"Get the fuck out." Gigi growled from beside me, staring Giovanni down like a predator.
I was surprised to see him here- not ready to confront him, nor ready to forgive him for anything he's done.
He may have disowned Angelo after he hurt Massimo, but he didn't extend the same courtesy to me.
It looked as if he agreed with Angelo's values when it came to me 'breaking Omerta' and dating Gigi, though only stepped up when one of his brothers was hurt.
Giovanni's gaze turns heated on Gigi, confirming my suspicions of his acceptance towards him.
"I'm not here to see you." Giovanni snarls back, and I look to Lorenzo, him obviously being the one who brought him here.
He looks at me apologetically, and I swallow, unsure about the situation at hand.
All my Russian brothers look equally unhappy about Giovanni showing up, but they're nowhere near as angry as Gigi.
Giovanni turns to me, "Carlotta-" He begins, but Gigi releases an angry breath and charges forward.
"You don't get to talk to her!" He roars, so aggressively my eyes actually widen as I watch him approach a defensive Giovanni.
Gigi raises his fist, and punches him square across the jaw.
My hands fly to my mouth, eyes wide as I watch Giovanni's head whip to the side. He doesn't stay down long though, looking livid as he throws a punch back at Gigi, the boys yelling at them inaudibly.
I knew Gigi's IED could get bad but... I'd never seen him so aggressive before. Where was my sweet boy who wanted his nails painted 30 minutes ago?
Fuck- I feel stupid for thinking that though. I'm dating Evangelos Kosmos, I was bound to see this side of him at some point.
Romeo and Levi run up to me and hold both my arms, only then realising that I was stupidly trying to walk up to the two boys who were still throwing punches.
Lorenzo tries to contain Giovanni, Andrei going after Gigi as they pull them apart, each thrashing at one another as they do.
Anger suddenly flares up inside me. What. the. Fuck.
Why the fuck would Gigi hit my brother like that? Despite everything he's done, without a word of explanation.
And Giovanni hit back. I know these were Mafia men but they must have some common sense in their thick heads.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Giovanni spits, now holding still in Enzo's grip and resorting to verbal attack, "This is exactly why you don't deserve my sister, you're a fucking psycho!" He exclaims, and it does nothing to dampen Gigi's anger.
"That's fucking rich coming from you." Gigi growls back, still trying to escape Andrei and Milan to get to Giovanni, "You have no respect for your sister, don't pretend you do now." He spits.
Were they seriously talking about me like this? I'm standing right here-
I try shake off Rome and Levi's arms, pissed the fuck off.
Lorenzo tries to cut in, "Evangelos, calm down-"
Gigi's vicious gaze snaps to him, "You can't fucking talk either, the only reason I haven't beat the shit out of you is because Car's forgiven you." He seethes, and I finally manage to squirm out of Romeo and Levi's hold, going all contortionist on them to escape.
"Car!" Romeo says, when I storm my way forwards.
I approached Gigi first, pushing my hand onto his chest hard to get him to back up, his attention snapping down to mine, nostrils flaring in anger and jaw clenched hard.
"Gigi." I state firmly, voice hard and leaving no room for discussion, "Get upstairs now, o lo giuro su Dio, cazzo..." I warn him and his eyes turn angry on me.
(or I swear to fucking God)
"Carlotta, he has no right- '' He starts to argue, trying to get forward to me but Milan and Andrei still hold him back making him grunt in frustration.
"Evangelos." I say, "You have no right to decide that on my behalf. Get. Upstairs." I tell him again, enunciating my words.
He seems to see how fucking serious I am, the anger in his eyes quickly turning to shame and anger at himself as he bites the inside of his cheek and shakes Milan and Andrei's arms off aggressively.
Turning without another word, he storms off into the elevator, Romeo, bless him, scutters along with him, Gigi not making any protests to his addition.
Once he's gone, I take a deep breath and close my eyes.
I can't believe that just happened.
"Carlotta," Giovanni's voice begins and I open my eyes again, turning around to face him with an impassive stare.
"What the fuck Giovanni. You come into my home, after the shit you pulled, and you have the audacity to hit my boyfriend?" I say, taking a step closer to him, Milan and Andrei flanking me protectively from behind.
Giovanni looks puzzled, "He fucking hit me first!" He responds childishly and I shake my head.
"I don't give a fuck who hit first- you shouldn't have hit in the first place. Period." I lecture him like I'm talking to a 5 year old. "This may be how you handle business shit, and I respect that. But this is family, you should know better." I tell him, and he grits his teeth, knowing I'm right and having no excuse for what he did.
"I'm sorry Car, I should have asked you before he came. It was last minute." Lorenzo speaks up, and I glance at him, sending him a small nod to let him know he's fine.
"Whatever you wanted to talk to me about, you can do down here." I tell Giovanni, crossing my arms as I look up to him, "No way in Hell are you going anywhere near Evangelos."
A muscle ticks in Gio's jaw, but he nods once, "Massimo is being discharged tomorrow. He suffered slight amnesia but he's okay." He tells me, and my shoulders visibly sag. He's okay. Giovanni swallows before continuing. "I just came from Angelo's trial when Lorenzo picked me up. It took a lot of blackmail from me, including risking my life, but he's been charged." He says and my breath hitches.
Angelo's going to prison. My big brother was going to prison.
I didn't really know how to feel.
"How?" Is all I can ask, "How did you get past the illegal components- what story did you spin?" I ask him.
"In our business trade we have good criminal lawyers for this shit. That was honestly the easiest part. It was keeping Angelo in line that took the most risk, and cost me the most." He admits, but I don't feel bad for him.
"It was the least you could do." I tell him, causing his eyes to snap to mine in slight disbelief.
