Gio: The DelGado Trilogy (An Enemies to Lovers Romance)

by Natalia Lourose

  I’m being irrational. I’m angry. I know they’re not going to listen to me, they only listen to Gio, but it’s not going to stop me from raging.

  He doesn’t get to leave.

  I want him in this car, I want him safe with me. This can’t be the way it ends.

  “No,” I cry, this time weaker. A pathetic sob erupts from my lips.

  I was absolutely ready to leave him behind this morning, but now? Now that he’s back there getting arrested, the thought of losing him is haunting.

  It’s my fault.

  I messed up, I fell wrong, and now Gio will suffer for my mistake.

  I let the tears stream down my cheeks.

  “It’s okay.” Charlie tries. “He’ll be fine, Annie. I’ve never seen a DelGado go down without a fight.”

  “I’ve never seen a DelGado go down. Period.” Tony chips in.

  I pray they’re right.

  “Were you followed?” Gian’s questioning voice invades my senses before I can even process where we are.

  The Escalade is in the semi-circle driveway in front of a huge mansion in the Providence suburbs. The neighborhood is filled with newer model houses that look out of place next to their Federal Hill neighbors. The one in front of me is a two story that looks to be no less than five thousand square feet. There are columns at the entry way that scream of wealth. The house itself is brick with white siding on the upper half. In the driveway is a BMW, a Lexus, and a Range Rover.

  Anyone looking at this house would just see dollar signs.

  “Nah,” Frank answers Gian’s question. “I had the kid drive around for a while just to be safe, no tails.”

  “Good,” Gian has one hand on his hip, and the other arm is hanging from a sling. His jaw is curved downwards and his stance screams annoyance. He looks over me and Charlie leads me out of the car. “What happened to her?”

  “I think she broke her ankle.” Charlie answers for me.

  Gian scrubs a hand down his face. “God damn it. Get her inside.”

  “Yeah, boss.”

  “Get rid of that car.” He shouts at the kid. “Frank, go with him.”

  “You got it, boss.” Frank gets back into the Escalade, leaving with the kid who drove us.

  I wonder how they’ll get rid of the car. What does that mean? I want to ask, but the look on Gian’s face is volatile.

  Charlie leans me into the mansion. The place is grand and beautiful. The walls are a warm shade of cream that blend well with the dark hardwoods. There are ornate decorations and tons of gold everywhere I look. I marvel as Charlie guides me back to a sitting room. He sits me down on the couch, places a pillow on the coffee table and guides my ankle onto the cushion.

  “Dad,” Gian yells. “I need you to get Doc here.” He heaves a sign.

  “What’s going on? Why are you yelling?” A half asleep, half dressed Gemma enters the room from the grand staircase.

  Agitation flashes across Gian’s face. “Gemma, cazzo! Put some clothes on.”

  She glances down at her red silk pajama shorts and matching camisole. “I was sleeping.”

  “Clearly.” He huffs.

  Gemma scans the room, landing her eyes on me and my propped up swollen ankle. Charlie has taken my boot off now, exposing it in all its inflated glory. “What the fuck happened?”

  “That’s what I’d like to know.” Gian’s glare falls on me. “Gem, get her some damn ice.”

  She doesn’t make a smart remark this time. She just disappears and reemerges with a bag of peas moments later. She joins me on the couch, pressing the peas to my ankle and inspecting the damage.

  “Somebody fucking talk.” Gian hovers over us, looking like a blood vessel is about to burst.

  Tony and Charlie both look at each other momentarily. “Our timing was off.” Tony says from his position slumped into one of the living room chairs.

  “Your timing was off.” Gian mocks.

  Charlie is sitting on the edge of his seat next to me. “It was tight anyway, and then Annie fell and broke her ankle and… we were just off.”

  “Fucking Gio.” Gian huffs. “Why would he do this if the timing was tight?”

  Charlie glances at Gemma and then moves his eyes away quickly. “You know Gio.” He mumbles.

  Pearce.

  I remember then. That’s the name Gio muttered in my apartment that night when he was grief stricken and sharing more than he normally would.

