Chapter 9 - Scars and Secrets
That evening, the penthouse was quiet. Lily was sound asleep, exhausted from an afternoon of playing in the private rooftop garden Martha had shown her.
I found Giovanni in his study, sitting behind a massive mahogany desk illuminated only by the amber glow of a desk lamp. He was staring at a framed, faded photograph of a smiling woman holding a young boy.
I placed a mug of hot chamomile tea on his desk. "You didn't have to come to the hospital today. I could have handled her."
Giovanni looked up, a faint, tired smile touching his lips. "I know you could have. You have more courage than most men in my boardroom. But a husband protects his wife, Jessica. Even in a business arrangement."
I sat in the leather chair across from him, looking at the faint scar running from his chin down toward his collarbone. "How did you get that?"
He touched the scar absently with his thumb. "When I was twenty-two, my father died. My cousins decided that Beatrice's side of the family should inherit everything. They sent three men to my apartment to make sure I couldn't claim my seat on the board."
I caught my breath. "What happened?"
"I survived. They didn't," he said bluntly. "In this family, weakness is an invitation to be slaughtered. That's why Beatrice and the Vances pushed so hard. They thought my refusal to marry meant I was vulnerable."
"And now?" I asked softly. "What do they think now?"
"They think I’ve found an untouchable foundation," Giovanni said, his amber eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made the air between us grow heavy and electric. He leaned forward, resting his hands on the desk. "They see a man who finally has something to lose. And that makes me far more dangerous."
My breath hitched. The space between us suddenly felt charged with emotions that went far beyond contracts, bank accounts, or revenge against Tyler.
"Giovanni..." I whispered.
He stood up, walking around the desk until he was standing beside my chair. He reached out, his warm, rough fingers gently brushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear. His touch sent a shiver straight down my spine.
"You don't belong in this darkness, Jessica," he murmured, his gaze dropping to my lips. "Yet here you are... bringing light into rooms that haven't seen it in twenty years."
Before I could answer, his phone on the desk buzzed violently, breaking the spell.
Giovanni stepped back, picking up the device. His expression instantly hardened back into stone.
"Speak," he ordered.
May you like
After a short pause, his jaw clenched so hard I thought bone would crack. "Where are they now? ... Good. Bring them to the holding facility. Do not let Beatrice know."
***
