AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No. I would never hurt children. No matter what their last name was.”
“But you would hurt my brother? You would hurt Gio?”
The atmosphere had tensed around us and gone was our easy playfulness. I huffed and sat up straight, twisting the stem of the glass in my hand. I had been dreading her bringing this up, but I knew she would at some point. The problem was, I knew what I was supposed to say and do when it came to Giovanni Buccini. It had been planned for years. I had no intention of hurting him as long as he cooperated but that was his decision. Every time I looked at her face, the doubts would come creeping in about my purpose and I couldn’t let them. I had worked damn hard for this. I wasn’t a weak man and I couldn’t let her change me.
I leaned forward on the barrel, resting my arm against it as I held her gaze. “Tell me this, Elle. Would Giovanni hurt me?”
She gulped as her eyes darted between mine. “If he had to.”
“Then there is your answer.”
She cast her gaze down to her glass and silence befell us. “What are you planning to do? Why am I here? You say you want the North, but what does that even mean? You already have the entire South! Why isn’t that enough? Why do you have to hurt my family?”
I ran my hand down my face as her emotions took over. I refused to look into those eyes that were full of desperate sadness. She didn’t understand. She could never understand. And it wasn’t even worth me trying to explain. The funny thing is that the only person who would probably get it is Giovanni himself. We were cut from the same cloth. He was ambitious, powerful and craved importance. Just like me. The only difference was, he could do it all without an axe hanging over his head. This isn’t even a choice I had to make. This was survival.
“If everything goes smoothly and to plan, then your family won’t get hurt at all. Including Giovanni,” I stated, keeping my eyes on the wine.
“That is a lie and you know it!” she shouted, that feisty spirit that I found so attractive in her flaring up.
“It is not a lie. It’s optimistic but not a lie. A lot of what happens depends on your brother… and you.”
“Me?”
“Yes. You are the key to making Giovanni give up his dominance in the North. We need Leone to become the most powerful family and take our deal to the commission. Once all families sign contracts with us then everyone can co-exist under the Barbieri name like they do in the South. We have relative peace here because everyone answers to us. There is no reason why the whole of Italy cannot work like that.”
“You want my brother to work for you? And you think this is the right way to go about it?” she screamed.
“It is the only way. I have been keeping tabs on your family for years. Your uncle Sal was ambitious and savage. He would never have agreed to this peacefully. Our hope was he would eventually die and your papi would become boss. He would have been easier to sway. We could have negotiated with him. But then he died. Which left us with Giovanni. Unfortunately, he seems more like your uncle than Vincenzo.”
“Gio is nothing like Sal!” she raged, clear hatred on her features at the insinuation that he was.
“I only meant that he isn’t soft. That he is hot-headed, unpredictable and ruthless. He is also ambitious and I know he will never give up the North willingly and work for us. I expect he would rather die than see that happen. Am I right?”
She kept quiet, her nostrils flaring. I sank back the remainder of my wine in one bitter gulp and hissed. I didn’t like how the energy between us had shifted. There was no denying that because of our last names and who our families were, we were still enemies. The realisation that all of that wasn’t going to just disappear, no matter how much time we spent together, was causing us both to sit and stew in our own frustration.
“If that is the case,” she spoke suddenly with distaste. “And you won’t kill him if he agrees to work for you and I am the key to getting Giovanni to give up the North, why haven’t you just made him do it? Why haven’t you threatened to kill me, unless he does it?”
“Because it is more complicated than that, Elenora,” I gritted through my teeth, feeling my irritation grow. “We need all the families in line with us. We need the commission to agree it is the best thing for everyone in the North and force the families into contracts.”
“But it is my family that is the main problem, right? Because we hold the most power? Because we have the most influence even with the commission. So, what is stopping you from forcing Giovanni to give it all to you in exchange for my life?” she shouted, her voice echoing around the damp walls.
I climbed off my stool and tugged her hand to move. I had to get out of here. I needed fresh air or just a minute away from her, but thanks to Zia that wasn’t going to happen. She stumbled after me, trying to keep up with my long strides.
“Answer me! Why? Why not?” she roared, not giving up as I clenched my fists together. Once we were out in the open air, the sunlight blinding us once more, I kept up my march across the stone pathway around the smaller building of my gym and towards the house. I could see the workers busily picking grapes and oranges in the fields and one of my men patrolling the outskirts of my property. But all I could focus on was the rattling of the metal as our wrists bashed together. “I don’t understand you! If the North is all you want and you will do anything to get it, just fucking take it already!”
I spun around, coming to a sudden stop so she slammed into my chest. I gripped her upper arm with my free hand as my patience snapped.
“You want to know why I haven’t threatened to kill you unless Giovanni gives me the North? Will that make you happy? Because I can’t risk it! I can’t risk Giovanni not giving it up for you and then what? I have to kill you. Because if I went back on my word, someone would sure as hell kill me. Diego. Elio. A hired assassin most likely or any one of the soldiers paid handsomely enough to go against me. And I can’t kill you, Elle. So that is how that would end.”
She blinked up at me in a slight daze by my confession. I let go of her arm and turned my back to her, staring out at stunning scenery to try and calm me. Just this talk of killing her was getting me riled up.
“You would rather be killed than kill me?” she whispered behind me and I closed my eyes.
“I would prefer it if neither happened! And the only way that is going to work is if you stop trying to escape and pray your brother loves you more than he loves the North,” I growled.
“And then what? Let’s say your plan works and the Leones take over the North and the commission agrees to your proposal. Will we all live happily ever after?” she scoffed. I turned back around to face her.
“And then I let you go and everyone gets what they want. Giovanni will have saved you and I will have the North,” I held her stubborn gaze as she stared at me with so much determination, my anger was quickly morphing into arousal again.
