Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Pretty Please

“Alex, let’s go—we’re going to be late,” I said as I walked past his room.

It was Monday and we were on our way to school, which Alex was enrolled in since he hadn’t graduated due to being in a coma.

We came home yesterday after confirming that our parents had really left.

Although we were more than welcome to stay with Giovanni since his parents clearly loved us like their own kids, we knew we couldn’t stay with them forever.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m here,” Alex said, kissing my forehead and grabbing an apple.

I playfully rolled my eyes and grabbed the keys to my car that I finally got back before leaving the house with my brother close behind.

I smiled as I noticed Giovanni and the boys parked in front of the house, waiting for us.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Giovanni said as I walked up to him.

I smiled brightly as he wrapped his arms around my waist and softly kissed my lips.

We pulled away, and I turned to see the boys staring at me with a confused look, glancing between me and Alex.

“This is my brother Alex,” I said, introducing my brother to the boys.

“Hey Alex, I’m Alessandro, and this is Dimitri and Lorenzo,” Alessandro said before he and my brothers did the whole bro hug thing.

I smiled at the fact they were getting along and turned my head to look at Giovanni to see he was already staring at me with a distant look.

“Are you ready to go?” I asked softly. He smiled as he seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in and nodded. He walked me to my car before opening the door for me and closing it.

“You’d better buckle up,” I said to Alex with a smirk. His eyebrows creased in confusion, but he did as I asked.

I watched as Giovanni pulled to my side when we made it to the red light. I giggled as he began revving his engine, and I did the same, making him chuckle.

As soon as the light turned green, we both took off. I laughed as I caught sight of Alex’s shocked face.

As soon as the school parking lot came into view, I turned the wheel and laughed victoriously as I parked perfectly in Giovanni’s parking spot once again.

I turned to see Alex staring at me like I was crazy and watched as he quickly climbed out of the car.

“Alex?” I asked softly as I got out of the car and followed after him.

He stopped in front of the car and leaned against a tree.

“You drive just like him,” he whispered.

I tensed as I realized who he was talking about. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” I pleaded.

“You drive just like who?” Alessandro asked as he and the rest of the boys came to stand with us.

“Johnathan,” Giovanni gritted out, catching on.

I kept my eyes on my brother as I swallowed back tears. “I drive like you,” I said softly.

“No, Luna, you don’t. You had the same psychotic look in your eyes that he got,” Alex said, taking a step toward me.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, looking at the ground.

Alex wrapped his arms around me and hugged me into his chest. “It’s not your fault, Lulu,” Alex mumbled.

The bell rang, and instead of answering I walked out of my brother’s grip and grabbed my bookbag from my car and locked it before walking off into the building.

“Welcome back, class. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend,” the teacher said as everybody filtered into the classroom. I watched as the boys came in, followed by my brother.

Giovanni took his regular seat by me and slowly took my hand in his, making me smile.

“You are not like him, piccolo,” he said before kissing the top of my head.

“But what if I am?” I asked softly.

He shook his head and pulled me in for a passionate kiss. “You aren’t anything like him. You have too much love in your heart, baby,” he said, leaning his forehead against my own.

I smiled and softly pecked his lip before pulling away and turning toward the front of the class.

“Are you done?” the teacher asked, looking between me and Giovanni.

I smiled sheepishly and nodded my head.

“Who’s that?” one of the girls asked while pointing at Alex.

“Oh yes, I forgot we have a new student. I’d like to introduce you to Alex. Alex, please tell the class about yourself,” the teacher said, leaning against her desk.

“I’m Alex, Luna’s brother,” Alex said before smiling and showing off his pearly whites. His dimples began to show, and I swear the girls started swooning.

“You’re ~her~ brother? Are you sure?” Brittney asked, looking between the two of us.

I bit my tongue to hold in a snarky response and instead settled for sending her a smile.

“Last time I checked yeah,” Alex said, looking between me and Barbie.

“Well, I’m Brittney,” Barbie said, smiling at Alex.

A look of realization settled on his face before he looked back over at me. “Oh,” he said, looking back at her.

“If you ever need anything, and I mean ~anything~, come and find me,” Barbie said with a wink.

“Ew, no thanks,” Alex said with a disgusted look.

The whole class broke out in laughter while Alex continued to stare at Brittney in disgust. Brittney screeched and turned on her heels before running out of the class.

“I like you already,” Alessandro said, patting Alex’s back.

The teacher quieted down the class and started the lesson. After long and boring classes, it was finally time for lunch.

“We have a designated lunch table,” I said to Alex as we walked past the empty tables to our table outside.

“Oh,” Alex said softly with a look of understanding.

As soon as we finished eating, we did what we usually did.

Alessandro and I started our usual joke fest while the rest talked about whatever they talked about, except this time my brother was included in their conversation.

Giovanni’s phone began to ring, and we were all silent as he picked it up.

“Who the fuck is this?” Giovanni asked with a hard look.

His whole demeanor changed, and I guess that’s what it meant to be a Don—you weren’t allowed to show weakness even if it was just a phone call.

He put the phone on speaker and gestured toward Alessandro, who pulled out a laptop from his bag and connected it to his phone.

I looked around at the boys and realized this was who they were. One phone call and it was like a switch had flipped.

“Someone you should meet. I know you’re trying to track me right now, but I’ll do you one better. I’m at a lovely diner called Gio’s.

“You have fifteen minutes to get here before I leave,” the voice said before hanging up the call.

