Chapter 6

GIOVANNI

N ovalee Ford was the living personification of the word attitude. She didn’t even have to try. It just oozed off her. The subtle roll of her bright hazel eyes, slight tip of her head, or cock in her hip when she strutted past all screamed, go fuck yourself. I was constantly caught in this perpetual state of wanting to choke her to death and fuck her at the same time.

So, it wasn’t hard to understand why someone would want to slap her. That didn’t make it okay.

Nova lifted her chin and my jaw clenched at the bruise on the side of her face.

That deep purple stain mocked me with the outline of Marty’s fingerprints. He fucking touched her. Another man touched my shit, and left his mark behind to taunt me. If I could, I would scrub it off her skin.

And then there were the possible marks I couldn’t see. Who else touched her? Did someone else meet her at Quackwater besides that asshole Snake? Like her blonde friend, or Chuck? Neither one of them had a problem sticking up for her.

My eyes narrowed as Nova strutted past me. “What the fuck were you doing yesterday?” And who was she doing it with?

“Other than watching you shoot someone for no reason…” She paused to look over her shoulder at me. “Nothing.”

“I could’ve killed him.”

When I finished with Marty, he probably wished he was dead, but he wasn’t. And why was that motherfucker still breathing? Because Nova would hate me if I killed him. How fucked up was that? Since when did I give a shit about what Novalee thought? She should hate me. I hated her for making me weak.

I wasn’t weak, and I sure as hell didn’t lay awake at night worrying about some weak minded fool who couldn’t handle shit. Yet, I laid awake last night. I shot Marty, and she checked out. It scared me, I thought I broke her. Which was why I came rushing over here like a damn fool when Nova didn’t show up for school.

And what was she doing? She was sitting on her fucking porch, talking to her crazy ass neighbor, as if nothing happened.

Nova spun around, eyes wide. “He’s not dead.”

“Really?” Was she seriously relieved? I was definitely going to kill the fucker now. “He hit you.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to shoot him.”

“Yes it does.” In fact, I could’ve done more. I could’ve gutted the bastard right then and there, and no one would’ve said shit.

“Wow, just when I thought you couldn’t get more arrogant.”

I leaned back against the railing and crossed my arms. “You signed up for this shit, remember that.”

Nova crossed her arms back at me. “I didn’t think bullets would be involved.”

“What the fuck did you think would happen?”

Confusion screwed up her face, and that’s when it hit me. Nova thought she knew who my family was, when in reality she really had no idea. All she had to go off of were rumors and idle gossip. There was no doubt in my mind that she’d come to her own conclusions, based on things that had happened to her brother, but assumptions were a lot different than the truth.

The cool morning breeze wisped past us, as Nova’s expression morphed from confusion, to contemplation, and finally acceptance. Now, she understood. I wasn’t just some asshole with money. My last name had power and was stained with blood.

“Why haven’t you killed me?”

I don’t know if I was impressed by the lack of fear in her tone, or if I was entranced by the way her bright eyes searched mine, but for some reason, I told her the truth.

“I don’t know.”

That was the only answer I could give her, because I didn’t know. She should be dead, but every time I thought about watching the light in her eyes fade, I got a sick feeling in my stomach. As if I actually cared or something.

Sure, I punished Marty for hitting her, but that was about respect, and nothing else. That bruise on her face didn’t piss me off because she was hurt. It was because I wasn’t asked permission first. That was all it was.

My gaze slid down the strap of her tank top, to where her pert nipples were pebbling against the fabric of her shirt.

She was just another chick to use and nothing more.

“I should let Atlee fuck you.”

Nova’s brow rose. “Really?”

No, not really. I wanted to fucking kill him just thinking about it. But I would do it. I’d pass her off to him if that’s what it came to. Because I did not care about Novalee Ford. I refused to.

“Don’t worry.” I hissed at her. “Atlee knows how to fuck.”

“I’m sure he does.”

How the fuck did she know that? He already touched her, didn’t he? That motherfucker.

“I bet you liked it, didn’t you?”

Her brows knit. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about.” I pushed off the railing and stepped towards her. “Did you come for him too?”

“Oh my God,” She held up her hand, palm out. “I don’t have enough caffeine in my system to deal with you.”

