Chapter 15 – Giovanni
GIOVANNI
T he fork clinks against my plate, and the sound yanks me back to her, to the easy sweep of sunlight on her hair, to the steady rise and fall of her chest. I want this morning to be ordinary.
I want pancakes and coffee and the stupid, perfect small talk that makes my insides unclench.
“You told my father that you were waitressing until you decided what it is you want to do. What is it you want to do, Siena?” I ask, keeping my voice soft.
I need her to feel safe here. I need this to be a place she can breathe.
She stares at her pancakes and shrugs like it’s not important. “I’ve honestly never given it much thought. I’ve always just worked to make sure I can pay my bills. The idea of having something more was never really an option.”
I slide my hand over hers across the table, and she looks up, those big dark eyes suddenly glassy. “It’s an option now,” I tell her.
Tears swim in her eyes. “I don’t even know where to start. It’s not like I had parents or a family that was pushing me in any direction.”
I lift her hand and press my mouth to her palm, the smallest, stupidest gesture that somehow means everything. “I’m your family now. My family is your family.”
Her smile is tight, grateful. “That means a lot.” But there’s more, and the way she exhales tells me I’m right.
I get up and crouch in front of her, resting my hands on her tights.
She folds into me, and when she speaks her voice is small, terrified.
“I know my father is nothing but trouble, but it’s been weeks and I haven’t heard from him.
That’s never happened before. I’m starting to think something bad happened. ”
The air leaves me in a single, sharp breath.
For a second, the world tilts and all I can hear is the blood in my ears.
This is what I’ve been trying not to think about.
The ripple that follows when something is handled, the faces that belong to the people who loved the ones we removed.
I’ve never had to look into those eyes after.
I’ve never had to be the man who delivers that truth.
I pull back and cover her mouth with a kiss so nothing else slips out of either of us. “Sweetheart,” I say when I let go, forcing my voice to be calm. “Your dad owed a lot of people, a lot of money. I’ll do some digging today and see if I can find anything out.” It’s the truth, but also a lie.
She whispers thank you, and even as her words warm me, a steel edge rolls under my skin. She said “disappeared” and meant killed. I know that. I know it from being the one to order things handled. I also promised her I’d protect her. That promise is heavier than any suit I own.
I stand, leave a kiss at the hollow of her throat, and tell her not to worry.
I have a list already forming in my head of everything I need to do.
I need to pull every camera feed from that night again, cross-reference entrance logs, talk to Lorenzo about Robbie’s last movements, have Anthony flag anyone who hung back near him.
Make sure Michael didn’t talk to anyone.
Quiet. Controlled. No one outside my inner circle will know until I know what to tell her. There will be no loose ends.
She watches me gather my jacket, worry furrowing her brow, and I close the distance to press a tender kiss to her lips. “I’ll be back tonight,” I promise.
Then I’m gone out the door, the penthouse swallowing her silhouette in the window behind me as I step into the cold and the business I never wanted to bring into our mornings.
The city slides by in a blur of glass and steel as I drive toward the casino. My mind is a dozen places at once. Siena’s face at the breakfast table, the way her voice caught when she said disappeared, the sick twist in my gut that told me she already knew the word that wasn’t spoken.
I pull the phone to my ear and call my mother.
“Giovanni? What’s wrong?” Her voice is always a hand on my shoulder, even when she’s a thousand miles away.
“Nothing, Ma.” I force lightness into the lie. “I was wondering if you have any plans today?”
“Nothing I can’t push.” I can hear the smile in her voice. She always has time for people.
“How would you feel about giving Siena a call? Maybe have lunch or something? She’s a little lost. She doesn’t have family, and I want her to feel like we’re her family.” I keep my voice slow, careful. No edge. I can’t let panic in, not in front of her.
I hear a soft exhale, then her warm laugh.
“My boy, that is the most selfless, loving thing I’ve ever heard you say.
I’m so thankful you aren’t more like your father.
Of course, I’ll give her a call. I’d love to get closer to her.
Send me her number. Don’t worry, Giovanni, I’ll make sure she knows she belongs here with us. ”
Relief is a quiet thing, not a roar. I tell her I’ll send the number and hang up before she can change her mind. I thumb the digits into my phone, send them, and then drop it into the pocket of my jacket like I’m shedding weight.
There’s no room for hesitation now. I’ve lived too long on the edge of things.
On transactions and threats and the cold calculus of survival, to let the person who has made me want more than power slip away because I was too slow, too proud, too stupid to close a loop.
Protecting her isn’t just about muscle or money.
It’s about foresight. About cover. About making sure the past I engineer for my family doesn’t spill into the life she’s trying to build with me.
I roll down the window to let the cold air cut through the heat of worry.
The casino looms ahead. I consider driving straight to the dark alleys, to Lorenzo, to whoever can tell me where Robbie last was, but I know the order of things.
Secure. Verify. Act. I need to be quiet and controlled.
My father doesn’t learn about loose ends in the wrong order, and neither will I.
By the time the car eases into the valet lane, a plan has sketched itself across my mind.
Pull every camera feed from Halloween night and cross-check timestamps and door logs.
Have Anthony flag anyone who lingered near Robbie or near the counting rooms.
Call Lorenzo and ask questions that sound casual but cut for answers.
Set a couple of trusted men on quiet checks for anyone who’s been asking about Robbie. No loud questions, no rumors started. I need to know how clean it was. If there are loose ends, I’ll close them myself but only after I understand what we’re dealing with.
I keep those orders to myself. They don’t need to be shouted. They don’t even need to be fully formed yet. The point is movement. Momentum. Nobody who matters gets to surprise me.
The casino doors open, and the world snaps into the rhythm I know by heart. The clink of glasses, the soft murmur of voices, the glow of the tables. I move through it like a blade sliding through silk. Calm, controlled, focused on the hole in the map that leads back to Robbie.
If anyone asks me what I’m doing for the next twenty-four hours, I’ll say I’m tying up loose ends.
If Ma calls later asking how lunch went with Siena, I’ll tell her it was lovely.
If Carlo asks where I’ve been, I’ll tell him I was running the floor.
But behind those answers will be a single truth I don’t say out loud even to myself.
I promised her I would keep her safe, and I’m not walking away from that promise for anything, not family politics, not blood, not the things I used to think were bigger than love.
I straighten myself and walk into the back corridor toward the security room with a cold clarity.
The footage waits. So do the men I’ll question.
I can feel Siena in my chest, a soft, steady presence, and the rest of the world folds into the one task that matters the most. Make sure she never has to find out what I already know.