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When she said the word outsider, my stomach tightened. That was exactly what I was doing, letting an outsider gain perspective on my family business. It was so fucking stupid. I needed to protect our inside information, but I wanted to let Gia in so damn bad. She tilted her head with condescending pride. What made her so trustworthy? How could I expose our underbelly to her and hope she wouldn’t rip it open? She represented generations of our enemies.
Gia wasn’t my enemy, but should she have been?
I stood up, and when she went to stand beside me, I fisted her hair and held her down, leaning over her as I tightened my grasp. I craned her neck and forced her to look at me. “I don’t think I need to tell you how fucking dumb this is. You could destroy us. You could leave here and destroyme. You will learn things that you’d have to take to your grave, and I’m not sure you can. You have a big mouth, Giovanna, and an even bigger taste for revenge. All it would take is for you to get mad at me, like you always do.”
Her lips parted and she let out a whimper as she strained against my painful hold of her hair. Her dark eyes met mine. “My father is an unofficial informant to someone in the FBI.”
I cocked my head at her and tugged her up, still craning her neck. “What the fuck do you mean?”
“He grew up with someone in the FBI. He feeds them little bits of information to keep them off our backs.”
“And you’re telling me this now? After I let you into my—”
“Your family isn’t on our radar. Not like that. My father is more interested in taking out the legs of smaller families.”
“You don’t infiltrate people who aren’t on your radar.”
“My father was considering an alliance.”
“Why should I fucking trust you or your rat of a father?”
“Because you have something over me now. Over my family. If I betray you, the means are there to get me and my family killed.”
She was right...if she was telling the truth. Her steady lower lip made me think she was. But knowing her father was an informant, even unofficially, made it all seem so much more of a risk than what it was worth. Yeah, I could get her family killed over that, but it would require commands from federal fucking prison.
Was she worth that risk?
ChapterTwenty-Two
Gia
Imost definitely did not get laid after admitting my father’s informal informant status. Enzo sent me away, and deservedly so. He had a lot to think about. I did too, because I had placed something that could destroy me and my family into his hands. His family was notoriously impulsive, and I just handed the biggest Silvani secret to him on a silver fucking platter. He could pretend to understand my taste for revenge all he wanted, but he was bloodthirsty for it, too. Reckless. If he decided to reject me, cast me out of his life, would he hold that secret for me or let me burn? I felt as though I were waiting to learn my sentence from a jury of my peers. Maybe it was the executioner. Either way, I didn’t like the uncertainty.
There was a knock on the door. I assumed it would be Enzo, but it was one of his men. “Enzo would like to see you in his room,” the man said, much too prim and proper.
It had been hours since he banished me from the library, and I assumed he went back to his room to sleep off his frustrations. I’d hoped he’d woken up with a clearer head. Maybe a clearer heart.
With silent footsteps, I walked barefoot toward his room, and I entered after a quick knock. Atheist leaped off the bed and ran toward me. He sat at my feet, his big pink tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted with excitement. I rubbed the velvet fur on his blocky head, talking high and sweet to him, which just made him wag his body harder.
Enzo came out of the bathroom. He was still wearing his slacks, though his belt was unbuckled. His revolver rested on his hip, unshielded by his sleeveless ribbed t-shirt. He looked torn up, mentally and physically. He dropped onto the couch, not even taking the time to pull his belt from the loops. Both ends flopped loosely on his lap. He drew a cigarette and lit it, and I watched his mouth as he inhaled and exhaled, wishing he’d use it to say something to me.
He exhaled a thick wave of smoke. “I finally have you back, and I feel compelled—pressured—to push you away again.”
My heart sank to somewhere beneath my stomach. My insides felt rearranged, and not in a good way. How was I supposed to offer a rebuttal? Beg him? I didn’t have it in me. I had to understand, even if I didn’t want to, that it was all for the betterment of the business. It had nothing to do withmeorus.
“I know,” I said.
He looked straight ahead as he smoked. “I don’t want to rot in prison and throw away everything I’ve worked for.”
“I know.”
“But I don’t want to be without you, either.” He finally met my gaze. His eyes looked sad and torn. “Let’s get married,” he said with a final puff of the cigarette before squelching it out on the tray.
My mouth dropped open and stayed that way. I couldn’t reel in my expression.Did he just say we should get married? Fucking married? Like...real life marriage?“I—”
“You ain’t gotta look at me like that, Gia.” He wiped his chin. “A no would suffice.”
“No...I mean...no, I’m not saying no,” I stammered. “But I don’t know if I’m saying yes. I don’t want to get married just to show you that you can trust me.”