  My eyes scan Gemma now.

  “Revenge.” I say. I’m still forming the theory when the word leaves my mouth. Gemma’s gaze snaps to mine.

  She turns quickly to face her brother. “What did he do?”

  “Gem…”

  “Fuck.” She heaves. “Where is he? Where’s Gio?”

  “Gem, please, go to bed.”

  “Fuck that.” She waves a hand dismissively. Gemma is nothing like me. She doesn’t take any shit from anybody, especially not her brothers.

  “In jail.” This time it’s Giuseppe who speaks. He descends the stairs perfectly dressed in a fitted gray suit, silk dress shirt, and leather shoes.

  “What?” Gemma gasps.

  Her father ignores her, his eyes instead landing on me. “Doc will be here soon. You okay?”

  “Fine.” I respond. “Are you going to Gio?”

  “Yes.” He tells me, adjusting his suit jacket.

  I sit up straighter, knocking the peas off my ankle. “Can I come?”

  “No dear. He’s only going to be allowed a lawyer before his arraignment.” He looks to Gian next. “I have Maldonato meeting me there, he’ll have to represent Gio.”

  Gian gives his father a curt nod. “Get him out.”

  “I will.” Giuseppe plucks his suitcase off the counter and leaves us all there.

  “You two.” Gian points at Tony and Charlie. “Get outta here, lay low for now.” He looks at me next. “You stay here, Gemma will make up the guest room for you.”

  “No, I-”

  He waves his hand dismissively, not even letting me speak. “You’re staying here.” He turns to follow the guys as they leave.

  “Gian,” I call, prompting him to turn and give me an expectant look. “He’ll… be okay right?”

  Gian sighs, “He better fucking be.”

  Gemma helps me up to the guest room. It’s already made up, despite Gian telling her to do it. It’s a large bedroom with a queen sized bed covered with a dark blue comforter. The white furniture and blue color scheme makes the room feel coastal and cozy. I collapse onto the bed, propping my ankle up.

  “I’ll wait with you until Doc gets here.” Gemma sits on the end of the bed opposite of me. She’s wringing her hands like she’s trying to keep herself from saying something. It’s on the tip of her tongue and I already know what she’s going to ask.

  “Thank you.” I tell her. “You know, you can ask me. If you have something you want to ask, I mean.”

  She flashes a small thankful smile. “What did he do?”

  “I didn’t know what we were doing at first. I’m actually still not sure.” I admit. “But I think we were robbing someone who tried to hurt you.”

  She nods, I think she knew that’s what I was going to say. “Robert Pearce.” She looks sad briefly, but mostly I feel sorrow coming from her.

  “Yup.” I exaggerate the word, as if it will take up space in this uncomfortable conversation. “Gio didn’t tell me. He told me something happened and then I saw the name of the store tonight and put two and two together.”

  “His son.” She says, then pauses. “His son and I were…” she huffs. “I don’t know what we were, but he drugged me. I’m not sure what he was planning to do to me after but I’ve heard a lot of rumors.” She pauses again. “I guess… he does things to girls.” Her eyes avoid mine as she continues to share with me. “Anyway, nothing happened. I told Gio and Gian and they lost their shit. They’re just really protective. They tried to go to the cops, but they covered everything up. The Pearces have a lo
t of pull here.”

  “Why?” I ask. “It’s just a jewelry shop.”

  She laughs, but it’s a sad strangled sound. “Oh Annie, it’s not just a jewelry shop. The family has been around for decades. They’ve made their money in the diamond trade, but his brother is also a senator. His younger son is going into politics as well and Robert Jr., the asshole who tried to rape me, will take over the family business. It’s not just a jewelry shop, they have power in this town.”

  “Oh,” I whisper. “I had no idea.”

  “He was trying to revenge me, but that was fucking stupid.” She says, her demeanor has changed to anger now.

  “I feel stupid,” I tell her. “This whole time I thought he was an asshole and he was really doing all of this for you.”

  Gemma looks at me sympathetically. “Yeah, they have a tendency to be jerks sometimes.”

  I laugh at her bluntness.

