Chapter 10
10
Giselle
"I'm not leaving until we get married." Carlo's voice was blunt—yet fierce. It gave me an instant stomach ache.
"I understand that. But we have to get back. Or there'll be consequences, Carlo. You and Giselle can get married soon. Come back in a week. Knowing these women, they'll want time to find dresses and shit." For the last ten minutes, Nick had been trying to talk Carlo out of staying.From what I gathered, Carlo was refusing to leave until he and I got married. He insisted on getting married with his parents in attendance.
Nick reminded him that they had some kind of "pressing business" back home. He didn't say any specifics. But Carlo seemed to know exactly what he was talking about.
I kind of wished one of them would spill the beans and say what kind of bad mafia business they had to deal with in Chicago.
I mean, it didn't matter. My curiosity was the only reason I was still standing here.
Outside of Carlo's office door.
It was their fault. Neither of them had closed it. I had only searched them out to see when we were leaving. Sophia wanted to know. Packing up all of these babies and their stuff wasn't going to be easy. And she wanted a head start.
"My father's on his last fuckin' leg. He might not be alive in a week."
That made my stomach ache worse. I wasn't going to marry Carlo. Even so, I liked Marcello. A lot.
And just because he was some kind of evil mafia king—he'd still been overly kind and generous to me. I would definitely miss him when I was gone.
And when he was gone.
His words came back to me. "Can you give my son a son of his own?" And it gave me a chill. I'd promised Marcello that I absolutely could give Carlo a son.
Yes.
I'd lied.
But for some reason, I also felt bad for lying to Marcello.
He was old and sick, and likely wouldn't be around much longer. He'd never know I had no intention of ever giving Carlo a son. Something about that whole situation made me uneasy. And I wasn't sure why I'd lied to all of these people. Including Marcello.
So why was my lie to Marcello bothering me so much?
Whatever it was, I felt a ton of guilt over it.
"He's hung on this long. I'm sure another week won't matter. And if the news we just received is true—" Nick took a deep breath, "we have to get back immediately."
I walked backward a few steps and carefully turned around. When I was in the kitchen, I opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.There was an urgency in Nick's voice that I hadn't liked.
Nick was always calm, cool, and collected. Well, most of the time. The only occasion I saw him lose his mind was when Eve had been kidnapped by his evil stepbrother.Now that had been a complete shit show.
Anything bad happening to his wife made Nick's head implode. So, hearing his tone just now made me more than a little concerned.
Not that it should. I mean, I was taking off nearly the second our plane landed in Chicago. So why the heck did I care what kind of criminal deeds these men had to do back home?
I sighed and then finished my bottle of water. It mattered to me because I loved them. And I loved Evie and the babies. I didn't want anything bad to happen to them.
Ever.
That was the biggest reason for me leaving. To save them from all the bad crap that could rain down on them if Sergio found out they knew me. And that I'd been living with them and—sleeping with them.
Yeah.
Sergio would have a huge freakout.
And then—they'd all be dead.
He’d see to that.
The one thing in this life that Sergio Bastratto wanted was for me to be miserable. And if he knew I loved all the people under this roof, he would one hundred and ten percent kill them all just to hurt me.
Now, to throw in the added horrible fact that Carlo, Stefan, and Nick were also in the mafia world—and that pretty much triple guaranteed their doom.
Sergio would take out Evie and the babies just to add insult to injury.
Because Sergio was just that kind of asshole. Anything he could do to stick it to me—he'd do it. With a fucking smile on his face.
"Did you find out when we leave?" Sophia’s voice traveled across the large kitchen.
I turned my head and wiped my mouth. "Sorry, no. They were busy, so I didn't have a chance to ask yet."
She nodded her head and smiled. "Okay, no problem. I'll start packing the things the kids probably won't need in the next few days."
And with that, she turned and bounced away in her very short shorts.
"Is it just me? Or have her shorts started getting smaller and smaller?" Eve whispered over my shoulder.
I gasped and spun on my heel. "Holy crap, you scared me!" I set my hand over my heart and took some deep breaths.
