*Giovani*
“Giovani.”
The minute I stepped out into the hallway, I knew I was fucked. There was Alessandro at the end of the hallway with a dark look on his face. A combination of fury and hatred glimred in his eyes, a nasty look that was disconcerting to see, even for .
I stiffened as I shut her door behind firmly, hoping she didn’t hear him. I kept a blank look on my face, trying to play it cool even as a cold sweat developed down my back.
Of all the people who could’ve caught sneaking out of her room, it had to be Alessandro.
Fucking hell.
“Alessandro,” I called out, low and quiet, but I knew he heard . I kept a casual stance, trying to force it despite how stiff I felt. I didn’t need this right now, and if he found out what Olivia and I had been doing, I doubted she would forgive .
There was only one option–lie my ass off and hope he was stupid enough to believe .
I stuck my hands in my pants pockets, heading for my room when Alessandro cut in front of , blocking my doorway.
There was a snarl on his lips as he glowered at .
“You’re a fucking liar,” he snapped, the resentnt in his voice having reached a new boiling point.
I straightened to my full height, glaring at my younger cousin.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about, Alessandro.” I crossed my arms as I lied through my teeth.
“Don’t play with !” He slamd his fist against my door, the bang echoing down the hallway.
I took a step forward, intimidatingly. “In case you forgot, it’s four o’clock in the morning. Don’t go making a scene and waking everyone else up with your temper tantrums,” I scolded him, grabbing his fist and throwing it to his side.
He took a step back from the force I used, and I took the opportunity to grab my door handle.
I didn’t make it far before he grabbed the back of my shirt and slamd against the wall. From the way he looked at , his teeth bared in a snarl, I would have been six feet under already if he’d had a say in the matter.
“I know you’re fucking Olivia,” he lashed out angrily. “And you’re letting her whore herself out to you, you fucking bastard.”
My patience snapped. Insulting to my face was one thing, but targeting Olivia was going way too far. I’d had enough of his attitude. I brushed his hand off my shirt, stepping into his face as I glared down at him furiously.
“You don’t know shit,” I spat, not letting him speak about Olivia that way for even a single second. “And you will speak to and about Olivia with respect, or I will send you on the first plane back to the States and let your father deal with this bullshit.”
Alessandro laughed, cold and high without an ounce of warmth in his eyes. I was the enemy to him, and he was done pretending to be civil.
“Why?” he mocked tauntingly. “Afraid your little girl is gonna get hurt? She’s young enough to be your daughter anyway. That’s how you get laid, isn’t it–target the ones with daddy issues. Does she call you daddy, too?”
I saw red.
A crack ford along the wall, the wood splintering as my fist landed inches from his head, embedding my fist into the surface. Alessandro glared at unflinchingly, even as I leaned forward, cold and precise.
“I suggest,” I muttered to him with barely constrained rage, “that you stop talking right now.”
His mouth snapped shut, his jaw clenching as I shut my eyes tightly and tried to regain my cool. He had touched a nerve, and he knew it, too, by the smug look in his eyes. I had practically confird how much I cared about Olivia already, and we both knew it.
I didn’t have many cards left in my hand, and I was running out of options. My heart thundered in my ears as I broke out of my anger and regained my senses.
I removed my stinging knuckles from the wall, cursing my lack of restraint by the hole I’d left. Shit like that happened around here all the ti with so many deadly n, but I didn’t lie losing my cool.
I took a deep breath through my nose, glaring at Alessandro darkly. “Now, you can either tell what this is about like the adult that you are, or I can throw you out of the compound and you can find a hotel to stay at.”
“Now you want to take seriously?” Alessandro snorted, leaning back. “How about you stop pretending like you’re better than and admit you’re fucking Olivia?”
I stiffened, crossing my arms so I wouldn’t be tempted to punch him in his stupid face. I leaned against the opposite wall, wanting nothing more than to go to bed at this mont and be done with this painfully repetitive conversation.
“I don’t know why you think we would be together, but we’re not,” I lied coolly. “I would never–”
“Don’t lie to ! I just saw you leaving her fucking room,” Alessandro argued back. “Or is there any other reason you would be sneaking out of her room at four in the fucking morning?”
