Chapter 68

Giovanni POV: 

I felt horrible the way she was sitting back in her chair, absentmindedly smiling as she looked around the room. My mother guided her up to my old room for me while we sat there finishing the meal.  She followed a long like a child dead to the world around her. I thought once she knew we were going somewhere safe she’d relax, but it seemed meeting my family was very important to her. I tried not to grin at the thought that she cared that much for me. 

My mood soured though as I watched her leave and then turned to my father, he stared at me with a discerning look. I wanted to roll my eyes, but I knew that would only antagonize him. I was sure he’d tell me what was wrong with her soon enough, and I would ignore all of it. If he knew anything he would know there was no turning back for me, I had damned myself in his name to avenge my brother, now that an angel has swopped in to save me he is upset. 

“She's beautiful,” He commented. 

I didn’t say a word in response, waiting for him ot get it over with. This was all on deaf ears, I wouldn’t care if he told me she was the devil himself, she was the only good thing to me. 

“She’s a liability.” He looked at me, noticing how I was off somewhere else. “You are close, you could come home.” He tried pulling my attention. 

I looked at my little cousins disobeying their mothers and fathers, running around the room. Becca and Luca swatting away their doting mothers as they avoided comments on how they needed to find someone and have a million babies. I had missed this, I had missed the overlapping voices, the food, the warmth in the room, the surety I was not alone. It felt good to be here, but home, home was asleep upstairs in my childhood room. 

My mother came back to a cold gorge between me and my father, she sat down putting some tart on our plates. “I see you waited all of five seconds to tell him why that young woman is a weakness,” She snipped. 

I smirked underneath my hands folded in front of my mouth, she was always able to tell what he was up to. 

“She is a good girl-” 

“I don’t disagree, but she will get hurt-” 

“She's been hurt, she's lost her mother, her father is a monster. They have found each other in this mess, and you sit there and say they need to be apart.” She rolled her eyes and sighed exasperated 

“They need to focus on the job.” My father set his fist on the table hard, and my mother looked down at him, daring him to try and intimidate her. He may be angry, but that did not mean he got to disrespect her. 

He coughed and shrunk under her gaze. “I don’t want this to go wrong.” He tried explaining. 

“Good, so leave them alone,” she patted his hand, sitting down and tucking into her desert. 

I bit back my laughter, I know they were scared. They had lost one son to this tragedy, they didn’t want to lose another. My mother saw things more clearly, and having her by my side was good for me, I felt human again. I wanted nothing more than to step into the sun with her by my side, we could get through this if we were together. This was the first time I thought of surviving this. All the dark deeds I had done, perhaps I could atone for them by loving such a creature of kindness and generosity. 

“We’ve seen the extent this man is willing to go to. You think his own daughter is off-limits?” My father asked. 

I hated it, but the words stuck in my head. I did not doubt that if he cornered Domenico would do whatever it took to survive, including harming her. He wanted her to take over for him, but in the end, it wasn’t going to happen; perhaps he saw that now. 

I stood and nodded goodnight to my parents, I wouldn’t let my mind wander into the darkness. Not when I was with my family, not when I could be up in bed holding her close to me, protecting her in the night. 

I pushed the evil thoughts from my mind, climbing the steps and making a vow to God, whatever comes next, whatever animal lashes out at us from this, I will protect her. No harm will come to her so long as I live. 

I got up to my room, my football still in the corner, my posters still on the wall. The tie to my uniform from school was hanging on my chair, everything as I had left it. She slept soundly in the sheets of my youth, her hair cascading onto the mattress, her face lit in the moonlight. How could I ever resist? How could I ever turn away? 

I crawled into bed beside her, and she intinctually turned towards me, laying her head on my chest and murmuring something before missing my skin and falling back into her sleep. It took a moment or two before sleep granted me permission to leave my worries behind, but when it did, I slept hard. 

By morning, she was, snooping about my room, looking at my medals and photos, my things littered about the room. 

“See anything interesting?” I asked, and she didn’t turn around to see me as she responded. 

“You ahvent changed much,” she pointed to a photo of me and Luca trying our best to look mature in front of the school. 

“We were so adult, were we not?” I chuckled sitting up, she turned around crawling over the bed back to me laying down on my chest I wrapped my arms around her, if my family wasn’t downstairs I would lock us in this room and spend all day doing all manner of things. 

She kissed me tenderly, but I was a damned fool and grabbed her tightly deepening the kiss she chuckled pushing me away but I was determined for more. 

“Your family is downstairs,” she whispered to me in between kisses. 

“They’re busy.” I did not care. 

“Uh huh,” she hummed, kissing me back as I rolled her over, desperate for her. 

All our troubles left us, flying back to the States where we left them. My father my still be consumed by vengeance, but I was losing the shackles one by one as she touched me. Her lips freeing me of the battle armour I had collected. All the weight unloading as she sighed for me, breathless as we found each other. 

I knew it would all come back to haunt us, but at this moment, I didn’t care.