24. Gianna
Chapter twenty-four
Gianna
I’m filling a glass of water in the kitchen when I hear a commotion coming from the living room.
I drop the glass in the sink, running out to see Giovanni. His arm is bleeding; a gunshot wound is visible. My mother is beside him, looking battered herself, but visibly worried about Giovanni.
“Get the doctor!” I yell, as Andre brings in a wounded Giovanni.
“Now!” Mother adds.
“What happened?” My voice quivers as I almost touch the wound. There’s so much blood.
“Take the prisoner into the storehouse behind. I…I have plans for him,” Giovanni grunts as he sits on the couch.
Andre nods in response. His taut face in a frown.
“Someone tell me what the fuck happened!” My gaze shifts from my brother’s to Andre’s, then my mother’s as she settles on the couch.
“Ouch,” she groans, holding her head.
“Are you alright, Mother?” I move closer to her.
Dorothy runs back into the house with Shawn, our family doctor. He has a briefcase with him as he runs to meet Giovanni.
Andre leaves the house immediately.
“Some men attacked us.” Giovanni grunts as Shawn rips the sleeve of his shirt off. “Attend to my mother first. I think she’s hurt.”
My heart skips a beat for a moment.
“No, Shawn. He needs your attention now. My head only hurts. I’ll be fine,” Mother says.
I hold her other hand as she settles one on her head.
Shawn opens his briefcase.
“These painkillers should help with that.” He takes out a drug container and slips out two pills for her.
Dorothy runs to the kitchen to grab Mother a glass of water.
Andre and Mother had left the house earlier with Giovanni. They were talking about a meeting right before they stepped out. Who could have attacked them?
Giovanni grunts loudly as Shawn cleans off blood from the wound.
“Who did this?” I ask.
“I have no fucking idea, Anna,” he yells as Shawn touches his wound again.
Luca’s threats repeat in my head as I feel rage coursing through my veins.
“Luca? He threatened to do this.”
Mother tries to get up by herself but falls back down.
“Please look her over, Dorothy,” Shawn says.
“I'm fine.”
“No, you’re not Mother. Take her to her room and get her looked at.”
Dorothy helps Mother up and walks her to her room.
“Please make sure she gets some rest,” I instruct Dorothy. She nods in response.
I hear Sophie from her room while Giovanni screams, even with a cloth in his mouth, as the doctor takes out the bullet.
Sophie’s cries get louder.
“Anna! Sophie needs you,” Giovanni grunts.
My heart is heavy with rage as I walk into her room.
She is just sitting on the bed, her eyes wet from crying. Sophie wraps her arms around me as I lift her. Her embrace gives me comfort as I try to ease my anger.
Luca must have done this. His stupid need for revenge for murders we had no fucking idea about. He wanted to cause me so much pain. Keeping me hostage wasn’t enough for him. I can’t forgive myself for giving into him all those times he kept me there.
My heart feels nothing but hatred for him. Every fiber of me resents his being. Luca cannot get away with this. Not this time.
My eyes and head hurt badly as I lose track of how long I’ve stayed in this position with Sophie. I know it’s long enough since I can no longer hear Giovanni’s yells. Shawn must be done taking care of the wound. I need to get answers, desperately.
Giovanni must know the truth and whether Luca is really behind the attack.
“Dorothy!” I call as I step out of the room.
She walks to meet me in the hallway after the second call.
“Please get her some food.” I hand Sophie over to her. Her eyes are almost heavy with sleep.
Giovanni is still on the couch when I walk back into the living room. Shawn isn’t there any longer. It’s Andre instead. Giovanni turns to look at me as I walk into the room. A part of his left arm is bandaged.
“How did this happen?”
Andre stares at me for a moment before returning his gaze back to Giovanni. He has a black leather jacket with a white shirt on. His jeans are baggy on his legs.
“Some masked men attacked our car and shot at us.” Giovanni turns to look at Andre. “We wouldn’t have made it out alive if it wasn’t for Andre’s quick thinking.”
“The prisoner is in the storehouse,” Andre blurts. His arms are folded in front of his chest.
“The De Santis must have a hand in it. Luca has always wanted this revenge for his parents,” I say.
“If he truly is behind this, he will be paying them a visit when I’m done with him.” Giovanni stands up, but grunts a little as he does so.
Andre leads the way out to the storehouse and we follow behind.
A man with a black textile on his head is tied to a chair in the center of the space. The chair wobbles as he struggles to free himself, moving his arms.
Andre walks up to him first and punches him in the abdomen.
He grunts out as Andre pulls his head to the back and removes the cloth from his head. The prisoner has a bloody face with bruises. He spits out blood as the cloth comes off his head.
“ Figlio di puttana. ” Giovanni grips the collar of his shirt tightly with one arm.
The prisoner smiles, revealing blood-stained teeth.
“Who do you work for?” Anyone can tell that Giovanni is furious with how angry he sounds. He groans a little, releasing the shirt of the prisoner to touch his wounded arm and moves backward, away from him.
He shouldn’t be here. I move closer to my brother and touch his shoulder. “Giovanni, you’re hurt. You shouldn’t be here,” I whisper.
The prisoner is yelling in pain as Andre connects heavy punches to his face. I flinch at hearing the sounds of each strike.
“Don’t worry about me, Anna. I’ll be fine.” A groan falls from his lips again as he tries to move his arm.
“No, you’re not. Andre can handle this.”
“It’s our mother. I can’t stay back and do nothing,” he protests. Giovanni walks back to the side of the prisoner before I can talk him out of it.
