary shiver rippling across my skin. I swallowed hard against the tightness encircling my throat as my treacherous heart hammered against my ribcage. Drawi
"Why do you live like this?" I asked, my voice a tremulous whisper. "Why did you deceive me?" I ask him, he wasn't looking at me this time, instead his eyes were trained downwards staring at something on the floor. ""Was Russo...was he the one sending those threats? Was he behind my mother's death?" I asked anxiously. At this moment I had thought that I was about to get the answers to all my questions but somewhere in the back of my mind, I didn't want it to be true. Please, I begged silently, let it not be true."No."A profound sense of strange relief washed over me but it was quickly replaced by a fresh wave of dread. If not Russo, then who? My mind raced with more and more questions. Giovanni's jaw tightened, his eyes haunted. His gruff tone dripped with a strange fusion of anguish and protectiveness."I...I didn't mean for you to witness something like this." He raked a hand roughly through his dark locks, every muscle in his chiseled frame taut with tension. A guttural curse tu
"Who called you just now?" I asked once Giovanni had ended the call, trying to ignore the sense of dread coiling in the pit of my stomach.He paused, that ruggedly handsome face an inscrutable mask. "Someone from work."My eyes narrowed infinitesimally. "Your...other work?" I say referring to maybe his "illegal" mafia work. I don't know, he could be cutting and boiling people's body parts for all I knew. The weighted silence that stretched between us spoke volumes. Giovanni held my gaze for a moment before giving the barest shake of his head, declining to offer any further explanation.Tendrils of unease snaked through me as I studied the harsh angles of his chiseled visage. "I want to know more about it," I pressed. "About your family." I say hoping he wouldn't brush me off. I was probably testing but at this point I just had to know. A muscle feathered along his jaw as he struggled for composure. "It's better if you stay out of it, principessa." His deep timbre caressed the endear
couldn't believe my eyes as I stared at Mia's name flashing on Giovanni's phone. My heart raced, and my mind was flooded with questions. Why was she calling him? I don't know what was wrong with me but I couldn't shake off the feeling of possessiveness that washed over me. Why was I even feeling this way? After what I found out tonight, why do I care who Giovanni is with? I bite my lips and remembered the way he begged me that night and professed his love to me. Now that I think about it, was it even real? Everything seemed like a lie now. I rub my hands on my face. No one had ever affected me the way he did - his very presence seemed to ignite a longing, a yearning for something deeper than just physical desire. As if, in his eyes, I was the only woman who could ever truly captivate him, body and soul. Yet, I couldn't stop feeling this way towards him, I wanted him, I wanted him all to myself. No one had ever made me feel the way he did like I was the only woman he would ever lov