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“Who?” Gio demanded edgily.
“I don’t know. The bodyguard said a guy or someone from–”
Gio’s bitter laugh sent chills through her as he cut the advisor off, rubbing a palm over his face. Ana’s throat closed as she watched her husband lose it, laughing hysterically. The other two men stood stoically, unmoving, as their Don rose to his feet and looked heavenward.
“You trusted the bodyguard, the man who betrayed them, with finding his own backup?” Gio asked.
The statement was so ridiculous that the other men chuckled. But Gio was unamused. His voice was hoarse as he stared down at him agitatedly. “My parents, my family, everyone's lives were shattered because you could not do your job.”
“B-oss…”
“I’ve been pruning bad businesses all week, removing everything that’s weighing down the Family. I have no room for staff who reek of incompetence.”
“Boss!” Jon screeched as Luke swooped him up with one hand and lifted him high in the air, his toes dangling inches from the ground. “Please, give me one more chance! I swear, I did my best! I did!”
Gio put his hands in his pockets and turned away, his eyes drifting away from the scene and the men until his gaze lifted up…and rested on her.
Her lips parted.
The honor of the Family is in my blood, and I won’t stop until I prove myself.
Gio watched her unnervingly, unwavering, as she quivered in the twilight hour–unable to look away. He never broke their connection, not even as he issued his final verdict.
“Unless your best can bring back the dead,” he muttered, “it’s not good enough for me.”
Jon’s scream ripped through the house before the gunshot silenced him at last.
Chapter 7
Calm.
Calm.
Calm.
That’s all she allowed herself to feel…nothing but the hazy hues of denial blanketing her. It was supposed to be easy, going back home–escaping from it all. But staring out the window of her childhood bedroom, all Ana was reminded of was the man she’d left behind.
Her chest ached down to the bone. It was strange how quickly attachment could form. After only a month, her old routine felt unfamiliar. Lonely. At nightfall, her hands searched the empty bed. At daybreak, when nightmares shook her awake, her feet drew toward his office.
But Gio wasn’t here. No knowing looks or heated touches. No encouraging her to leave her office and bring her laptop to his, so they could work across from each other.
Ana had felt special to him whenever he answered her curious questions and shy smiles with ease, giving her the soft looks and patience that he rarely gave others.
Sure, Gio rarely revealed his own thoughts and plans. But that hadn't bothered her too much. She had still felt close to him, warmed by even those small intimacies they'd shared. She supposed it was what they called a honeymoon phase. A beautiful illusion.
“Gio hasn’t called since you arrived,” her aunt remarked coolly.
The barb hit home, but Ana remained poker-faced. She closed her laptop as the thin woman entered the room, inspecting her closely.
Ana shrugged evasively. “He knows I’m here on business, so he didn’t want to disturb. There have been so many meetings I’ve hardly been able to sit down.”
Her aunt regarded her skeptically. “It has nothing to do with him skewering his advisor like a pig?”
God. Her stomach revolted.
Auntie had no idea. She thought Ana had discovered the news of Jon’s death like everyone else, through the Family grapevine. But no one knew just how well acquainted she was with every gory detail. The vision of Luke squeezing the life out of the man haunted her. Along with Jon’s agonized screams.
But it wasn’t the murder itself that had driven her away. It was what happened after. After cowering in the bedroom for a full day, she’d foolishly gone straight to the devil himself for answers and burned for it.
