Filthy Marcellos: Giovanni

by Bethany-Kris

Antony was likely too shocked to reply. It felt insanely good for Gio to say how he really felt out loud to someone other than himself. Of course, he told Kim repeatedly, over and over until she couldn’t doubt the truth in his feelings. This, however, was bigger than even that.

  “She’s intelligent and beautiful.” Gio sucked in another breath, feeling the weight in his chest start to bear down again. “She’s Italian through and through. She’s crazy sarcastic when she’s bored, independent as hell, and she doesn’t take any shit from me. She’s so good for me, too.”

  “Good how?” Antony asked.

  “She keeps me clean.”

  “Gio, that’s—”

  “No, it’s not like that,” Gio interrupted his father quickly. “It’s not some co-dependent crap. This is natural, and she gives me what I’ve been chasing down for years. It’s like I don’t need or want to run after it anymore because it’s already here. I can’t explain it any better than that.”

  “So why can’t I call your mother and tell her she can finally stop worrying about you?”

  Gio barked a laugh, but it was strained. “Cristo. She’s always going to worry.”

  “I know,” Antony murmured.

  “I really fucked up this time,” Gio repeated.

  “Yeah, I heard that, son.”

  “It was inevitable. There wasn’t any way of getting around it. She was mine, but she wasn’t.”

  Gio suspected his father needed a minute to chew over his words, so he let Antony stew in his silence. All the while, Gio listened for the shower to see if Kim had finished, but it was still on. Other than the rhythmic sounds of his own breathing, everything else was quiet. Too fucking quiet. Gio was restless all of the sudden. He needed to do something other than sit. Sitting wasn’t going to keep him alive. What would?

  “Start from the beginning,” Antony demanded.

  “At Lucian’s wedding …” Gio did not want to go through all the private details of that night like this. Certainly not over the phone, and not with his father. He didn’t have a choice.

  “What about it?”

  “I met her there. It was supposed to be a one-night thing, and I was gone before morning. She didn’t even tell me her last name, so I didn’t know that first time.”

  “I hear a but in there,” Antony said.

  “Yeah, there always is. I knew she was someone, I just didn’t know who and I didn’t care to ask. She wasn’t affiliated with any families close by because I know them all pretty well.”

  “How did you know she was anyone at all?”

  “Because she knew me. Or us, I guess. She didn’t know details, but she was a guest at the wedding, which should have been clue number one. Number two would have been the fact she knew what I was. Is that clear enough?”

  Antony groaned low. “We’re getting there. Who is she, Gio?”

  “At the meeting of the Commission.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Franco—the Sorrentos. Max mentioned the upcoming wedding with Nunz Abella’s daughter. The first time at Lucian’s wedding, they weren’t together and I didn’t know. They didn’t get officially engaged until she went back to Vegas.”

  “She’s Franco’s fiancée?”

  “Yes. Or was, I guess.”

  “Jesus Christ.” Antony’s breath whooshed into the phone, making the speakers crackle in Gio’s ear. “You keep saying the first time. It wasn’t just the once, was it?”

  “No.”

  “And after you went to Vegas, you knew and did it again, didn’t you?”

  “Yes,” Gio admitted.

  “How long?’

  “It’s been ongoing since I came out here. Yeah, I knew. And I didn’t care.”

  “Giovanni David!”

  “I’m sorry. It was stupid and reckless. It goes against everything you ever taught me. I know it’s bad.”

  “It’s more than bad, Gio,” his father hissed. “It’s a fucking disaster. I can’t fix this. Do you get that? This can’t be fixed!”

  “I’m sorry. I made a shitty choice and put us in this position, but I won’t apologize for loving her. I can’t do that. I don’t regret it.”

  “Jesus, Gio,” Antony muttered, the anger bleeding out of his voice. “What am I going to do?”

  “Nothing. There isn’t a thing you can do. I knew that before I even called. It didn’t matter. You had to know, and I didn’t want you getting a phone call or something.”