Eve giggled. "You were too busy staring at her ass, just like I was."
I shrugged and bit my lip. "I mean—it's not like she's hiding it."
Eve tossed her head back and laughed. "No, she's definitely not trying to hide it. I'm just not sure exactly why she's flaunting it so much lately. It's odd. She's also doing her hair and makeup every day. And that's fine, it's just a change from before."
I knew what Eve was talking about. I'd noticed Sophia making more of an—effort lately.
And that was not a problem.
Unless it was a problem.
The short shorts, the hair, the heavier makeup—well, that could mean other things might be popping up.
"Do you think she's got a crush on one of the guys?" I lowered my voice to below a whisper.
Eve looked at me and nodded. "I'd bet on it." The expression on her face showed how unhappy she was about this information. "We can't know that for sure, though. It's not like I can walk up and ask, 'Hey, are you trying to fuck my husband?'"
My arms circled around her, and I pulled her in for a hug. "That would never happen. Even if she walked naked right up to Nick. He'd never, ever cheat on you, honey."
She hugged me back and nodded. "I know. But I also don't want that kind of person hanging around my family. You know?"
Yeah.
I absolutely did know.
Just because I was leaving soon didn't mean I was willing to hand Carlo, Stefan, and Nick right over to Sophia. She was great and everything. And she was amazing with the babies. She'd been with me for so long.
But I had a jealous streak inside.
"We can talk about what to do about things when we get home, okay?" Eve suggested and gave me one more squeeze.
I nodded, knowing full well I wouldn't be around to deal with any issues regarding Sophia. "Sounds like a good idea."
Eve moved back and kissed me quickly on the lips. "Do you know when we're leaving?"
I had my mouth open and ready to answer when Carlo's booming voice responded for me."First thing in the morning." He walked into the kitchen and headed straight for me.If I lived to be three hundred years old, I would never get used to watching that man stalk his way to me.
He kind of scared me—but he also made my pulse race like no one else in the world could do.
"We leave first thing in the morning." He moved right up to me and wrapped his arms around my waiting body.
Tomorrow.
My stomach clenched.
So did my heart.
Tomorrow.
One more night.
One more plane ride.
And then we'd be home.
And then—I'd be gone.
Yes, this was the plan all along. But that didn't make the reality of leaving any easier.
"That soon?" I looked up at Carlo. He leaned down and kissed me.
"Yes. Then we'll come back here in a week or so."
I lay my head on his hard chest. "We're coming back right away?" I asked, pretending that I hadn't heard him speaking to Nick.
"I want my parents to see us get married. Dad's not doing well, obviously. So, we need to make this quick."
Marry him.
In Italy.
In front of his parents.
A billion bubbles formed in my stomach, and I suddenly got all nervous.Over nothing.
Nothing except the idea of marrying Carlo.Of being his wife. And having his child.
"Who the fuck says you're marrying Giselle?"
Uh, oh.
Stefan had walked in without me hearing.
Carlo pushed me back and then draped his arm over my shoulders protectively. "We have to, Stefan. It's what dad wants. He doesn't have much time. And you know the baby will need a last name."
Need a last name.
I inhaled deeply, but it didn't stop me from feeling all shaky.
“She can marry me and get the same fuckin' last name," Stefan pointed out the obvious truth.
Carlo's arm tightened further and plastered me to his side. "She's going to have my baby. I'm the one who should marry her." Carlo's tone had a frightening warning to it.
"Bullshit. You don't have to marry her to give the baby a name. You're just trying to take advantage of the fact that I didn't pound your face into the ground."
Oh, boy.
I looked over at Eve, but she was staring at Stefan. The worried frown on her face showed me she didn't like the scene playing out in front of us.
"So, she marries you but has," Carlo's hand slapped his chest, "my baby? What kind of fucked up logic is that, Brother?"
I swallowed and tried to push away from Carlo. Except he was not having it. His arm clamped down around me and held my body still.
Stefan took a few steps toward us. "The fucking logic is that we agreed to all be in a goddamn relationship," he inhaled, "Brother."
Oh, boy.
This was not going to end well.