Divine Obsession (GodHood #2)

Chapter 6

Present

My heart thundered all the way home. I still had whiplash from the events of the night because I couldn’t make sense of them.

Trevor couldn’t have possibly been flirting with me.

Although it surely did feel like he was.

It must’ve all been in my head because there was no reality in which he could possibly be interested in me – not beyond a one-time hookup anyway. Not because of me – I was smart, funny and gorgeous – but because of the type of guy he was rumored to be.

I knew they were rumors. But there was no smoke without fire. And judging by what I’d seen already, the gossip about him never sleeping with the same girl twice must’ve had some reality to it.

Or – of course – the only other possible explanation: He was fucking with me.

We’d already gotten off on the wrong foot, but I doubted it would’ve made a difference if we got acquainted under different circumstances.

Not even mentioning how different the two of us were. If I was fire, he was ice. If I was sunshine, he was a storm.

And most importantly, he was Kali’s older brother.

Totally off-limits .

It was just past ten when I got home. The private elevator dinged, announcing my arrival as I stepped into the dark, huge, open living room of the two-story penthouse owned by my father. Sheer, see-through curtains were slightly pulled along the grand two-story windows, allowing the city’s sparkling lights to illuminate my path.

It was silent as I made my way to the kitchen. Dad’s meeting couldn’t have been over yet, but my best guess was they were on the other wing of the apartment, in his private office.

Sighing with the weight of tonight’s events, I placed my pink Birkin on the marble island in the center of the grand kitchen. It wasn’t until I opened my own two-door, rich people fridge – allowing the bright light to single out a dark shadow in the corner – that I realized I wasn’t alone.

I smiled. The twins always wandered around at night, and this wouldn’t be the first time I bumped into Manny while we each searched for a midnight snack.

“It’s past your bedtime. Why aren’t you sleeping?” I questioned, like the new big sister I was as I scanned the fridge for food. Despite only becoming acquainted right before the holidays, two months ago, I’d grown surprisingly and pleasantly close to my four step-siblings.

Carmen and Kim were always asking me to braid their hair, do their make-up, go shopping, watch rom-coms and give big sister advice. Whilst, the younger twin boys were always asking me to teach them how to code hacks for their video games.

“I wasn’t aware that I had one.” A deep voice spoke from the shadows.

My blood iced.

That was definitely not one of my pre-teen siblings.

Carefully, I straightened and looked over my shoulder, expecting to see one of dad’s business partners in a perfectly tailored suit.

I wasn’t far off.

A man, not too much older than myself, though almost double in height and size, sat on one of the island stools, pressing a kitchen towel into the side of his body. Except both the towel and his white button-down shirt were soaked with blood.

My eyes widened, taking in the horrific scene. “Oh, shit !”

“ Yeah ,” The man breathed out in dry amusement, checking his wound. “Shit.”

He was too far into the shadows, that I couldn’t make out his face – though I doubt I would’ve recognized him as one of dad’s many business partners. He was eerily calm about bleeding out.

“Who–”

“You must be the new kid.”

My jaw tightened. “ Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“Friend of Salvatore’s. Meeting went sideways,” He explained as if that made perfect sense, but it just seemed like he was talking in a code I didn’t understand.

A sudden, dark thought entered my mind. If this man I didn’t know was covered in blood, then what about…

“Relax. Your father’s fine.”

“Then who…”

He scoffed. “A suicidal Russian.”

“So, that’s not your blood?” I frowned, confused. “Is he okay?”

The man looked at me.

Blinked.

Then blinked again.

“Is he in the ER? They’re sending him to rehab, right? He obviously needs help.”

The man stood, still pressing the towel into his side as he made his way towards me. Finally, the dim light revealed his sharp features, making me realize his cloudy, grey eyes had been piercing through me the entire time.

“Natalia, was it?”

His perfectly proportionate, harmonious, almost breathtakingly beautiful appearance took me by surprise, making me halter.

