Gian (Trassato Crime Family #1)(25)
“Gianluca, I’ve told you this many times, and I’ll repeat it again now. I am proud to call you my nephew and my godson. You know I’d do anything for you. Anything. Now that you’re taking the next step in your life, I have every faith that you’ve chosen well. I have a few words of counsel for you and the lovely Evangeline.” He rotated his square chin to the side, his lips flat and lifeless. “You earn respect from your spouse with actions, not words. Always respect and listen to her because a real man takes care of his family. Be careful of lines crossed that can never be uncrossed. Every betrayal starts with trust. Every enemy starts as a friend. Every lie has a grain of truth. Behind every sin is a sinner.” He lifted his glass, and the entire room followed like minions eager to implement their evil leader’s plan. “May your days be numerous and your troubles trivial. Famigila per cent’anni!”
Dominick’s stare never wavered from mine as his rubbery lips engulfed the rim of his glass. Then he laughed—though, he hadn’t said anything funny. I forced myself to meet his deadened gaze, trying to bury my fear. Like a snake preparing to strike, his lips curled upward, and he made a slashing motion with his hand across his neck. The air went from festive to heavy with tension. I couldn’t get enough oxygen in my lungs.
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
What the hell am I doing? This is insane. These people are certifiably crazy.
Gian kissed my temple and tapped his glass against mine. “Drink, sweetheart, or you’ll insult my uncle.”
With more than a little tremor in my hand, I raised the glass to my lips and took a giant sip of the champagne, craving immediate anesthetization. I didn’t taste anything. It could have been a glass of arsenic, and I wouldn’t have noticed.
The sugary bubbles clung to the walls of my throat, suffocating me. My eyes flared, and for a second, I seriously thought the drink would make a less than graceful reappearance on the spotless ivory Aubusson rug beneath my feet.
My emotions seesawed from breakdown to out of control laughter and back again with alarming frequency. Frost coated the walls of my veins, only to be replaced with scalding heat a few seconds later. My vision muddied. Fleetingly, I remembered I hadn’t eaten all day. Voices became garbled like someone had shoved my face under water. My body swayed, and I clawed at the sleeve of Gian’s suit jacket.
“Gian,” I rasped, and everything went black.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
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 f*cking 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 f*cking 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.