Giovanni (25 page)

Jordyn, like Kim, had lost her mother. Different circumstances, of course, but the mutual pain and the sense of missing someone important were still the same. Like Kim had grown up without much attention or care from her father, Jordyn had been brought up without a male figure at all. What was even stranger was when Jordyn barely blinked a lash as Cecelia introduced Kim as Gio’s wife.

“Seems like something Gio would do,” Jordyn had said. “If he were going to marry at all, he wouldn’t want a big show made out of it. Gio likes things to be simple in his own way. Nothing wrong with that.”

That was the end of it.

Kim pressed the crust for a pie into a dish while Jordyn spoke about when she met Lucian and how their story had started.

“You two didn’t wait long, huh?” Kim asked.

“Kind of fits with this family’s theme for love and marriage it seems,” Jordyn said with a light laugh. “Cecelia and Antony were married less than six months after they first met. Antony’s father married his wife within a few months of meeting her, also. Isn’t that right, Cecelia?”

“It is,” the Marcello matriarch replied with her head still stuck in the pantry.

“Lucian and I were a little longer than that, but only because Father Peter demanded we take the couple’s classes. He was good about it and let us double up on them to speed things along.”

Kim shook her head. “Gio and I take the record, though.”

“Well, not really. You said you met at my wedding, right? That puts you two right on par with everyone else.”

“We weren’t together, though.” Kim glanced over at Cecelia, who was still looking for her spare bag of icing sugar. Kim hoped her new mother-in-law hadn’t heard her say that. Cecelia didn’t act like it, thank God. Lower, Kim added, “Well, we got together. We just didn’t stay that way for long.”

Jordyn shrugged, smirking. “You think that matters? These men, they know. When they find that one, they don’t waste time. Even if they’re pigheaded about it.”

“Jordyn!”

Kim started at the loud, male voice yelling down the hall.

“Oh, good, Lucian’s here,” Cecelia said, finally popping out of the pantry. “He can just go to the store and buy me icing sugar. Looking in here is pointless. Someone must have been touching my things again. Probably Antony, the godforsaken fool.”

“
Bella
?”

“In here,” Jordyn hollered, suddenly a lot more interested in the apples she was slicing.

“Hey, something smells—” Lucian’s words came to an abrupt halt as he entered the kitchen, as did his walk. Instantly, his gaze cut to Kim. “Hello.”

Kim shifted on her feet, ready for yet another introduction that would leave her feeling uncomfortable. “
Ciao
.”

Lucian’s stance eased at Kim’s use of Italian. “
Come ti chiami
?”

“Kim.”

Jordyn coughed. “Marcello.”

Lucian stared at his wife. “Pardon,
bella
?”

“Her name—it’s Kim … Marcello. That’s why I called you to come over here earlier. I thought you’d want to meet your youngest brother’s new wife.”

Kim couldn’t help but be amused at Lucian’s lack of words. He continued looking at his wife like Jordyn had suddenly grown a second head.

“You’re kidding me.”

“No,” Kim said, offended Lucian even uttered the sentence. “Who would make up something like that?”

“Gio,” Lucian replied deadpan. “If he thought it would be funny. Seriously, where is my brother?”

“Lucian, it’s not a joke. Maybe you should go talk to your father,” Cecelia said, coming to stand at the island beside Kim. “Antony explained some of it to me in private a while ago, and I imagine he’ll want to do the same for you. It’s a bit of a delicate situation, and I don’t think Kim should have to explain it without Giovanni. It wouldn’t be fair to her. If we consider Gio, he won’t be pleased with anyone questioning his wife when he isn’t here.” 

Lucian nodded. “I think I will. Kim, it’s uh … nice to meet you.”

“And you.” Once he was out of the kitchen, Kim groaned. “That was awkward.”

“Give him time,” Jordyn said. “Lucian isn’t good with surprises. He prefers to know everything ahead of time. That’s probably why meeting me knocked him so hard on his ass it took him weeks to get back out of his own head.”

“Probably,” Cecelia agreed. “I’m should go ask Lucian to go to the store when he’s—”

“It’s fucking broken!”

Kim’s eyes widened at the shouts coming from outside the kitchen. It wasn’t long before Antony was storming into the kitchen with Lucian fast on his heels. A laptop was slammed onto the kitchen counter.

“Dad, wait, let me see the damned thing.”