That’s when I realized how stupid I was being. Atlee may press my buttons, but he would never actually touch her. That didn’t stop me from wanting to grab Nova’s hair, when she flicked it over her shoulder and threw the screen door open. But I fisted my hand and held myself back. Then she muttered under her breath.

“I should’ve let Mr. Garibaldi get the shotgun.”

I cocked a brow at her. “What was that?”

Little bitch lifted her chin like a petulant child, and glanced back at me with a smile on her face. “You heard me.”

I sure as fuck did. Know what else I was going to hear? The sweet sound of my hand cracking off her ass.

My hand swung through the air, causing Nova to jar forward and squeak in protest.

“What the hell…”

“Get in the fucking house.” I cut her off and gave her another.

“Okay, first off it’s a trailer, or mobile home, not a house.”

“I don’t give a fuck.” It could be a goddamn box for all I cared. “Just get the fuck inside.”

Nova’s fingers tightened around the screen door handle. “Fine. I’ll go inside. But… you are not invited.”

Snotty little…

“I don’t need your fucking invitation.” I shoved her through the door, and stepped in after.

She stumbled forward, but somehow still managed to slam the screen door on my side. The corner of her mouth curled as the hard metal edge clacked off my hip.

“Oops.”

I’ll give her oops.

My eyes locked on hers. “Remember that time I told you to run?”

Lifting her chin, Nova eyed me suspiciously. “Yeah?”

“You might want to do a better job of it this time.”

Between the bullshit yesterday, and her attitude today, I was so done that I might actually kill her.

“I’m not afraid of you.” Her chest puffed out with what she was trying to convey as bravery, but I saw it for what it was. Stubbornness and stupidity.

“You should be.” Leaning in, I hissed in her face, “run.”

The instant the last syllable rolled off my tongue, Nova’s knee came up into my groin.

My knees buckled and I crumpled to the ground in a blinding white hot wave of pain while Nova took off yelling, “I remembered the balls.”

Motherfucker!

Getting kicked in the balls was bad enough. When your dick was hard, that was a whole new level of pain. And she got me good. I’d be impressed if it didn’t feel like she broke my dick.

It took a few minutes for my ability to breathe to come back. Then a few more after that for crippling agony to stop shooting up my spine. Until then, all I could do was stare at the cheap linoleum floor.

Bracing my hand on the wall, I pulled myself back on my feet, then stood there sucking in deep breaths while I waited for my knees to stop shaking. Murder was the only thing on my mind at that point. When I got my hands on Nova, I was going to snap her fucking neck.

“Did I do a better job this time?” Nova called from down the hall to the left.

Fuck murder. That was too easy. I was going to torture her a bit first.

“You better find a damn good hiding spot.” I growled through gritted teeth.

“Are we playing hide and seek?”

Oh, we were going to play something alright.

Pushing down what remained of my pain, I stood up straight and rolled my shoulders back. “You better start praying to whatever God you believe in.”

“Bite me.” Nova yelled, before I heard a door slam.

I turned to take a step in that direction, then stopped and looked to the right.

The yellow cupboards in her kitchen reminded me of the terror on her face when I carved my name in her hip. Nova really didn’t like knives and I bet I could find a nice sharp one in there. Then I could carve my name somewhere else on her body. Now, that I liked the sound of. I could almost taste her sweet blood on the tip of my tongue.

Excited for a little knife play, I walked into the kitchen, and began rummaging through drawers.

Finding what I was looking for wasn’t a simple task. Nova had a lot of useless shit in her kitchen. Random beads, paper, and toys. Everything I came across were things people would find in other rooms of the house.

One drawer housed nothing but brushes and combs. The collection of corkscrews was the only thing that fit in. I didn’t even find the utensils until I started opening cupboards. Who organized this shit?

Nova must’ve heard me, because her voice floated down the hall. “What are you doing?”

“Come here and find out.” I said as I pulled open another cupboard.

Bingo.

Sitting on the second shelf was a metal basket with various blades.

“I’m not falling for that.”

“Suit yourself.” I held up a butcher knife and examined the sharp edge.

This was too big. There was no control. I needed something smaller. A steak knife, maybe? No, the serrated edge wouldn’t allow for clean cuts. That’s when I spotted a small paring knife. It wasn’t as good as my switchblade, and I could do without the pink handle, but it would work.