  He is a jerk sometimes.

  But he’s also a good man.

  A fiercely loyal, protective, good man.

  The interrogation room is scalding.

  It’s a tactic, I know from being an attorney’s son. The detectives probably turned up the heat in the room hoping to sweat me out. If I complain about it they won’t do a thing.

  It’s a lost cause though, because I won’t break.

  The only word I’ve spoken since getting picked up is lawyer. I’ve been dead fucking silent waiting for my father to get here.

  Getting arrested is dehumanizing. They cuffed my hands tightly and threw me in the back of the squad car. At the station, they booked me, took my mug shot, and pressed the pads of my fingers into black ink. This isn’t my first arrest, I’m not a stranger to the law, and this surely won’t be my last. Still, every time is fucking annoying.

  Afterwards they slapped the cuffs back on to take me to the boiling interrogation room, like if I’m not cuffed I’ll run somewhere. Now, I sit cuffed to the table and waiting. The detective tried to talk to me, even after I said the one word that should silence them. They got nothing though, I’m well practiced at this.

  “Mr. Pearce is going to press charges.” The one detective smiled.

  Good for him.

  Press fucking charges.

  The thing is, when they have a made man in the station they don’t even care about the crime that got him there, they just want to flip him. They see it as an opportunity.

  But there's no way in hell I would ever betray my family.

  “You have him cuffed to the fucking table? Is that necessary?” My dad has two distinct modes. Lawyer and father. If you combine the two, he’s fucking vicious.

  He’s a good lawyer, great even, but if one of his kids are in trouble a scary side comes out in him.

  “Uncuff him.” He demands.

  The cop that led him back here looks unsure. “Sir, I-”

  “Uncuff. Him.” Giuseppe demands again, this time sternly. There’s a chilling tone to his voice. “And turn the fucking heat down, will ya?” He reaches up and loosens his tie.

  I chuckle to myself, midnight on a Saturday and my father is fully dressed in a suit and tie.

  “Something funny?’ Giuseppe slams his suitcase down on the shaky metal table.

  “Not at all.” I return, straightening my features.

  Behind my father enters Ricky Maldonado, the son of a fellow made man. Ricky went to law school, his father was determined to keep him out of the life, but he owned Giuseppe a favor for the letter of recommendation that got him into law school.

  Apparently he was redeeming that favor for me.

  He sits down across from me, eyeing the officer who removes my cuffs then leaves without another word.

  My wrists are raw from where the cuffs cut into the skin. I rub them as my father heaves a disappointed sigh. Now that the cops are gone his facade begins to crack. He hates when we’re arrested.

  “Ricky’s going to represent you.” He tells me. “You were taking a walk.” His tone is serious as he leans onto his elbows and makes eye contact with me. “You were taking a walk, you didn’t see anything, the building was robbed before you even came across it.”

  “I was just taking a walk.” Gio shrugged.

  He nods approvingly.

  “How is she?” I ask. I can’t get her face out of my mind since I left her. She looked so disapproving when I shut the car door on her.

  I got her into this mess, I wasn’t about to risk her getting arrested. The rest of us could handle it, we know this is the type of risk we face in the life we live, but Annie’s not like us.

  She’s pure, innocent. She would never be able to handle life behind bars. And she doesn’t deserve it. She doesn’t deserve that kind of suffering when the only mistake she’s ever made is trying to be a good sister.

  No, I would go down smiling if it meant protecting her.

  “Broken ankle.” My dad tells me. “Doc’s at the house.”

  “Damn it,” I hiss.

  Giuseppe turns to Ricky and gestures to his ears. Wordlessly Ricky pulls out a pair of Beats headphones and covers his ears, punching his phone quickly to turn on music. Unlike us, Ricky isn’t a made man, there are some things we won’t discuss in front of him.

  My obsession with Annie being one of them.

  “Why would you do this?” My father glares at me. “Are you stupid?”

  It’s rare that my father insults me. Our home growing up was nothing other than loving and supportive. He had no intention for us to grow up and join him in la famiglia. He wanted us to be doctors or even better, lawyers. He loved us every second of our childhood.