  Antony choked on air. “A phone call. Right. Because now I have to worry about your fucking body showing up somewhere instead. This is worthy of that, Gio. They can kill you, and there’s not a goddamn thing I can do about it. I wouldn’t even be able to retaliate after without setting off a war. Did you realize that when you were sleeping with a made man’s fiancée?

  “I mean, if you were Dante or someone else in a higher position, they’d have to go through the Commission to be sure it wouldn’t set off something. Then maybe I could pull weight. I can’t with you. They don’t have to bring the issue to the Commission at all because it’s not the same thing. You’re just a capo, son. It also doesn’t help that you’re in Vegas on their territory breaking rules like that.”

  “I know,” Gio said for what felt like the hundredth time.

  “You’re a good capo, Gio!”

  “My street smarts really aren’t going to make a difference to—”

  “No,” Antony snapped. “I mean you’re a goddamn good capo. You know the rules better than anyone. You might bend and break every rule the outside world gives you, or completely ignore what I tell you, but Cosa Nostra rules? Gio, you could repeat those to me when you were only thirteen. You knew what they were before you understood what they even meant, before you and your brothers took the Omertà. You wanted this, Gio. You wanted those rules and this life.

  “They were the only thing I knew you respected enough to understand the weight of and you believed them,” Antony continued sharply. “They were the one fucking thing I didn’t have to worry about when it came to you. Betraying the core commandments of Cosa Nostra and the beliefs of the family? My son? Never. You wouldn’t because you knew, and I know you knew.”

  “I fucked up,” Gio said through grinding teeth. “I get it.”

  “No, clearly you don’t. And I’m not going to let you handle this like it’s any other thing because it’s not. You won’t get to brush me off your shoulder and come out of it unscathed like every time before. Listen to me, you broke the most fundamental beliefs of the Cosa Nostra. You’re in territory that does not belong to you. You’re a dead man walking, Gio!”

  Gio’s head dropped and he raked a hand over his face. Everything his father said was true. He couldn’t even deny it. “I’ll get it figured out. Something. I get it done. Always. I have to.”

  Antony groaned. “You don’t understand.”

  “I do. I know exactly the position I am in right now. It doesn’t matter. I just found her, and I am not giving in like that.”

  “Franco—”

  “Is the biggest piece of shit to walk the earth,” Gio finished for his father.

  “I’m sorry,” Antony murmured. “But she’s his spoken for wife. The engagement makes it final. They’re as good as married. You know the rules, Gio. You must not look or touch another man of honor’s wife. You know this.”

  “He hit her. Bruised and abused her. Fucking hit her in her face and knocked her to the ground in front of men who did nothing. That’s how he treats something amazing. That’s not honor, and I refuse to follow rules that put me on the same scale as that man. He doesn’t deserve my respect to do it.”

  “I promised your mother, Gio. I can’t break my promises to her. I never have.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t do this to me, okay? Don’t make me break a promise to your mother. She can’t bury one of her boys. She would never forgive me. Get on the flight to New York, and I will try to handle the rest. At least here, Max and Franco
have to go through me first. That’s a lot better odds for you.”

  “I can’t do that. I can’t leave it left open here. Kim never wanted to be married to him. It was forced because she made a mistake. That was all. Please understand.”

  Antony hummed. “What kind of mistake?”

  “How is that important right now?”

  Outing the fact Kim had stolen a great deal of cash from a Cosa Nostra family, even if it had been by accident, surely wasn’t the way to get into Antony’s good graces. There were only so many things his father held in high regard after all, and money was up there on that list.

  “Because I asked,” Antony said with an air of finality. “And right now, Gio, you owe me total honesty.”

  Fuck.

  “She was caught by Franco counting cards at the Royale Grace. She wasn’t aware the casino was owned by a fellow family. Her take was a little over two-hundred grand. Franco needs an appropriate wife, Kim was made aware of what would be her consequences for stealing, and the rest is history.”

