Chapter 32 Massimo
MASSIMO
Last night was another restless night, but I’ve been able to distract myself most of the day with work.
“What’s wrong with you?” Gio asks, sitting across my desk from me.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’ve been checking your phone relentlessly.”
“Yeah, who’re you expecting a call from?” Gui asks.
“Apparently no one,” I grumble.
Once again, Liana has ignored me all day. She’s officially making me spiral out of fucking control.
“Troubles with the missus?” Gio says, raising a brow at me.
“Something like that.”
“You know, you never got around to telling us how things came about between the two of you,” he says.
“What do you mean?”
“Like, there’s clearly some fucking history there, so what is it?”
I let out a sigh, then tell my brothers about the night Liana and I met and how I ended up using Alessia Caruso to get her to marry me.
“Damn, no wonder she hates you,” Gui laughs out.
“She doesn’t hate me,” I grumble. “She’s just … getting used to me.”
Gio laughs. “That’s one way to put it.”
“She is.” I end up telling them about what happened at the club without going into too much detail, and how I’ve been waiting for her to talk to me about it, which is why my eyes have been glued to my phone.
“How has all of this happened, and we’re just hearing about it now?” Gio says.
“Yeah, I can’t believe all these years, you’ve been pining over Liana DiMaggio. I had no idea. I’m kind of impressed with your ability to keep shit from us,” Gui says.
“It wasn’t that hard,” I mumble.
“So now she needs distance from you to come to terms with all this?” Gio says.
“Yup,” I say.
“And you’re actually giving it to her?” Gui says.
I slide my gaze to his. “Yes …”
“Interesting,” Gio says.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m just saying, since when does not going after what you want, do any good for you? You had to go after Liana to get her to marry you, so you’re most likely going to have to fucking go after her to get her to come to terms with whatever the fuck you two are.”
“Husband and wife, Gio. We’re husband and wife,” I snap.
“Yeah, on paper, but in the actual terminology of it, it sounds like you’re roommates who got a little too close one night and now it’s fucking awkward.”
I narrow my gaze on my brother, not liking that he just called Liana and me roommates. What the fuck?
“You know what, fine, I’ll call her,” I say, picking up my phone and dialing her number.
Just as I expected, she lets it go to voicemail.
“Sounds like your wife is ghosting you,” Gui says.
“No, she fucking isn’t.”
Gio shrugs. “Kind of seems like it.”
I dial her number again, and of course, it goes to voicemail.
What the fuck.
“Yup, definitely ghosting you,” Gui says.
You know what, fuck this. I dial Izzy’s number next. If Liana wants to play this game, then I’ll start dragging her family into it.
“Hello?”
“Izzy, hey, it’s Massimo.”
She laughs. “I know that. I never got around to deleting your number from my phone.”
“I’m honored.”
“I’m sure you are. What can I help you with, Massimo?”
“Are you at the boutique?”
“I’m not.”
“Shit,” I hiss out.
“Why? What’s going on?”
“I was just hoping you could let me know if Liana’s there. It seems her phone isn’t working.”
Izzy laughs again. “I was just texting her a little bit ago. Her phone is working just fine, but she’s probably busy getting ready to leave.”
“Leave? Like head back to our place?”
“Um, no … Leave as in head to the airport.”
Airport?
“Excuse me?”
“The airport. She’s leaving for Sicily in like two hours.”
Sicily?!
“You knew that, didn’t you?” she asks.
I clench my jaw, then take a deep breath to steady my racing fucking heart. “Yeah, I forgot that was tonight. Thanks, Izzy. I appreciate it.”
“Um, yeah, sure. No problem, Massimo.”
I hang up and close my eyes, taking another deep breath. My wife is going to Sicily, and she wasn’t even going to fucking to tell me.
“Guessing that conversation didn’t go too well,” Gio says.
I snap my eyes open. “That fucking obvious?” I growl out.
“What’d she say?” Gui asks.
“Apparently, my dear wife is leaving for Sicily.”
“Sicily? What the hell is in Sicily?” Gui says.
“I don’t fucking know,” I snap.
“So, what’re you going to do about it?” Gio says.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, the Massi I know wouldn’t just sit there while his woman gets on a plane to another country without saying—or doing—anything.”
I sit back in my chair and think. My leg bounces up and down as I contemplate my choices. It doesn’t take me long to make the only decision I could possibly make in a situation like this.
“You’re right. I have to fucking go. Gio, I need you to take point and handle things while I’m gone.”
“Sure thing,” he says.
“What about me?” Gui asks.
“You’re coming with me.”
A wide smile plays out on his face.
“Hold on, wait a minute,” Gio says. “Why the hell does he get to go to Sicily and I have to stay here and work? I’m the only one of the three of us who’s even been to Italy before.”
“I like this plan,” Gui says.
“You haven’t been to Sicily, though. Besides, I need you to handle business because I trust you’ll get shit done correctly.”
“Wait, hold on, what is that supposed to mean,” Gui says.
“It doesn’t matter. I just need you to go home and pack some shit and meet me at my place immediately so we can head to the airport.” I look at Gio. “You can handle things while we’re gone?”
“Obviously,” he says, folding his arms across his chest, clearly upset about not coming with us.
The truth is, Gio is the best to put in charge because he can handle everything I can, and Gui is best to come with me because I need to have backup, and he is good fucking backup.
“Good. Gui, get your shit and meet me at my place ASAP. Gio, you know I’m only a phone call away if you need anything.”
He waves me off. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Just go get your girl.”
Liana wanted space, so I gave it to her, but an entire fucking continent of space is not going to happen. She’s in for a rude awakening if she thinks she can get rid of me that easily, that’s for fucking sure. If this is her running, then she’s about to see just how much I enjoy catching my prey.