Fuck, I wanted to kill that guy so badly. I’d have paid a billion dollars if there were a way to resurrect the asshole, only so I could kill him again. Slowly, painfully.

“His name was Sid,” she said stubbornly, a familiar glint returning to her eyes.

She still hadn’t answered my question. “Did you love him?”

“No,” she said without hesitation. “I barely knew him.” I would have rejoiced if she hadn’t started biting her lower lip like she was fighting tears. She looked fucking sad and then a tear slid out of her left eye. She blinked a few times.

“If you didn’t love him, then why are you crying?”

She glared. Glared, as if she was the one with reason to be angry. “You really don’t know?”

“I’m a Made Man, Gianna. I’ve seen many people die, have killed many myself.” And right now I wanted to kill again more than anything else in the world.

“Sid didn’t deserve to die. He died because of me. He never did anything wrong.”

What the fuck? Really? “He touched the wrong girl. He died for touching what wasn’t his to touch.”

Gianna shook her head. “You wanted to kill him yourself, didn’t you? That’s why you stopped Stan? Not because you wanted to spare Sid’s life.”

Did that really come as a surprise to her? For someone who was convinced I and every other member of the mob were monsters, she seemed oddly surprised by my desire to kill the asshole who’d pawed at my fiancée.

Before I could reply, my phone rang. Luca’s name flashed on my screen. I had only sent him a short text while I was in the car. He’d tried calling me but except for a quick talk to the pilot of our private jet, I hadn’t been in the mood to speak to anyone, but knowing Luca he wouldn’t give up. Stifling a groan, I picked up, turning away from Gianna again.

“A text with ‘I got her’, that’s all I get from you?” he said angrily.

“I was busy.”

I could hear Aria’s high voice in the background, but thankfully Luca didn’t put her on. I really wasn’t in the mood to talk to a hysterical woman, least of all the woman who’d helped my fiancée escape in the first place. It was early morning in New York, couldn’t Luca have let his wife sleep in for once?

“With what?” He paused. “No, don’t tell me. I don’t want to fucking know.”

“Did he hurt her?” Aria asked loud enough for me to hear.

I didn’t say anything.

Luca lowered his voice. “Is she alive?”

“Fuck you.”

“I take that as a yes.”

Aria was still speaking in the background.

“Tell your wife that her sister is fine.”

“Gianna is fine,” Luca said in a muffled voice, then to me. “When will you be back?”

“The flight leaves in less than two hours.”

“You’re flying directly to Chicago to meet Scuderi. Right?”

“He already called you, didn’t he?” I said. Stan and Carmine had definitely sent their boss a message after we’d caught Gianna. That meant, of course, that he knew about Sid too.

“Of course, he did. His daughter has been on the run for six months. This is big news.”

“Don’t tell me he’s happy to have her back.”

“No, at least not for the same reason Aria is. He wants to see her punished. She made him lose face and you too. From what I heard you caught her with another guy. You realize the news will spread like wildfire. Scuderi is eager to make a public show out of punishing Gianna. He expects you to help him with it.”

I gritted my teeth. “I don’t give a fuck. I’m not taking her to Chicago. If he wants to talk to her, he can come to New York.”

“You want to protect her after what she did?”

“Yes.”

“Matteo, this is Outfit business. She isn’t your wife, and nobody expects you to marry her after she went around fucking with half of Europe.”

“Careful,” I hissed.

“Damn it. Can’t you just get over her? Fuck her, it’s not like it matters anymore, and then hand her back to her Father.”

“Is Aria still around to hear you talk about her sister like that?” I asked.

“No. I need to think about the Familia. Gianna brought this upon herself. You have to take her to Chicago, Matteo. I won’t risk war over her.”

“Fuck you, Luca. You are my fucking brother. Shouldn’t you be on my fucking side?”

“Not when you’ve lost your fucking mind.”

“Fuck you.”

Luca sighed on the other end. “Listen, I’m not saying that you should abandon her. Take her to Chicago and pretend you’re delivering her to her Father. Then make a deal with him. She’s still promised to you, so he won’t refuse you. He’ll probably be glad to have her off his hands. Aria and I will be flying over there too. I’m emailing our pilot right this moment. You won’t have to deal with this alone.”

“Okay, I’m taking her to Chicago. But I’m not leaving without her, no matter what Scuderi says. She’s mine.”

“Alright, but I doubt there will be any problems. And believe me, I have no interest in letting Gianna getting hurt by her father. Aria loves her sister, and I want Aria to be happy, so I won’t let Scuderi kill or hurt her. We will bring her back to New York with us, even as your wife if that’s really what you want.”

“You’ll go against Scuderi if he disagrees for some reason.”

“I will. For you and for Aria.”

“Swear it.”

Luca sighed again. “I swear it. You and Aria are going to be the death of me.”

I almost smiled but hung up. When I turned back around to Gianna, she was watching me with an anxious expression, which she tried to mask the moment I looked at her but she didn’t quite manage. Sometimes in the last few months I’d been sure I wouldn’t find her, that she was too clever; I was glad that I’d been wrong. “Tradition dictates that I hand you over to the Outfit and your father.”

Fear flashed across her face. Gianna wasn’t stupid; she knew what might happen to her if her father got his will. I wasn’t sure if Dante Cavallaro would intervene, and I didn’t give a fuck. Protectiveness washed over me. They had no right to decide about her fate. This was my chance to show her that she’d been wrong to run away, that I was the right guy for her. For a long time she stared at me, her face unguarded and vulnerable. This was a side of her I’d only seen twice before: when Aria had been drugged and when Gianna had been in the hands of the Russians. I was still angry at her, still fucking furious, especially because I knew she’d run away again if I gave her the chance, but part of me was simply glad to have her back.

“I will take you to Chicago, but I won’t leave your side, Gianna. I won’t give you the chance to run from me again.”

Gianna

After what had happened today, I wasn’t sure I’d ever risk another escape.

Matteo’s phone rang again and he cursed. I was glad for the distraction. The intensity of his gaze had spoken to a part of me I’d tried to fight ever since the kiss. I lay back down, but the moment I closed my eyes, images of Sid’s body flashed through my mind. Even if Matteo hadn’t killed him, that didn’t mean it wasn’t his fault. He’d have done the same if Carmine hadn’t acted first.