“Yeah?”

He stopped a couple feet away from me, towering over me in his height. “That bastardo sneaked a knife past the bodyguards and stabbed me from the back.”

My mouth fell open. “Why would he do that?”

“Because he wanted to kill me.” He spoke as if he was dumbing it down for me. When I still didn’t respond, he dipped his chin and raised an unimpressed brow down at me. “So I slit his throat with his own blade.”

The confession washed over me like a bucket of ice water, freezing me on the spot. His words worked their way through my brain as I started making sense of what he’d just said.

Someone had just gotten murdered in my home.

And by the look on this man’s face, it wasn’t the first time. For him or this place.

“Natalia, what do you know about the Morettis?”

Maybe it was fear or panic, but once I started talking, I couldn’t stop. “They own majority of hotels and restaurants in New York. And most of America. They made their wealth in the 1920s. They’re a respectable family with powerful ties–”

“Respectable families don’t have murder attempts in their own homes.”

“They’re stupid rich. Homes get broken into and robbed all the time–”

Something dangerous flashed in his eyes, telling me to stop talking.

I crossed my arms, taking comfort in the shadows; glad he couldn’t see the tremble in my chin. “I still have no idea who you are.”

“Salvatore didn’t mention you were in the dark.” He moved back to the island stool, muttering to himself, “I bet the motherfucker prayed this would happen. Should’ve known he wouldn’t have the balls to do it himself.”

“ Hey .” My warning sliced through the air. Despite the fear sneaking its way through my veins, my territorial side rose to the surface. No one spoke like that about my family.

The man slid his gaze back to me, something glinting in his eyes.

“My name is Gìovanni DeMone,” He spoke, after a long time, moving towards the wooden display of alcohol bottles on the wall. Picking an old wine, he used a cork to pop it open before pouring two glasses. He extended one towards me. “Natalia, have you ever heard of something called the Mafia?”

I ended up having the first drink of my life that night.

We shared a bottle of red in the darkness of the kitchen. I stitched up his stab wound using a sewing kit. All while he told me the truth about our families.

This thing of ours.

Cosa Nostra .

La Famiglia .

I stared at the grey blanket covering my bedroom’s grand windows. Fog surrounded the ninetieth-something floor of Moretti Enterprises, placing the extravagant penthouse in the clouds.

Turning on my other side, I pulled the covers over my head and closed my eyes.

Pain hammered in my temples, urging me to get up and drink a strong coffee or one of my green smoothies. My stomach turned, threatening to empty anything left in it.

A shudder worked its way through my body, icing the blood in my veins, when I remembered Gìo’s words from the previous night.

After sewing his wound shut, we got shit-faced drunk. Well, I did. He was six years older than me and about six-foot-four, so logically a heavyweight.

Gìo helped me get to my room. He even held my hair back while I vomited in the toilet, and then helped me get in bed, before leaving to return to dad’s meeting.

When I asked if it was really a Cosa Nostra meeting, he didn’t answer; only told me to go to sleep.

I was still in my clothes from yesterday, the tight jeans making me uncomfortable. I’d been too drunk to change last night, and now, I just couldn’t get out of bed.

Everything was still weighing heavily on me. Starting at Columbia, running into Trevor, sitting next to him in class, going to that party, running into Trevor again, getting way too close to him in the kitchen…

Then, of course, getting home.

I was still in shock. To say I was overwhelmed, was an understatement.

But most of all? I felt betrayed.

No one had told me. They’d left me to walk around like a fool.

I’d been playing house with the Morettis for two months, and friends with Kali for six.

Kali.

Suddenly her words made a lot more sense.

Just be careful, okay? And call me anytime, anywhere if you ever need anything .

I now knew everything about the reality of her and her family. Gìo had told me.

Technology empire my ass .

They were weapon dealers and hackers.

Were all the elites just criminals?

Even Zach was involved. He was the heir to a Latin Cartel, currently in charge of handling operations in North America at just twenty.

