Giovanni (7 page)

Oh, God.

She was in so much trouble.

Kim’s hands on the countertop gripped so tight that her knuckles turned white from the pressure. There was no place for her to hide to keep him from seeing her. Her acting skills sucked the big one, so chances were, Franco was going to see something was off. Not to mention Cody had seen her speaking with Giovanni at the wedding.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Footsteps padded down the hallway further, turning faint until Kim couldn’t hear them at all.

“Why’s he call you Skip, Marcello?”

“
The
Skip,” Giovanni corrected. “In New York, it’s a street term for capo. There might be many capos in a family, but there’s only one that rakes in the most, runs the biggest crew and whatever else. That’d be me and my brother. That and Franco’s trying out this new thing where he has to act like he wants me within five feet of him to save face for his father while we work out this business deal. Respect, you know.”

“Ah,” Cody drawled.

This was
bad
. Kim had been so sure they wouldn’t meet up again after their one-time encounter. She lived in Las Vegas and he was situated in New York for Christ’s sake. What were the odds?

“Food ready?”

Kim’s head jerked up at Franco’s question, knocking her out of her stupor. When had he come back down the hall? At least her brother and Giovanni were still talking in hushed murmurs where they couldn’t see her. She reached over and turned the music off on her laptop.

“Uh …”

“Well?” Franco asked again.

“Almost.”

“There enough to feed seven including you?”

Kim shot him a look. “Yes, Franco. I made lots.”

“Just asking. Set the table, Kimberlynn.”

Kim was frozen in place as Franco disappeared back out the entranceway. She couldn’t even force herself to think let alone grab the dinnerware out of the cupboards.

“Stay for dinner, Skip,” she heard Franco say.

“Nah, I’ve got things to catch up on,” Giovanni replied.

For a brief moment, Kim felt relieved that the two of them might just pass each other by with Giovanni being none the wiser. It didn’t last long. Franco’s next statement felt laced with something she couldn’t quite place.

“Surely it’s not important enough for you to refuse to eat at my table, is it?”

“No, I guess not.”

“Good. Come meet my fiancée before we eat.”

Kim’s heart stopped when the three men stepped inside the kitchen. She couldn’t turn her head and see the expression Giovanni wore for fear the rolling sickness threatening to make an appearance would force its way out.

“Giovanni, this is my fiancée Kimberlynn Abella.”

Kim was pretty sure her lungs stopped working when she met Giovanni’s gaze from across the room. Surprise and anger registered in his green irises as he stared her up and down, taking her in as if he didn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Oh, they already met,” Cody said passingly, flipping through a file in his hands. “Meant to mention it.”

Franco’s head whipped around so he could pierce Kim with a glare. “Pardon?”

The annoyance seeping into Franco’s tone chilled Kim. The man couldn’t hide his jealousies at all. If there was anything he hated more, it was men coming too close to Kim.

“Kimberlynn?” Franco asked.

Kim couldn’t speak. If there was ever a time she needed to, now would be it.

“Kim,” Giovanni said quietly, his jaw tight. “Yeah, we met at my brother’s wedding.”

Franco’s gaze narrowed. “Oh?”

Kim released a slow breath and offered a smile she hoped didn’t scream fake. “Sorry, I’m just off today. Yeah, we met while I was in New York with Dad and Cody.”

“And?”

“And what?” Kim asked Franco.

“You didn’t tell me about meeting any of the Marcello family while you were there.”

“Was I supposed to?” Kim hoped feigning ignorance would work. That was her piss poor plan, anyway. “They had the whole Casino Royale theme and I happened to play him out of his money at the Blackjack table.”

“The entire table, not just me, and it was only one hand,” Giovanni rectified, a brow raising.

“Exactly.” Kim gave Franco another smile, shrugging. “I didn’t beat him too badly.”

That seemed to please Franco enough to get his uncomfortable scrutiny off of Kim. However, it didn’t stop him from adding, “Didn’t the last time you got caught counting cards teach you anything, Kimberlynn? I certainly would have thought so.”

Kim hid her shaking hands below the countertop. With Franco’s back turned to her, Kim met Giovanni’s stare head on again. There was no doubt about it—the man was pissed off. Kim clearly put him in an awkward position. If the odd exchange from the hallway was any indication, Franco and Giovanni didn’t like one another.

