Chapter 20

GIOVANNI

“ G ood choice, Caesar,” Aldo gave my father a playful tap on the cheek. “Giovanni will have fun with that one.”

Fucking prick was practically salivating when I spanked her.

“She is… how do you say…” His fingers touched his thumb as Aldo shook his hand and tried to think of the English phrase he was seeking. “Spirited? No. Stubborn, that is the word.”

I had a word for him, avunculicide. The act of killing one’s uncle.

“Yes,” my father agreed. “But, Giovanni needs someone who will challenge him.”

Patricide was also a good word.

“I’m curious Giovanni,” I didn’t like the grin on my uncle’s face. “Will we get a bedding ceremony, or have you already broken her in?”

Were we really talking about this right now?

“No,” Atlee piped in. “He’s already fucked her. Once in the school parking lot.”

Why was he contributing to this conversation?

“In the parking lot?” Aldo lifted an intrigued brow. “Do you like an audience, Giovanni?”

I bet I could shove this fork in his eye before someone shot me.

“And what about you Aldo? Shouldn’t you have a wife by now?” That wiped the smugness out of his expression.

My dad gave me a look. “Aldo’s wife was killed.”

Aldo had a wife? When?

“I’m sorry.” I said to my uncle, not because I was sorry, but because it was the appropriate thing to say. He was the boss’s brother.

“Eh,” he waved dismissively. “She was Russian and didn’t listen.”

In other words, he was probably the one that killed her.

“I wonder,” Aldo leaned forward to look down the table. “Has our Russian friend been matched yet?”

Ronan cocked a brow back at him. “Why would I want a wife when I have servants to cook and clean?”

“A servant can’t give you an heir.” Aldo pointed out. “I do believe Alexandra is available.”

I could practically hear Antonio thinking "please god take her off my hands” when Alex slammed her fist down on the table and loudly proclaimed, “I love Myles.”

That didn’t make Atlee happy. “Who the fuck is Myles?”

“You leave Myles alone.”

“Uh huh.” Atlee tsked. “He doesn’t even know your name, does he?”

“That doesn’t matter.” Alex held her hand up, showing her brother her palm. “I will only marry Myles.”

The arch in Ronan’s brow deepened. “It appears she’s already spoken for.”

“That’s just a school girl crush.” Aldo argued. “A man like you could tame her.”

“Fuck no.”

That’s when Aldo’s gaze drifted over to Darry, who paused with his forkful of tiramisu. “Don’t fucking look at me.”

Can’t say I disagreed with either of their responses. Alex made Nova look well behaved. Nova might be a pain in the ass but I didn’t have to worry about her poisoning my food.

Speaking of Nova… She should be done by now. That plug better be in her ass when she got back here. What the hell was taking her so long? Then again maybe it only felt long. Spending time with my father or brother was exhausting enough. Add in all these people and dinner dragged on. I was regretting not taking Nova up on her offer to leave earlier.

Kendall didn’t appear to be enjoying herself either. She was sitting on the other side of the table with a bored look on her face. A few people tried to talk to her—none of which were her supposed fiancé—but she blew them off.

“Giovanni,” my uncle called. “Does your woman have a birthmark on her calf?”

“No.” But her sister did.

I thought back to his comment about how Nova reminded him of a girl he met a couple of years ago. She looked a lot like her sister. The same sister who was supposedly attacked a couple of years ago. The supposedly part of that statement I wasn’t so sure about anymore.

Was Aldo that cocky? His favorite nephew was Atlas. They spent a lot of time together when he was in town. As far as I knew he wasn’t here two years ago. Then again, I didn’t think he was here when my mother was murder either. I couldn’t help but wonder what else I was missing?

Was Aldo behind anything else? Did my father know? Did Atlas?

I decided to test my uncle. “It’s too bad Atlas isn’t here. I think he would’ve liked Nova.”

“I’m sure he would enjoy her thoroughly.”

The slight smirk curling the corner of my uncle’s mouth made me wonder if the brother I knew was the real Atlas, or some facade I created in my mind. Other than my uncle, I had yet to meet one person who had something nice to say about Atlas. Did I put my brother so high up on a pedestal that I couldn’t see what everyone else did?

“Hey,” Atlee poked me, “you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Well, you’re not gonna be.”

