Page 64
Story: Giovanna
Giovanna looks down for a second and then moves so she is further away from me. “He wants to be here for you. Give him a chance to make it right.” Her words don’t match the reluctance I hear in her voice.
“I. Don’t. Want. Him.” My hand shoots out and grabs one of her’s and she lets me intertwine our fingers briefly. Massimo is pacing near the back door, on the phone.
Giovanna drops my hand, stands, and comes to sit next to me on the daybed. My disappointment at the loss of contact is quickly soothed when she picks my hand back up again and presses a brief kiss on my knuckles.
“Look at me,” she whispers and for a moment I feel weightless as the strength of her gaze envelops me. “I know this is hard, darlin’. But, this is duty. I need you to give Elio another chance…even if it isn’t what I want.”
This is the closest we’ve ever come to acknowledging the attraction between us. The terror and pain I’m feeling is relieved by a hit of elation.She wants me.
She squeezes my hand gently and I just keep shaking my head. “O-only t-t-thing I’ve…ever wanted,” I whisper so quietly, I’m not sure she hears and I let the sentence drop, incomplete.
A couple of tears run down my cheeks and she lets go of my hand to swipe them away with her thumbs.
She gives me another intense stare. “I will always have your back. No matter what. I’m here.”
My heartbreaks. She’s going to force me to marry him even if she doesn’t want it to happen and I’d rather be choked again.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Giovanna
“Peta, this looks bloody delicious,” I collapse into my chair at the head of the table. My stepmother has made her classic Australian ‘Chicken Parma’. It’s Chicken Parmigiana, but Aussies had to ‘boganise’ it.
Massimo kisses his mother on the top of her head and sits down to my left. Peta beams over at him, her pride and joy. Matty is already tucking into his dinner on my right and Dad sits opposite his wife.
“Where’s Elio?” I ask the table. I’ve been trying to track him down all day, but have had no success.
It’s frustrating because in the week after the bikies threatened Francesca he was really good. He comforted her and looked after her. I could see her starting to relax around him again. Of course, I knew he spent several evenings at Peacock after she had taken herself off to bed in the guest room.
Both of my brothers shrug and I let out a sigh. Dad raises his eyebrows and I can tell he wants to ask questions, but he holds his tongue. Eventually, after a few minutes of quietly tucking into our dinner, he speaks, “Peta, did you get the venue booked for the wedding?”
“Yeap,Long Reef Golf Club. Invitations have gone out,” she reaches out and pats his hand as if to reassure him it is all in hand.
“Good,” is his punctuated response.
I received my invitation. It was left on my desk a couple of days ago. If the fireplace had been lit I would have thrown it in.
I don’t want to think about the fucking wedding. Don’t want to talk about it. I pretend to be bored by the whole thing, but the truth is it makes me nauseous that in just under four months Francesca will be a Marino, but not mine.
Dad’s voice booms across the table. “How is Francesca doing?” He directs the question at Massimo as the person most likely to know.
Massi finishes his mouthful of breaded chicken and glares at Dad. “She’s pretty messed up actually. Don’t know that she’ll ever trust me again…” he pauses, swallowing down emotions.
“You did what was needed for the family,” Dad tells him gruffly.
“What about what is best for her though? I am supposed to be the one who has her back when no one else does. She doesn’t deserve all this,” Massimo slams his glass of water down on the table and everyone jumps.
“Where is she?” I ask.
“At work.”
“What? She’s gone back there? Who allowed that?” I explode with a ferocity that surprises me.
He raises a shoulder. “She wanted to get back to normal. Bluey is going everywhere with her now.”
“Strewth. Make sure he doesn’t have a crack at her. All we need is her knocked up with a redhead,” Dad sure has a way with words. Matty snorts, but Massimo looks furious.
“Dad! What the fuck,” he slams his cutlery on the table.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64 (Reading here)
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140