I didn’t miss a single beat as I replied easily, “She was having an issue with her bathroom sink. I went in to fix it. That’s all.”
He narrowed his eyes at , a skeptical look on his face as he glanced at my free hands.
“If you were just fixing her bathroom sink, then where are your tools?”
Luckily, I already had excuses prepared.
“I keep a toolset in every bathroom cabinet,” I told him. “Check your own bathroom and verify if you don’t believe .”
A shadow of doubt crossed his face, and I knew I had won this round. Victory sang in my blood, tasting especially good with how he had insulted Olivia and tonight. I kept my eyes firmly on him, not looking away for even a second as he stared back at .
I could see him wavering, rethinking things, but there was still skepticism in his eyes. He didn’t totally believe , but I didn’t expect him to. I just had to put that seed of doubt there and luckily, I’d succeeded.
He clenched his jaw, finally stepping back. We stood on opposite ends of the hall, both of our backs to the walls as we silently challenged one another to back down.
This ti, it was he who let it go.
“I apologize for jumping to conclusions,” Alessandro said through his clenched teeth, looking like it hurt to apologize. To him, it probably did.
I had no doubt his pride was full of thorns as they slid down his throat. Swallowing it was the best I was going to get tonight. I nodded, not even pretending to forgive him.
Not after what he had called Olivia.
I turned to head back to my room, but Alessandro wasn’t quite done with yet. I stiffened and glanced back at him, grumbling to myself. I was too exhausted for this bullshit.
“But,” he said, a calculating look in his eyes, “you should know better than to enter a young girl’s room this late at night. If she needs help with her sink next ti, you should wait until morning. Or tell her to call .”
That old friend nad Jealousy reared its head, and I clenched my hands tightly, only giving him a cool glance as I told him firmly, “You’re right. n shouldn’t be entering her room so late at night. I’ll keep that in mind, but so should you.”
“It’s fine for old friends like us,” he said, tilting his head. The scheming in his face was making nervous. He had the upper hand now. “But then again, I might not be able to if I have more responsibility in the family.”
And there it was.
The greed in his eyes was prominent, and no matter how much he liked Olivia, he was willing to set it aside for the chance to take any bit of control he could.
I set my jaw, fury in my chest as I realized what kind of person Alessandro was becoming. I wanted to beat the shit out of him and teach him not to play with others like they were pawns on a chessboard, but I had no right to talk.
I had done far worse things.
But Olivia–there was no reason for him to involve her in all of this. She was caught in a war that she didn’t even know was happening. It wasn’t fair, but for now, there was nothing else I could do.
“Of course.” I gave in despite my better judgnt. I couldn’t let him spill what he had seen. I could try to fool him with flimsy excuses, but Tallon... or worse, if this got back to Jas, there was no way I could keep our relationship quiet then.
Goddammit.
All I could do was placate the boy in front of .
He smirked in victory, raising his head as I turned my back on him and entered my room. The mont my door shut behind , I began to tremble with sheer fury.
He was blackmailing . The little shit was actually trying to blackmail , and the worst part was, it was going to work.
“Shit,” I cursed, brushing my hair from my face as I headed straight for the liquor cabinet. I was going to drink myself to an early grave at this point, but I didn’t care at the mont. I needed sothing in my system to numb so that I wouldn’t turn around and send Alessandro to the hospital Dahlia had just been released from. Olivia wouldn’t be happy with , but maybe if she didn’t find out....
I shook my head of the thoughts, gritting my teeth as I swung back a glass of whiskey. The burn was refreshing and comforting, like returning to the embrace of an old friend. I poured myself a second glass, downing it one go before I made my way to the bed.
I was exhausted, and the stress built up. Every ti one problem was solved, two more popped out. Crises were everywhere, and I was getting too old for this. I slamd head-first onto the bed, not even bothering to remove my shoes as I just stuffed my face into a pillow.
Not for the first ti, I deeply regretted becoming Don. I regretted not having a normal life, one where Olivia and I could get married and live together without any of this secrecy, and where no shitty cousins were blackmailing or Russians trying to ruin our lives.
But this was the hand that I was dealt.
And all I could do was play it.
Reviews
All reviews (0)