46. Giovanni
FORTY-SIX
GIOVANNI
A WEEK LATER
B eep. Beep. Beep.
Our journey began with these sounds, but they certainly wouldn’t end like that. The heart monitor told me my wife was on the road to a speedy recovery, her inner strength and determination shining through.
She’d live. For me. For her child.
I looked down at the woman sleeping in the hospital bed, tracing her mouth with my thumb gently, and her lips parted in sleep.
Even under meds and with a bullet wound, she responds to me , I thought with satisfaction.
There’d never be an end to this obsession, the need for this woman that breathed inside me. For the eight years since I crossed paths with her at her wedding to Santiago, it had consumed me. Even when I and the world thought she was dead and gone, it was impossible to forget this woman.
That eighteen-year-old crashed into my life eight years ago, but it was the twenty-six-year old woman who utterly captivated me.
You’ve crashed into my life, thrusting light and hope into my heart.
My wife had endured some shit, but what she failed to see was that while those events had shaped her, she wasn’t the villainess. She was an actress, hiding a heart of gold and light that shone so bright underneath her porcelain skin. But if you looked closely, you would see cracks that she endured for those she loved.
Her twin. Her brother-in-law. Her protégé. And for me.
She loved me .
There’d be no going away from her now. I was hooked for life. I knew she needed more time to heal—physically and mentally—but I’d be here with her every single step of the way. And if anyone even attempted to harm my wife in any way, they’d have me to deal with.
Taking a deep breath, I opened my phone and went through a thread of messages. There was a potential lead to where Liana’s son ended up after he was sold via the Marabella Agreements, but it was too soon to tell Liana about it. I didn’t want to give her false hope until I was certain the lead was legit.
There were two messages. Two leads.
Opening the first message, my eyes scanned the words and shock rolled through me.
Jesus fucking Christ! Twins.
Liana had twins. Mother bribed Santiago’s doctor and convinced him not to share that little detail with anyone.
If there was any doubt my mother wasn’t a cruel, lying bitch, it was erased at that very moment. Despite facing death, Julia lied to my face, almost as if she wanted to send one last fuck you to my wife.
Moving on to the next email, it was no less startling. It wasn’t good news by any means. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! I stared at the message, gritting my teeth at the only one word in the title and body of the message.
Albania.
It would seem dealing with the Albanian mafia would be the next chapter of our lives. Fuck! Those motherfuckers were crazy, there was no telling what in the world they’d do with a child.
“Giovanni?” The soft whispered voice brought my eyes back to my wife. “Is everything okay?”
I smiled. “What makes you think something isn’t?”
“The frown on your face and a look that promises murder,” she cracked, trying to shift on the hospital bed.
I wiped my expression clean, hiding my troubles behind a mask. For now. Until Lia healed. Then we’d go after them together.
“It’s nothing that can’t wait another day,” I assured her, shoving my phone into my pocket then taking her hand into mine and pressing my lips against her skin.
She shifted on the hospital bed, patting a spot next to her.
“No fucking way,” I muttered. I shot her a look full of disbelief, making her chuckle softly and another piece of my heart ripped from my chest and flew to her.
“We can fit.”
“Yeah, and the hospital staff might kick us out.”
She shrugged, still smiling. “That’s one way to go home.”
Fuck, how I loved seeing a smile on her face, that golden heart shining through her golden eyes. How could anyone think she was as cruel as Sofia Volkov? She was nothing like her.
Despite common sense, I slid next to her with my hand wrapped around her waist carefully and holding her close, the hospital bed protesting under our weight.
“Where is home for you?” I asked her.
“Wherever you are,” she murmured, her beautiful smile making my chest heavy. I closed my eyes for a split second at those words, still in disbelief that she was mine. “Now tell me what’s worrying you.” As if she could see my struggle, she added, “Remember, equality.”
“I wanted to wait until you’re recovered.”
She tensed in my embrace. “That doesn’t sound good.”
The cat was out of the bag, and there was no sense in keeping this secret. Her mind would conjure worse things than my words ever could.
“I have a lead about your—” Fuck, how did one break such news?
“My son?” A soft gasp tore from her lips. “Already?”
I let out a sardonic breath. “Not really already. It took me a whole damn week.”
She shook her head. “I searched for The Mistress… your mother… for years.”
At the reminder of the role my mother played in my wife’s life, fury rolled through me, and I fought to contain it. As if she could sense it, Lia brought her palm to my cheek and cupped it.
“We don’t choose our parents.”
She was absolutely right, but it didn’t make the sting any less painful, knowing what my mother had put this woman through. But I would set it right. I’d find the children Julia had stolen from her and love them as if they were my own.
“Albania.” Worry flared in her eyes and I released a long breath before saying, “I believe the Albanian mafia has him. But that’s not all.” Locking gazes with her golden one, I braced myself for the next reaction. “You had twins, Lia.”
“No, no, no… That’s—” She shook her head, a soft tremor rolling through her healing body, and I internally cursed myself. “I would know. As a mother, I would know.”
Her voice cracked and my chest tightened for her. I hated being the one to bring her pain, but I knew better than to lie to her. She deserved better than that.
“A boy and a girl.”
Her expression was pale. “T-twins?”
“Yes, wildflower.” A variety of emotions played over her expression, another crack in her porcelain skin, and I wished there was a way I could have taken that one away from her. That golden heart of hers didn’t deserve to suffer more. “We’ll find them.”
“B-but… Albanians?”
The Albanian mafia was notorious for its cruelty and insanity, but we couldn’t focus on that now. We’d pray that whoever bought them had at least some decency in them for two innocent children.
“They probably don’t know that they are the heirs to the Tijuana Cartel or the Volkov empire,” I told her. “That little fact, despite my mother’s intent, probably protected them.”
She buried her face in my chest and broke down, holding on to me. She cried bitter tears, and I held her silently through it all until those wretched sobs finally eased.
I cupped her face, my eyes locked on hers for several stretched heartbeats, knowing our worlds would be changed soon.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her face wet with tears that broke my heart to see. She was the strongest woman I’d ever met, and she deserved so much more.
“Whatever the obstacles, we’ll get the twins back,” I promised. “Nobody will stop us.”
And if anyone tried… it would be their end.