Page 45 of The Don's Prisoner

“Sorry man,” I said, “but you have to close down for today. We have places we need to be. You still have your pickup truck out back?” He nodded. “Great, we’ll need it.”

Chapter thirteen

Victoria

Isabella insisted she stay with me at Gio’s house until he came home. So, we spent the afternoon watching movies and talking about things not related to my crazy ex-boyfriend. We ordered pizza and ice cream—thanks to one of the many food delivery services Isabella had downloaded on her phone for “emergencies”—and had a blast listening to nineties pop songs and dancing around the kitchen.

I loved Isabella so much. She kept me focused on happy things when I would have otherwise been wallowing in self-pity, which was something I neither wanted to do nor felt was good for me. But it didn’t help that it was taking Gio forever to get home. I knew that he would now have to tell everyone else because Rex had threatened the whole family, but I hadn’t expected it would take him hours.

I missed him and wanted to make sure he was okay.

At one point, I texted him asking if everything was alright, and he texted back that it was. It was just going to take him a while to get home. I understood that and didn’t argue. He was doing what he felt he needed to do, and there was no way could I be upset about that.

When he finally came home, Isabella hugged me goodbye, kissed her brother on the cheek, and left—eager to go home and get some rest. It was nearly midnight, but at least he had come home safely.

“Rough day?” I asked, looking up at him from my spot on the couch. I was curled up under a blanket and didn’t want to move. I had nearly fallen asleep while watching Devil Wears Prada, which happened to be one of my favorite movies. He walked to the stairs and put down a pink gym bag—my pink gym bag—on the stairs before turning around to look at me again.

“Something like that,” he said and sat down next to me, casually putting an arm around my shoulders. I snuggled into him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He kissed the top of my head, and I smiled to myself. “Did you have fun with Isabella?”

“I did,” I nodded. “I love your sister, she’s incredible.”

“She certainly is. I will admit, when she was born, I wasn’t a huge fan. But now I can’t imagine my life without her. I’m glad you two get along well. I’m sorry I am so late. I didn’t think we would have that much of an issue.”

“Issue with what?” I asked, and I felt him tense.

“I can’t tell you that, darling.”

I knew there would be things he couldn’t tell me. It was bound to come with the territory. But I hadn’t expected to feel jealousy. There were people in his life that he could tell everything. I just wasn’t one of those people.

Did I want to be one of those people? Did I want him telling me everything— trusting me with damning evidence against him and the ability to destroy everything he and his family built?

Yes, I think I did. And it wasn’t just because I was curious or the fact that one day we would be married and he would take over the Mafia. It was because I wanted to know everything and anything about this man. There was so much I didn’t know yet, and I realized that I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could, figuring everything out.

I was falling for him a lot more than I had ever expected or thought possible.

“I understand,” I said and I yawned, stretching. “I have to get some sleep. Otherwise, I will be useless at work tomorrow.”

He laughed.

“Oh, you’re not going to work tomorrow. You're staying right here,” he informed me, and I turned to face him. He was smiling, but he wasn’t joking. He was actually ordering me to stay.

Oh, no way. Not happening.

“I have to go to work. I have a photo shoot this week that needs prepping, I’ve got to organize the dresses for the fashion show in two weeks, and I’ve got to choose models for it as well. Not to mention I have to find a new intern, so I don’t have to organize my own calendar. Oh, and I’ve got to plan a trip to Seattle to help Caroline get settled in the store out there as the new manager. I can’t just not show up. It was bad enough that I took last weekend off. Do you know when the last time I actually took a whole weekend off was?” I ranted, pushing away from him so I could sit cross-legged with my back against the arm of the couch and watch him take in what I was saying. As I spoke, Gio progressively got more stern-looking, his jaw clenching in agitation.

“I don’t care, Victoria. You have the Irish Mafia after you! You are target number one, and I don’t put it past Rex to either abduct you or just kill you outright in the parking lot. From the sounds of it, he’s really pissed that we are getting married, and do you know what men like him do when they’re pissed? They lash out. And he’ll lash out at you,” he said, biting his lower lip slightly. It was distracting, I wanted to be the one biting his lip, but I was too annoyed to be distracted for long.

“He’s not going to do anything to me at the shop. Everything is on a security camera, and there are a ton of people all over that building at all times. There would be witnesses, and he’s not going to do something that stupid,” I argued. He narrowed his eyes at me.

“That doesn’t matter. He has enough money and backing to pay everyone in that plaza to keep their mouths shut. He could rig your security camera, he could sneak in and kill you before anyone knew, glass office or not. You aren’t leaving this house until it is safe,” he ordered and I matched his pissed-off gaze.

“You can’t tell me what to do, Giovanni. I am not your wife yet. I am not your charge or someone you can order around. I am a grown-ass woman who has a business to run, and if you don’t like that, you can just fuck right off,” I told him and stood up, heading for the stairwell to dig through my bag. Hopefully, he had thought to grab underwear and a hair brush. It would be awkward going to work with no panties, but I would do it if I had to. I did not take days off if I could avoid it—especially not when such important events were coming up. Gio was lucky that I had taken the weekend off.

His arms came around me and I stood up straight, resisting the urge to turn around and slap him. He held me to him and put his head in the crook of my neck, speaking gently into my skin.

“I’m sorry. I just want to keep you safe,” he said and ran his hands along my arms as he got as close to me as possible. “I’m not used to taking care of someone, and I am terrified he is going to hurt you somehow. He is not a good man, darling.”

“I understand that, but I need to be at work. I will be safe, Gio, I promise,” I told him and he shook his head. I could feel it as he kissed my shoulder.

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