16. Giada
Giada
Chapter sixteen
I’ve spent the last three hours worried about Luca coming home safely. There isn’t much else for me to do alone in the penthouse apartment. Alessia brought me a couple books yesterday in case I was a reader, which I am. Unfortunately, even those can’t keep my attention as the clock hanging on the wall ticks loudly through the silent penthouse. It’s maddening. I never cared when Carlo or my father had to leave the house for some meeting, but Luca is a different story. I actually want him to come back.
Instead of driving myself crazy with the silence, I move the couches to the side of the room and start warming up my deliciously sore muscles to run through some dance routines. I figure it will keep my body moving and hopefully focus my mind on something other than waiting for my husband to return.
I’m halfway through the routine I was working on before everything…well, blew up. When the front door opens and Luca walks in, I stop and face him, the relief visible on his face.
“Hey,” I greet. “How’d it go?” I’m not used to asking such questions considering any other man I know in this life would tell me it was none of my business.
He jerks his head. “Keep going. I want to watch.”
“You’re not going to talk to me about it?” I ask, slightly offended I’m getting the brush-off.
“I’ll tell you all about it, but right now, I want to watch you do something you love. The way your face lights up when you dance…I just need to watch, yeah?”
I nod and continue moving to the sultry beat of the music. Having Luca watch me adds something to the mix I don’t generally feel while I’m in class. Desire. Having his eyes on me while he stands just inside the doorway watching me is making my skin hot and tight everywhere. My breath is picking up and it’s not from exertion, though this particular routine has me bending my body in all kinds of interesting and strenuous ways.
When I finish, I’m panting hard and Luca claps. “Not exactly the drunk hip-shaking I saw at the bar, but I’ll take it.”
I laugh, remembering the day that feels like a lifetime ago. It was the first time I started opening myself to the man standing before me. The first time I shared my mother’s records with anyone. Though the day started like absolute shit, remembering he was the one who put me to bed and made sure I was taken care of warms me. Even then he was showing me how much he cared when he couldn’t say it.
Luca walks into the apartment and sits on the couch I’ve moved in front of the window, staring at the skyline outside. He holds out his arm in invitation for me to sit next to him. Naturally, I don’t deny him and curl myself into his side, his arm draping over me almost possessively even though we’re the only two in the room. He leans down and kisses me softly on the mouth, his lips lingering, simply tasting me.
He pulls away but keeps me in his hold, and I lean my head on his chest, listening to the thrum of his heartbeat.
“I came here so angry, ready to take down your father. I never thought in a million years I would stay in the organization for as long as I did, or that we’d find ourselves here. He took so much from me. Even before I was old enough to realize it. I knew Francesco was responsible for so much heartache and misery, but I never realized how close it was to his family. To you.”
I look into Luca’s eyes, my gaze questioning. He knows how I felt growing up, never being cared for by my father, shoved to the side and only being deemed useful once I was old enough to be married off. So I’m curious what’s bringing this up now. “What are you talking about?”
Luca lets out a breath. “At the meeting today. One of the capos there, Tomasso, he kind of took over Frank's role after he left. He knew Frank had run and your father needed someone else he trusted to do the same work. The hits that Francesco didn't want anyone to know about.”
“Okay…It makes sense my father would use someone else.”
“It’s what he used him for.”
“Spit it out, Luca. You don’t have to tiptoe around me.”
“Giada, your mother didn’t die in a car accident. Your father killed her, and Tomasso helped make it look like an accident so no one would question Francesco.”
The breath stalls in my chest. “Tomasso has to be lying. My mother died when she hit black ice and lost control of her car. The police report and medical examiner all said so.”
“Your father paid them to say that.”
I sit up and tears fill my eyes. “My father…killed my mother?” I choke out in a broken whisper.
“I’m so sorry. I think your mother was trying to leave him, and he found out.”
I was so young when she died. I don’t remember them fighting or her being scared. I do remember thinking she acted differently around him, but to a five-year-old, what does that really mean?
“He killed my mother.” The words play on repeat in my mind. “He took my mother from me. The one person who cared about me in that godforsaken house. He ripped her from me because he’s a monster and she knew. She knew!”
I jump from my seat with rage like I’ve never known coursing through me. Would my life have turned out differently had she been around? I don’t know. It certainly would have been a hell of a lot better. Especially if she’d succeeded in running away from him. But he couldn’t have the smallest shred of humanity. No. If he wasn’t going to have his way, he’d mow down anyone in it, including his own wife.
“How could he possibly murder the woman he married? Who gave birth to his children? How could he do that?” I can’t stop asking how. It’s screaming over and over in my head. How? How? How? “Does my brother know? Does he know the man he idolized his entire life is the kind of monster who could do that to his family? A man who could tear apart his children’s lives because he’s a horrible human being?”
