4

Gabriela 

Giovanni didn’t come back after that. My chest hurts. 

He refused to make our marriage work and I’ve been waiting all night long for him to make an explanation, but neither of his shadows appeared right in front of my eyes. 

When I woke the next morning, he was still gone. There was nothing from him, not even a single explanation of what had happened. 

Asshole. 

I knew that he was the cruelest mob leader in New York, but I didn’t know he was this cruel. 

All I can do is to get up from the bed and try to figure out where to go in this large house. He didn’t even tour me around. 

Panic-stricken towards me when I saw a man behind the door. He wasn’t Giovanni and I don’t know him. 

He turned when he heard me approaching. 

“ She’s awake, sir,” I heard him say on the phone. The man looks like he was one of Giovanni’s men, except that he was more casual than anyone. 

In this business, even the lowest rank wore suits to parade their power, but this man right here only wears comfy shirts, like he wasn’t on duty. 

Some more whispers and the call ended. 

“ Where the fuck is he?” 

He looks taken aback. “ Language, Miss.” 

“ And who the fuck are you?” I snapped because of anger. 

Who wouldn’t be? On the night of my wedding, the man that I just married turned down my offer to make our marriage work and run away. Being ignored is even better than experiencing this attitude of his. 

The man stretched his arm forward. “ I’m Mr. Dela Vin’s bodyguard. The boss told me to bring you to the mall so you can enjoy yourself.” 

“ Call him now,” I said, jaw clenching.  “Tell your boss that I don’t need a bodyguard and I can go to the mall alone.” 

Silence passed. I walked in his direction and grabbed the phone out of his hands. My heart is still heavy from Dela Vin’s refusal last night. Having a bodyguard seems fine to me too. I just want to piss the hell out of him for what he did to me. 

I dialed his number. “ Ace.” 

“ You don’t need to provide a bodyguard, Giovanni. I can take care of myself.” 

“ Santoro?” His voice is dripping with steel. “ Why the fuck are you holding Ace’s phone? Goddamnit. Give it to him and no. You either bring Ace to whatever hell are you going or I’ll ask him to tie you in your bed.” 

I twisted my wedding ring- the brand ring on my finger and gave the bodyguard a sly smile. “ Really? You let another man tie me on our bed, Giovanni? You sure about that?” I tease, stepping forward and never-ending my eye contact with the man in front of me. 

Looking back, I always knew one thing about Dela Vin. He’s dangerous and right now, I am walking on a thin edge of danger.  “ I guess you’re right. I’ll just let this bodyguard of yours tie me on the bed for you, jerk.” 

“ You’re choosing danger, Ma’am.” Ace said, looking at me with his dark glare after I ended the call of his boss and gave him the phone. Before I didn’t have any problem dealing with this kind of man, I am the daughter of the Santoro clan but somehow our downfall made me cautious. They scare the shit out of me. 

I merely shrugged. “ What did I do? It’s his suggestion to let you tie me in bed if I don’t take you to the mall.” 

Ace stood straight like the usual. All bodyguards are the same. Formal and neutral. They only know how to serve their boss and that makes them boring.  I decided to tease his loyalty. “ Don’t tell me you’re afraid of him? Nothing to worry about. I am just teasing him for leaving me here all alone.” 

“But still. You don’t know why he’s busy, don’t you?” The guard's eyes move to mine. I know he sees cluelessness in my eyes. “In order to save your family, Mr. Dela Vin needed to cut some ties with MOB’s families. That’s why he was busy. He was busy saving your ass.” 

I wondered if this bodyguard knew he sounded like I’m the bad person here. “ That’s why I’m sold in this marriage. Now, tell you what. Do you mind teaching me how to fire a gun?” 

He moves backward, touching the pistol underneath his clothing. “ No, I don’t think so.” 

My lips twitched. “ Afraid I might kill you with it?” I chuckle as I watch him step further away from me. “ Dela Vin won’t know. I promise. He wouldn’t know about it.” 

But then. If Dela Vin is a genius, he won’t hire a stupid bodyguard for me. I saw how Ace shook his head. “ Sir. I did nothing. She’s asking if I can teach her how to fire a gun.” 

I was star-struck to see him talking behind me. I don’t need to turn around and see the mighty Giovanni Dela Vin in his navy Armani suit looking like he was the devil. I’m too shocked to realize I didn’t even hear him coming inside. 

“ Leave Ace.” Cold. Distant. I never knew I could hear his voice like this. Suddenly, I became afraid of myself and looked at the bodyguard with pleading eyes. But then he left. 

My body shivers hard. The danger is an understatement of what I am feeling right now. Giovanni came up behind me. I can feel his chilly hands wrapping against my neck. Not too tight, but too hard to make me feel his anger. 

He turned my body to meet his brooding eyes. “You really love disobeying me, huh? Was it fun, Santoro?” 

I tensed. The feeling of his hands around my neck and the anger crossing his face was enough to realize I shouldn’t tease him like that. “ L-Let go.” My voice is strikingly full of fear. 

Giovanni looked serious. He dipped his head over the side of my jaw. I can feel his breathing. It was too much. “Good thing I’m only in the neighborhood, Santoro. But I swear, teasing me like that? It only does you good if you please me right now.” 

My eyes widen in fear. “ What do you mean?” 

The corner of his mouth twisted into a curl, but he didn’t smile. “ Something that I should’ve done in the first place.”  

A yelp escaped from my lips when suddenly Giovanni lifted me off the floor and pushed me down onto the bed, roughly turning me around, causing my face to hit the headboard. “The hell?!” I shouted. 

I froze when I felt him grip a handful of my hair, pinning me further. “You are my wife. Your family sold you to me and you could do anything about that. But that doesn’t mean you get to act like this. I’ve been very lenient to you, Gabriella. Very.” 

My body resists. It only made him shove me harder down the headboard. “ Let me go!” I tried to look back, but he never allowed it. Instead, I was forced to just feel his body against mine. “ It’s not funny, Dela Vin! Fucking let go of me right now.” 

“ Nah. Grab the headboard, baby. Take what I will give.”