Kim couldn’t help but drop her gaze from Giovanni’s. Watching him brought up memories of teasing fingers at her breasts, a heated mouth to her flesh, and a strong body pressing her smaller form into a mattress beneath him. His voice alone sent ribbons of sensations tickling through her bloodstream. She did not need to be thinking of those things when Franco was less than ten feet away.

Still, the memories wouldn’t leave. The leather jacket Giovanni had on was open, exposing the V-neck shirt he wore underneath that was tight to his chest, reminding Kim of the tattoos hidden beneath the fabric. The dark wash jeans he wore hugged his muscled hips, drawing Kim’s stare down to his groin.

Oh, God … this was so very bad.

Air lodged in Kim’s chest. While no one else in the room seemed to notice her slip, Giovanni had. His entire frame went still, hands clenched into fists at his sides. Kim bit the inside of her cheek, needing the distraction. She was grateful Franco’s attention was diverted by a question Cody was asking about something in the file he still held.

That didn’t last long.

“Kimberlynn, are you setting the table?”

Kim blinked out of her haze, moving to put away her laptop and messenger bag. “Give me ten minutes to get the food ready.”

It didn’t make a damned difference if Giovanni was there or not. It didn’t matter that the effect he had on her in New York was the same as how he made her feel standing only feet away. What happened between them happened and now it was over. Kim had a role to fill. She ignored the intense jade gaze observing her every move and making her heart beat on overtime as she worked.

Time to play pretend again.

Chapter Six

Kim wasn’t a good actress. She grimaced every time Franco directed even a glance her way. She turned as cold as ice if he did touch her. And when Franco did touch Kim, Gio burned red hot inside.

Sweet Jesus, what did I do this time?

Betrayal rested heavily in his gut, leaving behind a bad aftertaste. Kim lied to him in New York. Or rather, hid something incredibly important in regards to her relationship status.

It wasn’t like Gio was a goddamn saint. He certainly didn’t mess with women who were spoken for by made men. Gio was in so much shit he could practically feel his eyeballs turning brown. There were only so many rules La Cosa Nostra held in esteem, after all. Sleeping around with a guy’s girl was one—a
big
one.

Kimberlynn fucking Abella.

Gio still couldn’t wrap his head around it. His dick, on the other hand, couldn’t stop thinking about it. Being in the same room with Kim brought up that night all over again. From her back to the wall with shapely legs around his waist, to her body bent over the bed with his hand buried in her hair.

Cristo
, he could still hear the way his name in her mouth sounded. The crazy intense high feeling he experienced whenever she was near hadn’t faded a bit. Gio couldn’t help but look down the table. Kim was looking at him, but she glanced away just as quickly.

The plate of spaghetti casserole in front of him was nearly gone. Kim could cook, if that earned her any brownie points to make up for the stunt she pulled him.

It kind of does
, his mind whispered.

He was far too sober to deal with this nonsense today.

Quiet conversations flowed between the men. Too much talk, in Gio’s opinion. It was a shame to hear some of the discussions going on around him. Business at the dinner table was a no-go. Gio didn’t bother to join in. He did keep an eye on Kim. It was like he had to constantly remind his brain and body she was still there.

She. Her.
Kim
.

The girl who plagued his dreams and thoughts for three months. Gio couldn’t remember when a one-night stand had left him so thoroughly scrambled in the head before.

Gio tried—God knows he fucking
tried
—to bleed that girl out of his system. No narcotic matched the high. No opiate, pill, or smoke in his system fit the bill. No drink could daze him quite the same; it only left him hung-over in the morning and not the way she had. As far as women … Gio tried them, too, only to find he couldn’t get it done.

It was useless or he was.

The tip of Kim’s thumbnail was between her teeth and her elbow was on the table as she stared blankly at the wall. Unease wrote lines on her face. It bothered the hell out of Gio for reasons he couldn’t explain.

Franco noticed Kim’s distraction from the guests at the table. Too low for anyone else to hear, Franco whispered something to Kim that had her back straightening and a faint nod answering his words. Her attention was back on the people at the table, but a blankness took hold as she stared right past Gio to the wall behind him.

