7. 7 – Giovanni
7 – Giovanni
M y bare feet are near silent on the cool floor as I settle next to Luc. “Thanks for the clothes.”
He flicks an inquisitive glance my way at my low murmur, nodding before turning back to them. I follow his gaze, my own chest clenching as Cat slowly moves across the floor to where Dante sits.
He looks… dazed. Unsteady, as he watches his daughter. Alessia has grown more since the photo was taken, another half-inch to the curls that bounce around her head as she uses the V’Arezzo capo like a climbing frame. She giggles as Cat settles back on her heels and watches them with a small smile as she pushes back the long sleeves of my sweatshirt.
Beside me, Luc rests his wrists on his bent knees with a smile. “That’s a good sound, Fusco.”
The sound of laughter. Of happiness. “Yes.”
We both sit quietly, drinking it in for long minutes until Luc turns to me with a sigh. “It’s not over.”
“No.” I don’t take my eyes off them. “But we have bought ourselves a little time. Time we need, Luc.”
Those who survived the extermination of the Asante compound will have carried the events straight to Matteo’s ears. And Matteo has more men than Asante – paid men, mercenaries and assholes gathering like vermin who know nothing of the code of the Cosa Nostra. Those men only know the money that lines their pockets, without care or thought to our traditions.
“The Asante battle was a warm-up,” I murmur. “We rest, regroup. Because the next one will be worse.”
Luc looks grim when I glance at him. “I have plenty of information on him to share.”
I dip my head. “Like I said. Rest first. You need it just as much as the rest of us, Morelli.”
Perhaps more so. His cheekbones stand out in sharp prominence, his voice hardening. “He’s a dead man.”
I stay silent. I thought that, once. Thought that it would be as easy as a gunshot across a hotel reception to rid us of his filth.
Caterina paid the price for my mistake, then. Took a whip across her back to save my life.
My sister paid the price for my insolence before that.
I will not risk this family by rushing again. Matteo has taught me that, if nothing else.
“Soon,” I say eventually. “But not yet.”
“He has Amie,” Luc says abruptly, and I cast him a sharp glance. “Cat’s… friend. I couldn’t have gotten Alessia away without her. She risked everything to stay behind. I can’t… I can’t leave her there.”
There’s pain there, and I understand his meaning. “Will he know? Matteo?”
And the guilt is almost visible as he swipes a hand over his face. “Yes. She was responsible for Alessia.”
I follow his gaze to the little girl now demolishing one of the rugs as Dante watches with a delighted grin.
“We will already be too late to help her, Luc.”
I keep my voice gentle, but he flinches nonetheless. “Maybe not.”
Hope. It keeps all of us going in some way. Kept me going for those months that Cat was away from us, locked up with that asshole. So I nod. “Maybe not.”
Amie is not the only person unaccounted for. I pull out my phone to check for updates, but the screen is empty. Nothing from Vincent or Tony, nothing to confirm that they found Frankie Costa in the aftermath of the battle.
Perhaps we could all do with a little more hope.
“A few days,” I amend, looking to Luc. “And I’ll help you find her.”
“Find who?”
Luc stiffens as we both glance up. Cat lingers a few steps below, her eyes darting between us. “Who are you talking about?”
When Luc stays quiet, she crosses her arms. “ Luciano .”
And despite her exhaustion, the ashy tinge to her golden skin… her tone is pure Corvo. Luc shifts, making space between us. “Come and sit down.”
She eyes us both before settling into the spot, her body brushing against mine. I drink in the warmth of her as Luc explains.
Her skin has paled further when he finishes. “We’re going to get her. Now.”
“He’ll be on high alert,” I say the words quietly. “Matteo knows we’ll be coming for him, Cat. He has more men than Asante did, and our side needs time to recover. He may even try to use her as a hostage.”
“No,” she breathes. There’s horror there, in her face. “I know exactly what he’s doing to her. I can’t leave her alone there, Gio. Not when I know—,”
She stops abruptly, and Luc and I lock eyes over her head.
When I know what it feels like.
“She is not alone,” I try again through the ache in my throat. “We will go for her, Cat. But we need to regain our strength. Rebuild our allies, pull in anyone that wasn’t involved last time. Now that you’re… back, it will be easier. We go now and we will lose .”
