Chapter 21 – Giovanni
GIOVANNI
M y office door slams against the wall, rattling the frame. My first instinct is to bark at whoever just barged in without knocking. Anthony knows better, and Lorenzo wouldn’t dare. But when I look up, my heart stops.
“Siena?” I push back my chair, a small, nervous laugh slipping out to mask the jolt of adrenaline. “Sweetheart, damn, I thought I was about to fight with someone.”
Her eyes are red-rimmed, tears streaking her cheeks, and the sight guts me. But it’s the fury blazing beneath those tears that truly unravels me.
“You’re about to fight, Giovanni.” Her voice is sharp enough to cut steel.
Confusion crashes through me. I circle the desk, closing the space between us. “What’s going on? Are you alright?” I reach for her, my automatic instinct whenever she’s hurting, but she flinches back like my touch burns her.
The rejection is a knife to the chest. “Siena.”
Her next words are a whispered scream that detonates the air between us. “Did you kill my father?”
Everything inside me goes still. The world outside the office walls, the roulette wheels spinning, men laughing, the distant ding of slot machines, it all fades to nothing but the pounding of my own heartbeat.
I open my mouth but no sound comes out at first. My throat is dry, my thoughts scrambling for a way to explain what can’t be undone.
Her hands tremble at her sides, fists clenched like she’s holding herself together with sheer willpower. “Don’t you dare lie to me,” she says, voice cracking but fierce. “Please, Giovanni, just tell me the truth.”
My chest feels like it’s collapsing in on itself. I take a step closer, cautiously, as if she’s a wild thing that might bolt. “Sweetheart…” My voice is hoarse, barely a whisper. “Where did you hear that?”
She shakes her head, choking back another sob. “It doesn’t matter where. I need to hear it from you.”
For a long, agonizing moment, I just stare at her, seeing the woman I love, the only woman I’ve ever loved, looking at me like I’m a stranger.
The guilt I’ve been burying claws its way to the surface, ugly and raw.
I can feel the walls closing in with my father’s voice in my ear, the blood on my hands, the promise I made to keep her safe from this world.
I reach out again, slower this time, but she doesn’t move toward me. Her silence is louder than any scream.
My jaw tightens, my voice low and rough. “Siena, you need to let me explain.”
Her lips tremble, and her eyes, those eyes that once looked at me like I hung the moon, are now full of heartbreak. “So it’s true,” she whispers.
And just like that, I feel the ground give way beneath my feet.
The air between us turns sharp and brittle like glass about to shatter. I see the moment Siena makes her choice. Her shoulders stiffen, and her chin lifts in that stubborn, determined way I’ve come to love. But this time it isn’t endearing. It’s devastating.
She doesn’t wait for me to speak. Doesn’t give me a chance to defend myself. Her breath hitches once, and then she spins on her heel. The sound of her boots on the marble floor echoes in my skull, every step a crack across my chest.
“Siena!” My voice breaks on her name, but she doesn’t stop.
The door closes behind her, soft but final, and silence crashes down like a guillotine.
For a heartbeat, I can’t move. My body wants to chase her, to pull her back, to beg her, but my mind is already churning. She wouldn’t have known. Not unless…
Rage ignites, white-hot and blinding. Of course. My father.
My hands curl into fists, nails digging into my palms until it hurts. Carlo DeLuca has crossed lines before, but this is nuclear. He’s not just testing me anymore. He’s trying to destroy me from the inside out.
I snatch my jacket from the back of my chair, the leather creaking under my grip. My pulse hammers as I stride past Anthony and Lorenzo, who exchange uneasy glances but don’t dare speak. They can feel it radiating off me. They can feel the storm gathering under my skin.
By the time I hit the casino floor, the noise and lights are just static in my peripheral vision. I don’t remember leaving the building or sliding behind the wheel, only the sound of the engine roaring to life as I peel out into the night.
The drive to my parents’ house blurs past neon signs and city lights. My knuckles are white on the steering wheel, my teeth grinding with every mile. I can already see Carlo’s smug face, can already hear the poison he’ll spit to justify himself.
You went too far this time, old man.
The DeLuca name, the casino, the power, none of it matters right now. All I can see is Siena’s tear-streaked face when she asked me the one question I prayed she’d never have to.
