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“Elle, don’t you see, marrying you is the fastest way for him to get what he wants? To get the North? I am just playing devil's advocate here to make sure you have considered everything,” Mamma sat forward, holding my gaze as rage poisoned my veins. I jumped up from my chair and paced the room.
“You are twisting this! How can you believe that is all he wants from me after everything I have just told you? He loves me, mamma! Like papi loved you! He would die for me without a second thought, like I would for him! You have seen what I have been like without him. I need him like I need air to breathe! Don’t you get it?”
She slowly nodded her head, “I do. I see it, Elle. But it is not me you have to convince.”
I sighed and looked over at Liv. She gave me a sad smile when she said, “It is going to take a lot for Giovanni to ever believe any of this is genuine, Elle. So much has happened that looks terrible on Alessio’s part. I have never known Giovanni to hate anyone like he does Alessio. And this wedding to Enzo…”
“I know!” I shouted with frustration. “But it’s not too late. I just need him to be willing to listen to me. And to Alessio. I need him to see that Alessio is not the person he thinks he is. Gio isn’t a saint, Liv! He has done terrible things and made awful decisions. He lets anyone who doesn’t truly know him believe he is this ruthless, violent person, but we know a different version. It is the same with Alessio!”
“The sooner you tell him all of this, the better,” Mamma said, standing up and brushing down her suit trousers.
“Then let’s find him,” I replied with conviction. She was right. Gio was one of the main reasons Alessio and I weren’t together right now and I had to make him see that. The three of us made our way to the entrance of the house, just as Gio and Max were storming down the stairs with dangerous looks on their stern faces. Standing at the top of the stairs were Enzo and my zio, Gabriel. I swallowed down my nerves.
“Gio, I need to talk to you,” I tried to muster all of that confidence I had when telling mamma and Liv, but my hands still trembled at my sides.
“Not now, Elle,” he snapped over his shoulder as he grabbed his car keys from one of the soldiers at the door. I looked at Liv in panic as she shrugged her shoulders and we followed him out the front door.
“Gio, it is really important. It can’t wait, please. Where are you going?” I shouted as he ignored me, his shoes scrunching against the stones as he strode towards his car. Max was hurriedly making his way around the passenger side as a small army of soldiers climbed into two SUVs behind them. What was happening?
“Gio!” Liv shouted in frustration and he paused with his hand on the car door. He slowly turned to look back at us with a lethal expression that made me gulp.
“Barbieri has taken over the North. He’s fucking done it. And Finn is a fucking traitor. They've made us look like fucking idiots. I am going to deal with this shit once and for all.”
My heart thundered in my chest as I raced down the steps towards him. “Gio! Wait! Just listen to me for a minute! You can’t hurt him! Please!”
“I’m not going to hurt him, Elle. I am going to kill him. Both of them.”
I grabbed the door, yanking it open as he tried to close it, tears filling my eyes in blind panic. “You can’t! Gio, please! I love him!”
“Finn fooled us all, Elle.”
“No! You don’t understand. Let me explain everything, Gio. I love Finn, yes. But that is not who I mean.” He froze. His dark eyebrows pulled into the bridge of his nose as he glared up at me from his front seat. “I can’t marry Enzo tomorrow because I love Alessio. I’m completely in love with him. And he loves me. Please, Gio. Just come inside and let me explain.”
“Gio, listen to her! There is so much more to this than you realise,” Liv marched forward and Gio’s face creased with a mix of betrayal and confusion. He moved his sharp glare back to me and I held my breath, silently begging him to stay.
“Then I suggest you stop loving him. Family first, Elle. Always,” he whipped my hand off the door and slammed it shut. The engine roared to life as I started hitting the window in desperation before it sped off down the driveway, the two SUVs following behind.
I fell to my knees, dropping my head in my hands as I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Here We Fucking Go
“So, what is the plan with Buccini? You aren’t seriously going to let him get away with what he did to Isabelle? You are going to kill him, right?” Lorenzo growled at me from where he leaned against the white marble fireplace in his living room.
I ran my tongue over my teeth as I stared at him, causing him to have to try and hide his squirming under my dangerous gaze.
“You aren’t going to be a problem for me, are you Leone?”
“What do you mean?” he frowned.
I leaned forward from my position on the sofa and clasped my hands together, peering up at him from under my eyebrows menacingly. “I mean exactly what I said. The last time I checked, you worked for me. I give you orders and you do as I say. It is not the other way around.”
“I am not giving you orders. I am simply asking for some support when it comes to avenging my wife’s death.”
“She was your wife for five minutes, Leone. And not a very good one based on what I heard from the soldiers who were… caring for her. So calm the fuck down,” Fabi sneered, causing Lorenzo’s blood to boil as he stepped towards him with his fists clenched.
“What the fuck did you say?” he roared as I sighed, dropping my head down to my chest to hide my smirk.
“Apologies. I wasn’t clear enough. I said your wife was a no-good whore and you should be thanking the Buccinis,” Fabi prodded again, grinning like the fucking cheshire cat. I stood up abruptly, just in time to catch Lorenzo's fist mid-air before it smashed into Fabi’s face.
