Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Secrets

~After school.~

“Giovanni, it’s me again. Please be okay. Alessandro’s bringing me to your house. I—never mind. Bye,” I said into my phone.

I bit my bottom lip nervously as Alessandro rang the bell. My breath hitched in my throat when Giovanni opened the door. He stared at me wide-eyed, and I took a step back.

“There’s lipstick on your face,” I mumbled pathetically.

Giovanni took a step toward me, and I took another one back. I wiped the tears off my cheeks and looked over his shoulder to see Barbie standing behind him with a smirk.

Alessandro tensed when he noticed her too, and Giovanni turned around to see what we were looking at.

“What was that you said about keeping his hands and mouth to himself?” she asked, walking up to me.

I scoffed and shook my head. “You deserve each other,” I said softly. I wiped the tears off my cheeks despite the fact they kept falling.

I grabbed Alessandro’s keys, and he nodded, letting me know I could take his car. I sent him a small smile and walked up to his car before getting inside.

I turned the key in the ignition before speeding out of Giovanni’s driveway and down the road.

“Gio’s,” I mumbled under my breath as I read the sign. The tears had stopped a while ago, but I could feel them ready to run down my cheeks again.

“Hi, welcome to Gio’s,” Bebe said without looking up.

“Hi, Bebe,” I said softly. My voice cracked, and I cleared my throat, trying to cover it up.

She looked up with a smile, but it quickly dropped into a frown. “Why were you crying?” she asked, leading me to the table in the back that Giovanni took me to when we came together.

I took a deep breath before telling her everything—from being questioned by the police to what just happened at her house.

“Stay here,” she whispered with a sad smile before she got up and went into the kitchen. I put my head down and took a deep breath, trying to get Giovanni out of my head.

I heard something being placed in front of me and looked up to see a cup of hot chocolate in front of me. I turned my head to smile at Bebe, but my smile immediately dropped when I saw Giovanni.

“Please stay,” he said when he noticed me getting ready to leave.

I bit my lip and nodded, taking the hot chocolate in my hands.

“What happened to your eye?” I asked, just now noticing the black eye he was sporting.

“Alessandro punched me for making you cry,” he whispered, sitting across from me.

“He did that for me?” I asked with a small smile.

He nodded but frowned slightly when he noticed my smile.

“Why were you upset?” he asked, scrunching his eyebrows together.

I bit my lip to hold in my anger and drank some of the hot chocolate before taking a deep breath.

“You’re right. I had no right to be upset. Claiming the boys in my life as my boyfriend and kissing them in school hallways is just something I say and do,” I said sarcastically.

“Baby—”

“Don’t call me that,” I whispered, wiping the tears I realized were falling off my cheeks.

“Nothing happened,” he whispered.

“So I was hallucinating the lipstick on your face?” I asked with a scoff.

“She kissed me. I went home after we talked to the police officers. School finished, and I was getting ready to come get you, and I open my door and there she is.

“Next thing I know she’s attacking my face with kisses,” he said, reaching for my hand.

I shook my head and slowly pulled my hand away. “Did you try to push her away?” I asked softly.

“Yes. I have proof—my family has cameras in the main room where she attacked me. I can show you the video recording.

“Please don’t be mad at me. I don’t want to lose you,” he said desperately, reaching for his phone.

“I trust you. I guess—I guess I just I wish it didn’t happen,” I said softly.

“You—you trust me?” he asked, staring at me wide-eyed.

I bit my lip and nodded my head. “Of course I do. You’ve never given me a reason not to,” I said softly, looking up into his eyes.

“Maybe not, but I’ve given you reason after reason to cry,” he said regretfully.

“It’s okay. You aren’t perfect, I get that,” I said, sending him a soft smile.

“You’ll never leave, right? I mean me?” he asked.

I stared at him wide-eyed, and the raw emotion in his eyes made me want to cry again for how vulnerable he looked. “I won’t ever leave,” I said with a small smile.

Giovanni nodded and bit his lip, deep in thought. I picked up my hot chocolate and started to drink some.

“I’m in the Mafia,” he said so softly I barely heard him.

I choked on the hot chocolate and stared at him wide-eyed.