Antony pointed at the screen. “No, Lucian, look. See the goddamn dot, it’s not moving. It hasn’t since I logged in. It’s broken.”

“What are the rules about language and my kitchen?” Cecelia asked, frowning.

Both men ignored her as they crowded the laptop.

“That’s not how it works,” Lucian muttered. “Watch.”

Kim didn’t understand what was going on, but after a few keystrokes and Lucian moving his finger around on the mouse pad, Antony grew still.

Lucian stood back from the laptop, waving at the screen. “See, that’s Dante’s. His is moving. I just talked to him before I came in the house and he was on route to pick up some blueprints from across town. It’s not broken.”

“It has to be, Lucian. I’ve been watching it for hours. It hasn’t moved.”

“What are you two going on about, now?” Cecelia moved around the island. “Oh.”

Jordyn looked as confused as Kim felt. The laptop screen didn’t make a whole hell of a lot of sense. It was split into two different maps. One had a blue dot moving slowly across the map on the right, while the other had a red dot that wasn’t doing anything at all.

“What is that?” Jordyn asked

“It’s GPS,” Lucian answered.

“On Dante?”

“And me,” Lucian said.

“And Gio,” Antony added. “It’s a safety precaution, in case something happened and they couldn’t contact me. A chip built into the cellphone sends signals, even for a short while after the phone is shut off or broken.”

Kim’s heart stopped. She already knew the answer, but still asked. “Which one is Giovanni’s?”

“The one that isn’t moving.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Gio walked into Maximo Sorrento’s office by his own free will and with his head high. Because he felt no shame for his actions, he didn’t think he needed to act like a child readying for a scolding. For the sake of respect, he did keep the years of a learned arrogance out of his posture as he regarded the three men sitting in the office.

Maximo, Franco, and Cody.

Well, five men if he included the two enforcers who drove him around for hours after they destroyed his cellphone and tossed his gun. He wasn’t entirely sure what the point of the nonstop driving was. Likely to see if they could get his panic rising and his mouth moving. It didn’t. Still, the two fools continued to stand close behind Gio like he might make a run for it.

He wouldn’t. Gio was impatient to get this over and done with.

Gio glanced quickly at the clock on the far wall, noting the time. The relief was instant. Kim’s plane would have landed a short while ago. She was fine—
safe
. Now, he needed to focus on getting himself to the same place.

Time for business.

“Where is the whore?” Franco asked, glowering at Gio. “If you’ve got her hidden somewhere, Marcello, I will find her. It will end so much worse for her when I do.”

“She’s not hidden,” Stephan said. “I imagine she’s in New York, now.”

“What?” Franco’s rage crackled in the room.

Maximo sighed. “Quiet, Franco. I didn’t tell you earlier, as you’re upset enough. My men didn’t have a choice but to let Kimberlynn go on to catch the flight. You’ll have to get over it, and by that, I mean from here on out, you forget her. You will not be allowed to seek her out for retribution or my hand will be forced to let them deal with you how they see fit.”

Franco’s brow furrowed in his confusion. “
Them
? What in the hell are you talking about? She was fucking him while engaged to me. She’s just as bad as he is!”

“Be that as it may, my hands are tied,” Maximo said, seeming bored with the entire conversation. “She’s married him, there’s nothing you can do unless you’re willing to risk the wrath of the Marcello clan coming down on you. I won’t protect you from it now that I’ve warned you.”

“Married—”              

Gio cut Franco’s words off by tossing the engagement ring he’d taken from Kim onto the desk. “Guess you might want that piece of shit back since she’s got me marked all over her. By the way, you look good sitting in your father’s spot,” Gio said, nodding to Franco resting in Maximo’s chair behind the ornate oak desk. “Getting some early practice in while he’s still around, are you?”

Franco’s gaze narrowed. Gio had to give the idiot credit, Franco didn’t say a thing at the obvious bait.

“Nothing, huh?” Gio asked Franco. Well, he could fix that. Flashing his hand in the air, Gio watched as Franco’s angry gaze caught the wedding band on his finger. “Funny, I didn’t need to threaten, abuse, or blackmail her like you did to get her down the aisle.”

That did it. Franco stood fast, the chair slamming into the wall behind him with a crash. He looked as if he was going to leap over the desk. Gio stood firm, not moving an inch. “You cocksucking little bastard!”

“Nope, I didn’t have to do any of that,” Gio said, still grinning like a sonofabitch. “All I had to do was love her.”

