Chapter 42 Giovanna
Giovanna
Three knocks come sharp, deliberate, and my stomach drops.
Is it Tommy doing our knock, the one I taught him all those years ago?
I slide the engagement ring he left for me at my parents’ house up and down the chain around my neck nervously.
Is tonight the night we start working things out?
I open the door tentatively.
But it’s not Tommy.
It’s much worse.
Aurelio Demonio fills the frame, too broad for it, his scar catching the light from the hallway.
His dark eyes roam over me, slow and assessing, like a predator cataloging prey.
My breath stutters, but I step back before he pushes his way in.
“This is not a good time,” I manage, voice clipped.
He doesn’t even glance at the apartment as he enters, though I feel his presence contaminating it instantly—my safe space, my little cocoon of blue throw pillows and delicate bookshelves, the fairy lights strung across the loft railing.
He looks absurd in here, grotesque against softness, like a wolf pacing through a dollhouse.
“You need to stay away from my son.” His accent is thick, the words guttural, weighted with command.
Shock spikes through me, but a sharp retort slips out before I can stop myself.
“Tommy will make his own decisions. He doesn’t answer to you, and if he doesn’t, I definitely don’t.
”
Why the fuck am I saying this? I broke up with Tommy.
Months have passed without a word from him.
But the memory of how Aurelio treats him—the cruelty, the control—has me wanting to throw up.
I will always stand between them if I have to.
I’ll always protect Tommy. Always.
Aurelio’s lip curls into a sneer.
“The smartest thing you ever did was walk away from him. I’m here to tell you that you need to leave him alone for good.
”
“That’s none of your business, and if that’s all you came here for, you can go.
”
The words barely land before his hand does.
It happens so fast I don’t even see the movement—just the crack of skin against skin, an explosion in the small apartment.
My head jerks to the side, a white-hot sting radiating across my cheekbone.
The fairy lights overhead blur in my vision, my ears ring, and for one dizzying second I think I might actually fall.
But I don’t. I refuse.
I straighten, forcing my spine rigid against the tremor running through me.
My hand twitches up to cradle the sting, but I don’t give Aurelio the satisfaction.
I force my chin high, though my pulse pounds so violently it drowns out the music I have playing.
I’m terrified, but I will not cower in front of him.
“When my son breaks down your resolve to be apart from him over whatever silly, empty-headed thing you are angry about—and he will, because he is like me and refuses to let go of what he wants—you will tell him it is over. You will make it convincing. If you don’t…
” He leans close, his breath heavy with wine.
“Your parents will pay the price.”
My parents?
Anything that happens to them, I’m sure they’ve got coming.
For getting into bed with Aurelio Demonio in the first place, if nothing else.
I laugh. I don’t mean to—it bubbles up, sharp and defiant, despite the terror I’m feeling.
“I’ve never been able to get Tommy to stop doing anything he wants to do.
You’ll have to take this up with him.”
I’m proud of how steady my voice comes out, but my heart is thundering so hard I can feel it against the burn in my cheek.
For one fleeting second, I think maybe I’ve won—maybe he’ll leave, maybe this will be over.
But Aurelio only tilts his head, that scar pulling tighter as he smirks.
“It is not surprising to me that you are no more capable than your dickless father. Rest assured, I will handle my son. But if you cannot make him leave, then perhaps you will leave. Go to grad school, travel to Europe—whatever rich, entitled puttane like you do. Make yourself disappear.”
My jaw tightens.
I want to scream at him, shove him. But I stand still, knuckles white at my sides.
His voice drops lower, almost calm as he moves closer to me.
“If not, I will consider other uses for you. And I promise you, ragazza, they do not include my son’s dick inside you.
But perhaps all of my men, as often as they want.
Maybe in front of your father. Maybe in front of Tommaso.
”
The words slam into me harder than his hand did.
My stomach knots, but I’m surprised to hear myself let out a sharp, brittle laugh.
“You think threats work on me? You don’t know me very well.
” It sounds thin even to me, and I wish I hadn’t said it.
He leans in closer, his cologne, woody and overpowering.
His voice is rocky. “If you think I will not kill my own child to get what I want, you do not understand who I am, puttana. You cannot be with Tommaso. It cannot happen. It is a violation of God’s law.
And I will kill one or both of you before I allow this to go any further.
”
The air leaves my lungs. Aurelio Demonio is not bluffing.
He isn’t a man who makes idle threats.
He’s a man who cuts throats, buries bodies, and calls it family business.
I absolutely believe he would kill his own son.
My Tommy. While I’m willing to risk my own life and even that of my parents, risking Tommy’s life is not something I’m willing to do.
In a split second, all my fire dissolves into ash.
I can still feel Tommy’s laughter, the way he’d curl around me in sleep, the tenderness he didn’t let anyone else see.
I wanted—stupidly, I guess—to believe we had time, that there was hope for us in the future.
That he’d make changes, come back to me, that I could be more patient as we found our way through the wreckage.
I love Tommy. I miss him so badly it’s a wound that won’t close.
But Aurelio’s words cling like smoke in my lungs.
I’ll do anything to protect Tommy.
When Aurelio shoves me, I stumble backward, crashing into the couch, bruising my thigh.
He stands over me, leering as I try to focus through the pain.
“And one more thing, ragazza. You are not to tell Tommaso any of this. Our little secret, yes?”
He doesn’t look back as he strides out, the door slamming hard enough to rattle the fairy lights above.
I lie there, cheek burning, leg throbbing, heart thundering, unable to move.
I love Tommy Demonio. And because I love him, I have to let him go.