Giovanni (6 page)

Antony tossed him a look, shutting Gio up. “It could be, son. Don’t look at only the Sorrento side of this. There’s a reason he focused on us. If Franco has the nerve to make a move on his own father, what’s stopping him from trying something on the Marcellos?”

“Nothing,” Gio said quietly.

“Exactly. Go to Vegas, Gio. Max already thinks I’m going to be sending you out there to survey that exporting venture for the luxury cars, anyway. If Franco is the one handling that nonsense, you’ll be right in the thick of some of his guys. Idiots talk. They can’t help it. Should something be going down, or in the process of beginning, you’ll hear whispers. I want to know what’s happening in Vegas.”

“You do realize you’re putting me back with the guy I just threatened to kill, right?”

Antony chuckled. “I trust that you’ll stay out of trouble.”

Gio sure as fuck didn’t.

Chapter Five

Kim let the driver side door to the new Mercedes slam harder than necessary. The car had been a gift of sorts from Franco, only she didn’t consider it a gift at all. Presents were usually wanted or needed.

Kim neither wanted nor needed, a new car.

Franco thought her previous Mazda wasn’t nearly nice enough to be driven by his future wife. Kim thought the new car was too goddamn pretentious, given she hadn’t been one to flash what bit of wealth she did come from, and she didn’t like flashy people to begin with.

Well, her
fiancé
didn’t care a bit.

After yet another argument about her lack of class and behavior he felt suitable, her Mazda disappeared from her dorm room parking lot one morning. The new Mercedes rested in its place.

There was something to be said for a pissed off woman. Any man with a lick of self-preservation would feel it coming for a mile and run as fast as he could to get away from that oncoming mess. Not Franco.

It didn’t make a difference how logical Kim’s explanation was, or how politely she explained it to him, Franco was as stupid as a block of wood. What he wanted was what he wanted, and what he deemed appropriate was exactly what Kim would be whether she liked it or not.

The car was one of the many things Franco took issue with. Soon, Kim’s clothing came under his scrutiny. Instead of skinny jeans and T-shirts for days spent at college, suddenly dresses were permanent fixtures in her wardrobe. Then, he started muttering about her looks. The way she wore her hair down. Or the fact that red lipstick gave the impression she was too loose.

Whatever in the hell that meant.

Kim was so over it. The control was suffocating her. She was dying.

A loud voice in the back of Kim’s mind was quick to point out Franco’s actions and behaviors were typical abuse. Emotionally and mentally, he was breaking Kim down bit by tiny bit.

Kim’s small circle of friends from college had distanced themselves over the last three months, annoyed at her lack of physical and intellectual presence. They didn’t know who she was anymore, what with her changes in appearance, sudden shows of wealth, and the two bulldog men of Franco’s who rarely left her side.

She felt like nothing more than a fucking shell that only knew how to smile and nod at the correct times, but rarely ever talked or gave an opinion. The youthful, lively, easygoing twenty-one-year-old inside was desperately clinging to her college classes and dorm room because it was the last bit of freedom she had left.

Pretty soon, that would go, too.

Every part of Kim that made her who she was, Franco was taking away. Sure, Franco hadn’t laid a single finger on Kim in the physical sense, but he didn’t have to. The threat of what he could do rang loud and clear.

There was definitely a dangerous side to Franco that occasionally peeked out enough to scare the hell out of Kim. It was like a boil of steaming anger that simmered just below his surface, and when prodded in the right way, blew like a volcano. Kim had witnessed Franco’s rage on scarce instances when he didn’t realize she was there. Or maybe he did and didn’t care.

It could be the flash of a gun to someone’s face, Franco’s hand striking out to knock someone to the floor, or violent words that sent shivers crawling down Kim’s spine.

Christ. He was killing her.

Kim sighed, shifting her messenger bag on her shoulder as she stood in the driveway of her father’s home. It wasn’t like she wanted to have another useless conversation with Nunz, but what choice did she have?

