by Bethany-Kris
“Fucking mutt,” Giovanni said in a laugh, waltzing in behind the large creature. “Get out of the kitchen before Cecelia sees you and gets the squirt bottle.”
Kim watched in morbid fascination as the creature trotted out of the kitchen. “What in the unholy fuck was that?”
Giovanni raised a brow, smirking. “Surely you’ve seen a dog before, Tesoro.”
“That’s not a dog! That’s a beast, Gio!”
Giovanni laughed like she was being ridiculous.
“Quit laughing at me,” Kim mumbled. “This isn’t funny at all. Its mouth could probably swallow half my face. Did you see how big that was? Dogs aren’t that big.”
The damn thing looked to be at least one-hundred-fifty pounds.
“So he’s a little big for his breed. Vet says it’s a genetic thing, but he’s healthy, though. His heart carries his size. Cain’s good. Trained, or whatever. What’s wrong?”
Other than her heart being in her throat?
Oh, nothing. Not a damn thing.
“Who’s … thing is that?”
“He’s not a thing, Kim. Cain is a two-year-old Rottweiler. And he’s mine. Why?”
They’d been in New York for two days and not once had someone mentioned the fact Giovanni had a dog—beast, creature … thing. Whatever.
“Dogs shouldn’t be that big,” she said, her voice faint. “Jesus, you could have given me some warning, Gio.”
“What, he’s scary because he won’t fit into one of your purses?” Giovanni laughed again. “Cain is a baby unless someone gets nasty with me. Then he turns into a fucking freak show on four legs. Seriously, he’s a good dog.”
Kim was still skeptical, and it must have shown on her face because Giovanni sighed as he slid between where she sat in her chair and the table. Leaning down, he locked her into place in the captain’s chair by placing both his hands to the armrests and meeting her gaze.
“What’s wrong, bella mia?”
“You didn’t tell me you had a dog,” Kim said quietly.
She wasn’t quite sure why that bothered her, but it did. It was another reminder that she and Giovanni hadn’t had nearly enough time to get to know each other properly.
“It didn’t come up,” he replied in the same tone. “Do you not like dogs or what?”
“I don’t mind them when they’re not giant hairy beasts that scare the living fuck out of me.”
“Hairy beasts? He’s a short-haired dog.”
“All I saw was hair when he barreled in here like a bat out of hell.”
“Ah,” Giovanni drawled. “He does shed quite a bit. I apologize in advance for that.”
Kim crossed her arms, resting back in the chair. “He’s your dog, Gio.”
“I just said that,” Giovanni said, looking confused.
“Exactly. Yours. I’m not cleaning up after him. Glad we got that cleared up.”
“So, you don’t mind him, then?” Giovanni asked with a grin. “I can keep my dog? Because now, next to you, he’s the second love of my life. I had a hard enough time leaving him behind when I went to Vegas.”
Good God. He was like a kid when he wanted to be. Kim couldn’t help but smile.
“Whatever. Keep your mutt. I’m just saying, a little heads up would have been nice.”
“Honestly, it just didn’t come up. There wasn’t a time for me to chat with you about my spoiled pup who thinks he owns everything in my refrigerator. Is that really all that was wrong?”
“No. Well, yes, but no,” Kim said.
Giovanni’s brow furrowed. “What?”
“Do we really know each other?”
“Again, what? This seems like it’s about more than Cain.”
“I’m supposed to be your wife but I feel like there’s a lot about you I don’t know.”
“Oh,” Giovanni said. “Tell me what you want to know.”
Kim’s annoyance perked. “It doesn’t work that way, Gio. People learn things about other people over time. Not in a twenty questions session at a kitchen table. Come on.”
“Do you think we’re incompatible?” Giovanni asked.
“No.”
No, of course not. If there was anything Kim knew for sure about them, it was that they worked. Somehow. It was probably a little crazy sometimes, or it surely would be, but it did work.
“Don’t you know I love you?”