And all I can feel is the promise burning in my chest that I’m going to make him answer for this.
The DeLuca estate looms against the night sky, elegant and imposing, but tonight it feels like a battlefield. I don’t bother knocking. The front door slams against the wall as I shoulder it open, the sound echoing through the marble foyer.
“Carlo!” My voice is a snarl, guttural and raw. “Get your ass out here!”
My mom appears from the hallway, wide-eyed, a dish towel in her hands. “Giovanni, what on earth?”
“Not you, Ma. Him.” My shoes pound across the polished floor as I head straight for the study. “Where is he?”
Carlo steps out before I can reach the door, calm as if he’s been expecting me. His tailored shirt is crisp, his expression infuriatingly blank. “Lower your voice in my house.”
“You told her,” I spit, fists clenched. “You told Siena about Robbie Costa.”
Carlo doesn’t flinch. “She deserved to know what kind of man she’s building a life with.”
The words detonate inside me. I grab him by the collar, slamming him against the doorframe hard enough to rattle the hinges. My mom gasps but doesn’t step between us.
“You don’t get to do that!” I roar, my face inches from his. “You don’t get to use her, my future, like some pawn in your twisted games!”
Carlo’s eyes harden, a flash of something dangerous flickering there. “I protected this family while you were busy falling for the Costa girl. You think love makes you strong? It makes you weak. You’re blinded, Giovanni. And weakness will get you killed.”
“Don’t you dare,” I snarl. My grip tightens on his shirt, the fabric bunching under my fingers. “Don’t you dare pretend this was about protection. This was about control. About you not being able to stand the fact that I don’t live by your rules anymore.”
My mom whispers my name, but it barely registers. My heart is pounding so hard it hurts.
Carlo shoves my hands away, stepping forward. “You think you’re a man? A real DeLuca? Then start acting like one. Stop chasing dreams and women who’ll drag you down.”
“That ‘woman’ is the best damn thing that’s ever happened to me,” I snap. My voice shakes, not with doubt but with fury. “And you just drove her away.”
“Carlo, what did you do?” My mom whispers.
For a heartbeat, the thick, dangerous silence stretches. Then I jab a finger into his chest. “You’ve meddled in my life for the last time. Stay out of it, or so help me?—”
Carlo smirks, cold and unyielding. “Or what, son?”
I step closer, nose-to-nose. “Or you’re going to find out just how different I am from you.”
I turn on my heel before I do something I can’t take back. My pulse is still a thunder in my ears as I storm out, my mom's worried voice chasing me down the hall. But I don’t slow down.
Because right now, the only thing I can think about is Siena and the wreckage my father just caused.
The night air outside is cold, but it’s not enough to cool the fire burning through my chest. I slam the car door shut and just sit there, gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles ache.
My father’s words replay over and over. His smug tone, the way he said she deserved to know , as if he were doing her some kind of favor.
I rest my forehead against the wheel and close my eyes. The image of Siena’s face, tear-streaked and broken hits me like a sucker punch. The sound of her voice cracks in my ears.
Did you kill my father?
“God, Siena.” I whisper.
Yes, I didn’t pulled the trigger, though I might as well have.
But Robbie Costa wasn’t some innocent man.
He was a desperate, reckless bastard who owed a lot of people a lot of money.
I’d done it to protect the family, to hold him accountable for the first time in his pathic life.
But to her? It’s her father. Blood doesn’t always look at the bigger picture.
I slam a fist against the dashboard, the sharp pain grounding me. “I should’ve told her myself.”
The truth is ugly, but it’s mine. And if I want her, I have to find a way to make her understand. To make it acceptable, not just excusable. Siena’s strong, but I’ve destroyed her trust in me.
I force a breath, then another. I think about what my mom said, about Siena giving me back the light my father’s world had been stealing. Losing her isn’t an option.
I start the engine, the low growl cutting through the silence, and stare out into the night. I can’t let this be the end of us. I have to make her see what really happened, why it had to happen, and prove that I’d burn down the whole damn world before I’d ever hurt her.
With that thought anchoring me, I throw the car into gear and peel out of the driveway, heading straight for Siena.