Lady Night

Chapter eight

Gio excused himself from the hospital room and I was hot on his heels, my fists curled by my sides.

"Don't you dare do what I think you're going to do."

He turned, arching a dark brow, his phone already in his hands. "And what exactly am I about to do, Miss Night?"

My throat felt thick at the discerning look in his eyes. I tried not to shrink under them, but it was impossible when he seemed to know exactly what I was thinking or the deja vu I was feeling.

I did not want to owe yet another powerful man for the same god damn thing.

"I know what 'making arrangements' means to you," I ground out, "the apartment made at least a little sense. But this? You have no reason to do this. None."

Gio's face didn't falter as he watched me, that calm expression still calculating who knows what. I, however, could feel my pulse on the top of my skin and the blood burning in my veins.

Cold prickled on my neck and over my wrists.

Not again. Please, not again.

"What about this does not make sense?" He asked finally, crossing his arms over his chest.

Nurses walked past us, most of them stopping to turn and look at us. "It doesn't make sense to help out my employees? We do offer health insurance to-"

"Stop bullshitting me right now," I demanded before I could think better of yelling at him.

"What do you want from me? I already work for you, I live two floors below you, what else can you possibly want from me?"

He squinted at me, and immediately I regretted losing my temper. I could hardly imagine what Marafi would do if I ever spoke to him this way, but Gio merely looked at me, still with his arms crossed over his broad chest. I tried not to look at those shoulders, at the tattoos that peeked out from his collar and his sleeves.

"Why do you think I want something from you?"

Answering my question with one of his own.

Typical. He did, however, seem genuinely confused at my reaction. As though it was absurd to consider that he expected something in return for putting me up in one of the nicest apartments I've ever seen and then now? Now he wanted to pay for my sister's implant?

He wants something from me. I just didn't know what it was, but until I figured it out I wouldn't let me guard down. Not when I had a mission to accomplish, a sister to protect, and my freedom to gain. But here he was threatening all of that because he thought he was helping me.

"Why else would you be doing this?" I asked.

There could be no other reason, none at least that I could think of. "What else could you possibly have to gain from this?"

He shrugged. "Maybe I know how it feels to be helpless, and maybe I don't like seeing it on other people."

"I'm not helpless," I gritted my teeth. "Never have been. Never will be."

Even if sometimes it felt as though I was. Even if sometimes I definitely was. Marafi's face flashed in my mind.

I wasn't the same helpless kid I was when I first met Marafi, when I first incurred my debt.

What scared me, what truly scared me, was that even if Gio expected something from me or expected me to owe him... then I could do it all over again. For Audrey. I would do it again.

To my surprise, Gio merely chuckled and typed out a quick message on his phone.

"Trust me, Miss Night. I'm well aware." Why was he looking at me like that? "Think of this as a signing bonus, if that makes you feel better. Or maybe even a Christmas bonus if that helps you sleep."

He pressed the button to the elevator to go down and this time I was the one standing with my arms crossed. There was no way there was no catch- the world just simply didn't work that way. But for now, I would have to accept it.

Because he was right, when it came to Audrey, I was helpless.

The lift came and he stepped on, turning back to give me a rare smile.

"We will need to reschedule our meeting, Miss Night. Send me your availability at your earliest convenience."

I rolled my eyes a little, but nodded all the same.

His gaze narrowed on my small act of defiance and something in his eyes made it harder to swallow. Made it hard to breathe.

"So does that mean I don't get a Christmas bonus?"

The door shut, but not before he let out a surprised laugh.

***

Audrey, of course, peppered me with questions the moment I returned back to the hospital room and the entire trip back to my new apartment. She was gushing about Gio, about how handsome and how generous he was. Blah blah blah.

I was entertaining them for awhile until I felt a vibration against my leg, and when I pulled out my phone my stomach dropped.

Marafi: Why didn't you tell me Audrey was in the hospital?

I shouldn't be surprised that he somehow knew she'd been admitted- he had eyes everywhere.

But still, the proof of it terrified me.

Me: I'm taking care of it.

His reply was almost instant.

Marafi: That's not what I heard. I expect a report soon.

