Chapter 74

Chapter 74
Arianna POV:

Had the city always looked this dull? Was it always this cold? The house we had shared for months on end, which was once warm and joyful, our sanctuary, now seemed sterile. The silence echoed off the walls, only guards and workers bustling by around the house. No children screaming, no mothers chasing, no Becca laughing, or aunts nagging. 

I had remembered what a family had felt like in Italy, what it could be like with those you love around. His family had welcomed me with open arms, and I had felt as if I’d known them all my life, even his father in an odd way. He was domineering and stubborn, but he loved his sons. He didn’t voice his concerns and care in a healthy manner at all, but I was not one to judge on emotionally incompetent fathers. 

As soon as we got back to the house, the ever so lovely detective Mosley busted his way into the house, storming up to Giovanni and me. 

“Do you have any idea what it’s like for my two star witnesses to flee the country before trial. Let me explain. It doesn’t look good!” He shouted with a pointed finger at Gio.

Gio, in response, coolly leaned back on his desk. “We’re not on trial, and you seemed to have everything under control.”

The detective clenched his fists and brought them to his head at a loss for words in his irritation. 

“Besides, we needed a break, this is the first time in years I didn’t have to worry about him attacking if I went home.” Gio crossed his arms and the corner of his mouth tucked up in amusement, getting under the detective's skin. 

“He’s going to do everything he can to weasel his way out of this, and he will only go down if we stick together. 

“He’s in prison, right?” I asked, hoping he hadn’t gotten out on bail. 

“Yes, he’s still in prison,” Mosley relented, exhaling exhaustively. “But we got out judge and he’s a good judge, even put a fellow justice of the peace behind bars for collusion and bribery. Which means the only way your father can get him to be lenient is by force, but the Bureau doesn’t think he’s enough of a threat to put officers on his family. 

The detective sucked in a breath and looked at the heavens as if to ask for strength. “So I was hoping…” he trailed off, not meeting Giovanni’s eyes. 

I pinched my lips together to stop from laughing as poor Mosley had to ask Giovanni for help. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re insinuating.” Giovanni looked like a cat with the canary. I covered my eyes and shook my head. 

“You know damn well what I’m asking,” Mosley snapped. 

“I’ve been in Italy too long, your American phrases are lost on me right now, you’ll have to be clear,” he grinned.

“Oh, for the love of god, please put some of your thugs on he judge and his family so that they’re safe,” Mosey whined like a child, much to his opponent's glee. 

“My thugs,” Gio mused. Well, I’ll see if I can find any,” he went around to the other side of his desk and put in a word with some men. 

“Has Blake reached out at all?” I asked the detective shook his head no, his face going solemn. 

“Any word on my sister?” I asked, knowing I’d get the same answer. True enough, he scratched the back of his head and shook for no again. 

“We have some of his men in custody, though, and we’re trying to see what they know,” he offered. 

“It’s alright, thank you, detective,” I nodded. 

He gave me a curt nod before heading out. I went upstairs to unpack. Not back an hour, and the bliss from Italy was already washed off of me. 

I felt responsible for Blake, she was involved in this because I wouldn’t let it go, and we had t heard from her since she found the Swiss bank. She should have checked in by now, she wouldn’t leave without any word. My sister, on the other hand, though she was a grade A pain, she was my sister. I had no doubt my father had done something horrible to her in an effort to teach her a lesson.

She’d collected evidence on him. I don’t know who she was planning on giving it to, but the file she’d had was enough. It would have sent my father into a biblical rage. 

Marcos' concerned face flashed into my mind. He didn’t love my sister, but the concern he had for her was genuine. He’d seen her in danger more than once from the looks of it. I didn’t like who she was as a person; she had a lot of room to grow, but still, how often had she been threatened? How many days did she spend living in fear? 

It didn’t excuse her abhorrent behavior, but it did explain it. I felt responsible, she was my younger sister, I should have looked out for her more. She didn’t have anybody watching over her like she should have. I remember her bouncing around as a child, the brightest smile in the world. 

I clenched my fist and slammed the suitcase into our closet. How much had he taken from the two of us? How much happier could we have been if my father had been a respectable man, made his money the right way? Could we have been together still? 

“Leave it to the detective to spoil a perfectly good mood.” Giovanni came up behind me, kissing my neck and burying his nose into it as he wrapped his arms around me. 

“He means well,” I murmured, finding solace in the feel of his warmth, the touch of his skin on mine. 

“I say we leave it all to him and go back,” he mumbled, still pressed against me. 

I giggled as his lips tickled me as he spoke. I reached back and rubbed his head. “You know we can’t do that, we have to help, otherwise my father will slip away,” 

He hugged and grabbed me tightly. “I suppose,” he growled, kissing my cheek and walking off towards the bathroom. 

“Still-“ he called back to me. “- we can shut the world out a little longer,” he started the tub. 

He stalked back to m,e and a grin broke out across my face. “Pizza is in the way, but I think I’ll need a snack before then,” he sighed, standing in front of me, unbuttoning my blouse. 

“Mr. Risci, I don’t believe we’re married yet; that would be untoward,” I warned him. 

He kissed my cheek and my neck, then down my collarbone. “Then I’m afraid we’re damned together,” he hummed stopping at my belly button before lifting me up causing me to realease a squeal. 

“Let’s enjoy it,” he announced. 

For one night longer, we ignored our problems and let them circle outside the house, waiting for us. I cherished my financés touch and lost myself in it. We may not know what was coming, and I knew something was going to go wrong, but right now, I was engaged to the love of my lif,e and nothing else mattered.