•Nolani•
The shrill ringing of my phone wakes me from my nap and I groggily glance around the room. After eating lunch with Viola and Alessia I came home and passed out on the couch. Naps are pretty much a necessity now, I can't survive without one.
"Hello?" I answer, my voice thick with sleep.
"Um Miss Michaels, Mr. DeLuca is at the gate again demanding entrance into the community. May I allow him?" Harold asks.
The loud manic voice screaming in the background wakes me right up like a shot of espresso.
"Is that him?" I ask, immediately alarmed at the volume of Giovanni's voice.
"Yes ma'am, he's quite upset."
That sounds like the understatement of the century. Giovanni could've easily gotten the code from Alessia, why make a scene?
"Allow him in." I say.
I hang up and groan as I feel a headache coming on right behind my eye. My hair feels like a rats nest, the hair tie that once held the curls off my face now barely hanging on. I remove the hair tie and twist the dark strands up into a quick bun as I make my way toward the front door. I barely get the alarm disarmed and the the door unlocked before it swings open, almost hitting me in the process. I jump back, still rubbing the sleep from my eyes as he barges inside, his amber eyes shooting daggers. He looks as put together as ever in his suit, not a single hair out of place. If I hadn't heard his voice in the background of the phone call I wouldn't even know he had been throwing a fit not even five minutes ago.
"Hello Giovanni." I greet him.
"What did I tell you, Nolani? What did I tell you from the beginning when you came to me claiming to be pregnant with my brother's child?" His voice is cold and emotionless.
My eyebrows scrunch in confusion. "Uh, is this a trick question?"
I haven't been awake long enough to play his games. I honestly just want to go back to sleep.
"Pack your bags, you're moving in with me immediately." He demands.
My temper spikes. "You don't own me, Giovanni! I'm not a puppet that just does whatever the master wants. I'm a human, I'm a person! I am not moving in with you, you psychotic bastard!"
He stalks toward me with his hands tucked in his pockets. "You're a person who placed a giant red target on her head when she went shopping with my family today at a store that sells baby furniture. You're a person who can't put together a disguise for shit. A person who doesn't fucking listen, grabbed her lower stomach and had a picture taken of her and shared to every trash news outlet that would take it."
Oh no. oh god! Why can't people just leave me alone for once? I just needed a little bit of privacy to experience something as amazing as shopping for my babies nursery furniture.
"How did she know it was me? I don't understand, I never even looked directly at her... I don't think." I mutter.
"Pack a bag or I'll pack it for you." He repeats.
"No." I grit the word out roughly, standing my ground.
I won't let him push me around.
He lets out a chuckle. "You think you have a choice."
"You do have a choice, Nolani, don't let him bully you into anything you don't want to do." Angelo's voice pierces through my anger as he stomps down the stairs.
Angelos tall and broad like Giovanni, his skin tone almost the same shade of brown as my own. His hazel eyes are livid, his brow dipped as he stares Giovanni down.
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."
Which means no one can come into the community without his allowance. Not Jade or Quinn, no one.
I purse my lips and cross my arms angrily. "You're such a dick, I didn't ask for any of this and I'm being nice and going without fighting. Why are you being difficult?"
He gives me a dark chuckle that sends goosebumps across my flesh. "You aren't fighting me because you're not stupid, you know you're in danger so don't act like you're doing me a favor by going willingly. And don't go feeling sorry for yourself now, Miss Michaels. You wanted to find your baby's father, you were interested in his family, you get all the perks that go with it."
I snort and look away. "I've yet to experience these perks."
"If he works for me he's under a contract and has to sign a non-disclosure agreement." He states, ignoring my comment.
Just another thing he will have control of.
"I'll do it." Angelo agrees.
Something flickers in Giovanni's amber eyes and I know I've pulled Angelo far too deep into the mess I've gotten myself into. I don't know how I'll ever get us out of it.
We follow Giovanni outside. I lock the door and engage the alarm glancing up at my house, my first big purchase I made, wondering when I'll get to see it again.
My shoulders sag in defeat as I walk over to my Audi but Giovanni stops me with the shake of his head. "That car is traceable, it stays."
"No! I will not stay at your house with no way to leave, Giovanni." I demand.
"I have two vehicles at my house, if I determine it's safe for you to leave then you can drive one of them." He says dismissing me as he gets inside the idling SUV.