“Yes,” Kim replied instantly. “Why would you ask that?”
Giovanni shrugged, closing in on the small space between them. “Because you were freaking out over nothing. After all, you said it first, Tesoro. People learn things over time. And we have forever to learn. It started the moment you took my last name.”
“You think it’ll just be that easy for us, huh?”
“No. I think sometimes you’re going to wish you knew a good place to hide a body.”
Kim snorted under her breath. “Awesome.”
“Doesn’t mean you’ll love me any less,” Giovanni added with a wink. “There is nothing I have been surer of in my entire life than you, Kim.”
“Smooth talker.”
“Mamma always did say I was the most charming of the three.”
“More like difficult,” Kim teased.
“That, too, yeah.” Giovanni sighed, his gaze shifting away from Kim as he said, “So, I wanted to give you a heads up on a couple of things.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Antony received a phone call this morning. A body was recovered early yesterday morning and identified soon after back in Vegas.”
Kim frowned. “Who was it?”
“Franco,” Giovanni said softly. “Like I thought he would, Maximo must have dug a little deeper into his son’s secrets. Whatever he found, he didn’t like. Franco’s hands were cut off and there were one dollar bills stuffed in his pockets.”
“God, why? And why are you even telling me this?”
“I know it’s awful, and you could probably do without the info, but I thought it better you hear it from me and not someone else accidentally. When you do hear it outside of us, you’ll be able to react appropriately to the news. Okay?”
Kim nodded, but she still didn’t understand. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Removed hands in a hit usually signifies a thief. The money in the pockets explains what he took that didn’t belong to him.”
“But how did he die?”
Giovanni grimaced. “Is that something you want to know?”
“Could I hear it outside of us?” she asked back.
“Point taken,” Giovanni said. “His hands were removed after death, apparently. The means of death was by exsanguination from his tongue being cut out.”
Jesus.
Kim felt faint. “Who called your father?”
“Maximo.” Giovanni cupped her cheek, his thumb sweeping where the bruises were all but gone. “Even in murder, we correct wrongs for the sake of respect. The tongue, the call … Max’s way of apologizing to my father and you.”
“What about you?”
“Max let me live, Kim. His life for mine. He doesn’t need to say a thing to me because it’s not needed, and I sure as hell don’t expect it. I also wanted you to be aware because another body might show up if Maximo keeps digging to find what he’s looking for.”
Kim’s heart stopped for a split second. “Not Cody.”
“No, I was thinking more along the lines of your father.”
“Oh.” Well, that changed everything. Kim knew it was cold to have no empathy for the man who helped give her life, but she didn’t know how to feel anything else for Nunz. “Let him dig, Gio.”
Giovanni leaned down the remaining way and caught Kim’s mouth in a kiss that started out tender and slow but quickly warmed up to a fever pitch. A pulsing burn started in her midsection, working its way lower the longer he kissed. She could feel his wedding band on his finger pressing into her jaw as he kissed her harder. She hummed a contented sound as he pulled away, leaving a path
of kisses along her cheekbone and up to her forehead.
“We good?” Giovanni asked.
“Getting there.”
“Perfect.” Another kiss pressed to the corner of her mouth, making her lips lift up into a grin. “Love you, hmm?”
“Love you.”
“Sorry to interrupt,” came a voice from the entrance to the kitchen.
Kim tensed instantly at Dante’s intrusion. She hadn’t seen him since the first night she arrived, and he hadn’t said goodbye to her when he left. It wasn’t like she expected him to, either. Regardless, Kim wasn’t entirely pleased to have him near her now. She wasn’t interested in going another round through his verbal bullshit.
Giovanni offered her a tentative smile. “Be nice, Tesoro.”
“I would be,” she insisted too low for Dante to hear, although she didn’t quite believe it herself. Regardless, she knew how to be a fucking lady.
Standing, Giovanni leaned back to the table. “Dante just brought Cain over for me since we’re going to be heading to the condo later. He watched him while I was in Vegas.”
