Gastone looked at Elio again. "Talk."
"What do you want me to say? Does it even matter why she told me? Good thing that she did. I'm not going to question it if it gave us a head start against the Bratva."
"Coluccio said that you looked like you didn't want to be seen. As if you were hiding that girl."
Elio laughed.
It was true but he would never admit it. Savannah should stay as far away from Made Men as possible. Granted, he wasn’t not going to take that advice himself. "Tell that to Flavio whom she talked to a few minutes later."
Lie.
Lie.
Lie.
The girl hadn't talked to Flavio, barely acknowledged him, however, mentioning him was a strategic move. As the Capo dei Capi's brother, there were high chances that Noah knew and didn't give a fuck. And no soldier had the fucking right to question him. Not even a Capodecina.
Whatever Noah knew or suspected held no importance until Father asked him himself. And that would happen anytime soon.
Fabro wasn't convinced. "How much does she know about us?"
"Probably as much as any other person in this goddamned city. It's not like we pretend to be model citizens. People who work with us or for us know shit. And they spread those things around. I don't do much talking with girls."
He felt as he was going deeper and deeper into this situation. Being reasonable wasn't enough for his family to let it go. Especially since they already shoved it away back in the club right after the kill.
He looked at Mother, seeing that she was extremely terrified as to what would happen. As a child he’d got hurt for any small misconception - talking without being told to, even looking the wrong way at someone. A blow to the face was the least that could have happened then. The worst? Being beaten up to a near-death state. Sadly, that had been the case, as well.
Now that he was twenty-one and could actually stand up for himself and fight back, it still wasn't certain that he would. Respect demanded to give yourself wholly to the Famiglia. And since Capodecina was an important position, representing a big part of it, going against it might be considered betrayal.
The choice was between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Unless Gastone decided to leave it alone.
"Fabro," said Father. "You'll pay a visit to that waitress. Get a feel as to what she knows."
This option Elio hadn't thought of. There was no use wasting time on him when he could survive the worst without saying a fucking thing. Savannah was fragile and it took her a while to feel somewhat safe around him. And that was also the case of the sexual acts they had engaged in back in Coluccio's club.
Seeing Fabro alone would be a terrifying experience for her. Yet he kept his expression stone cold as if he could care less. Even a slight hint of the possessiveness that burned within him could destroy everything he’d tried so hard to build over the years. His reputation couldn't suffer.
But he also wanted to protect Savannah.
He’d promised her this. And didn't want to break his promise.
Not to her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Red.
Everything went red.
His vision blurred as a flame curled in the pit of his stomach. His brain went on overdrive as it picked every moment that he'd spent fighting. The memories weighed down on him but instead of breaking even more, his heart turned ice cold and slunk into the shadows as his brain took complete control. The flames in his stomach rose to his chest, burning in his veins. They took over the rest of his body. His fingers curled into fists, slamming into the sandbag that was hanging from the ceiling. The pain pierced his hands but he barely felt it. Waves of fury rolled off him as blood rushed to his cheeks. The term anger barely even touched the tip of the volcano that he so clearly had become in that moment.
He wished there was a person in front of him rather than a fucking punching bag. Preferably his brother or father. At least then his frustration would have been directed at someone who could use a hit or two. Because for someone who was rather always bound to be on his own, he hated that there were people who could tell him what to do.
The rules he'd lived by ever since being initiated three years ago weren't his problem. Until now.
Until her.
Going into that godforsaken diner, he hadn’t thought it would change his life so much. Change him.
He was just doing his job as usual. And even though it wasn't the first time he took notice of a woman, it never went beyond a simple fuck. That was all he needed. All he wanted. But somehow Savannah was so much more. More than he thought he was prepared for. More than he was supposed to have.
And with all the scenarios he came up with, none included him actually giving her up. Sex or no sex, it wasn't probably going to change. Because for the first time he was more interested in corrupting her mind than her body.
He hadn't seen her in a week.
She was working more than usual and Elio kept himself busy by taking part in more car races on top of his work. With occasional parties, however, even those were no longer as frequent as they used to.
And none finished with fucking.
Good thing that Flavio had a lot to do before his initiation, so he didn't mind those unusual breaks. He’d most likely caught up on the reason but hadn't breached the subject. His warning had come to an end after the sexual storytelling event. He gave up on reasoning.
Perfect.
Elio wouldn't even know how he could change that. He just wasn't honorable enough to do the right thing.