It was as if I manifested the text message from thin air. As if my constant worry that I would owe Gio the same way I owed Marafi signaled my boss to check in on his investment. If he knew that Gio was paying for my sister's medical bill, then he likely assumed I had forged some type of connection with the Russo consigliere.

And maybe I had. But Gio was so formal- so hard to read. But if I wanted Audrey out of Marafi's line of sight, then I needed to push harder.

"Okay, what," Audrey was gaping at the interior of my new apartment and staring at me, "this cannot be where you're living!"

I shrugged. "I told you that you should move in with me."

Her mouth was still wide open as she took in the floor to ceiling windows, the hardwood, the general extravagance of the whole place. Then she turned to look at me. Both of us seemed slightly out of place in this kind of place, and I realized it was for different reasons.

Audrey never tried to fit into this world. She was content with a quiet and good life, teaching her kids and dating boring guys. She didn't fit in here because she didn't want to.

I, however, spent almost every night trying to look like I belonged in this world but still only existing on the fringe of it. I interacted next to it, but would never fully belong in it. Not when I could barely imagine the kind of money it would take to rent this place, let alone own it.

The biggest difference though is that while Audrey may not want this kind of life, I didn't have a choice.

She agreed to stay for a couple of days and I was grateful for it. Whether or not she would admit to it, she was staying because she knew it would make me feel better. Fortunately, I didn't have to fill my boss in on why I was taking the night off but there was something else I needed to do too.

That's how I found myself standing outside of his door and knocking loudly twice. He was not the one that answered. Instead, it was Jacob-the man I saw him meeting with the last time I barged into his apartment. Jacob wasn't wearing a jacket this time and I could see a metal piece strapped to his hip.

"Um, hi. Is now a bad time?"

The other man smiled, shaking his head.

"Sabina, right? No. I believe it's a good time for you right now."

I didn't know exactly what that meant but I was willing to find out. He stepped aside letting me cross the threshold into the vaguely familiar apartment. It was similar to mine in the extravagance, but where I added small pieces to make it feel like home- Gio hadn't.

As he led me into the living room, I tried not to stare at the gun. It seemed impolite.

Gio was leaned over his coffee table, glaring at a stack of papers and not even bothering to look up when we walked into the room. Jacob cleared his throat.

"Not now," he grumbled, flipping the page and marking something with a red pen. I imagined that when whatever that was was finished, it would look like a blood bath of red ink. "You can head out, Jacob. I appreciate the help with the Fiord-"

Jacob interjected before Gio could finish, but my ears perked up at the mention of the fortune 50 company, Fiorda.

"It's a good time for you to wrap up too, boss.

Someone came to say hello."

Gio still didn't glance up, laser focused on the document in front of him but I still felt his senses reach out and note my presence.

"Hello, Miss Night."

"Um, hi," I said again.

Jacob chuckled a little, excusing himself from the living room into one of the other many rooms of this apartment. I heard a door click and that was when Gio's eyes finally rose to meet mine. He pushed the binder shut and shoved it a little ways away from him. Would it be obvious if I tried to peek at it?

He gestured for me to sit across from him on the armchair. I did. He leaned back into his couch cushions, stretching his arm over the back of it and cradling a cup of brown liquid in his fingers.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this time? Something new to yell at me for?"

I arched a brow. "I guess that remains to be seen. Have you done something that you deserve to be yelled at for?"

"Almost everyday." His lips quirked. "So have you just come to chat then?"

"Would that be so wrong?"

"Surprising," he allowed, "but not wrong."

Surprising? That I would want to come and see him? Clearly he didn't have a good idea of the effect he had on people. Before I could ask another question, one that I hadn't thought of yet, he beat me to it.

"How old are you anyways?" he asked gruffly, stroking the rim of his glass. Gio's eyes were hooded when he looked up at me through thick lashes.

This was what I was here for. To push him. To get to know him. Unfortunately, it seemed he would have to get to know me first.

"What?"

"You said you had your master's degree. But you barely look old enough to rent a car."

I rolled my eyes. "Because I can't. I'm twenty-four. I got my bachelor's in two years and my master's in the next two."

School was easy for me. It was people that were hard.

"Twenty-four," he breathed. I wondered if he was disappointed. "You're practically a baby."

I ran my tongue over my teeth.

"If I'm such a baby, you should probably stop looking at me like that."