That wasn’t the girl from New York Gio met and couldn’t shake. Something was off. How in the hell had she gotten herself mixed up with Franco Sorrento? Gio didn’t give two flying shits if the girl was Nunz Abella’s daughter. Kim was way out of Franco’s league. From the short amount of time he spent with her, Gio gathered she was free-spirited and a little wild under the pretty keeping her wrapped up tight. Hell, the girl was only twenty-one. Why was she marrying herself off before she even finished college?

Gio was reminded of the stories he heard about Franco and women. Disgust and worry compounded hard in his chest as he thought about Kim falling into that mess. Was that what happened; had she assumed the guy was one thing only to be blindsided by the asshole he really was?

Shaking his head to clear the thoughts, Gio pushed the empty plate away and turned to Kim’s brother beside him. “How long has Franco been with your sister?”

Now he was just punishing himself, clearly. Anyone with any sense would not be asking those kinds of questions, certainly not when they didn’t have any business to be asking. Especially now that he knew about the …
engagement
.

“About three months,” Cody answered, scrolling through his phone.

“No, I mean a couple, kid. Not engaged.”

Cody set down his phone. “Like I said, about three months.”

Gio’s brow furrowed. Three months? Sure, he had seen fast love like that with Jordyn and Lucian, but Gio was sure they were a special case. “So after my brother’s wedding was when they met?”

“They met shortly before. The engagement came after.”

“Huh.”

At least that got Gio out of some trouble, for now.

Cody shrugged. “Business, you know.”

Realization dawned on Gio.
Business
. No wonder Kim was unhappy at Franco’s side. There wasn’t an ounce of love between the two, and there probably hadn’t ever been. The engagement was business. The marriage nothing more than an arrangement.

Kim agreed to it.

Why?

Good
God
. Gio felt sick. He’d only been in Vegas for two weeks and already he wanted to get the hell out as fast as he could.

• • •

Cody wasn’t so bad. The kid was young, close to Gio’s own age, so he had a bit of growing room yet to get where he needed to be. Franco had introduced him earlier as a friend of his, which meant he was still an unmade man. Gio couldn’t understand why Nunz hadn’t given his son the button yet. Being the son of a Don, it was almost a given right. Gio had his button at seventeen—the youngest out of all his brothers to take the Omertà.

It sucked Cody was Nunz’s son, as Gio thought the guy would be the kind of understudy one of his brothers would probably take under their wing to train for
la famiglia
. It was clear he wanted to be in with the family.

Gio looked over the ten-by-eight color photographs one more time. Cars of the highest luxury that only the rich could afford stared back up at him. Each photo had a sticky note added to the bottom left corner. It listed all the details of the car and location.

“How many are in secured garages?” Gio asked.

“Of this batch?” Cody shrugged. “Ten … twelve if the owners are out of town. They won’t be for the next run, though.”

Gio nodded. He was actually kind of impressed with the plan if he were honest. It was dangerous, to be sure. If done correctly and spread out over a period of time, Cody was looking at a fair flow of cash from stealing the high-end cars and chopping them down to ship out.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the kind of business Antony Marcello would want to get his hands dirtied up in. There was a hell of a lot of work involved with a great deal of men. Antony preferred to work with as little people as necessary when it came to mingling business with other families, and he liked shit simple.

This was anything but simple. 

Nonetheless, Gio was reminded of why he was in Vegas in the first damn place. Antony was sure something unpleasant was about to go down in the Sorrento family and he didn’t want it to send a backlash on their family in the future. Scouting out the exporting of the stolen luxury vehicles was just a front. He needed to keep that front up so no one wondered why he was still hanging around if the Marcellos weren’t interested in playing.

“It’s very
Gone in Sixty Seconds
,” Gio said, chuckling.

Cody rolled his eyes. “Sure, sure. Ever steal a vehicle of this kind of caliber and get out clean? It’s not as easy as they made it look.”

“I don’t doubt it … and yes, I have.”

“Really?”

“Sure. Whenever my father gets asked why he keeps his fleet of vehicles in storage now, all he does is point to me.” Gio smirked, adding, “It was like a game for me to get it done without a set of keys. Really pissed him off, though.”

Gio flipped through the pictures again, stopping at a bright orange Lamborghini. It was a horrible fucking color for the car. Gio tapped a finger on the picture. “This one, I’ll do. Just to see if I still got the touch.”