She needed some space from Franco, at the very least. Surely her father could give her that. Nunz owed her the illusion that he cared about her.

Inside the home, Kim found her father in his office upstairs. She waited while Nunz finished the conversation he was having on the phone. Leaning in the office doorway, she nodded to her older brother, but not much else.

The sibling relationship they once had wasn’t the same since her engagement to Franco. It wasn’t great before, but it was even worse now. Cody thought the marriage was an awesome thing for her and their family. Kim just didn’t.

“Classes today?” Cody asked.

Kim passed her brother a glance. “Three classes and study group.”

She didn’t bother to explain she was made to cut back her other two classes for her English minor, never mind Franco was demanding she give up college altogether. In his opinion, his wife didn’t need to concern herself with furthering her education when it wouldn’t be put to use. What he needed was for his wife to be at home, doing what she needed to do there.

Jesus.

The thought alone made Kim nauseous.

“You headed over to Franco’s later?” Cody asked.

Kim nodded. Of course she was going to Franco’s after she was done with her father. It was Friday, wasn’t it? That meant she had to know what Franco’s plans were for them over the weekend
.
Hopefully nothing
.
She couldn’t endure another round of hanging off his arm at some ridiculous event.

“Hey!”

Kim bit her inner cheek to keep from growling at her brother to leave her the hell alone. “What, Cody?”

“Talk to me. We never talk.”

“I wonder why,” Kim muttered.

Cody didn’t bite on the comment. “Mind if I catch a ride with you to Franco’s?”

“Why?”

“There’s a guest from New York scoping out a deal Dad and I got Franco in on. I need to be in on that, or at least a part of the discussions.”

Kim heaved a sigh. “Where’s your car?”

“In the shop. Somebody’s fucking dog didn’t get out of the way in time and took out the radiator yesterday.”

Great.

“Seriously, he’s got guests from New York over there today?” Kim asked quietly, giving her brother a look that she hoped voiced her displeasure.

Cody shrugged. “A guest, from what I heard. Just keep out of it. Turn cheek, you know.”

Kim scowled up at the ceiling.

Franco couldn’t keep business out of his house to save his life
.
Men came and went like they owned the place. Kim rarely felt safe in Franco’s home and like hell would she stay there alone though she tried to never stay there at all.

She sure as shit didn’t share his bedroom. Kim shuddered at the thought. How long would she be able to keep that at bay, too?

Nunz hung up his call. “Kimberlynn, what brings you home?”

“I need you to yank Franco back a bit,” she replied, getting straight to the point. “He might as well have his hands around my fucking throat here, Dad. I can’t breathe beside him and I’m doing something wrong.”

Nunz sat back in his chair, arms folding over his chest. “Have you talked to Franco about it?”

Kim knew she was bordering on a thin line of having control over her emotions and losing her shit completely. She took a breath, hoping it would settle the round of anxiety, but it didn’t. Nothing did anymore.

“What good is talking to him going to do me, Dad?” Kim asked.

“What good would
me
talking to him do, Kimberlynn?”

Kim’s hand on her messenger bag tightened, her fingernails cutting into her palm. The pain relieved her inner turmoil for a brief moment. “You know I can’t stand him.”

“You made your choice.”

What choice?

Kim knew the moment she decided to talk to Nunz it would be pointless. The complete lack of empathy or concern from Nunz spoke volumes. It had been this way her entire life, but since the death of her mother, it only got worse.

“Did you love Mom?” Kim asked.

Nunz brow lifted to his receding hairline. “Pardon?”

“You heard me. Did you love my mother?”

“Of course I did, Kimberlynn.”

“Your entire marriage, or just a part of it?”

“Hey, now watch your goddamn—”

“I’m just wondering because the total disregard you wave over me is disgusting. I came from you, Nunz. You helped to make me. I’m a part of
you
.”

“I didn’t ask for you,” Nunz responded coolly. “Your mother wanted more children, not me.”

This man was ice. A block of it. No feelings. Nothing. Dead.

Cody stood from his chair, clearing his throat. “Come on, Kimberlynn. Let’s go.”

