Chapter Fourteen—Giovanni
As soon as I hear the buzz on the door, I know who it's going to be.
Rising to my feet, I put my drink to the side and go to answer it. I'm in my apartment in the city. Valentina is expecting me at home, but I can't face her right now. I need my distance. I need some time to think.
Even if all I can think about is her right now.
I tell the doorman to let her in, and a few moments later, the elevator pings open in front of me. On the other side stands the woman I haven't been able to stop thinking about all this time.
"Gio," she gasps, and she sinks forward into my arms. Wrapping herself around me, she presses her head into my shoulder, inhaling a deep lungful of me like she wants to gorge herself on my presence.
"Hey," I murmur, gently pulling her away. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I-I'm sorry," she tells me, shaking her head. "I shouldn't have come here. I should have—"
"No, you're right to be here. Just tell me, what are you doing?"
She looks up at me again. Her eyes are written over with confusion and anger and grief, an expression I've seen on my own face, more times than I care to count.
"I just spoke to my father. Asked him about what he was involved with, the stuff that he's kept from me..."
I draw in a sharp breath. "Elena, that's not a good idea."
"Yeah, well, I guess I was operating on the premise that he would actually respect me enough to tell me what was really happening," she fires back, shaking her head. "But he just... he basically just told me that I was nothing more than a stupid little girl and I should be glad that he's not making me a part of his world!"
The words hang there in the air between us. I don't know what to say to her. I can see how much this has hurt her, and that makes me angry, but how the fuck am I supposed to deal with that? I thought I was in this because I was going to take down her family, but now, as she stands there in front of me, staring up at me like she's pleading for me to give her some kind of explanation, I have nothing.
I have nothing.
Before I can say a word, however, I hear the elevator ding again. When did someone call for it? I untangle myself from Elena, and to my horror, I hear raised voices coming from inside.
"Who the hell is—"
But before I can finish what I'm saying, the doors slide open to reveal Elena's father—and, in front of him, Valentina, shoving him away from her like she can't stand to be in his presence.
"Val!" I cry out and grab her arm, pulling her away from him. I notice, out of the corner of my eye, a flash of metal. She's holding a knife, a small pocket knife, and she's brandishing it wildly in his direction.
"This motherfucker rushed me!" she exclaims. "He, he barged past the doorman and followed me into the elevator!"
"What the fuck are you doing here, Elena?" Elena's father cuts in. She parts her lips, a furrow appearing between her brows. She's clearly got no idea what he's doing here, and I, frankly, want to know how the fuck he knew where she was.
"I followed you here," he says, spitting the words out with disgust. "I knew you were up to something after the way you spoke to me at my office. But if I'd known that you were going to come to him—"
"You know who he is, then?" she asks him.
His lip curls. "It took me a while. But I do now. He's their son."
"Their son?" Elena whispers.
I reach for Valentina's hand and lower the knife. The last thing we need is for bloodshed to happen here.
"The son of the people he murdered!" Valentina explodes, finally unable to hold it back. "Your sweet father ever tell you that part, Elena? That he killed our parents? Left us with nobody?"
Elena keeps looking at her father. She looks as though she could cry or slap him, neither expression more prominent than the other.
"You did... what?"
"Oh and if you think our parents are the only people he's hurt, you've got another thing coming," she continues with a snort, clearly enjoying how easy it is to get under her skin. "There are so many more. More than he could even keep count of. Do you even remember our parents?" She addresses the question to the perpetrator standing before us. I notice, all at once, a holster beneath his jacket. The shape of it is unmistakable, there's nothing else it could be. If Valentina keeps talking shit like this to him, he's going to take a shot at her.
"Val, stop," I murmur to her, but she lifts a hand, silencing me.
"You think that your precious daughter wouldn't betray you?" Valentina continues, stalking toward him. "You know how easy it was for my brother to get her into bed?"
Elena gasps. I grab her hand.
"Valentina, that's enough!"
But it's too far.
As his hand flies for his gun, I dive toward him, knocking him off-balance just enough that he can't get his hand on his weapon. Valentina dives toward him, knife in hand, and I throw my wrist up behind me to deflect her. I'm not going to let her hurt him. Even if it's what I set out to do at one point, I can't let it happen in front of Elena.
I grab his weapon and tuck it into my pants. Throwing Valentina off me, I get to my feet, dragging Elena's father by the lapels, and shove him in the elevator. As he crashes to the elevator floor, I send it down, then buzz the doorman.
"Call security. There's someone we need to get out of here."
"Let me at that fucking bastard!" Valentina yells, leaping for the elevator. I grab her arm and pull her back, and she turns to face me, a wild look flashing in her eyes.
"You need to let it go," I warn her. "I don't want you in prison. I can't lose you too, Valentina."
Something finally seems to click for her. She lowers the blade by her side, though she's still gripping it tight. And then, her gaze swerves to Elena.
"And what is she doing here?" she demands, jabbing her knife in Elena's direction. I move to stand in front of her.
"It's nothing—"
"Yes, it is!" Valentina exclaims. "You're here with her rather than being with me. Even though you knew we needed to talk, you didn't care, you still chose her—"
I know I'm not going to be able to reason with Valentina. When my sister flies into a rage, it's impossible to talk her down. I grab her and shove her into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. It clicks shut—there's an automatic timer on it that releases after two minutes if not otherwise adjusted.
Valentina batters on the door, screaming my name, and I turn to Elena.
"We need to get out of here."
"What? I can't go! I have..."
"Please," I tell her, grabbing her hands and pulling them to my mouth. I plant a kiss against them, not taking my eyes off of her.
"I can't protect you here," I murmur to her. "I need to get you somewhere safe. Away from my family, away from yours. Please, Elena."
She pauses for a moment, considering the question. But then, finally, she nods.
"Fine," she replies, slipping her hand into mine. She doesn't look entirely happy about all of this, but she's giving me what I want. That's all I can ask for now.
I pull her toward the fire exit of the penthouse, which takes us down to the garage at the back. Once we make it down, out of sight of security or Elena's father, I use my key to let us into the garage and unlock my car.
"In, now."
I gesture for her to get inside, and she does as she's told. Whatever is going on, all that I care about right now is that she trusts me. I want her next to me—I don't care what it costs. Knowing that I'm the first person she came to after what happened with her father, that has to mean something.
And I'm not going to take whatever that is for granted.
I kick the car into gear and back out of the garage.
"Where are we going?"
It's hard to read the tone in her voice. I can't tell if she's happy or worried or wondering if she's made the wrong decision.
"A place my parents used to keep out of town. Nobody is going to look for us there, I promise..."
She manages a smile. I reach across the car and squeeze her thigh, letting her know that I'm here with her. No matter what happens, I'm here, and I'm not going to let anything pull us apart.
Even if it tears apart both our families in the process.