Giovanni

by Coco Miller

  He will no longer control me. He will no longer control what he thinks he knows about me and my men. And yes, they’re mine. The minute Henry abandoned us was the minute he gave up his head of our family.

  It’s now been decided I will take over as boss. There was an emergency vote in my absence and with only three nays and ten yeses, I was voted in by the heads of thirteen families of the Andolini syndicate.

  I am the new Don of the our family.

  And Henry can go fuck himself. Hard.

  I just have one last job to do before everything works out in my favor. I glance at Kelly, wondering about our future.

  I do all this for her, I want this all for her. I want to see her by my side for the rest of my life. But, does she want this? She’s been in more danger than she probably has ever been these last few days.

  Does she want to be wife to a mob boss? Would she leave me? I am hoping like fuck she will have me. That she’ll over look all the bad things with how we met, and think about the good things we can have together. I have to make her believe I will never let anything bad happen to her. I would give her the world if I could.

  And I’ll start by protecting her tonight. By showing her that I can protect her and her mother. And then we can deal with her father after we’ve dealt with Henry.

  Henry steps into view, and for the first time in a long time, I have my mission and the know how to defeat my enemy.

  I won’t fail.

  Not now.

  I don’t care if this is the man who has taught me everything. Nope, tonight this motherfucker is going down.

  I step into the room, letting him get a full look of me.

  “Giovanni,” he starts, trying his best to sound cheerful even though I know that’s a look of shock crossing his features.

  He tries his hardest to glance around the room without looking worried to see if I’m by myself.

  “Why don’t you let me take her back to the hospital.” I point to Kelly’s mother on the table.

  “She’s fine. She’s not really sick. It’s all a ruse.”

  At these words, Kelly rushes forward, letting her presence be known. Which makes me draw my gun.

  “Kelly, I knew he’d bring you. I’ve known Giovanni a very long time.” He glances between the two of us with a wicked smirk all over his face. What is he planning? “Does he love you?” he asks.

  Kelly’s eyes widen, and she doesn’t take the bait which I find very sexy. She doesn’t even know it yet, but she’s learning. She is a Don’s wife in the making.

  “I’m here for my mother, not to chit chat about things that are none of your business with you.”

  I spot Leo and the guys on the other side of the large room, and I try not to make it obvious they’re there. I know Henry has not seen them yet. So, I change the subject.

  “What the fuck are you even doing here, Henry?” I ask him. “What was this whole thing about?”

  “I’m here to take back what’s mine.”

  I want to roll my eyes at him. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  He laughs, moving closer to Kelly’s mother. “It means I’m going to take back what this bitch took from me.” He leans over Barbara’s face, grazing his hand down her face.

  “Are you in love with Vincent or something? You sound demented.”

  “She took from me! She’s a thief just like he is.”

  “And you’re an asshole, and she never took anything from you,” Kelly says, moving to the table to look down on her mother. “Don’t worry Mama, I’m going to take you home.”

  Barbara wakes up, opening her eyes just a tad. “Kelly, is that you?”

  “It’s me, Mom. I’m here now and we’re going to get you back to the hospital.”

  Barbara shakes her head back and forth. “No, not going back.”

  “What do you mean?” Kelly pleads with her mother as I raise my gun and aim it on Henry.

  I don’t trust him.

  Obviously.

  “There’s so much I need to tell you, sweet child.” Barbara raises her hand to touch her daughter’s face.

  Henry steps away from the table, yanking Kelly with him by the arm.

  “Don’t touch her,” I boom through the small room. “Let her go right the fuck now, Henry.”

  “Ah, I see he does love you,” Henry says to Kelly. Henry raises his own gun to put to Kelly’s head. “That’s sweet.”

  I freeze, watching the woman I love with this deranged asshole.

  Leo and his team move closer, making their presence known and Henry laughs.

  “Hugo,” he screams, and a large man with an even larger beard enters the room.

  I don’t give a fuck, and I’m not even the least bit afraid of him. Doesn’t matter how big an asshole is, a bullet will take care of a big man the same as a small man.

  Kelly cries as Henry holds her closer, digging the butt of his gun into her temple. She is crying and visibly shaking. I will kill this asshole.

  I make a move, stepping even closer and closer to Henry’s left as Leo and Justin move to his right.

  Within seconds a gun goes off, and we all turn around. Vincent has fired his gun into the air, trying to get Henry’s attention.

  “You will let both of them go. You have what you want now,” Vincent says, moving closer to the table that has Barbara lying on it.

  Barbara sits up, her eyes meeting Vincent’s. A moment passes between them, and tears leak out of Barbara’s eyes.

  He hugs her, helping her off the table all while keeping his gun aimed at Henry. “Take them,” Vincent says to me. “Take them both out of here. I’ll deal with Henry.”

  I can’t let him do that. I can’t take the chance that Henry will walk out of this factory alive. I won’t take that chance. And I don’t want Barbara and Kelly to fear the rest of their life and constantly be looking over their shoulder.

  Nope.

  I shake my head.

  “No,” I turn my head, “Justin, take them out of here. Leo and I will stay to help with Henry.”

