Chapter 174
The room is tense for a moment before Elio releases a booming laugh. I cringe away from that too – because it’s clearly fake. Too loud, too brash – just meant to break the tension in the room.
We all turn towards him, Christian’s threat still alive in the tense lines of his body.
“Oh, you two never could take a joke,” he sighs, glaring between Giuseppe and Christian like they’re the ones in the wrong.
“None of this is a joking matter, Elio,” Christian snaps.
“Damn right it’s not,” Elio snaps right back, tightening his arm around Giana. “Considering you fucking killed our father and our brothers yesterday. Made this fine woman a widow. And now you’re asking us to what, quietly accept your rule, little half-brother? Accept your stripper bitch as our Donna?”
Christian pushes away from the desk and crosses the room almost faster than I can see. I draw in a harsh breath and suddenly Nico is at my side, pulling me away from Giuseppe and closer to him.
“Say one more fucking word about my wife, Elio,” Christian snaps, getting very close to Elio’s face and glaring down hard into his eyes. “And your blood will be on this floor too. It’s a fucking promise.”
Elio bares his teeth at his little brother. “You wouldn’t fucking –“
Christian’s fist moves lightening fast, streaking through the air and connecting hard with Elio’s jaw. The older man lets out a shout of pain and goes stumbles back, releasing Giana as he goes – though she looses her footing as well and gasps as she steps away.
I step towards my sister-in-law, concerned for her, but Nico wraps a firm arm around my waist, forbidding it.
“Another word, Elio!” Christian barks out, his words ringing through the room. “And I’ll knock your god damn teeth out!” He turns now, glaring around at all of us. “The sooner that all of you learn that this is dead fucking serious the better. I am not playing here! There is no room for questions, or for protest! I am the head of this family now and you either fall in line or you die.”
My breath catches in my throat as I stare at my husband, as I hear him voice the raw truth of the situation.
As I realize the very real lengths he will go to in order to secure this power, this family.
Elio straightens up, a hand pressed to his cheek, glaring hard at his brother. And even though he doesn’t say anything against Christian, I can see that he has not acquiesced. Not yet.
Bizarrely, he flicks his eyes back to me, a great deal of hate raging behind them. I step back a little, bumping hard into Nico, honestly afraid.
“Glad you came in now, Iris?” Nico murmurs, his mouth close to my ear.
I don’t bother to defy him. Because he’s right. I regret it – I regret…a great number of things.
“Look, Christian, you know I have no problem with this,” Giuseppe says, smooth. “I wish you hadn’t been so brash as to fucking kill our little brother,” he continues, his voice breaking in a way that makes me snap my head to him. “But please – know that I’m not fighting you on this. Take the family – take it all. Just…let me take my mom out of here. Let us go in peace.”
Christian straightens up, working hard to control his breathing, as he turns to his younger brother. “Thank you, Giuseppe,” he says, even. “I’m glad to have your allegiance. We can talk about your mother later this afternoon – but I think that can be arranged.”
My husband takes a minute now to frown around the room at all of us, clearly displeased with the interruption. “Now,” he says, slipping his hands cooly into his pockets. “I believe my brothers and I had planned to have coffee. Iris?” he says, raising an eyebrow at me.
I stand up straight, a little spooked at what’s going to come next.
“Do you think you could brew a pot?”
Slowly, a little smile comes to my mouth. And I nod to him, pleased to be included, pleased to have something to do, pleased to help. Pleased that he knows that I need something to do with my hands right now – that nothing would steady me better. I nod, letting him know that I can.
And so as one, the group of us turn towards the door and head out towards the kitchen.
The scene in the kitchen is a bit more chaotic than I’d prefer it, as the caterers arrive with a great deal of breakfast materials just as the trio of brothers arrive in the kitchen with the rest of us in tow. I hurry over to the caterers, getting a quick run-down of the food that they’ve brought, as Christian has a quick word with Nico and Giuseppe. Elio and Giana move away to the little bar in the corner, pretending to mix more bloody mary’s but putting their heads close together and talking quickly together in low voices.
I keep my eyes on the two of them as I shoo the caterers away, letting them know that it will be fine to bring dinner, but that I’ll set out the breakfast so they don’t have to.
As I move towards the coffee pot, Christian catches my eye and flicks his to Giana and Elio, his little frown letting me know that he’s worried about them.
I give a slight nod in agreement, letting him know that I feel the same, wondering if it might be good to get Giana out of the house and off to Disney with her children sooner rather than later.
I put the coffee on – putting a little extra in the filter so that it brews extra strong, considering that we might need it – before moving to the tablet and returning to the flight pages, quickly adding three very expensive tickets to Orlando into the digital basket and bringing it quietly over to Chrisitan to show him.
I stand quietly by his side as he finishes the snipet of his conversation with Nico, and then when he turns to me I lift the tablet, not saying a word, letting him see what I’ve done. Christian frowns at the tablet for a moment, but when his face breaks into a smile, I know he understands.
“Good girl,” Chrisitan murmurs, slipping and arm around my waist and pulling me close so he can press a kiss to my temple. Then he releases me, pulls his wallet out of his pocket, and quietly hands me a credit card.
I take the card, moving away to the coffee area and quietly booking the tickets that will effectively get Giana out of the house and out of Elio’s clutches for the foreseeable future. And which, I hope passively, will give her a little bit of space to mourn properly, to bring some joy to the children, to get her head in order.
But as I wave Giana over to me and begin to tell her that the tickets are booked while I pour out a couple of cups of coffee, I feel eyes on my back.
I’m unsurprised when I turn to find that they’re Elio’s – that he’s looking at me, again, in that way that lets me know he understands me not as his donna, or his brother’s wife.
But as a fine, tasty piece of meat he’d quite like to sink his teeth into.
I loose a deep breath as I turn back to Giana, who is already flicking through the Disney park ticket packages. Because Elio is not finished with me – and sending her away means I’m not going to have Giana here as a shield to distract him.
