Dive In

Chapter 12

Giovanni's lips purse but he doesn't even look over at Angelo, his eyes remaining on mine. "I can guarantee you there's already people plotting against you right now. They may not know who the babies belong to but you now have ties to my family which puts you and them in danger. If you think I'm bad you can only imagine my enemies." He sighs and stuffs his hands in his pockets. "I'm not bullying you into anything, if you care about those babies then you'll move in with me so they have the maximum amount of protection they could possibly get.

My mind races at his words, of course I care about my babies but live with him I don't think I'd survive it.

"Why you? Why not Viola or Alessia or Leo, why you?" I question.

"Mamma will be going back to Italy soon and even if she wasn't, her and Alessia wouldn't be enough protection and Leo lives with me." He explains. "Riot is the only one I'd trust. So it's me or him."

I cringe at the thought of living with Riot, I think I like him even less than Giovanni.

My chest aches and my stomach churns because I know his words are true but this isn't how I wanted this to go. When I decided to keep these babies I dreamt of changing one of my guest rooms into a nursery, spending my nights with them lounging in my living room, feeding them in their high chairs in my kitchen. In my house, not Giovanni's.

I take a deep breath and walk toward the staircase, headed for my room.

Angelo grabs my hand. "You don't have to do this, I would never let anyone hurt you or them."

I'm grateful he's trying to give me an out but I know it's not safe. If Jade's right about Giovanni and she's never been wrong in her digging thus far, then Giovanni is right I do have to move in with him. Angelo's one person, I'd have to hire on more security and do an extensive background check on each one which would take time, I don't have time.

Tears prick my eyes but I fight them as I reply, "It's okay."

He releases my hand and I nearly sprint to my room. I grab my Louis Vuitton luggage and start shoving things inside, my mind miles and miles away. Quinn definitely knows now and I'm sure he's hurt because I didn't tell him. Clint definitely knows, he never wanted kids so he's probably thankful the baby isn't his. My publicist is most likely losing her shit. I can only imagine the amount of calls I missed. I had my phone on do not disturb with the guard at the gate as a favorite just in case they ever needed to contact me in an emergency.

I don't even know if I grabbed everything I'll need but once the suitcase is full and my toiletry bag is packed I take one last look around my room unsure when I'll be back. A stray tear escapes, the single drop trailing down my cheek and I quickly wipe it away. I stand up straight with my head held high and blindly wheel my suitcases into the hall.

"I've got it." Angelo demands quietly, taking the bags from me before I can disagree.

I follow him down the stairs to the foyer where Giovanni is nearly pacing a groove into the floor. He stops as soon as my feet hit the landing.

"I did a background check on your bodyguard, I'll consider hiring him on for a trial period but as far as his employment to you goes, he's fired." He states as if Angelo isn't standing in the foyer with us.

Of course my background check I had completed wasn't good enough for Giovanni DeLuca.

I gape at him. "I'm not firing Angelo, he's been my bodyguard for three years now."

"You will, or I will do it for you. He can't come inside the community where my house is without my allowance, just think about that for a minute."