CAPO

21. Parents.

"I'm driving, mi amore. You wouldn't mind, would you?"

She licked her lips nervously, taking the lighter from him. She leaned across the handbrake, holding her hand and the lighter out, clicking the button, making a bright blue lazed appear between two small arms.

Giovanni's jaw tightened and he inhaled, his eyes never leaving the road. A big puff of smoke bubbled from his nose and then he looked at her, "Grazie, tesoro,"

Blue and brown eyes melted together and the girl searched his eyes for something, while Giovanni found it in hers. Then, with aching slowness, the angel leaned in and she took the cigarette from his lips before she pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, making his heart nearly leap out of his chest.

It felt like his brain was vibrating from her lips on his and he momentarily forgot that he was driving, so he snapped his attention back to the road for a second, before it was on her again.

"I've grown to like the smell of smoke," She admitted, her thumb brushing along his bottom lip, making him inhale sharply.

"Oh?" He whispered, completely drunk off her.

"Mhm," She hummed, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. Giovanni ached to pull over and pull her on his lap, kiss her till she was completely exhausted, but not from the drive.

"I have too grown to like the man who smokes," She confessed almost inaudibly, sitting back in her seat and holding the cigarette out to Giovanni.

Her throat was burning hot and bright from the kiss and the way he was looking at her and upon hearing nothing back from Giovanni, she turned her head, looking out of the window. The trees wirred past her in a blur, the sun was just starting to set and she found momentary peace within the stillness that consumed her.

"I have overcome liking you, Arabella. Like isn't a strong enough word for what I feel for you,"

Her mind smiled, but her lips didn't. She felt her chest warm up though and her fingertips joined and so did her back.

"I'm glad we're on the same page then, Mr Armani," She quipped.

Giovanni laughed softly, resting his forearm on the plastic compartment that seperates them. His fingers brushed against her skin and she almost pulled away, the feel of his skin being almost too much for her to bare. His hand looked so comfortable and large and it didn't morlve an inch.

Slender yet thick fingers with perfectly sized rings on the skin below his knuckles—knuckles that were slightly bruised, the tattoos that crawled along his knuckles looked like they were erased on his bones.

She turned to his hand then, her own hands moving on their own accord as she drawled a single line along a blue vein that sat under his skin. Giovanni looked at her and clenched on his jaw, making the upcoming smile on his face quickly disappear.

Arabella then drew imaginary tattoos on the back of his hand, marking his skin with nothing but her fingers. She smoothed her thumb over hach knuckle, over each scar and over each knuckle, all the while wafting the smoke from his cigarette out of her eyes.

"Guess!"

"Okay, all right. Go again,"

Arabella was writing words and phrases in his palm, telling him to guess. He had gotten three wrong so far, and five right. Arabella wrote anything she could think of in his palm, giggling everytime he got one wrong.

She completely forgot about the demon that lurked back in her mind, recognizing it's face as Marcus, trying her best to lock him away and hand Giovanni the key, but she didn't share her mind-battles with him, in fear that they would put him off.

Although, she had just murdered someone, Arabella was almost not fazed by it. Her mind told her Marcus deserved it, her mind told her it was either her or Giovanni. And she couldn't imagine what Giovanni would do to him.

"Giovanni?"

"Yes, doll?"

"What—how did you get in the gang?"

She whispered the last word like it was a dirty word and Giovanni could only chuckle, shaking his head. "Do you really want to know, darling? It's not exactly something you should know about, I'd hate to scare you away,"

"I'll listen and try not to jump out of a moving car, all right? Tell me, Gio,"

He smiled, then sighed. "When my father was sixteen, his father was killed. No one knew who killed him or where, but we did know why. My grandfather was a ruthless gang leader and he owed some people money or drugs or whatever, and then they killed him for not giving them what they wanted,"

"And when he died, my father—Frederico, took over the business. It was originally called" The Sicilians," but when other gangs started finding out he was an Italian-Bristish gang leader, he changed it to" The Birmingham Boys,"

"And my father was killed then. Cut his hands off and buried him face down, sending him straight to hell."

Arabella made a face. Giovanni shrugged, "And eventually, it'll happen to me." He sounded almost bittersweet, like he was expecting it at any moment.

"Why don't you just leave?"

He shook his head, "Its not that easy. You can't leave a gang once you're in it, and if you do leave, it's your soul and not your body."

"You're the boss then? You make the rules,"

"Oh, that I do, doll. But it against morals to leave a gang, my own employees will cut me to pieces,"

"Enzo?"

"They'll cut him too," He whispered, imagining it. He cleared his throat, "And its not place for someone like you, my love. If anything happens to you because of me, I'll never be able to forgive myself,"

She shook her head, her chest warming up, "I have another question,"

Giovanni stayed silent, waiting. "Catherine?"

Instantly, Giovanni's jaw clenched. He shifted uncomfortably at the sound of her name, clearing his throat.

"Touchy subject, I see. We don't have to talk about it, it's fine," She said, smoothing over his palm. He shook his head, "No, I'll tell you,"

"Catherine and I met when I was in my last year of college and we were together for five years before I found out that she was fucking my entire staff,"

Arabella then bit on her bottom lip, the corners of her lips tilting up into an amused smile. "Don't laugh," Giovanni grumbled, shaking his head at the girl.

"I'm not laughing!" She argued between gritted teeth, her voice sounding higher than usual. "Mhm," Giovanni hummed, sparing her an annoyed look.

Silence took over then once again as they drove. Arabella hadn't dropped his hand once and whilst they were sat in silence, his hand found its place on her thigh and he too drew small shapes on her skin, squeezing gently. She never faltered in writing and drawing on his hand and eventually they made it into London while Arabella was pressing gentle, determined kisses to his hand.