“You better leave.” Nova called out.

I snorted. “Make me.”

She wasn’t in control here, but I’d let her hold onto that delusion for a few minutes. This was the first time I’d actually been inside Nova’s house, and I wanted to look around.

This place wasn’t very big. The entire trailer could probably fit in my bedroom. How four people lived comfortably here was beyond me. It wasn’t well decorated either. Whoever had that job had no idea what they were doing.

Everywhere I looked there was some flaw. Mismatched furniture, worn out carpet, and frayed curtains. But I was more interested in the little touches. Things I couldn’t see by peering in the window. Pictures on the wall, various knick knacks – a lot of which were gnomes. As if there wasn’t enough in the yard – and kids drawings.

The front of the fridge was littered with them. Pages and pages of smudges and scribbles that were clearly creations of Nova’s nephew. Nothing spectacular. However, one picture in the back did catch my eye. It was partially covered by other drawings, but yellowing of age on the edges made it stand out.

Lifting my hand, I moved the other pictures out of the way to reveal a crayon drawing of a family. There were distinct figures of parents, a little boy, a little girl, and a baby. That and the name printed in the top corner – Veda – told me this wasn’t one of Nova’s nephew’s creations.

My eyes zeroed in on the figure with Daddy written under it. He was off to the side, away from the rest of the family, just standing there and staring with his black eyes. It was kind of creepy.

I could understand not liking your father, but this was more than that. He looked like some kind of monster or boogeyman. Veda couldn’t have been very old when she drew this. Six or seven maybe. What would make a child see their father like that? What kind of man was the late Edward Ford?

The only thing I knew about him was that he was in the military and died overseas. Nova was young. I doubted she even remembered the man. So I never looked into him. I didn’t look into either of her parents. My father probably did. If nothing else he was thorough. Maybe I should ask him about it?

Oh well, I could worry about that later. Right now I was much more interested in his daughter.

“Alright Gattina …” I looked down at the paring knife and grazed my thumb over the blade. “Here I?—”

I froze as the distinctive click, click of a bullet being loaded into the chamber ranged through my ears.

“Get out of my house.”

A smirk curled the corner of my mouth. Nova went and got a gun. How fucking cute was that?

“You sure you want to do this?”

“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”

Alright.

I spun around and damn near came when I saw Nova standing behind me with a rifle in her hands. That look of determination on her face made me think she might actually shoot me. How fucking hot was that? Now, the game was interesting.

“Get out of my house, Gio.”

I dropped my eyes to the gun in her hands. “You think that’s gonna help you?”

“Of course.” Nova’s brows knit as her top lip curled in a sneer. “It’s a gun.”

Yeah, but did she have the balls to pull the trigger?

“I know what I’m going to do with this. But…” I reached out and tapped the tip of the knife off the end of the barrel. “What are you gonna do with that?”

“What the hell do you think I’m gonna do?”

I think she was going to chicken out.

Sure, there was the chance that I was wrong and she would blow me away, but my dick had never been harder.

“You better get out of my house, Gio.”

“Nah,” I looked down at the tiny little knife in my hand. “I like my chances.”

“I will shoot you.”

I rolled my eyes up to hers. “So do it.”

Her eyes went wide. “What?”

“Shoot me.” I said while taking a step closer.

Nova’s arms trembled as she took a step back. “I’m serious.”

“So am I.” If she was going to pull a gun on me, then she better damn well be ready to pull the trigger.

I took another step forward, causing her to take one back.

“Stop it.” She shook the rifle in a more forceful point. “I’m warning you.”

“Stop warning me, and fucking do it.” I growled and marched forward.

“I mean it, Gio.” It was cute how she tried to sound tough, while backing away from me. “I will do it.”

My dick twitched when her finger flexed against the trigger.

“That’s right, Baby.” I continued to stalk closer, and reached down to palm my cock. “Shoot me.”

I was going to fuck her so goddamn hard, that she would feel me for months.

Nova’s big hazel eyes widened, then filled with apprehension when her back hit the wall. There was nowhere for her to go now.

“Come on, Gattina ,” I grabbed the barrel of the rifle and held it against my chest. “Pull the fucking trigger.”