  Justin steps forward, putting his gun in the back of his jeans and taking Barbara from Vincent’s hands. She’s weak, but he manages to pick her up. “Get Kelly,” he tells another man of his, Hector.

  Henry drops Kelly, and raises his gun to aim at Vincent.

  As soon as both women are safely out of the factory I raise my gun, stepping closer to Henry.

  Leo has his piece aimed directly at Hugo.

  “Game’s over,” I say to him.

  It’s three on two.

  Someone’s about to lose.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Kelly

  I believe in many things, and although I know Henry is a liar, there’s something about what he said about my mom and her illness that gets under my skin.

  The minute we’re outside, I ask her. I ask her everything, while tears stream down my face.

  “Are you okay, Mama?”

  “Yes, sweetie.”

  “I think you owe me an explanation then.”

  “It’s a long story, Kelly,” she starts.

  “Tell me, Mama. The man I love is in there protecting me. Protecting both of us with his life. I want to know why.”

  I’m full on crying, watching my mother stand here with a different posture than I’m used to. Her face may be stressed but her body is tall and strong. I haven’t seen her stand that way in a very long time. This is...unforgiveable. Has she been lying to me?

  “I am not sick. I never meant to lie to you, but we had to make it look real.”

  “Make what look real?” I should be ecstatic, but instead I’m unable to process all the words she’s saying to me.

  I’m also worried that the love of my life is still in the factory with a crazy man. “Mom, make what look real?” I ask again.

  “I love you.” She hugs me before continuing, “But, we felt it was the best way to keep us both safe.”

  “From who? Who’s we?”

  “Your
father and I.”

  She smiles and I want to puke.

  “I can’t believe you would lie to your own daughter. Who are you right now?”

  “I know but–”

  “That was an elaborate ruse mom. The doctor. The chemo.”

  “It was staged. Your father arranged it all.”

  The sound of bullets firing makes us both stop what we’re doing, and Justin and a few of his men rush back inside.

  I am sick with worry as chaos ensues for the next twenty minutes. The factory is located so far in the cut that no one is going to hear the gunshots. I just pray we all get out of here alive.

  Finally, the large metal doors slide open and I am relieved when Giovanni finally walks out safe and sound. Only a few scrapes. Not even a gunshot wound.

  “Are you okay, baby?”

  Giovanni wraps his arms around me, checking me out to make sure I’m not hurt, but the only thing hurt on me is my broken heart as I watch my mother reunite with Vincent. I mean my father. It almost makes me sick.

  Should I really be happy for the two of them for lying to me? I’m not. I don’t know if I can ever forgive them. My parents are liars. My entire life has been a lie.

  It’s a long drive back to the city. Back to my mother’s house. I won’t sit with her or Vincent. Instead I ride alone with Giovanni and let her ride back in another car with her husband. I decide to go to her place, because I know there is more to discuss and because I will at least give her one last chance to plead her case.

  I don’t know how I should be feeling about my mom right now, but I do know one thing, I’m never letting Giovanni go. He’s probably the only person I can depend on now. The only person who won’t lie to me. That I can say for sure. Even when he took me from the front of my apartment on Henry’s orders, he never lied to me. He told me what he could when he could and nothing more or less. I can’t say the same for my parents.

  The minute we make it back to my mother’s Giovanni leads me to the back room, and I pass out. It’s been so long since I’ve slept I feel like I could sleep for days. And I pretty much do.

  “Lay with me,” I ask Giovanni.

  “I’ll lay by your side for the rest of my life. And when you wake up, we can discuss everything.”

  I’m not really sure what he means, if he’s talking about my mother and father, or if there is something else I am not aware of.

  I close my eyes, breathing deeply the moment Giovanni is flush up against the back of me, playing the big spoon in our snuggle fest.

  It doesn’t take long for me to fall asleep; Giovanni’s steady breathing in my ear helps. And then I let the sleep I need so badly pull me under.

  And worry about what’s next tomorrow.

  When I wake up the sun no longer shines from the bedroom window of my childhood room. I’ve lived here my whole life, with a mother who loved me and who also told me my father was a crook.

  I believed her bullshit, just to later learn that they are what? In love? Ugh.

  I pad my way into the living room, listening to the voices there. I can spot Giovanni’s voice instantly.

  “I’ll take over the family now that Henry is no longer running things,” he says. “They had the vote.”

  “I like that idea and of course I can work for you,” Leo says. “I’ll always have your back.”

  “I appreciate that, brother,” Giovanni says back.

  “And what about my daughter?” my mother asks.

  “Well, that’s up to her,” Vincent says, acting like he knows what’s best for me.

  I let everyone know I’m awake by walking into the room and taking a seat next to Giovanni. He wraps an arm around my shoulders and gives me a peck on my forehead.

  “Sleep well?” he asks me.

  “Yes, what time is it?” I ask. “Or better yet, what day is it?”

  He laughs. “It’s still the same day. Just very late now.”

  “What are you all talking about in here without me?”

  He smiles, glancing at my mother and father sitting on the other side of the room.