  “What about Nunz?” Antony asked.

  “That’s the odd thing about it, Nunz had no backlash for Kim’s mistake.”

  “He should have. It was his daughter which means it was his responsibility to make sure she understood the rules and surrounding families.”

  “I’m aware,” Gio said. Taking a breath, he then went on to explain to his father about the things Franco had said to Kim, the bit of information he learned from Cody, and what he thought it all might mean. Antony took it all in in silence. “You sent me here because of your suspicion Franco was going to come in on his father, and not for our family, didn’t you?”

  “I didn’t like the way he talked,” Antony said instead of answering outright. “He was too arrogant with his father still in his spot. You three boys would never talk like that if you were frightened of me coming back on you for it—you all are, I might add. I like Max, so maybe I’d enjoy having him around for a few more years.”

  “Max invited me to stay in Vegas for a couple of more months to help straighten out Franco,” Gio added.

  “That speaks volumes on his own uncertainties, even if he doesn’t realize they’re founded just yet.”

  Gio scoffed. “You heard Max at the meeting. He’s letting Franco have more leeway, now.”

  “And he’s suffering for it, too. He said that as well, son. I think that says a lot.”

  Antony laughed.

  Gio’s annoyance perked. “What in the fuck is funny about this?”

  “I was too busy worrying about keeping the cracks in our family from being shown that I wasn’t looking for the cracks in others. These things make the difference, Gio. They make it big.”

  “How big?”

  Antony took a deep breath. “I have to hang up the phone now, Gio. You have to do this by yourself. I can’t be your father here. I have to be the Marcello Don. You broke the rules, so now you figure out a way to fix it.”

  “Dad—”

  “I’m buying one ticket now for the 9AM morning flight from Vegas to New York. It’s the soonest one available. I’m sorry about that. There will not be a first name on the ticket, only that it’s designated for a Marcello. Someone will be at the airport to pick up whoever gets off that flight and they will be delivered directly to my home. Is that clear?”

  It was an olive branch, Gio recognized. If he couldn’t save himself, he could surely save Kim. Antony was offering to help in that way.

  “Yeah, I got it. Anything else?”

  “How long do you think you have right now?” Antony asked.

  “Early tomorrow morning for sure. Franco expects her back tonight, but it’s taken care of.”

  “If, as you say, love is the most important thing about her to you, then you need to keep her safe. There are other rules, son. You know them. Use them.”

  “I’ll consider it.”

  “I have to go, Gio. I can’t be involved in this any more than I already am. It’s going to take years to repair the damage you’ll cause between you and other families for this mistake. Years. Other made men will find it hard to trust you. Everything in the business is going to be so much more difficult than it was before when it comes to you. I have no doubt you will understand the gravity of your errors in due time. Be careful.”

  The phone call hadn’t even had time to disconnect fully before Gio realized what his father was saying. Years. Antony said Gio would have to work for years to repair his reputation to the Cosa Nostra and other made men. That meant his father seriously believed Gio would make it out of this alive.

  It didn’t even matter. Gio had to make a plan for the present and keep Kim alive.

  • • •

  It was a while later before Kim finally emerged from the bathroom. Despite having felt so restless when he was on the phone with his father, Gio had practically rooted himself to the end of the bed, sitting there with his head in his hands. His thoughts were a jumble, his heart raced, and his lungs couldn’t take in enough air, but he had a plan.

  That was more than he had an hour ago.

  Kim stood in the bathroom doorway, dressed in the same outfit from the night before. Wet and wavy strands of her hair were flipped to the side as she rested her hip against the doorjamb.

  “We’re in a lot of trouble, huh?” she asked.

  Gio nodded, looking her over. The swelling from the bruise on her cheek was retreating. It still pissed him off like nothing else to see it. A redness rimmed her blue eyes. She’d been crying, clearly. “I’m sorry.”

  “What, why?”

  “I love you. People who love other people shouldn’t do things that make them cry. That’s not okay.”

