Cruel Summer

CHAPTER NINETEEN: WINTER

“Itoldyouthat there would be repercussions,” Giovanni says and I look up to find him standing in the doorway of the library.

He has on a suit but his jacket is missing. The sleeves of his white shirt are rolled up to his elbows and I can’t help but to study his muscular forearms. For someone who lets everyone else do all his hard work, he’s fit as fuck.

His hair is tousled and somehow it makes him look even hotter than usual. There’s a layer of scruff, lining his jaw and his lips are wet as if he just got through licking them. His eyes are smoldering and my skin warms under the scrutiny of his gaze.

I don’t know what he wants from me but I can already tell that it’s not going to be nice.

It’s late and I’d come down to the library after having trouble sleeping. I hadn’t heard anyone else bumping around but I hadn’t expected to. Night time is usually the only time that Enzo isn’t watching me like a hawk, finally getting to rest.

All the offices are on the lower deck across the compound and I assume that’s the same side the other bedrooms are on. I’m not quite sure. None of them have ever taken me to their bedroom, preferring to fuck me in closets, against walls, in pool houses.

I look up at Giovanni.

In libraries.

As he continues to stare at me it becomes more clear that that’s why he’s here, to fuck.

I swallow, my skin growing feverish as I watch him. His posture is much more relaxed than I’m used to seeing. Finally, he leans off of the wall, drawing closer to me. He stops just in front of the armchair, bringing his hands down to each arm rest and leaning close until I can feel his breath on my face. I inhale, taking in the smell of bourbon on his breath. He doesn’t appear to be drunk, just a little buzzed.

It explains why he seems less tightly wound.

But still, a semi relaxed Giovanni seems scarier than the tense one I’m used to, by a lot.

I bite down on the inside of my lip, not moving a muscle as he draws even closer. His breath fans across my lips and a shiver runs down my spine.

“You know it’s a miracle you’re still alive, you seem to be addicted to doing stupid shit: coming here, letting my brother use you however he wants, fucking leaving without protection in a public place.”

Definitely not drunk.

He’s sober enough to remember exactly what the fuck it is I’m being punished for and I want to argue, to explain myself.

I thought that he’d forgotten about his threat of there being repercussions for the kidnapping, but I should have known better. When Giovanni’s mind is set, nothing will change it.

He’s let me prance around for weeks now thinking that everything was forgiven, and now he’s caught me unsuspecting.

Clearly, he’s right about me doing stupid shit, because I don’t keep my lips sealed, preparing to argue with him. “It wasn’t my fault.”

He blinks, as if surprised by me speaking.

But it’s too late now. “I looked for Enzo and he wasn’t there.” Which is the fucking truth and why I think I shouldn’t be in trouble. I ended up kidnapped with a busted nose and piss running down my leg. That should be punishment enough.

“Which I can assure you, I made him and my brother pay for,” he says. “But it’s not a fucking excuse, not when Vito and I were sitting ten feet away.”

“If you were only ten feet away, then how didn’t you notice me leaving out of the room alone?”

He goes completely still and my body does the exact same in anticipation. I’m talking myself into more trouble, I know it, but I can’t seem to stop.

His eyes narrow.

“Speaking of which, how long did it take before you noticed that I was gone?” I continue. The book I was reading is completely forgotten, resting in my lap, the pages still open. “I was knocked unconscious but I had enough time to wake up before you appeared, so it must have been a while.”

My eyes flick to his right hand watching as his fingers tighten against the arm rest, leaving little grooves in the black leather of the chair.

I’m definitely hitting all the right buttons.

And there’s something exciting about it, about finally being in control for once when it comes to Giovanni. He’s always so damn demanding and assertive, his energy not allowing for anyone else in the room to be bigger than his.