“Gio, I—”
“Don’t speak, Catalina. I don’t want to hear your lies first. Let the king of lies be heard,” he said. Giovanni’s gaze swept her appearance. Her eyes were nearly swollen shut from crying. The bruise she so cleverly hid from him now peeked out from behind the cover of her hair. She visibly trembled. Dominic made a move toward her and Giovanni's gaze tracked him. Dominic thought better of his actions and stopped. He kept his distance.
Giovanni walked around his desk and sat. “You sent my Bella to deliver the news?”
“She insisted.”
“Have a seat.” He rocked back in his chair with his fingers making a tent before him. Dominic and Catalina took the two seats in front of him.
“When did this start?” he asked, looking Dominic directly in the eye.
“Her trip to Sicily. When we first went to visit Franco.”
“Gio—.” Catalina tried to interrupt, and he shot her an angry glare. Her words faltered, and she silenced.
He then returned his attention to Dominic. “You fucked her the night she was to meet her new husband?” he asked.
“It happened.”
“Ah. It makes sense. Catalina returned talking of how changed she was. How wonderful the trip was for her. Shit happens, right?” Neither of them said anything. Giovanni directed his attention to his sister. “You didn’t think you could tell me that you had feelings for your brother.”
“He’s not my brother,” she answered softly.
“He’s your fucking brother!” Giovanni hissed.
Catalina flinched.
“Say it. Say it.” Giovanni demanded through clenched teeth.
“Okay!” She shouted through her tears. “He’s my… brother.”
Giovanni relaxed back into his chair. “Now answer my question.”
She shook her head sadly.
“Nothing to say? You marry Franco, but continue to fuck your brother like some common slut.”
Catalina put her hands to her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. She stammered her speech through her tears. “I love him, Gio. I love him like you love Mira. I didn’t just fuck him I fell in love. It was my heart that did it. Not something ugly or wrong. We didn’t mean to disrespect you or our family.”
Giovanni slammed his hand down on the desk glaring at her. He rose from his seat and went around his desk. He grabbed her by her chin roughly forcing her face up. Her hair fell back and he inspected the faded bruise on the side of her face. “Franco did this?”
“Yes. He beat me. Over and over again, he tortured and beat me. He did things to me Giovanni, horrible things.”
“Stop lying!” Giovanni shouted at her. He let go of her face and walked away slipping his hands in his pockets. He faced the wall and rocked on the back of his heels. “Bella says that I need to understand the complications that made you liars. I think I understand. After all I know what it’s like to long for someone that’s beyond your reach, and I know what its like to live with the shame and guilt of betrayal. But I am your fratello and the fucking head of this family. You two took liberties that weren’t yours to take.”
“May I speak?”
“Why the fuck not? You seem to do whatever the fuck you want to anyway,” Giovanni said.
Dominic rose. “I won’t make excuses for what I’ve done. I will only tell you that I love her with everything in me, and I love you too. You and Lorenzo took me in as a brother. You practically made me the man I am. I am as loyal to you as I ever was. I have not lost sight of my role in this family. I just simply fell in love.” Dominic went to his knees and grabbed his hand kissing his ring. “Perdonilo, prego perdonilo.”
Giovanni touched the top of Dominic’s head and then pulled his hand back. “Get up!”