“As in the Italians in New York?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

“Yeah, like the Italians in New York, piccolo,” he said with an amused smile.

“Okay,” I said with a shrug.

“Okay? You aren’t scared?” he asked, looking at me like I was crazy.

“Would you hurt me?” I asked even though I already knew the answer. I watched as he fought back a smirk, and I bit my lip to hold in a smile.

“Never,” he said, shaking his head.

I nodded my head and took another sip of my drink.

“So what’s your position?” I asked.

He tensed, and I watched as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“I run it. I’m the ~Don~,” he said, avoiding eye contact.

“You’re seventeen, Gio,” I said, frowning.

“So?” he asked, staring at me curiously.

“So? So what if you ~die~, Gio? You’re a high-school student!

“If you die, you wouldn’t have lived your life, found that one person you want to marry, had kids and two dogs—aren’t you worried about your future?” I asked softly.

“I guess I never really worried about it much before,” he answered, scratching the back of his neck.

“What changed?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“The people who care,” he said, making a gesture toward me.

I bit my lip and looked inside my cup, trying to cover my blush. “Oh,” I whispered.

“You’re worried about me, but what about you? If my enemies find out about you, they’ll try to use you against me. Aren’t you scared?” he asked.

I bit my lip again and thought about it for a second. “No. You’ll protect me, and if you don’t, Alessandro will,” I said with a shrug.

“Right,” he said, tensing at the mention of Alessandro.

“I’m sorry he punched you,” I said softly.

He nodded in response and kept his eyes on the table.

“Do you like him?” he blurted out after a moment of silence.

“No. He reminds me of my brother,” I said softly. I tensed when I realized what I’d said.

“You have a brother?” he asked.

I nodded, and he smiled reassuringly at me, silently asking me to tell him more.

“Um, he just turned nineteen. He’s the one that got my car for me. He was—is my best friend,” I said softly, fighting the tears.

“Where is he?” he asked, taking my hand in his and rubbing circles on the back of it.

“He’s in a coma in the h-hospital,” I whispered, wiping the tears off my cheeks.

“~Merda!~ (Shit!) I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked,” he said, sitting next to me and hugging me into his chest.

“It-it’s okay. I-I just miss him. I visit him every Saturday, but it’s not the same as when he was-was awake and talking to me and teasing me,” I sobbed.

He hugged me tighter and softly kissed the top of my head. “It’s okay, piccolo,” he whispered.

I pulled away to wipe the tears off my cheeks and rested my head on his shoulder. “He would have liked you,” I whispered.

“The guy dating his sister?” he joked.

“The guy taking care of his sister,” I said softly.

He kissed the top of my head again, and I could feel a light smile. “I think I would have liked him too,” he said, putting his head on mine.

“You don’t like anybody,” I said with a scoff.

He grumbled something, only proving my point and making me giggle.

“I would have liked him just for you, piccolo,” he said, taking my face in his hands and kissing my lips softly.

I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back slowly. We pulled away and smiled softly at each other.

“Do you want to meet him?” I asked, breaking the silence. I bit my lip nervously and played with my fingers in my lap.

“I’d love to meet him, piccolo,” he said, taking my hands in his.

I smiled brightly and pecked his lips before grabbing money from my wallet and putting it on the table.

“You don’t have to do that,” he said, staring at me with an unrecognizable emotion.

I tilted my head to the side as I studied him, trying to figure out what it was, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

“I want to,” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him outside.

“Okay, piccolo,” he said, softly kissing my forehead.

“I forgot something—stay here,” I said before running back into the diner. I smiled as I saw Bebe talking to a customer, and I walked up to her before pulling her into a hug.

“What’s this for, sweetie?” she whispered in my ear as she hugged me back.

“For everything,” I said softly.

She tightened her hold on me, and I didn’t have to look at her face to know she was smiling. “Thank you for making my son happy,” she said softly.

“I haven’t done anything,” I said, pulling away and looking at her confused.

She smiled and turned my body toward the window, where Giovanni was standing watching us with a smile.

“I think you have. He hasn’t smiled like that since his tenth birthday,” she said with a sad smile.

“He’s done a lot for me too,” I admitted softly.