Honestly. What. The. Fuck.

Oh, and of course, my family was in the Mob.

It wasn’t until twelve that I managed to drag myself out of bed. I didn’t want to. If I could, I would’ve hibernated for the rest of the week.

But I couldn’t pretend like I didn’t know anything.

So after freshening up, I joined my family in the loungeroom, each doing their own thing on a Saturday afternoon.

They gave me their attention when they saw me standing on the side.

I looked straight at my father when I spoke. “ I know .”

Silence followed as he put the pieces together, his emotions a dilemma to me.

“Oh, grazie, Dio ,” Ines exhaled in relief. “I didn’t think I could hold out any longer.”

“Was about time, Lia.” Nico had come to stand by me, offering a piece of his chocolate bar. I brushed his messy, black hair back, but didn’t take the offer.

“You all knew?” My voice was smaller than intended when I looked back up.

“Alright. Family meeting.” The moment Salvatore said that, Nico left my side and joined everyone else on the sofa in the conversation pit. When I didn’t move, dad spoke again. “Come sit, cara . Per favore .”

So I did.

It was awkward at first.

I didn’t know what to feel.

The topic of the Italian-American Mafia itself was a serious subject, let alone the complexities of the criminal underworld, but they just seemed excited to finally share that part of their life with me.

“Don’t be mad at us, Lia. Please.” Carmen took a seat next to me, pulling at the sleeves of the cashmere sweater I gifted her for Christmas, while our younger sister sat on my other side.

“We wanted to tell you,” Kim had explained apologetically. “We just didn’t want to scare you off.”

“We completely understand if you want nothing to do with it,” Ines assured me.

“We won’t speak of it,” Dad agreed.

Salvatore Moretti, my father , was a mobster. His wife, my stepmother , was his consigliere. And their children, my half-siblings , were their future soldati .

There it was.

The family secret.

In the end, the terrifying part was I didn’t care.

I could still feel the rush of life in my veins when I told them.

I want in .

The elevator doors opened, allowing me to step into the lobby. Things might’ve been patched up between us now, and arguably even brought us closer, but I was still in need of some serious retail therapy.

Especially with my birthday coming up.

The moment I took the corner, I saw her. She was walking back and forth, muttering to herself.

It took her another few moments to notice me frozen in place. When she saw me, she froze too, and we were left to look each other in the eye, exchanging all the words we wanted to say but couldn’t get out.

Finally, Kali explained, “Gìo told me.”

I scoffed, looking away. Should’ve known I couldn’t trust him either.

“I don’t want to see you right now.” I advanced, moving to walk past her.

“Nat, come on, just let me explain.”

“How could you not tell me?” Unexpected emotion escaped me, as I turned around to face her. “This whole time, you knew .”

I didn’t expect her to tell me her family secrets, but she could’ve told me about the Morettis. I’d been affiliated with them for some time now, and every moment that had passed without me knowing, had been another moment risking me my life.

Kali looked at me with those big, dough eyes; unfamiliarly sad with unshed tears. Her voice was barely a whisper, “I didn’t think you’d want to be friends anymore.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because it’s happened before.” She lifted a shoulder in defeat. “More times than I can count. I didn’t want to lose you. But, now I might, anyway.”

I bit down on my back teeth and looked down at the floor. The memory of me saying those almost exact words to Maria in an orphanage hallway in the middle of the night a decade ago, softened my heart.

“I’m sorry, Nat.”

We looked at each other for one more moment before I stepped up and wrapped Kali in a hug. She clung to me, and I realized this was the first time in my life someone had begged me to stay. It made me realize the depth of our friendship.

“Don’t be mad at Gìo. He’s just being a good friend.” Her voice muffled in my hair.

I sighed, even though I didn’t like it. “I know.”

When we pulled back, Kali had that glint in her eyes. “Debrief?”

“ Yes. ”

And so we debriefed the whole situation while trying on thousand-dollar shoes.