“I don’t know what your brother knows, Giada. He never mentioned it to me.”
I don’t suppose he would have even if he did know. If a man is okay with his father murdering his own mother, what kind of loyalty would that inspire from his men?
“I need to call Carlo.”
“Why? How is that going to help you?” Luca asks.
“I don’t know,” I reply, pacing the floor in front of him. “I just need to know if he knew. If he knows about the man he’s spent his miserable life being loyal to.” My brother is a monster like our father, there’s no doubt in my mind, but what made him that way? I grew up in the same house, and I sure as hell didn’t turn out like Carlo.
Luca studies me a few moments before pulling his phone from his pocket. “This goes against every bone in my body, Giada. When I said I’d do anything to protect you, I meant it, but I also said I wouldn’t lie to you again.”
“He can’t hurt me. He doesn’t even know where I am.”
“He doesn’t need to be in front of you to hurt you.”
I consider his statement, but it doesn’t deter me. Grabbing the phone from Luca’s hand, I dial the number I’ve unfortunately had memorized for years.
“Hello?” Carlo answers.
“It’s Giada.”
“Where the hell are you? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“I’m not telling you that.”
“You little bitch. Do you know what your disappearing act cost me?” he yells into the phone.
“I do. And you know exactly what it would have cost me if I’d stayed.”
Luca is looking on with pride in his eyes that I’m standing up to my brother. It’s not the first time he’s seen it, but it is the first time he’s been able to show me how he feels about it.
“I need to know something, Carlo. For once in your life, I need you to be straight with me.”
“You don’t get to make demands. Just wait until I find you, Giada.”
“Shut up and listen. I found something out today and I need to know if you know about it.”
“Jesus Christ. What?” Carlo sounds annoyed with the conversation, but that’s par for the course with the two of us.
“Did you know our father killed our mother?”
The icy laugh that comes across the line sends chills racing down my spine. “I see you’ve been talking to Tomasso.”
My gaze clashes with Luca’s and I put the phone on speaker so he can hear everything Carlo is about to tell me. Do I think it will help him or Finn with their plan? No. But I need someone else to hear this because I can barely believe what I’m hearing myself.
“What do you know, Carlo?”
“Well, since you’ve already fucked me over with the Russians, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Good luck running to any of our father’s associates now once you find out who you really are. They’ll throw you on your ass like yesterday’s trash. Yes, my father killed our mother. She was going to leave him and take us with her. Maybe she thought running to Italy with her family would save her, but Father wouldn’t hear of it. He wanted to raise me to take over, and she wasn’t going to take my birthright from me. He caught up to her and killed her, then staged it as a car accident.”
“How could you still want anything to do with him after learning that, Carlo? She was our mother!” I’m shaking with volatile rage at the way he so flippantly tells me that he’s known this for God knows how long.
“What happens between a man and his wife is his business. He had every right as her husband to deal with her as he saw fit. I’m not going to question his decision. She would have taken me from what I was born to be.”
I scoff. “Yeah, that turned out really well for you, didn’t it?”
“I may be down, Giada, but I’m far from out.” He pauses, and I stare at Luca, whose face is a mask of unreadable emotion. But if I had to guess, I’d say underneath, he’s as angry as I am. “Here’s the kicker, though. He found out you weren’t his daughter. That she fucked some bodyguard of hers and he promised to save her from the life she was completely ungrateful for.”
My eyes widen and Luca’s mirror my shocked expression. It also doesn’t pass my notice that I’m a lot more like my mother than I would have ever thought, considering I’m standing in front of my former bodyguard turned husband.
“What do you mean? Who’s my father?”
“I don’t know his name. Doesn’t matter. He was killed the same night as our mother.”
“Why the hell did he keep me? Why not give me away when he found out?” It’s not as though my father, or rather Francesco, has an altruistic bone in his body or had some sort of attack of conscience.
“To punish his dead wife who betrayed him. He told her that he would tie you to this life forever. That he would use you and your future marriage for his gain. He had a son who would take over and a daughter who could facilitate an alliance with a powerful family. And if you didn’t fulfill your end of the bargain, he would make sure you joined her in the afterlife sooner rather than later. And wouldn’t you know? You’ve decided to run off and shirk your responsibilities.”
“Are you out of your mind?” I yell into the phone. “I’m not going to live out some asshole’s vendetta against our mother. I don’t give a shit if it’s for the man who I called father for the last twenty-two years.”
“Then I will find you and you’ll join our mother,” Carlo threatens.
“You aren’t going to get anywhere near her, you sick son of a bitch,” Luca growls, grabbing the phone from my grip.
“I should have fucking known,” Carlo says, and I can imagine the sneer on his face so clearly. “Luca Bennetti. I’ve been looking for you. I see Giada convinced you to forfeit your life to help her with her little plan. Is her pussy really that good?”