  “Well, that’s another long conversation.” He laughs. “Maybe we should eat breakfast first. You hungry?” His eyes twinkle.

  I turn up the side of my mouth.

  “Aren’t I always hungry?”

  Epilogue

  Giovanni

  Three Months Later

  I have to say when I first brought up the idea to Kelly about being my wife as I head up an organized crime family, I worried she’d never go for it. Not because I didn’t trust in her love for me, but I still wasn’t sure if she’d be ok with the lifestyle of a criminal.

  I’m not sure that it helped that her mother and father encouraged her to say yes, especially after I told her that Vincent would be working for me.

  Kelly of course needed time. This was a whole new reality for her. Her parents together and in love? Her mother not sick? Her father not the animal she’d always thought he’d been.

  I understood that, but the time that she took to process all of that was agony for me. I was unsure of what her answer would be up until the last moment. But, when she came to me and said yes it was the happiest day of my life.

  It took a long time for Kelly to even want to talk with her mother and father. And I don’t blame her. The only person who’d ever let me down like that ended up dead. And yes it was with a bullet I’d put into the motherfucker.

  But, I was all about giving Kelly the time she needed. I don’t know if she’ll ever talk to her mother and father ever again, and to me that’s fine.

  I’d respect her decision either way. I’d love her any way she chose just as long as she chose me.

  But, she ended up needing her mother, going to her one night and talking a straight five hours with her nonstop.

  It took longer for her to speak with her father. But little by little I see their relationship growing. They are getting to know each other. Coffee after coffee. Dinner after dinner.

  I have to say Vincent is a good man, as far as I can tell. He does as I ask, with no questions from his mouth. He wanted out of the life to keep his family safe from violence, so I make sure not to place him in harms way. No violence. Nothing illegal. Just working for one of our legit businesses which need a lot of help getting back on their feet after the mess Henry pulled.

  He wants to belong more than anything. He has something to prove. I’m not sure if it’s to Barbara or his daughter. Or maybe both.

  I wait for my princess to come home from shopping with her mother.

  I asked her to marry me three months ago, but I want it to be official. I want her to know I meant it when I asked before.

  A few days later…

  After meeting Kelly, life changed dramatically. I was once lost and running through a life I didn’t deserve. With one smile from her lips, however, my world came crashing into full color.

  Everything in me became more alive than it had ever been before. Sounds took on new meaning, lights reflected the sun differently, the music played more sweetly, and everything around me harnessed an aura that moved in a symbiotic fashion.

  Life was moving quickly, and the family was prospering better than it ever had before with Henry in charge. Leo was a genius, helping out with many of the fronts and laundering. Vincent was a big help as well, and I knew I was on the right path.

  I found it funny how one can be asleep throughout their whole life. I never want to be asleep and dreaming through my life ever again. I now hold on to the ones I cherish and make sure they know how much they mean to me.

  In the mirror of my estate, I stare at myself dressed all in black and smile. Nothing was the same, yet everything was.

  Kelly walks into the bedroom, frowning. “Does this look okay?”

  She walks toward me in a low-cut evening dress that illuminates her eyes to a whole new level. She is stunning.

  “It’s perfect,” I say, coming up from behind her as we both stand in front of the mirror. My arm
s wrap around her waist, and I breathe in her honeydew scent.

  “I love you, Giovanni.”

  I turn her around to stare into her eyes. “I love you, too. You are the love of my life.”

  She grabs her purse and walks toward the door. “Are you ready?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  We walk out of the house together, all dressed up with a night of special planning awaiting us.

  I love this woman. And I want her to know it.

  I’ll always show her it.

  We run through the streets of Manhattan, and I reach the limo, opening the door for her. “Get in,” I usher her into the back seat, sliding in after her.

  The driver already knows where we’re going, and I lean back, wrapping my hand into hers.

  Her skin is soft, and I can’t wait until later tonight to have this woman.

  I kiss her neck, breathing in her fresh scent. “I’ve been thinking about this all day,” I tell her.

  She blushes. “Me too.”

  “Not like I have.” I continue kissing down her neck, reaching her breast, and I cup one in my hand.

  “Giovanni,” Kelly peeks around the limo cab, “what are you doing?”

  “Touching you. Feeling you. I will want you always.”

  She smiles. “Don’t ever stop.”

  And I oblige her, not stopping when she’s begging for more of the same things I want.

  I rake my fingers up her beautiful skin, tracing my fingers over her cheek. And then I kiss her, taking her tongue into my mouth. I deepen the kiss, wanting more than anything to feel more of her. I want to explore her mouth like I have many times before.

  But tonight is different.

  Tonight is the night I make sure she’s mine for the rest of my life.

  Tonight’s the night I make complete love to my soon-to-be wife if she will have me.

  I keep kissing her, my hands roaming all over her body. She moans and groans as she lifts her leg up just a bit and I catch it with my hand, wrapping it around my back as I lean her down on the seat.

  I need inside of her, but I know we’ll be arriving at the restaurant soon. And after the restaurant I’m taking her to the cabin where I first kept her when I had kidnapped her. Except this time it’s going to be pretty inside thanks to Aurora’s handiwork.