Gian
I paced back and forth at the foot of the bed in my childhood home. The plush tan carpet swallowed the sound of my black wingtips. This was a disaster. Evie fucking fainted in front of the entire family. She really knew how to clear out a party. Unfortunately, my mom now had it in her head that Evie was pregnant.
“I really am sorry, Gian. I didn’t do it intentionally.” Evie sat with her back to the headboard and her knees curled against her chest. “I don’t know what happened. Your uncle’s speech freaked me out, and I didn’t eat all day. Then, I don’t know…” She swallowed. “Did I screw everything up? I feel like a total loser.”
I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her into my arms without saying anything. I wanted to make sure she was really okay. When she swayed forward, my heart nearly burst through my fucking ribcage. I rocked her, comforting her and myself. It never failed. Every time something happened to her, a weird feeling bubbled up in my chest, compelling me to protect her from everything bad in the world. The urge was preposterous because by anyone’s definition I was the big black wolf in sheep’s clothing.
“What’s your definition of screwed up?” I asked after a few moments.
Her shoulders slumped, and she rested her forehead against the top of my shoulder. “I heard what your mom said. She thinks you’re marrying me because I’m pregnant.”
“I told her it wasn’t true.”
She lifted her head. Her eyes were glassy like she wanted to cry, but she had some color in her cheeks again, which was better than nothing. “Does she believe you?”
“She will eventually.” I wiped my hand over my lips. “She won’t have any choice when our engagement ends and you’re not showing.”
She stared at me for a second, and then the corner of her lips started twitching.
“What?”
Laughter burst from her lips, her back shaking beneath my fingers. “This is really funny if you think about it.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “How so?”
“She. Thinks. I’m. Pregnant,” she said between bouts of laughter.
“Yeah, so?”
“Of all the secrets we’re hiding, she comes up with a pregnancy to explain my behavior and our sudden engagement. It couldn’t be further from the truth. You’ve never touched me. Hell, you don’t even like me.”
“Oh, Evie, that’s where you’re wrong.” I traced a line from her mid-calf to her upper thigh. Her legs would be the death of me. When she came out of her room wearing this little shift dress that stopped mid-thigh, I wanted to send her back to her room to change. “I like you enough to make this situation dangerous for both of us.”
Her eyes flared. “What? I thought—”
A knock on the door interrupted her, and I fleetingly wondered whether it would be a bad thing to lock the bedroom door and rip that dress over her head. What I wouldn’t give to feel her melt beneath my fingertips and drink in her moans like a glass of Chianti Classico. I climbed off the bed, removing myself from the temptation to do exactly that.
“Come in,” I said, looking at anything other than the beautiful woman sitting on my childhood bed.
Carmela cracked open the door. “I wanted to check on Evie. How are you feeling?”
“Better. Thanks for asking.” Evie stretched out her legs and crossed her ankles. “I don’t know what happened. I didn’t eat much today, and I’ve been training really hard. I’m so embarrassed. Your family probably thinks I’m crazy.”
“Pregnant, not crazy.” Carmela laughed. “You don’t have anything you want to tell me, do you?”
“Oh my God, no.” Evie waved her hands in the air. “Please tell me you don’t believe that.”
Carmela’s lips thinned. “I don’t think you’re pregnant, but I do think you two are hiding something.”
“Carmela, don’t start with that again,” I warned.
Carmela held up her hand. “I have no intention of getting into that right now. I know neither of you will tell me anything. And besides, Dominick is waiting for you. He wants to talk to you before he takes off.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I nodded. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”
I exited the room without looking back.
When I got downstairs, I said, “Hey, Dominick. What’s going on?” I patted him on the shoulder with one hand and shook his hand with the other.
“I have some stuff to take care of. I trust everything is okay with your girl?”
I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Yeah. I think she was a little overwhelmed.”
“She seems like a nice girl. But let’s be frank here: she’s not one of us. She’ll never be one of us. If today showed us anything, it’s that she’ll never fit in. She’ll be a liability from today until the day she dies.”
I forced my face to remain a blank mask despite the anger surging through me. Losing my temper or lashing out at Dominick wouldn’t help Evie or me. “When have I ever done anything to jeopardize the family or you? I wouldn’t bring someone into this family who I didn’t trust. Who I didn’t think would be an asset.”
“I know, I know, but have you thought this through? From what I heard, she wants to be an actress on Broadway. With any luck, she’ll reach some level of notoriety. Then you know what happens?” He lifted his hands, his ruby ring glinting off the overhead light of the chandelier. “People will start looking at you. That will inevitability lead people back to the family and me. I know you don’t want that, and I sure as hell don’t need any light shining on us. We’re finally gaining some ground now that the FBI and those jackoffs at the Department of Homeland Security are focused on terrorism instead of us.”
Staring at the floor, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “What are you saying? You want me to end the engagement?”
“Gianluca, I promoted you because you have a knack for making difficult decisions, not because your dad wanted it. You’ll figure out what to do.” He squeezed my shoulder. “I heard she’s seen some stuff.”
My head snapped up. “Who told you that?”
He scratched the side of his face. “It doesn’t matter who told me. What I don’t understand is why you didn’t mention it.”
Fucking Carlo. I knew I couldn’t trust him. With soldiers like him, I didn’t need enemies. I had to convince Dominick to assign him to some other unsuspecting capo. “Since when have you wanted to micromanage every detail? You don’t need to worry about Evangeline. Ya’ gotta know, I have this under control.”
Dominick pinned me with his dark stare. Then, he lifted his chin. “All right. I’ll let you take care of this for now, but know that the day might come when you need to make a tough call. Until then, I need to know you’ll make the right choice. You’ll protect this thing of ours.”
I bowed my head. “Yeah, you know I will.”
He slapped me on the shoulder. “Good. You’re better than some of those other young turks.”
I flinched. Young turks was what he called the younger, less traditional generation of Mafiosi. The older guys looked down on us. They believed we were more inclined to break the old rules. In my mind, it was a direct slight.
“Yeah. Yeah. I need to get back to Evie.”