Chapter 61
Giovanna: Present Day
The clock on the wall ticks too loudly, each second puncturing the heavy silence between Antonio and me.
My apartment feels smaller than usual, claustrophobic.
Antonio is slouched at the kitchen island counter, spinning the neck of his beer bottle between his palms, eyes hooded but restless.
Every so often he glances at me like he wants to say something, then thinks better of it.
His leg bounces beneath the stool, a steady, jittery rhythm that sets my nerves on edge.
I suck my teeth and check the time. My parents are supposed to be here any minute for the meeting we set up, and I’m supposed to record everything for Vin, Tommy, and Matti.
It’s been a long time coming. So many times, my parents couldn’t make it at the same time, or they canceled last minute.
Antonio and I have been maintaining our facade, but Tommy and I have been seeing each other almost every day, meeting up in different parts of the city where we don’t know anyone.
But now it’s the beginning of September, and this meeting is finally going to happen.
I pace the length of the living room, my heels clicking against the hardwood, arms folded tight against my chest. Finally, I can’t take it anymore.
“Was I always a job to you, Antonio? Like from the beginning?”
Antonio shakes his head but looks down at the counter between his beer bottle and his chest. “No.”
“When did it change?” I keep pacing back and forth, back and forth from the kitchen island to the couch.
Click, click, click.
“When it got out that Tommy fucked you in the bathroom on our date.” His tone is dull, lifeless.
I sigh. “He didn’t, though.”
He rolls his eyes.
“Well, I walked in on him wiping his mouth and smirking and you looking freshly fucked, and it wasn’t because of me, so.
”
“Okay, fine. I get why you wouldn’t say anything in the beginning, but once the relationship with Tommy ended and you showed up here on Christmas with Chinese food, why didn’t you tell me then?
”
Antonio shrugs, lifts his chin, looking at me like I’m a child demanding answers of him that he doesn’t owe.
“At first, I thought we might have a real shot. Later, when it was clear you were still hung up on him, I didn’t think you would listen.
Or care.” His lips twist as his eyes flick toward me, sharp and accusing.
“I was right, wasn’t I? Aurelio threatened you, threatened your parents, but the only thing you heard were the threats to Tommy.
You wouldn’t have given a shit if I was killed over it.
”
I bark out a humorless laugh. “Don’t give me that.
That whole year we were hanging out before we officially got together, you were fucking other women.
So don’t pretend you were really giving us a try.
”
He grips the beer bottle and pins me with an earnest, unflinching gaze.
“If you had been sleeping with me, I wouldn’t have touched anyone else.
I know you think I’m an asshole, and you’re right, but if you had cared, if you’d tried at all, I would’ve too.
”
I stop pacing and lean against the back of the armchair.
Fine. I was an asshole, too, fucking with Tommy on my dates with Antonio, allowing Antonio to hang around when I knew I was still in love with Tommy.
We were both using each other.
I steady myself, taking a long breath.
“Where’s your girlfriend in all this? I don’t know how you convinced her to be okay with us living together, but I imagine she’s not thrilled that you are engaged.
”
His lip curls, his eyes going sharp and cold.
“Non-issue.”
“What does that mean? You were at her house all those nights you didn’t come home, weren’t you?
”
Antonio drains the rest of his beer and slams the bottle on the counter.
“What, are we friends now?” he sneers.
“If Tommy were in your position, and I was the girlfriend,” I say quietly and clearly, “I’d end the fiancée.
”
The sneer slips, but his expression is strange, like he’s holding something back.
“If she actually gave a fuck, you might have to worry about that. But she left me about a year ago. The night you found out about her, actually. I told her that you knew about her, and she told me it was over.”
My brow furrows.
“Did she prefer sneaking around?”
He gives a bitter laugh and gets a beer out of the fridge, opening it against the marble counter.
“Oh, she definitely likes sneaking around. Turns out, she was someone else’s mistress, too.
”
I blink. “While she was seeing you?”
He lifts the bottle in a mocking toast, drains it in one go.
“Yep.”
Something in me softens despite myself.
“Fuck. I’m sorry,” I mutter. But then the absurdity of it all slams into me, bubbling up in a shaky laugh.
I clap a hand over my mouth but can’t stop.
Antonio stares at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“No, I’m not laughing at you,” I say quickly, waving a hand between us.
“I’m laughing at all of this. I mean…I’m apologizing to my fiancé because his girlfriend cheated on him while I was with him but in love with someone else.
It’s just—”
“Fucking weird,” he finishes.
His grin is sharp but real, and for a second we’re both laughing.
“So where were you this whole past year? You were almost never here.”
He leans against the counter.
“I worked. Crashed with friends. Hooked up some. Spent a couple nights in the hospital.”
I wince.
“Tommy?” I ask, remembering what Vin told me.
Antonio frowns. “No. We hated each other, sure, and we definitely got in our share of fights. But someone always stepped in before it got too far.”
“But Vin said—”
Antonio cuts me off with a scoff.
“Don’t believe everything Vin says. That guy talks more than he thinks.
”
I tilt my head, eyes narrowing. “So who did she cheat with?”
His expression darkens.
“You don’t want to know.”
A knock at the door interrupts me before I can press further, immediately followed by keys jangling in the lock.
“What the fuck—Dad?” My voice spikes as my father strides in like he owns the place.
“You have a key?”
“Of course I have a key. I own the apartment, Giovanna.” His tone is clipped, and he doesn’t look directly at me.
Basically how he’s been my entire life.
Behind him, my mother glides in, her smile stretched so thin it looks painful.
It’s immediately clear why when Aurelio enters right behind them.
Antonio and I exchange a sharp look. His tiny shrug confirms he didn’t know Aurelio was coming either.
Aurelio looks at my blue faux fur couch in disdain and chooses instead to wedge himself into a large armchair by the fireplace.
“No hello?” he drawls, chuckling as he lights a cigar.
My father grimaces and takes the other armchair while my mother perches on the edge of a chair at the island counter and gestures for me and Antonio to sit on the couch.
The air thickens, the atmosphere an odd combination of awkward and dangerous.
I almost forget to press record on my phone.
When no one speaks, my mother clears her throat, aiming her brittle smile at me.
“So why are we here, dear?”
Aurelio pulls a cigar stub from his pocket and lights it, chomping on the end as he breathes the red embers to life.
I don’t know what Aurelio knows. I don’t know what he doesn’t.
And that makes every breath feel like stepping into a trap.
“Ah, la ragazza wonders if I know her secrets.” Aurelio’s voice is oily, mocking.
“Let me be clear: who you spread your legs for is common knowledge. I know you’re fucking my son.
”
The words hit like a slap. My father’s jaw ticks, teeth grinding hard enough that I can almost hear it.
He glares at my mother, as if it’s her fault, but my mother’s diplomatic smile does little more than flicker before steeling back in place.
I force my voice steady. “Why do you want me to marry Antonio?”
“I do not trust my sons. I trust Antonio,” Aurelio grunts, shifting in the chair.
I flick a glance at Antonio. His face is blank, unreadable, his hands clasped between his knees, knuckles bone-white.
Aurelio exhales another plume of smoke. “Your father would like to retire, travel with your mother, enjoy his golden years, and I need to protect Luminous what he does is none of my business.
I have no interest in working at Luminous.
I’m with Simone Ashford, Assemblyman Donovan’s attorney, and I’m staying there.
”