They had stayed at his parents’ home for the first two days, just to get Kim comfortable in a new city and for Giovanni to get whatever settled that he needed to. She was looking forward to going … well, home. She supposed that’s what it would be. It felt like it, even though she’d never been there. And the privacy. It seemed like someone was always walking in or around. She wanted Giovanni to herself for once without all the sneakiness that surrounded them from Vegas.
“Speaking of which …” Dante took a step into the room, smirking at his brother. “You owe me seven grand or a new piece of furniture for the couch he ruined the first week you were gone.”
“Sorry. Pick the one you want and I’ll have it delivered the next day.”
“And new chairs for my office.”
Gio cringed. “Jesus, Cain.”
“I thought you said he was good,” Kim accused.
“He is!”
“When Gio is around,” Dante added with a laugh. “When he isn’t, Cain turns into a toddler with tantrums and all. He’s very dependent on Gio for his happiness and correction. Much like a small child needs their mother constantly.”
“Shut up, you’re not helping,” Gio muttered. “I just convinced her to kind of like him … maybe.”
“Maybe.” Dante scoffed. “Good luck with that. He fucking eats everything he can find that he believes is edible.”
Great.
Kim sighed. “I should go get my stuff ready if we’re going to be leaving soon.”
She felt incredibly unsettled being close to Dante after their first encounter.
“Actually, you should sit and chat,” Giovanni said. “I’ll go up and get your bag. Then, I’ll have to convince Cain to get in the Escalade. He probably thinks I’m going to drop him off and leave again.”
“Gio.” Leaving her alone with Dante was not a way for her new husband to earn himself any fucking brownie points.
“Please?”
Why did she feel like she was being cornered?
“Whatever, Gio.”
Hope you enjoy sleeping on the couch, Kim thought with a glare.
Dante gave his brother a pat on the shoulder as he passed. Once Giovanni was out of the kitchen, Kim’s nerves ratcheted up a half of a dozen notches.
“Hi,” Dante said, shifting from foot to foot.
It was only then Kim noticed the Apple bag dangling from his fingers. She didn’t pay it much mind. “Hey.”
“I wanted to apologize for the other night.”
“Right.” Kim nodded and turned back in her chair to face the table. “If you’re going to do that because someone told you to, don’t bother. I don’t need it. And I really don’t want a fake apology to be added on top of the fact you clearly don’t like or approve of me.”
“I never said that,” Dante said.
“What?”
“I never said I didn’t like you. I don’t know you well enough to give an opinion on that. I do know my brother clearly adores you like you’re his moon, stars and sky, so that works for me. That’s all I need to know on that front.”
“But you don’t approve,” Kim pressed. “Because of Franco and the engagement.”
“I didn’t say that, either.”
“Wasn’t it obvious enough?”
“No,” Dante replied, frowning. “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t approve of what Gio did. That isn’t even remotely the same as not approving of you. He broke the rules, but I can still understand why. I guess he did what he needed to do. I’m not going to fault him for that, but I don’t have to like the way he did it.”
“But Gio isn’t me,” Kim said.
“Exactly. Are you happy?”
“Very.”
“You weren’t before,” Dante stated like it was a fact.
“Having to marry Franco? No.”
“Why?”
“Besides the fact he was an abusive asshole?” Kim didn’t understand how his question had anything to do with her and Giovanni. Still, the conversation was going better than she expected, so she indulged his question. “Because I didn’t get a choice. I don’t know how it works in your world—”
“Cosa Nostra, you mean.”
“Whatever. For me, I want to choose. It’s my life. Nobody owns me just because they helped to make me, or because they have a special last name and a certain lifestyle. They made it seem like it was my decision, but it wasn’t.”
Dante shifted awkwardly on his feet again. “I’m constantly reminded that I haven’t found myself a wife, yet. That I need one to supersede my father—to succeed in my own life.”
“You don’t want to be married,” Kim assumed.