  But now, sitting in front of me in the interrogation room, he’s angry at me.

  “I couldn’t let her get caught.”

  He sighs. “Then why did you bring her.”

  “We need someone her size.” I lament.

  “I’m sure there were other options.”

  My father’s not a dumb man, and he’s right. I could have found someone else. I could have got a teenage son of another man, someone, anyone other than her. But I’m a selfish prick. I wanted her. I wanted her forced to be there with me.

  “She wants to leave me.” I tell him.

  He purses his lips for a minute, probably mad I changed the topic, before he becomes more sympathetic. “I’m sorry.”

  “I have to let her go.” I scrub a hand down my face. “So, if she doesn’t want to stay after Doc patches her up we have to let her go, okay?”

  “She might not want to leave.” He shrugs. “She seemed worried.”

  Hope sparks in my chest. Was she worried for me?

  “She’s probably worried about her brother, I’m paying for his rehab.” I shake off the comment.

  “Maybe.” He agrees. “Or maybe she’s worried about you, hmm?”

  I don’t sleep at all. They moved me to a tiny cell in the police station that was already crowded with other men. There's a shared toilet, sink, and benches. I’m wide awake, waiting, until Monday morning when they come to take me to court.

  I change into a fresh suit my father brings me. It doesn’t help much. My eyes are bloodshot, I’m unshowered, and I feel like shit. Even a suit can’t hide that.

  I’m led into the courtroom wearing cuffs, anything to dehumanize me further.

  “Gian?” I whisper to my father once we’re seated in the courtroom.

  “He’s coming.” He answers.

  All at once the door of the courtroom behind us swings open and in walks my brother followed by Annie. I don’t expect to see her. Honestly, I didn’t expect to ever see her again.

  She looks paler as she enters, hobbling down the aisle. Her hair is twisted back into a bun and she wears a black sheath dress with a single converse shoe on her one good foot. She looks like she’s attending our funeral, and I can’t help but think she is. Only this is the funeral of our relationship.

  “All rise.” The bailiff announces and the entire courtroom obliges.

  I feel tra
pped beneath a fog as I stand and the judge enters. Ricky will do all of the talking, I imagine my father spent all day yesterday prepping him.

  “He’s not a friend.” Giuseppe whispers to me as the judge enters the courtroom. It’s a code meaning he’s not a friend of la famiglia.

  Judge Baronni is an older Italian man with graying hair and a slight gut to him. He’s the type of Italian with no connection to the Mafia that hates other Italians for giving his ethnicity “bad name”.

  These types of guys are stuck up do gooders.

  Baronni sits down at the bench, a look of distaste shows on his wrinkly face when his eyes land on me. “Giovanni DelGado?”

  I straighten my blazer. “Yes, sir.”

  He licks the tip of his finger and flips through the file in front of him, leaving me sweating under the fluorescent lights.

  “You’re being charged with a felony breaking and entering and forced robbery. How do you plead?”

  “We plead not guilty.” Ricky answers him this time. For his lack of experience with criminal cases he holds his composure well.

  “On to the matter of bail…” Baronni continues.

  “Your honor,” The prosecutor, also known as the Assistant District Attorney interrupts. “We’re asking for bail to be denied as Mr. DelGado has several priors and is a known associate of the Providence Mafia.”

  “That’s speculation,” Ricky cuts in. “You can’t prove that.”

  At least, we think he can’t prove that. We’re running on hope that there are no rats in our organization. You can really only prove one guy is a made man if you find another guy to admit la famiglia exists.

  The ADA’s head whips to the side to face Ricky. “I will prove that. In court.” He says the words with disgust. “Your honor, Mr. DelGado has unlimited resources to leave the country. He will have no problem getting any amount set for bail and then he will be able to flee and the victim will be denied their day in court. Now, if you ask me that is an injustice to our legal system.”

  I snort a laugh at hearing Robert Pearce be described as a victim.

  That man’s not the victim here.

  Baronni stops the DA’s rambling by holding up a wrinkly hand. “I agree. Bail denied.” He bangs the gavel.