“What?”

Atlee then tipped his chin down the table, to the empty seat next to Dominic Barone.

Where the hell did Carissa go? Scratch that, I knew exactly where she went. Carissa was a social butterfly. She lived for formal occasions like this. There were only two reasons she would go off on her own. To fuck someone, or fuck with someone.

Damnit.

“I’m sure it’s fine. She wouldn’t say anything to her?” Atlee looked at me.

I looked at him.

We both knew the answer to that question.

For fuck sakes.

Scrubbing a hand down my face, I huffed out a breath. When was this day going to fucking end?

“I better go and get her.”

When I slid my chair back to stand, Atlee asked, “want some help?”

“You have your own problems.” I tipped my chin at Alex who had rather stealthily snagged her father’s keys from his pocket.

“Give me those.” Atlee snatched them out of her hand and pointed at her. “No fires tonight.”

Alex responded with an exaggerated eye roll.

I pitied the man she wound up with. Don’t get me wrong, she was fourteen but anyone could tell that she would be a knockout like her sister. I swear there was something in the Fiore genes. I was as straight as they came, but there was something about the way Atlee said, “you might like it,” that made me think maybe I would.

Each proposition he made was answered with a punch, but he still made me consider it once or twice. Darry and I called it the Fiore effect. Alex had it just not in the same way as her siblings. Her charm was deceptive. Her golden hair and angelic blue eyed innocent look, was the biggest fucking lie in all of creation. That girl was closer to a demon than an angel.

I slapped my hand on Atlee’s shoulder, “good luck with that,” and turned to leave.

Thankfully, no one stopped me to ask where I was going. God forbid someone decided to use my search as a way to escape, which Darry had done on more than one occasion. He was not a fan of crowds. My uncle however, did shoot me a wink and waggle his eyebrows, indicating what he thought I was sneaking off to do.

Fucking prick.

Once I’d escaped the chaos of the dining room, I took a second to breathe before heading off to the bathroom where I expected to find Nova.

She wasn’t there. The room was so pristine, that I didn’t think she had ever been there. The sink was dry, there were no spots on the floor, and the little rosebud soaps I had the staff put in all the bathrooms because I knew she liked the smell, were sitting untouched in their tray. That was the biggest sign of her absence. The last time she left my house it was with a pocket full of those soaps.

Where the fuck was she?

Her truck wasn’t here so she couldn’t have left. Wait a minute…

I left the bathroom and headed for the front door to make sure all the keys were there, which they were. Meaning she didn’t leave. At least not in a vehicle.

Turning around, I eyed the stairs and various hallways. Where the fuck was she?

“You looking for your girl?” Tony called from a room on the right.

“Yeah?” If he fucking touched her…

He tipped his chin to a hidden hallway on the left side of the stairs. “She went that way.”

“Why the fuck would she go that way?”

That area was for staff. I hadn’t been down there since I was a kid.

Tony leaned against the doorframe. “I’m more interested in why Mrs. Barone wanted to know where she was.”

“What?” This motherfucker. “Did you tell her?”

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t have?”

This motherfucker. Tony had walked in on Carissa and me on more than one occasion.

“I’ll deal with you later.” I said and headed off.

“Have fun.” He called after me.

I should’ve shot him last year when he blackmailed Carissa into sucking his cock. The sad fact was I couldn’t do shit. Not without my father finding out, which would get Carissa killed. And he knew it. That didn’t mean I couldn’t set him up for something else.

When I rounded the second corner, I internally groaned. Who did I see at the end of the hallway, leaning against the wall? Fucking Romeo. Great.

“What are you doing here?” If he was spying on me again…

Romeo glanced over his shoulder and held up the lit cigarette in his hand. “Kendall doesn’t like the smell.”

That was his excuse? “Since when do you give a shit about what Kendall likes?”

Neither Romeo nor Kendall cared about the other. Their interest was so lacking that they couldn’t even be bothered to hate each other. There was no wrathful or passionate spark, or fire. They were just eh. It was painful to watch, and the only reason Atlee was okay with their engagement.

“I don’t.” Romeo dropped his head back and breathed out a cloud of smoke. “But it gave me an excuse to get the fuck away from her.”