If he determines it's safe.
If.
I follow him without another word unsure what else I'm supposed to do that could change things. A man in a suit steps out of the SUV and helps Angelo load my suitcase in the back before we leave. Once we're on the road headed to Giovanni's house I pull my phone from my pocket. My Instagram has over one thousand notifications, I ignore those and move onto my text messages. Jade is worried about me, my publicist is pissed we didn't milk the announcement but says this might be more in our favor because every news outlet and magazine wants an exclusive. Quinn sent me three words, is it true, Clint sent congrats with the confetti emoji and Alessia tried to warn me her brother was angry and probably headed my way. I turn my phone off, not having the energy to deal with any of them plus Giovanni and my current situation and just close my eyes instead.
I'm so tired I just want to go back to sleep, how will I ever fall asleep knowing Giovanni is in the same house as me. I don't trust him.
"If I knew what Mamma and Alessia were up to when they left this morning I would've immediately put a stop to it. They knew better than to go out in public with you." Giovanni states.
My brow furrows. "They said you knew."
Or at least I thought they did.
"They're spoiled and used to getting their way, they rarely take no for an answer." He mutters gruffly. "Did you tell anyone else where you were going?"
"I told Jade but she would never—"
"She's a journalist, spewing trash to anyone who will listen is her job." He spits.
"She's an investigative journalist. She writes about world hunger, murders, missing people, corrupt politicians— things that matter. She would never rat me out to a gossip rag." I demand but I can tell he doesn't believe me.
Angelo hauls my luggage inside Giovanni's house once we arrive and I follow begrudgingly behind him. The house is beautiful but I still don't want to be here, plus the last time I was left alone with him my brain short circuited. If he hadn't asked if I was sleeping with Angelo I could have possibly allowed him to touch me. I'm a weak, horny, hormonal, pregnant woman and I don't trust myself with him alone right now.
My eyes flicker over to Angelo as he comes back in the living room and I feel so guilty that I'm thankful he's here. It's nice having at least one person in this house that I know I can trust for sure.
I feel awkward just standing in the center of the living room but it's weird being here. I feel so out of place especially knowing that I'm stuck here until further notice.
"Look Nolani I don't want you here any more than you want to be here." Giovanni says while grabbing a bottle of scotch off his bar and pouring a couple fingers into a tumbler.
"Then why can't you just send some of your security guys to stay at my house?" I ask in annoyance.
He stares at me over his tumbler as he takes a slow drink before replying. "As much as I trust my guys I couldn't send as many as I'd need and it would also make everyone else I have to protect vulnerable, it's easier to bring you here. What you need to understand is if those babies are Rafael's you aren't going to be able to leave after their birth either, unless you sign over your rights to Alessia."
Sign over my—
"And what you need to understand is I will never sign my rights over! You'll have to kill me and pry these babies from my cold fingers before you'd ever get the chance to raise them without me!" I snap.
He blinks at me blankly, it's like staring death in the face. "That can be arranged."
It takes everything inside me not to tremble at his words, fear singeing my skin like the lick of a flame. Terror trickling through my body. He says the sentence so carelessly which only tells me he's serious.
"Hey, did you know literally everyone on the internet is talking about your pregnancy, Nolani? Except they're linking the baby to—" Leo's words halt as he notices the look on my face. His eyes meet his brothers and he shakes his head. "Can you even be nice for just a few seconds, would it really kill you?"
"I'm not here to be nice, Leonardo, it's better she realizes that now." Giovanni replies before exiting the room with his tumbler of whiskey clutched in his hand.
I exhale and fall back on the couch, tilting my head until I'm staring at the recessed lighting in the ceiling.
It seems I've fallen into the rabbit hole but unlike Alice I'll never leave. These babies have DeLuca blood in their veins and if Rafael's family does have ties with the Italian Mafia their enemies will never go away, things will never be the same.
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Hey babe's, happy Tuesday! Luckily our cold didn't last long and we're all feeling much better, my kiddos are back to being their crazy selfs lol
What did you think of this chapter? Did you see it coming after she went shopping with Viola and Alessia?
At least she's got Leo and Angelo at Giovanni's.
Thoughts & theories?
Next update is Friday!
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Love youu🖤🖤
— Katy