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Would people ever leave them alone? Or were betrayal and treachery so entrenched in the fabric of the Family that people would do anything, hurt anyone, for their selfish aims?
“I can’t believe they started all this because of the summit.” All because Gio had forestalled Russo’s attempts to take over financial control of the Family. “Don’t they have enough money?”
“They’re rolling in it,” Gio muttered bluntly. “But greed is an ever-hungry monster. Once it gets a taste for success, it always wants more.”
It was repulsive.
So many other families needed support for their businesses; there were people on the brink of bankruptcy. They were all infinitely more gracious than the damn Russos. “If it was all about business, why did they have to get so personal? Attacking my character, sending warnings.”
Gio stiffened, setting down his phone. “What warnings?”
At the foreboding tone, Ana glanced up warily. “Did you not get one?”
His face answered it for her.
Reaching for her phone, she scrolled down to the initial message from Celia and showed it to him.
Unknown: This is what happens.
Unknown: When you stir up trouble.
“What number is this from?” Gio clicked through to the contact card, but it revealed nothing. The number wasn’t even a normal one. It was an abbreviated set of six digits, similar to that of a spam caller. He forwarded the messages to his phone.
Uncomfortable with the realization that the warning was directed only at her, Ana sat back, dejected. “I guess they felt I would be an easier target.”
“Not easier,” Gio insisted but continued to frown. “A more calculated one.”
Ana mulled over it before realizing what he meant. The Russos probably knew that Gio wouldn’t care about gossip targeted at him. But a threat to his family, his loved ones, would push him over the edge, spurring him into doing something reckless.
If I had the opportunity to sacrifice it all–and save someone else I love…
His vow sent shivers through her. They had managed to contain this rumor, but Ana wondered if the Russos were getting what they wanted after all. She feared that Gio’s love for her, his desperation to protect her, would make him vulnerable to attack. Placing him in danger, far worse than any scandal or rumor.
Chapter 21
It was getting past noon. Gio had been on his phone continuously while Ana shut her eyes, closing out the world. The entire debacle had left a sour taste in her mouth. She knew she should be glad that it was resolved, but it was difficult to find any joy in it.
It felt as if someone had ransacked her house and then returned her belongings days later. Sure, things were back to ‘normal.’ But it did not erase the intense violation.
The lone silver lining in this scandal was the brutally honest conversation it spurred her and Gio to have. Without that, who knew how much longer it would have taken for them to fully lower their guard? And for her to realize just how much he cared.
Ana still could not believe how hard he’d worked to protect her and retaliate against those who sought to malign her. She didn’t even know if he had slept at all given the midnight messages he’d been exchanging with Auntie, devising a plan.
Lying beside him, she examined the shadows beneath his eyes. He continued reading through the cracked phone, drawing her gaze to the hand she had bandaged last night. A heavy weight settled in her heart. He had done so much for her, with little care for himself.
“Thank you,” she murmured, staring at his injured hand.
“Nothing to thank,” he said distractedly.
Of course, there was. Her lashes fluttered closed, holding in the emotions brimming to the top. He didn’t know how rare it was for her to feel safe and protected. She’d always had to fend for herself and prove herself–first as Ana Mancini and then as Ana Bernardi.
With Gio, it started to feel like just Ana could be enough. Irrespective of whether she was weak or strong, perfect or broken. He wouldn’t leave her side.
“I love you.”
The muscles in his arm flexed, contracting and then releasing, while his flinty eyes softened on her. He didn’t return the words, but she didn’t need him to. He had expressed it all last night, with a vulnerability that was not easy for him. Even if he was never comfortable saying it again, she would cherish those words forever.
At his kiss on her temple, Ana blinked away the memory and glanced up at him.