  Kim cocked her head to the side. “You didn’t make me cry.”

  “Didn’t I? If you’re crying over the situation, I put us in this, too. It’s the same thing.”

  “No,” Kim said quietly. “I was crying because of me, Giovanni. Because if I had just been smarter, I could have avoided all of this. I acted like a stupid girl, thinking I was so intelligent. Why not show off a little for my friends? I knew better, not in the sense of who owned the casino, but what I was doing.”

  “A thousand people walk into casinos every day and count cards. It’s a shitty byproduct of the business. What you did isn’t anything new. Besides that, I’m pretty sure if Franco hadn’t cornered you at the casino, it would have happened in a different way. He had plans, that much is clear. And you’re not stupid. I don’t want to hear that bullshit coming out of your mouth again.”

  Kim rolled her eyes, giving him a look in the process. “Get off it, Gio.”

  Gio stood from the bed, walking across the room until the two stood toe to toe and Kim was looking up at him. “I’m serious. You and me, we’re something. We’ll figure it all out in time, but right now, we’re just something. So in a way, that kind of makes you mine.”

  “I’m starting to get sick of this whole men thinking they own me thing people have going on. No one owns me, Giovanni. I’m my own fucking person.”

  “Doesn’t make you any less mine, Tesoro.”

  Kim’s lips pursed and Gio immediately wanted to kiss the annoyance away. He did just that, tipping up her chin with two of his fingers. Soft and slow, he kissed away her stress and aggravation, feeling the silkiness of her mouth moving with his until she melted into his chest.

  “I just want to be me,” Kim whispered when Gio rested his lips to her forehead.

  “With me, you’ll always be the best you. I promise.”

  “It was stupid, though.”

  Gio shrugged. “So what? Stupid is a lot of things. Like a man who breaks the only rules he’s ever followed in life for something silly and crazy like love and still can’t find an ounce of regret for it. Even if it kills him.”

  “What are we going to do?” Kim asked.

  Gio’s shoulders tensed. The fear seeping into Kim’s voice burned up his spine. “I don’t want you to be afraid.”

 
“I—”

  “No, listen to me, please. I don’t want you to be afraid, Kim. Ever. Not today or tomorrow, or years from now. Not of me or any other man. I’m sorry I put you in a position where you have to feel that way. You don’t deserve that and I should have known better. I did, actually, but I didn’t care. That was my mistake. I’m going to start correcting that now.”

  Kim stayed silent.

  “You love me, yeah?” he asked, grazing his nose along her cheekbone.

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re going to love me tomorrow, in a week, or next month, right?”

  Kim nodded. “Too little too late to deny it. What’s the point, Gio?”

  Gio took a breath, willing his nerves to calm. This was not the way he thought he would be proposing this question. Literally. “I might have broken the rules, but they still have to follow them. Just because I betrayed the family’s beliefs by messing around with you, it doesn’t make me any less of a made man. It doesn’t change the oaths I took. They can never take that away from me, just end me. Do you understand?”

  A shiver shuddered through Kim. “I don’t like where this is going.”

  “Do you know the rules the Cosa Nostra lives by?”

  “I’ve heard them,” she confessed. “I probably shouldn’t have.”

  “Probably not,” he agreed. “There isn’t really one that’s held in higher esteem over the others. They’re all treated the same. Some can be bent a little if it benefits to do so—like not being seen in clubs and such. I own three. Many others do, too. But there’s one rule … it’s never bent even a little.”

  “So, how does that help us right now?”

  Again, Gio’s nerves grew. “If something were to happen between now and tomorrow before I can get you on a flight to New York, it might be the one thing that would save you from being hurt or worse. All wives of made men must be treated with the utmost respect. Regardless of that man’s standing in La Cosa Nostra, his wife must be treated as a man would his own wife.”

  Kim froze in Gio’s arms.

  “I want you to marry me, Kim. Today.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “I’m as serious as a goddamn heart attack, Tesoro.”