If Luca grips the phone any tighter, he’s likely to break it. “You will not talk about my wife. You don’t think about her or speak of her,” he growls through a clenched jaw. “I’ll be seeing you real soon, Carlo.” Luca disconnects the call and looks at the phone, taking several deep breaths to calm himself down. “Fucking scumbag,” he mutters before pocketing the device. Well, at least he didn’t smash it into a million pieces like I would’ve expected.
When his angry blue gaze finds mine, his eyes soften, seeing the look of devastation that I’m sure is written all over my face.
“Sweetheart,” he whispers and opens his arms. I don’t waste a second and fall into them, allowing the tears to run freely down my face, soaking his white button-down shirt.
“How could he know what Francesco did and still blindly follow him? How could he possibly be okay with even being in the same room with him?” I tilt my chin up and look into Luca’s sympathetic eyes. “Everything I thought I knew about myself, Luca, who I thought I was…gone. Francesco isn’t my father. Oh my God. He killed my real father and mother.” Tears pour from my eyes. He knows exactly what I’m feeling, doesn’t he? Who I thought was my father sentenced him to the same fate years ago as well.
Luca pulls me closer, rubbing small circles over my back. This is so screwed up. Everything is just…fucked.
Luca walks us over to the sofa and sits, placing me across his lap and cradling me in his strong arms as I cling to him.
“There you go, sweetheart, cry it out.”
And I do. I cry harder than I ever have in my life, probably harder than I did when I found out my mother had died. Back then, it was a nanny comforting me because that’s what she was paid to do. Now, it’s my husband, the one person in the world I know I can rely on, take comfort in. Someone who knows exactly what I’m going through because he’s been through it himself.
“He’s a monster. Francesco and Carlo. They’re both monsters.” That doesn’t even seem like a strong enough word to describe the horrible humans that’ve put both of us in this situation.
“They are. But I promise you, Giada, They won’t get away with it.”
I wake in the bed Luca and I have been sharing for the last two nights. God, has it only been two nights since my world imploded? First, escaping the only life I knew, then marrying Luca, and today, finding out who I thought my family was…isn’t. I don’t know how to process any of this. My mind is like a battlefield warring with itself. Anger at being lied to, rage at what Francesco did to my mother and real father, and gratitude that I have Luca next to me.
I turn and face my husband, whose eyes are open, his soft gaze wary with worry.
“You carried me up here?” I rasp out.
“Yeah, figured it would be more comfortable for both of us here instead of the couch.”
Always taking care of me.
I lean in and brush my lips against his, seeking a comfort only he can give me. When I try to deepen the kiss, he pulls away.
“Giada, I don’t think—”
“I don’t want to think, Luca. I need to feel something good, something that will take away the horrible thoughts swirling around my head. Something true.” And something that’s mine.
Luca studies me and then leans in for a kiss, allowing my tongue to delve into his mouth. When I pull away, he brushes the side of my face, which I'm sure is covered in dried tears. “Anything you need, sweetheart. I’ve got you.”
My mouth crashes to his and when I rub my center against him, I find him ready to do just that. I quickly slip out of the tank and yoga pants I was wearing when he came home, and he looks at me with his molten blue eyes. It’s exactly what I need. Not pity in his gaze but the burning desire we’ve just begun exploring. I lift his undershirt from his body and press myself into him, needing his skin against mine before finding his mouth again. The kiss is desperate and slightly unhinged, but Luca doesn’t stop and doesn’t question me again. My hands find his belt, then his zipper, and I lower it, reaching in and grasping his hard length in my palm. His hand yanks down his pants and he shimmies them off his legs before grabbing one of mine and wrapping it around his hips, opening me up to him. When he guides himself into me, I let out a moan into our kiss. His hand grasps my hip as he begins to move slowly and so fucking deep. He never breaks the kiss; he just gives me what I desperately need from him right now—an escape.
“Oh, God,” I cry, breaking the kiss. “I’m almost there.”
His hand comes to where we’re connected and his expert finger begins strumming my clit. “That’s it, Giada. Strangle my cock. God, you feel so good.”
It’s all so much, nearly too much. His finger and the angle he’s hitting so deep inside break me, and I fall into an abyss of sensation as I come apart in his arms. Luca’s groan fills the room and I feel his cock jerk as he comes, still thrusting so deep inside of me. He takes my mouth in a ravenous kiss before stilling and eventually pulling out.
When he breaks our connection, his eyes find mine, and I trace my finger along the sweat lining his brow.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “For being here, for being who you are. I…” I want you. I need you. I think I love you. “I couldn’t do this without you.”
Luca looks in my eyes, surely seeing the unspoken words I’m too afraid to say.
“Always,” is all he says before wrapping me in his arms and tucking me into his chest. I let out a contented sigh, feeling safe and protected before sleep claims me.