Cody laughed. “Take it.”

“So, Franco’s running this show, right?”

“Mostly. Maximo gets his dues, but he’s keeping out of it. Something about Franco needing to stand on his own legs and stop using Max’s for support. You didn’t hear that from me, though.”

“Yeah, got it,” Gio muttered. “What about your father?”

“He gets his from me,” Cody said, not going into any further detail.

What Gio didn’t understand, was how Franco and Nunz Abella came together to put something like this into motion, or why Franco would want to at all. The Sorrentos had more than enough men, clout, and money to do the scheme on their own. They certainly didn’t need a little fish—or better yet, snake—like Nunz mucking his hands up into it. It just didn’t make sense.

Antony was right. Something was up.

Gio wondered briefly if the marriage arrangement had something to do with it but knew better than to ask. He already questioned Cody enough on the topic. He didn’t want to raise suspicions about his interest.

“All right, I need to get back to my hotel. It’s been a long fucking day and I need a smoke.”

“Don’t I know it,” Cody agreed.

Not really
, Gio thought.

Gio slid the photo of the Lamborghini out of the rest, folded it up, and shoved it into the back pocket of his jeans. Tomorrow he’d skip across the city and check out the car. Better to be prepared.

“Where’s Franco?” Gio asked, knowing he needed to be respectful and say goodbye, even if the other man wouldn’t give a shit if he did. 

“Either upstairs in his office or pestering the shit out of my sister,” Cody replied.

Gio pulled out his cell phone and asked Cody for a safe number to use when he needed to contact him. Cody rattled off a number and Gio texted the contact to his phone to be added to the rest later. “I’ll give you a call when I need directions to get the car to the right place, yeah?”

“Sounds good.”

Gio left in search of Franco. It wasn’t long before he found him still in the kitchen with Kim. Gio had been quick to excuse himself from the table after he was done eating, and like the other men who ate her food, thanked her for the meal as he should.

Neither Franco nor Kim noticed Gio standing outside the kitchen’s entrance. The obvious tension between the two inside kept Gio from stepping in further.

“And what the hell is this, anyway?” Franco asked, waving a hand up and down in Kim’s direction. “I thought I made it clear, Kimberlynn. You look like a mess. This is not how I expect you to be when you come into my home.”

Gio felt something painful stick in his throat. Kim was anything but a mess. She looked her age in skinny jeans and a Henley shirt. Young and beautiful.

“Yes, you made it perfectly clear that I need to look like a doll, Franco. I get it, all right. It’s Friday, and I spent all day at school and half of that was in study group. Give me a break.”

Franco reached out and snagged a lock of Kim’s loose waves. A hot ball of jealousy swirled in Gio’s midsection at the sight. The way Franco pulled on Kim’s hair almost seemed playful, except she flinched at the gesture.

“I want this hair of yours done up in something, not down like you don’t give a damn. Make sure that’s corrected the next time I see you. Got it?” Franco demanded.

Kim’s eyes hardened. “Yeah, I got it.”

“And about this study group …”

“You need to give that up,” Kim said, her tone turning sharp. “I worked hard to get into the mathematics program. The other classes were dropped, just like you wanted. I am not dropping this, too.”

Franco released the strand of Kim’s hair he held, arms folding over his chest. “No?”

“No.”

“Then you need to find a different study group, immediately.”

“Why, Franco? This group has the best students in the program.”

“It’s not like you’re going to be using anything you learn,” Franco replied. “All that money you took out of trust from your mother’s insurance is a fucking waste, now. Figure out something else to keep you entertained during the day.”

Kim scoffed. “Like what, cooking your food or start a fucking scrapbooking club?”

“You said it not me, Kimberlynn.”

Gio didn’t like where their conversation was going at all. He knew better than to eavesdrop, but he couldn’t move away. Maybe it was the way Kim’s earlier annoyance at Franco had melted into this awful look of defeat. As if the guy was just beating her down without even putting a hand on her.

It was a damn shame. This girl … this crazy, beautiful girl who was the first person to really make Gio feel like he was alive in a long time, looked crushed. Pain thumped with the beats of his heart. The sight was sickening.

“How about this,” Franco said, sneering, “… you can drop out of the study group or I’ll drop someone out of it for you.”