“Fucked her like the slut she is, you mean.”

Gio cocked a single brow, refusing to let his fury show. “
Oh
, I would be very careful about tossing names in the direction of my beautiful wife. Trust that your father won’t like the ones I’ll toss back for you.”

Finally, Franco seemed to latch onto the fact Gio knew or was suspicious the idiot was involved in something he shouldn’t be. Franco turned to his father with gritted teeth. “Be done with it,
Papà
. He’s fucking useless. I want him dead for what he did with her.” 

“Franco, sit,” Maximo said with a quiet firmness that spoke of years of patience.

Maximo stayed seated on the corner of his desk with his hands folded in his lap, unbothered by the tension hanging thick in the room. It was men like him Antony had taught Gio to fear the most.

Quiet men were dangerous men. Below their surface, a volatile rage simmered, waiting to flare. A harsh coldness saturated them, making them able to turn off the empathy humans possessed. Violence and viciousness were their drugs of choice. Those kinds of men … they always hit when you least expected them to.

Gio decided to tread carefully from there on out based on Maximo’s seemingly composed demeanor, despite the situation surrounding him being an unpredictable mess.

“Enough of your theatrics, Giovanni,” Maximo said, cutting him a look. “We have business to do, and I am not in the mood for your absurdity tonight. I’ve already had more than enough of it with the stunts you’ve pulled. There’s nothing I despise more than having the wool drawn over my eyes.”

Gio held back from pointing at Franco and asking if he knew about the wool his son was working on keeping as tight as a noose around his father’s neck. “My apologies, Max.”

“Maximo,” the Don corrected sharply. “Now, to you, it’s Maximo.”

Treading carefully, indeed.  “Got it.”

Maximo stood from the desk. “You are such a fucking disgrace. The grief your family will suffer for your selfishness is unthinkable. Antony will understand my reasons, but forgiveness will never come. More than anything, I’m angry at you for ruining the twenty-year friendship I have with your father. My only regret tonight is the call I will have to make to New York after.”

“No need,” Gio replied with a shrug. “I already did.”

“And yet, I will still call,” Maximo said quietly. “You have no regrets though, do you?”

“About Kim? Not a one.”

“Because you think with your cock and not your brain,” Franco growled. “You gave up everything for a piece of Italian pussy.”

“My cock had very little to do with it,” Gio murmured, unfazed. “Falling in love with her was easy, like blinking and breathing. Had you spent more time learning who she was instead of trying to shape her into your ideals, maybe you would understand. A man like you, Franco—faithless, foul, and spoiled—couldn’t possibly have someone as wonderful as Kim stand at your side and want to be there. Shame on you for trying to force her.”

“Fuck you,” Franco spat.

Gio smirked. “No thanks, I’m good.”

“I want it finished,” Franco said to his father, his fury showing in the shake of hands fisting against the desk. “Now, not later.
Now
.”

Maximo shook his head. “When I’m ready, son. I’m not, yet.”

Gio breathed a silent sigh of relief. He knew the moment he started calling out Franco on some of his lies, the asshole was going to try and shut him up. It wasn’t the right time, and Gio was still breathing so far. He took that as a good sign. 

“Are you ready, Cody?” Maximo asked the young man sitting on the couch with his gaze trained on the floor.

“Whenever you are, boss,” Cody replied.

“You’re prepared to take the Omertà and swear your loyalty to
only
my family?”

“Yes.”

“You’re willing to put
la famiglia
above your own blood, to focus only on the needs, desires, and dreams of the Cosa Nostra?” Maximo asked, walking over to the large window in his office before closing the curtains. It left the room dark until a lamp was flipped on. “
My
Cosa Nostra?”

“Cosa Nostra is my dream,” Cody said softly.

Gio wondered why he was privy to the very private and secretive initiation ceremony. Not only was he not a part of the Sorrentos, but he’d done their family incredibly wrong in regards to Kim. He shouldn’t have been in the room at all.

Maximo moved back to his desk, perching on the side again. “Good. That’s what I like to hear. Would you kill for it?”

“Yes.”

“Would you grieve over the loss?” Maximo pressed.

Cody shook his head. “No.”

Maximo’s stare lifted, leveling on Gio. “Not even if it was say … your brother-in-law?”

Gio stood straighter at those words. Still, he kept quiet.

“No,” Cody repeated. “My loyalty and devotion are only to Cosa Nostra.”