The voice sounded so familiar, but the heavy Russian accent threw me off since I didn’t know anybody Russian.

I brushed off the feeling as I looked between the boys who went back to doing what they were doing.

“Um, excuse me, aren’t you going to go?” I asked, confused.

“Why would we, piccolo?” Giovanni asked, turning to look at me and pecking my forehead.

“Why wouldn’t you? Shouldn’t you at least hear what he has to say? What if it’s a business proposition?” I asked softly.

The boys exchanged looks before groaning and nodding their heads.

“She has a point. ~Sara una donna perfetta~,” Dimitri said with a small smile. (She’s going to make a perfect Donna.)

~“Come fai a sapere che sara Donna?”~ Giovanni asked as we all got up. (How do you know she’ll be Donna?)

“~Tu la ami~,” Alessandro said, smirking. (You love her).

Giovanni got quiet at Alessandro’s response and only glared at him before wrapping his arm around me.

“I’m coming with you, right?” I asked, looking up at Giovanni.

He looked down at me and chuckled before softly kissing my lips.

“Why would I take you with me to deal with something like that?” he asked, stopping me in front of my class.

“Giovanni, please. When I said okay to you telling me, I didn’t just accept that—I accepted everything,” I said softly.

“Piccolo, it could get dangerous,” Giovanni said, leaning his forehead against my own.

“I know. I promise you won’t even know I’m there. Pretty please?” I begged, giving him my best puppy-dog eyes. I watched as emotions conflicted in his eyes before he kissed me.

We pulled away, and I stared at him hopefully.

“Okay, but you stay with me the whole time and don’t say a word ~please~, piccolo,” he said softly.

I bit my lip to hold in a squeal as I nodded my head.

“Yeah, sure, I promise. Let’s go,” I said as I grabbed his hand and started to pull him outside before he could change his mind.

“~Non la ama solo—e frustato~,” Lorenzo said. (He doesn’t just love her—he’s whipped).

The boys began to chuckle and they whispered the translation to Alex, who started to laugh along with them. Giovanni sent them a glare before opening the door for me to get in.

I handed Alex my keys and he got into my car, letting the boys ride with him since they didn’t want to take their bikes.

Giovanni took off and I could tell he was worried. I took one of his hands in mine and squeezed it reassuringly.

“Everything will be fine, don’t worry,” I said softly.

He nodded, but his worry didn’t go away. I sighed and squeezed his hand again.

We pulled up to Gio’s to see it completely deserted, which was new. He parked the car and Alex parked next to us.

As soon as we stepped out of the car, Giovanni put on his leather jacket and the boys did the same. He opened his trunk before reaching inside and pulling out a leather jacket exactly like his.

He threw it to Alex, who caught it effortlessly and put it on.

Alessandro started to fumble with Alex’s hair almost automatically and froze as he realized what he was doing.

My brother and him both froze, and Alessandro cleared his throat awkwardly before pulling away.

Giovanni closed the trunk before wrapping his arm around me and starting to walk toward the entrance, leaving the boys to follow behind us.

Before we could step inside, two huge men stepped outside and studied all of us before pointing a finger at me.

“This is no place for a woman, no? Leave her,” the one on the left barked.

“Get your finger out of my face. I’m going in,” I said coldly.

Giovanni tensed next to me but didn’t say a word. The two men nodded and stepped aside so we could go in.

“How did you know that would work?” Alessandro asked from behind us.

“Russians have a thing for confident women,” I said softly.

“How do you know that?” Dimitri asked.

“Movies,” I admitted sheepishly.

The boys began to chuckle while Giovanni kept his signature hard look on his face. We walked in silence to the back, where Giovanni’s parents were waiting for us with their own cold looks.

Giovanni’s mother’s eyes softened as she noticed me, but hardened again as she remembered the situation.

They turned away from us and toward a table that was in the dark, but it was clear somebody was sitting there.

“Hello, I’m Petrov,” the figure said, gesturing for Giovanni to take a seat. I couldn’t make out a face, but he sounded young, maybe a year or two older than us.

“Russo,” Giovanni said, taking his arm from around me and crossing his arms in front of his chest. He leaned against the booth next to us with a bored expression but didn’t make a move to sit.

“I know who you are, Giovanni,” Petrov said.

“I’m flattered, though I can’t say the same for you,” Giovanni said, not sounding even the least bit curious.

“You have something I want,” Petrov said as he began to stand. His guards immediately came to his sides, surrounding him and blocking his face.

“Oh?” Giovanni asked, pushing himself off the booth.

Petrov mumbled something, and his guards cocked their guns and pointed them at Giovanni. I gasped as I felt the air get sucked out of my lungs.

The boys cocked their own guns and pointed them at Petrov’s guards, leaving them at a standoff.

“What do we have that you want?” I asked, looking at Petrov, hoping he couldn’t tell how afraid I was.

Petrov snapped his fingers, and the guards all dropped their guns. I released a breath as I began to relax, knowing nothing was going to happen to Giovanni.

“~You, ~лепесток (petal),” Petrov said.

Confusion sank in as I looked back at Giovanni, but he was just as confused as I was. I turned back to look at Petrov, waiting for him to elaborate.

Petrov said something in Russian, and the guards moved, letting Petrov step into the light.

It didn’t take long for me to recognize him, and I immediately regretted making Giovanni bring me with him.

“Johnathan,” I whispered before I was engulfed in darkness.