“I have very little to offer a woman, and I don’t want to see someone suffer because of my choices in life.”
“That can’t be true, Dante.”
“It is. But that doesn’t matter. I’m in a very similar position that you were. I don’t have a choice anymore. It’s like a fucking clock ticking down in the back of my head. Gio showing up married just …”
“Puts more spotlight on the fact that you aren’t,” Kim finished, feeling sad for his position. “That seems really unfair.”
Dante shrugged. “You live in your world and I live in mine. They may overlap at times but believe me when I say they are not the same.”
Kim could sort of understand Dante’s behavior and attitude the other night in some ways. He was sympathetic to his younger brother, but at the same time, expected Giovanni to follow the same rules he had to. Then, Dante was clearly stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to the marriage. Happiness was hard to have when yours was constantly being scrutinized and someone else’s joy only highlighted what people assumed was your lack of it.
“Please don’t feel like I’m telling you any of this as an excuse for how I treated you or the things that I said. It’s in no way a reprieve for that. I was an asshole.”
“You were,” Kim said simply.
“It was inexcusable. And I’m sorry.”
Kim forced back the emotions lodged in her throat. “Thank you.”
Dante offered Kim a hesitant smile. “I promise I’m not so bad of a guy on a regular day. Plus, I’ve been told I can be intimidating without meaning to be. You kind of earned my respect when you had the guts to snap at me for acting like a tool, so there’s that. Lucian married the non-Italian with his middle finger up. Gio married the ball breaker and couldn’t be bothered to tell anyone until she shows up on our doorstep. That’s very … like my brothers, to say the least.”
“That just leaves you.”
“I guess it does,” Dante said indifferently. Then, he lifted his hand holding the gift bag. “I have something for you. Call it a belated wedding gift.”
Kim’s brow raised. “You bought us a gift?”
“No, just you. Gio hates it when anyone spends money on him. He’s too independent for that nonsense. H
e really only accepts gifts on holidays because he doesn’t have a choice. Or rather, Mom doesn’t give him one.”
“Oh. You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“I did, actually. I imagine Lucian will have something for you as well. Cecelia and Antony were already talking about how they were going to introduce you as a part of the family to the public, so you can bet something will be coming before that from them as well.”
“I don’t understand,” Kim said, confused again.
“Gio explained some stuff about Nunz that I wasn’t aware of. Like the fact that he never really had much interest in you. That’s not the way it’s supposed to work, Kim. You should have been respected and adored. A proper principessa. I don’t know if the word means much to you but to us, it’s held in esteem. We’re big on tradition and while Gio might not think his marriage is as huge of a deal as Lucian or I getting married, it still is for us as a family.”
Kim still didn’t understand what that had anything to do with people giving her things. “I don’t need to be given stuff to be welcomed, Dante.”
“Not really the point and you don’t get much of a say,” he replied, chuckling. “But, I was also warned by my brother that you might be a lot more like him than any of us knows. With that being said, if I were to get you something, it should be of use to you. Preferably not wearable or sparkly, because you can pick that shit out just fine for yourself.”
“Gio’s words?” Kim asked.
“Yeah. Also, I think he gets really pissed off at the thought of someone who isn’t him giving you jewelry. I thought that was funny. He didn’t.”
Maybe Giovanni did know her a hell of a lot better than Kim thought. She wouldn’t underestimate her husband again. “So what did you get me, then?”
“Something of use.” Dante smirked, but it faded just a little. “Actually, when we were talking about your father and whatnot, Gio mentioned Franco destroyed your laptop during an argument about continuing your education.”
Kim felt a heat rush to her cheeks. “I wish he hadn’t said anything about that at all.”
She didn’t want everyone knowing how awful it had been to be under Franco’s thumb. It was bad enough she let it go on like she did and that she had marks to show for it.
“Franco’s an idiot. Or was,” Dante corrected, giving her a sympathetic look. “That’s too nice, really. Either way, I know what was on your laptop can’t be replaced, but the computer itself could be.”