Andre has the prisoner already beaten to a pulp. His eyes are half-closed, his face swollen up and marked with bleeding bruises, and his head is dangling in the air.
Giovanni punches his head and grips his lower jaw. He raises it higher to lock eyes with the prisoner. “Who fucking sent you?”
The prisoner coughs a little and groans out loudly.
“Answer me!”
“F-f-fuck you.”
Giovanni slaps him harder in the face.
I jump a little as I know how painful that must have felt. It does hurt, as the prisoner yells out loud.
“Hand me your gun,” Giovanni says to Andre.
Oh God.
Andre reaches for his back pocket and pulls out a pistol. He hands it over to Giovanni.
“You had better start talking or I’ll fucking blow your brains out with a fucking bullet.” Giovanni has the gun pointed at the man. His finger is fixed on the trigger.
I take a few steps backwards, a bit startled.
The prisoner is silent as he lets out heavy breaths with a mix of blood and saliva dripping from the corners of his mouth. His face is planted towards the ground.
“I’ll count to three and if I don’t have a fucking answer by then, I’ll fucking kill you.”
The man remains mute.
“One.”
My stomach feels sick as I continue to watch them. I haven’t seen this side of my brother. He has always protected me from the dirty game of the family’s business. Still, I knew it took more than just sealing deals and getting more business partners to stay at the top of the game in this business.
“Two.”
Giovanni’s finger pulls the trigger further to the back.
My insides are begging the man to fucking speak already.
He slowly raises his head higher. His hands struggling to move behind him. “I’ll never be a spia (snitch)!” the prisoner yells, as he lunges at my brother. The rope on his wrists has fallen to the ground.
“Giovanni!”
He hits Giovanni in his wounded arm and snatches the gun away from him, pointing it to his head.
Andre tries to stop him but he shoots himself in the head without hesitating.
Holy fucking Christ!
My screams fill the space as I watch him fall to the ground, dead.
“Oh my… Oh my fucking Christ!” I exclaim. My heart beats faster as I breathe heavily. He fucking shot himself.
“He’s fucking dead,” I blurt in shock. I clasp my mouth shut with my palm as I stare in terror. The man’s lifeless body lay on the bare ground with a hole through the side of his head, blood gushing out of it.
I’m going to be fucking sick. The sight makes me want to puke.
Giovanni is grunting and cursing out loud in Italian as Andre tries to pull him up from the ground.
I’m still frozen on the spot. My mind is unsettled as I try to wrap my head around everything that just fucking happened.
“How the fuck did that happen?” Giovanni yells at Andre.
“He must have loosened the ropes. It was my fault. I thought they were tight enough.”
Giovanni looks very pissed. He clenches his jaws and fists, staring at the prisoner’s body. “How are you going to get some fucking answers when our only lead is fucking dead?”
They are both staring at the body like it's nothing strange to them.
“What’s that on his wrist?” Andre asks as he bends next to the body. Giovanni moves closer to it.
“That mark,” Andre says as he raises the man’s wrist higher.
“I know that fucking mark. It belongs to... oh fuck,” Giovanni replies.
Andre raises his gaze to meet my brother’s. “He is one of Caruso’s men.”
“Goddammit!”
My eyes bulge out in surprise. How can he be one of the Carusos? Our families are allies for God’s sake.
“That bastard!” Giovanni yells as he turns away from the body and walks out of the storehouse.
I stare at the body for a long moment before I return to the house with Giovanni.
Something is fucking wrong.
I can’t find Giovanni in the living room as I walk into the house.
If that was truly one of Mateo’s men, he could be the one behind the attack.
Today is supposed to be the last day of the deal. He expects me to be back at his house with the marriage contract signed, but this changes everything. I’m not leaving Giovanni with everything happening.
I return to my room, disturbed by the possibility of Mateo double-crossing my brother. Our families are meant to be allies. This must be a mistake. It has to be. The Carusos can’t start a war with us. Not after the partnership my mother worked to build, trading me off for this alliance.
The sound of my phone ringing on the dressing table snaps me out of my thoughts as I walk into my room. My spine shivers as I stare at the name on the screen.
It’s Mateo.
My fingers fumble, trying to pick up the phone. “Ma-mateo.”
“Is everything alright, Princess?” His voice is deep and laced with concern.
I physically recoil at the nickname. What’s it with men and nicknames? “Yes, why wouldn’t it be?”
He remains silent for a moment. I can hear my heart pounding in my chest.
“Our deal: today is the last day. Remember?”
“I remember.”
“So where are the fucking signed papers, Princess?”
I swallow a gulp, holding myself back from confronting him, especially when all forms of reasoning point to Luca.
Mateo is just like the rest of the ruthless mafia men and I have no fucking idea what he is capable of doing.
“Give me a little more time, please.”
“I’ve waited three long years, Princess. Bring them to me tonight or I’ll have my men come pick you up. Your choice.”
“Don’t. You’ll have the signed papers, and me.”
“Good girl. How is Giovanni? Is he hurt?”
I pause for a second. My lips tremble as I slowly bring the phone to my face. This clears any lingering doubt in my mind.
God, Mateo.
The door to my room flies open and I turn to see who it is.
I end the call as I see Giovanni standing in front of my room. I had not mentioned anything to Mateo but he somehow asked if Giovanni was alright.
That must have been nothing but a coincidence. It can’t be him. I’m sure it’s Luca playing a fucking game with us? I wouldn’t put it past him, not with the monster he’s become.
“Who was that?”
“Mateo.”