“No, not yet,” Kim said, sidestepping her brother’s outstretched hand. “You threw me to the fucking wolves here, Nunz. In a decade, when I’ve got bruises on my body and kids terrified of their own father, you still won’t care, will you?”

Nunz didn’t answer and Kim didn’t wait around to see if he ever would.

In the car, Kim cranked the stereo up as loud as it would go. Her brother slid into the passenger seat silently. Reversing the car out of the driveway, Kim let the tires peel across pavement. She needed to get away from that man and his awfulness as quickly as she possibly could.

Cody reached over and turned the volume down. “Kim—”

“Don’t talk to me right now,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Okay, but I need you to know something.”

“Please don’t defend that man.”

“I won’t.”

“What is it, then?”

“Franco,” Cody said quietly. “I know you think I don’t care, but that’s not true. I have a lot of shit to consider, especially where I need to go. That’s up, Kimberlynn. I want to go up. But Franco … If he ever lays a hand on you, I’ll kill him.”

Strangely, despite how distant the siblings were, Kim believed him.

• • •

Cody didn’t stay by Kim’s side once they arrived at Franco’s. He followed the voices coming from the upstairs while Kim pulled off her sneakers and hung up her coat. The two men who always followed behind walked into the house right after Kim and Cody.

Ben and Lucas, the two men Franco appointed to keep an eye on Kim, passed by her in the foyer without a word. Not that she minded, really. The less attention either of those men paid to her, the happier she was.

The kitchen was the one place in Franco’s home where Kim felt comfortable. Franco couldn’t cook at all. He would rather shoot his foot than attempt to make a meal. Kim, on the other hand, found cooking to be lethargic.

Franco allowed Kim some breathing room from his constant badgering and control in the kitchen. There, he found no faults in the things she did. Complaints were suddenly non-existent. When she cooked, he gladly shut up and ate the food.

Kim wasn’t entirely sure if the fact that she could cook helped her case with Franco or hindered it. Considering when she did make a meal large enough to feed every person in the house, she was doing exactly what he wanted. Being the perfect little housewife, pretty and quiet on his arm, and never questioning his authority.

Even so, it got Franco off her back. Kim was willing to use that to her advantage. Setting her messenger bag to the island countertop, Kim pulled out her laptop and turned it on. Music rolled through the space. It kept the possibility of her overhearing something upstairs away.

Kim collected things from the cupboards, pantry, and fridge to get a start on an old favorite of her family’s. It was a casserole dish made up of spaghetti pasta, freshly cut tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, and celery, some tomato paste, a can or two of sauce, ground hamburger mixed with spices, and shredded cheese spread over the top. It would feed whoever was around for the night, anyway. Nobody said it had to be particularly healthy.

Ground hamburger browned in a pan on the stove while Kim went to work chopping and dicing the other ingredients. She didn’t notice the time passing until the oven beeped to signal it was preheated. She shoved the readied casserole dish inside, shut the oven door, and leaned back to the counter with a sigh.

There were some worksheets for one of her classes in her messenger bag, but Kim knew better than to drag schoolwork out while she was at Franco’s. It would likely lead them to another argument about college. Kim didn’t want to go there tonight. She just wanted to eat, find out if Franco needed her for the weekend, and then get the hell back to her dorm.

Lost in her thoughts, Kim didn’t hear the set of voices getting closer to the kitchen until they were outside in the hallway.

“Something smells good,” Franco said. “I take it your sister brought you over, then.”

“Yeah. You should have called me for this,” Cody replied.

“Why? He’s just checking out a few photos and looking at figures. There’s no business going down. You weren’t needed. Isn’t that right, Skip?”

“Just about.”

Those two words sent a mixture of panic and desire rushing through Kim like a flash flood. Months had passed since she heard that dark tenor—a little over three months, to be exact. His voice still had the same crazy effect on her insides as it did when she first heard him speak at the Blackjack table.

Like an instant burn to her nerves.

Giovanni Marcello
.