For the first time in my life I could sympathize with my brother. We were both forced to take women we didn’t want. At least that was how it started out for me. I despised the idea of having a Ford tied to me. I wanted the whole fucking family to burn. And that was how it should’ve stayed, but it didn’t.

“Have you tried talking to her?”

“Why the fuck would I talk to her?”

I shrugged. “She might surprise you.”

Kendall might come off as the vapid cheerleader, but she was fairly intelligent. If she wasn’t born into the family she was, I could’ve seen her running a fortune five hundred company. And she wasn’t exhausting and stubborn like Nova. That girl was the definition of wasted potential. I had yet to see her study for a single exam and she aced them all. It kind of pissed me off when I thought about it. Nova could be so much more if she only tried.

Did I want her to do good in life?

Fuck, I did. When did that happen?

“I doubt that. She’s Atlee’s sister.”

Okay, he might have a point there. Atlee could be a dumbass, and he liked to instigate things, but he had other talents.

“Besides,” Romeo blew out another stream of smoke. “She’s not my type.”

“Atlas didn’t have a problem with her.” She was his first.

“Atlas would’ve killed her the first time she disobeyed him.”

Yesterday I would’ve argued that. Atlas would never hurt his wife. Now, I wasn’t so sure. “Maybe?”

That made Romeo cock a brow. “Maybe?”

“Don’t give me that look.” There was no reason for him to be smug. “Atlas was a better brother than you ever were.” Regardless of what he may or may not have done. “But,” I sighed, “maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did.”

“Huh.” Romeo huffed. “Never thought I’d hear you say that.”

Neither did I.

“You should look in the left corner of his room.” Romeo flicked his cigarette into a nearby plant pot. “There’s a hidden compartment in the wall.”

Atlas had a hidden compartment? Why didn’t Romeo tell me about that before? Not that I was surprised. My father and brother kept me in the dark my entire life. Why would that change now? Not to mention…

“And why would I trust anything you say?” For all I knew, whatever was in there, was planted by Romeo.

“Do what you want.” He shrugged. “But I am your underboss, Little Brother. You’re gonna have to start trusting me at some point.”

Why the fuck did he have to remind me of that?

“Of course you could always decide not to take the omerta and go legit.”

I snorted. “You would like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Who do you think I want by my side when I take over?”

“Saul.” Romeo was the only person who got along with Saul.

“Why would I make Saul underboss, when I have a brother?”

My eyes snapped up to his.

What kind of game was he playing?

Before I could question his motives, a loud crash echoed down the hall.

Both Romeo and I turned to look as another crash vibrated through a door a few feet away.

I cocked a brow at him, he cocked a brow at me, then we heard, “who’s trailer trash now bitch.”

Fuck. Well, I found Nova.

“Was that?—”

“Yeah,” I answered before he finished speaking.

“Who’s she fighting with?”

That was when Carissa’s voice rang through the air. “You crazy bitch.”

“Carissa?” Romeo's eyes shifted from the door to me and back again.

The arch in both of our brows deepened when something slammed hard against the door, knocking a picture off the wall.

Shit. “I’ll be back.” There was no telling what Carissa was doing to Nova.

“Oh no, I’m coming with you,” Romeo pushed off the wall. “I gotta see this.”

I expected to walk into mayhem and violence, which we did. There were smashed vases and other things strewn about the room, a crack in the mirror, and a few spots of blood on the floor. But what I didn’t expect to see was Carissa was bent over the toilet while Nova stood over her with a handful of her hair.

Apparently, Nova wasn’t the one I should’ve been worried about.

“How’s that water taste,” she smashed Carissa’s face in the toilet. “Drink up bitch.”

My dick twitched. That was fucking hot. Unfortunately, I had to break it up.

“Hold on,” Romeo held up his hand when I took a step. “Let’s see how this plays out.”

“What—”

I was cut off when Nova yanked Carissa’s head out of the toilet, causing water to splash on her already wet dress. Her wet, white dress with nothing underneath. My eyes fell down to the pert pink nipples pressing against the now translucent fabric.

“Yeah alright.” I agreed.

It wouldn’t hurt to let them go for a bit. Especially considering my woman was winning. Nova had some scratches on her arms, she’d obviously been slapped a couple of times, and her hair was a mess of curls and wet locks that stuck to her face.

