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“Elenora! Sit up! You will crease that dress!”
“Mamma, I can’t stop thinking about this Liv and Gio situation. I feel terrible, as if I am going through a breakup myself. Do you think they will figure it out?” she huffed.
“Yes. I believe they will. Olivia just needs some time to get her head around all of this. It would have been a lot to just find out who we are but to find out that Gio was engaged and he had done a background check on her was too much,” I replied sadly. I took out my diamond necklace that Vinny had bought me for a special birthday and gestured for Elle to come and clip it around my neck.
She dragged herself off the bed, her black hair curled over one shoulder and took it from me. “I hope you are right. She told me about her stepbrother. At least Gio knows he needs to protect her and is going out of his way to put his men on her watch.”
I frowned. “What do you mean? He is protecting her from the Leones. Gio said her stepbrother was locked up in a hospital.”
Elle clipped the back and let it drop. She shook her head, her beautifully waxed eyebrows furrowing. “No. She told me that he was dangerous and was looking for her. That’s why she ran away from home. That’s why she is here.”
My eyes widened as I realised that Giovanni had no idea about this. Oh, Olivia is so much more stubborn and head strong than I thought! Why hasn’t she told him?
“He doesn’t know?” Elle cottoned on quickly.
“No. But he needs to.” I slipped on my heels under my silver dress and made my way towards the door.
“Mamma. Wait. Don’t you think Liv should be the one to tell him? You might make things worse between them if she finds out he knows this too.”
I paused as I contemplated her words. She was right. But I also couldn’t allow that girl to get herself killed out of stubbornness. She may not realise it, but she needed Gio just as much as he needed her.
“It’s a risk I am willing to take if it means she will be safe.”
I lifted the bottom of my dress and made my way up to his floor. Walking past his office towards his bedroom where I thought he would be getting ready, I paused when I heard shuffling inside. Pushing the door open, I walked straight up to his desk where he was leaning over paperwork, his shirt half undone, hair dishevelled and half a bottle of whiskey empty on his desk.
“What are you doing?” I said sharply with frustration.
“What does it look like I am doing, mamma,” he replied tartly, causing my anger to flare.
“It looks like you are drinking yourself into oblivion while pretending to do work that can wait. Why aren’t you ready? We have to leave in ten minutes.”
He gave a dismissive grunt and I exhaled deeply. “This is an important charity event and you are required to show your face as the benefactor. It is the one good thing this family does every year and you are not missing it.”
“I am not feeling in the most charitable mood,” he mumbled as he circled some area on a map in front of him.
I sighed and walked over to his desk, taking the whiskey bottle away. He dropped his pen and leaned back in the chair, glaring at me.
“There is something you need to know but I am not sure I should tell you when you are in this state.”
“I am not in any state. I have only had a few glasses. What is it?” he grumbled. Wow, he was in a terrible mood, but I guess I couldn’t blame him.
“Do you know the reason why Olivia came to Italy?”
His face screwed up in confusion at my question. “We were all there when she told us at the dinner table.”
“That wasn’t the whole truth, Gio. Her stepbrother is after her. She is on the run.”
His dark eyes widened with fury and his jaw clenched. “That is not possible. He is locked up.”
“You didn’t read all of the files, remember? Perhaps he has been released?”
He stood up slowly and I had never seen such a frightening look on his face before. It was a red-hot solar flare of violent rage etched on his features. “Gio. Calm down. You have your men watching her. She is safe right now.”
“How do you know this?” he gritted through his teeth.
“Olivia told Elle in France. Elle thought you knew.”
“Do you know what that man did to her? He sexually assaulted her, emotionally abused her for two years and then stabbed her boyfriend in the back seven times while they were having sex.” I gasped, my hand covering my mouth. That poor girl. I had no idea she had been through such an ordeal. “And you are telling me now that he is out there and looking for her?”