“Gio is right.” Dante steps up in front of us, cradling Alessia as she nestles against his shoulder. He tears his eyes from her for a moment. “We have to be ready, Cat. It won’t take long, but we will only get one chance.”
He nods at me. “We cannot waste it.”
She swings her gaze between us. “ Et tu, brutes ?”
But there’s no heat there. She sighs, rubbing her hands over her face before she glances back up to Alessia. “I know you’re right. But I still hate the idea of waiting.”
“Not long,” Luc murmurs. “And we have plenty to do in the meantime.”
He gets to his feet. “Come with me. I’ll find you rooms, and you can wash up before lunch.”
All of us still when Alessia wriggles in Dante’s arms. He’s still holding her protectively, and his gaze moves to Luc when Alessia holds her arms out in demand.
Luc waits.
Dante sighs, then leans forward. “The women in my life have no taste.”
No irritation lingers in his tone. Only a dry humor, as he holds her out.
“I disagree,” Luc quips. He scoops up Alessia, bopping her nose. “Naturally. I’m going to be her favorite uncle, of course. Sorry, Fusco.”
I look between the four of them, my eyebrows raising. Not something I’d particularly thought about, aside from getting her out of Matteo’s reach. But my eyes narrow on Luc’s smug expression, the competitiveness inside me rising. “We’ll see.”
Beside me, Cat shifts. I glance down at see her watching Alessia with a soft expression. But it shutters as she gets to her feet and jumps up the stairs.
Dante frowns, but I shake my head. “Give her some time to adjust.”
He turns his scowl onto me instead. “I’m not pushing her. When did you turn into the consigliere ?”
The reference to our most senior advisors within the Cosa Nostra makes me snort. “Perhaps we’re all growing up, no?”
I don’t wait for him to respond before I turn to follow Cat up the stairs. Luc is already there, pushing the door open to a bedroom a few doors down from mine. She ducks under his outstretched arm, and I slip into my own room.
I wait for a few moments, until footsteps echo outside my door as he heads back downstairs before slipping out again.
I don’t knock.
Cat spins as I walk in, clutching the bloody remains of her dress to her chest. My sweatshirt is crumpled on the double bed beside her, the sound of the shower echoing out from the en-suite next to us. “Fucking Christ , Gio. Heard of knocking?”
My mouth feels dry as I stare at her, the words I hastily prepared locking up in my throat and refusing to come out.
She shifts, still covering herself even as she cocks an eyebrow at me. “Well?”
But her fingers tremble against the material.
I stay where I am. “I… missed you.”
Brown eyes meet mine, creasing in the middle.
“Every single day,” I continue. I start moving, small, steady movements toward her. “Every day that you were gone, I missed you, Caterina Corvo.”
“Gio.” She whispers it, but I shake my head, holding my hand up in a silent plea.
“It was not so long ago that I thought I detested the sight of you. You were everywhere I looked, and it made my blood burn just to look at you.”
The frown deepens, but I cut her off before she can speak.
“And then,” I say softly, “I spent three months without you. Looking for you in every room, listening for your voice without even thinking about it, and I realised.”
I’m close now. Close enough to pick out the tiny flecks of gold in her eyes as she looks up at me. “What did you realize?”
My voice lowers further. “That life without you is cold . Cold, and lonely, and hopeless. You took every bit of warmth in my life with you when you left, Corvo. I learned what it was to be without you, and I realized that I have no desire to exist in a world without you in it.”
She inhales, and I glance down. To where she covers herself. And I brace.
“When you went back in…,” I say quietly. Assessing the expression on her face. “He hurt you.”
It’s not a question. Because this Caterina – this Caterina is not the woman that walked away from me outside of the Asante compound.
There’s a fragility to her now that threatens to undo me. And she confirms it as her eyes shutter. “I don’t want to talk about it, Gio. Please.”
Slowly, I nod, forcing that fury down until later. “Then I will not ask, not until you’re ready. But I’ve been waiting for you for one hundred days, Caterina Corvo. And I don’t want to go another day without holding you, but I will wait - unless you tell me I can.”
The tense lines around her eyes smooth away, and she swallows. Her voice is barely audible when she speaks.
“Yes. Please.”
It’s all I need.