But Carissa… she was gonna have a black eye, there was blood staining her arms and face, and I was pretty sure her nose was broken. She had at least five inches on Nova and Nova was kicking her ass.

“Let go of me,” Carissa kicked out, hitting Nova in the shin and knocking her back. “Are you crazy?”

“Oh, you want crazy?” Nova growled and jumped on her.

Carissa cracked her hand off Nova’s cheek, making Romeo and I cock a brow, then cringe when Nova ripped a fistful of blonde extensions out of her head. We heard the hairs rip free from her scalp.

“Damn,” Romeo hissed. “That had to hurt.”

“Shh,’ I hushed him.

How did I miss this side of Nova? I’d pissed her off, but never like that. She was rabid and feral, and I’d never wanted her more.

Nova’s arm rose, palm ready.

Romeo nudged me, “here comes the pimp slap.”

Sure enough Nova’s hand came down, cracking off the side of Carissa’s face so hard she was knocked back on the floor. I felt that one.

“Now that,” Romeo pointed at them, “is my type of girl.”

I slid my eyes his way. “I will kill you.”

Right after I watched the tangled ball of angry women thrash about. At some point Carissa’s tit popped out. Not that I cared. I was too focused on the tear in the side of Nova’s dress. When I tipped my head the right way, I could almost see her ass. Atlee was going to be sad that he missed this.

Carissa clawed at Nova and hissed, “Gio, will never love you.”

“Shut the fuck up you pedophile cunt.” Nova snarled while cramming the extensions she’d torn out into Carissa’s mouth.

If my brother wasn’t beside me, I’d be jerking off right now.

Wait… did she say pedophile?

“You’re just mad that I’ll always be his first.”

Who said anything about Carissa being my first? She wasn’t. Pretty far from it.

“If you say you turned him into a man again,” Nova bent over to snarl in her face, “I will fucking kill you.”

Okay, this was getting a little out of hand.

I looked over at my brother. “We should break this up.”

“Yup.” He nodded and pushed off the wall.

He went for Carissa while I lopped my arm around Nova’s waist and lifted her off the other woman. The fight should’ve stopped there. It didn’t.

Nova’s stubbornness was in full effect. Not for Nova anyway. She twisted, and failed in my arm, trying to lunge back on Carissa.

“Let me go,” Nova screamed. “I need to teach that sick bitch a lesson.”

I would’ve had better luck holding onto a feral cat.

Carissa on the other hand, went into damsel in distress mode.

“Gio, thank god you’re here.” She batted her eyes at me. “Look what she did to me.”

“Don’t talk to him,” Nova growled and jumped out of my hold.

I managed to catch her before she could kick Carissa in the face, which was probably a good thing. I had no idea how we were going to explain this. One look at either of them and their fight would be obvious.

“Do you see that?” Carissa waved her hand at Nova. “She’s crazy.”

“Shut up.” I barked at her while trying to maintain my hold on the ball of furry in my arms. “I told you to stay away the fuck from her. And you…” I slammed Nova’s back against the wall. “Calm the fuck down!”

That worked about as well as one would think. Not only did she not calm down, but Nova turned her anger on me.

“Do you know what she did to you?”

I was there. “She didn’t do anything I didn’t want her to.”

“Exactly.” Carissa sang. “He wants me.”

And what was Romeo doing while I tried to control these two? He was standing behind Carissa with his arms crossed. Asshole.

“Stop it.” I stepped in, trapping Nova between me and the wall. “She’s not worth it.”

“How can you say that?” Carissa whined which drew Nova’s attention back to her.

“What did I say about talking to him!”

“Don’t talk to me.”

“I’m gonna shove my fist down your throat.”

Jesus fucking Christ.

I looked over at my brother. “You can step in anytime.”

“Alright.” Romeo sighed and waved at Carissa. “Let’s go.”

She glared back at him, “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Don’t give me a reason to shoot you.”

That wasn’t an idol threat and Carissa knew it. That was why she peeled herself off the floor and slowly followed him.

“That’s right, get out.” Nova yelled when Romeo opened the door. “And stay away from Gio. He’s mine.”

My eyes snapped back to Nova’s. Did she just say I was hers?