“Well done,” Maximo praised. “Franco, in the top drawer on the left-hand side. Bring out my things.”

Then, the Don stood from the desk once more as Franco placed a gun, a silver pocket knife, and a small card bearing the picture of Saint Helena to the desk. “Usually I would have more of my men here to do this with me, Cody. I would let them question your faithfulness and commitment to our life, but today you’ve proven it well. And frankly, there’s been enough of a spectacle made with Giovanni acting like he has with your sister. I didn’t need any more ruckus, and I don’t have the patience for it. We’ll do it this way, as the intentions and end result is still the same.”

Maximo emptied the clip in the handgun, replacing only one bullet and then he slid it back in with a click. He put the gun down and picked up the silver knife, rolling the sharp tip over the tip of his index finger. A small drop of blood pooled that Maximo sucked away.

“Let’s have a lesson, shall we?” Maximo asked, handing the knife back to Franco. “It’ll be a good one for us all. Rico and Stephan are acceptable enough witnesses for Cody’s initiation into the family. I expect you both to stay quiet.”

“Yes, boss,” the men said together.

Maximo waved at Gio. “Giovanni, start us out. I’m sure you’re accustomed to these traditions.”

Gio cleared his throat, preferring the attention be anywhere but on him. “I’m already made. I don’t need to repeat the oath or speak the commandments.”

“Do it because I asked you to, or I will make you. The rules, give me one.”

Silently, Gio cursed, trying to keep his head focused. It was difficult to do when he didn’t know what game Maximo was trying to play with him. Even so, he spoke like he was ordered to. “A man is never to formally introduce himself to another friend of ours directly, but instead, a made man who knows both must present them to each other.”

“And why is that, Franco?” Maximo asked, turning to his son.

“To abate potential issues arising with outsiders, or the possibility of undercover officials weeding their way in. If it happens even with the proper introductions, the man who invited the friend in will be culled.”

“Exactly.” Maximo nodded to Cody. “Next, please.”

“Men involved with police or have relatives affiliated with officials, those who act with lesser moral values or behave badly, and a man with a double-dealing relative cannot be a part of Cosa Nostra,” Cody said.

“What other rules does that fall in line with, Cody?”

“We shouldn’t be seen in pubs or clubs acting like drunken fools. We can never speak to police. Fighting with other made men is not tolerated.”

“I’ll take that,” Maximo said before adding, “We could say it also entertains the idea of not stealing from other families and such. Giovanni, give me another.”

Gio kept one eye on Franco still fiddling with the knife behind the desk as he said, “Status and authority are always acknowledged and respected. Arrangements made within these ranks should never be shunned. Therefore, a boss’s word is law so when asked, we always give the truth and unless absolutely necessary, we never take the life of another made man.”

“Said quite well, Giovanni.” Maximo rapped his knuckles on the desk, gaining his son’s attention away from the glare he was giving Gio. “And the one rule keeping your sister from having to answer for her behavior, Cody?”

Gio scowled, feeling the obvious jibe crack over his skin like a whip. Somehow, he managed to stay silent as Cody said, “All wives of made men must be treated with the utmost respect, regardless of their husbands’ scandals.”

“It’s also the only reason why my ex-wife was granted her divorce instead of a grave. Too bad the church refuses to invite me back because of it. Franco, give me one more, please,” Maximo ordered, turning to face Gio again.

“Always make yourself free and ready for Cosa Nostra. It’s not an expectation, but an obligation.
La famiglia
is our constant duty, regardless if our mothers are on their death beds or our child is being born.”

Maximo smiled grimly, staring Gio head-on. “There’s only one left. Seems no one wants to say it. Would you like to, or should I, Giovanni?”

“I will,” Gio muttered, refusing to break under his nerves. “Touching the wife of another made man is forbidden. It is, and always has been, punishable by death to have affairs with women spoken for by men of honor.”

“Such a disgrace, you are,” Maximo repeated with a sad undertone. He held his hand to the side. “It’s almost hard to believe how well you’ve hidden your flaws, Giovanni. Give me the knife and Saint, son.” Franco handed the items over. “Stand and come to me, Cody.”

Cody did as he was told, not hesitating. Maximo turned the kid’s hand over and pressed the blade of the knife into his palm. All the while, Gio could practically feel the two men behind him breathing down the back of his neck, giving him the creepiest feeling of something crawling over his skin.