They soften after assessing me, "You're right." He admits with a sigh, getting a little awkward at his admission. "Listen kid," He grimaces, "I am sorry. I won't lie to you and tell you I like Evangelos or approve of him- because I don't." He says.
I scoff at that, "Obviously."
He narrows his eyes, "But the business is mine now. The house is open to you- it is your home as much as it is your brothers."
I don't respond, only look back at him. He sighs, "I'll go just- swing by sometime, yeah? If not for me, for Massimo. You were the first thing he remembered when he woke up." He tells me and my throat clogs with emotion.
Again, I don't respond, and he looks ready to give up before I give him the smallest of nods. He smiles sadly at that and nods back, muttering something to Enzo, who claps him on the shoulder before he turns and leaves the building.
It would be a long road with Giovanni. One I don't even know if we would find the end of- but at least he was willing to try.
Everyone is quiet around me, and I catch eyes with Maxim, lifting my hand to my mouth and tapping my lips twice with my index finger.
Ever since we were kids I had been quite the cry-baby- though I never liked to cry in front of people. Maxim was the exception, and he told me to make a signal for him so that he knew when I needed to be alone with him.
Maxim's eyes widened, as I hadn't used the signal since we were younger, but he nonetheless claps his hands together, gaining everyone's attention. "Guys can you head up? I just need to talk to Car about something." He grins at everyone, and I pull the key card out of my pocket and hand it to Levi beside me.
"But-" Milan begins but Maxim cuts him off.
"Please, it's private." Maxim says with another overly cheery smile and everyone just looks at him weird.
Levi takes the card though and leads everyone out. I keep my back to the elevator so they can't see me, and when I hear the doors shut, I fall into one of the sofas in the lobby.
Maxim rushes over to me and sits beside me, pulling me into his chest as tears begin to stream from my burning eyes.
Maxim kisses my head and shushes me, "Shh, hey it's fine. It's just me, let it all out." He whispers, rocking me slightly side to side.
"I don't even know why I'm crying." I tell him between breaths, and he shakes his head.
"It's fine, we've all been there." He reassures me- which I know for a fact is a lie but I appreciate his attempts.
"I don't know why I feel bad about Angelo." I tell him, and he stills the rocking.
"Car, you have nothing to feel bad about." He tells me with a pointed look and I sniffle.
"I know- I just... Ugh I can't help but feel responsible, you know?" I tell him and shake my head, knowing I was being completely irrational.
"Fuck him. He dug his own grave- he can lie in it, yeah?" He tells me, and I cry a laugh nodding my head.
"Yeah." I say, wiping my tears and sniffling my nose. "Thank you Maxi." I tell him, wrapping my arms around him to hug him.
"Anytime." He says back, resting his chin on top of my head. "So, I'm guessing you haven't seen Evangelos that pissed before, huh?" He says after a few seconds and I groan.
"Don't remind me. It just took me by surprise is all." I shake my head, feeling stupid for even admitting it, "Like he's the sweetest person ever, and then he does that to my own brother- which yeah, Giovanni deserved it but its besides the point." I ramble and Maxim looks down at me like I'm crazy.
"You're a dumbass if you think Evangelos is the sweetest person ever- you hear he ripped someones-" He begins and I roll my eyes, cutting him off.
"-throat out with his teeth, yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before." I chuckle, the teeth marks on my boobs suddenly heating at the reminder. Yes, I was very aware of that rumour. Or not so rumour.
He scoffs, "All I'm saying is you've been blinded by his simpiness." He smirks, and I narrow my eyes at him, "Sometimes you forget he's a ruthless leader with severe anger issues- not that that excuses his behaviour." He says.
I sigh, "You're right." I admit, and Maxim smirks at me.
"As usual." He smiles.
I scoff, "You wish, Maxi-pad." I smirk at him, bringing back an old nickname.
His eyes darken and he glared at me, "I thought we agreed you would never call me that again." He says darkly and I laugh.
"Mhm, but you deserved it." I tease back and he rolls his eyes, getting up from the sofa and dragging me with him.
"Ready to go up?" He asks me, and I nod.
"Yeah," I groan, "Let's get this over with." I sigh and he smirks and shakes his head at me as he follows me into the elevator.
"See Car, this is why I stick to hook ups instead of relationships. No drama." He lectures me and I give him a deadpan stare as the elevator begins its journey upwards.
"It's also why you'll be forever lonely." I smile at him innocently and his cocky demeanour drops.
He grumbles something under his breath, "Whatever. No one deserves me anyways." He says, puffing his chest and I have to give it to him- he had good self-confidence.
I shake my head as the elevator doors open to the penthouse, and we walk out, "No one deserves to have to put up with you." I correct him and he glares at me, flipping me off as he joins Levi and Romeo on the couch.
I look around for Gigi, but don't see him anywhere, catching eyes with Andreas and Mateo instead.
They both give me a look and I walk up to them where they were stood with Milan and Enzo.
"Where is he?" I whine, Andreas pouting at me and he hugs me tightly against his chest.
"Upstairs. Probably your room." He responds sympathetically.
I nod my head against his chest and he lets go, Mateo mouthing a "good luck" to me as I make my way upstairs and away from all the boys in the living room.
I walk down the quiet hallway and get to our door, which is open an inch.
I push it open fully and step inside hesitantly, looking around the empty room.
The balcony doors were open however, the sheer white curtains blowing in the wind.
I frown and step towards them, stepping out onto the cold marble balcony deck and looking up.
Gigi stood there, leant against the railings as he looked out at the skyline. His head turns to me when he senses me behind him, a cigarette hanging out his lips as smoke blows out his mouth and nose, apologetic eyes meeting mine.
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we were bound to hit a hitch at some point guys..
hope you enjoyed reading!!
ily all and see you next time <3