Chapter 28

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I love this song! ^^ Up here, hehe :D Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this chapter. Enjoy, my amazing, most beautiful readers!!! XX, Love, Hannah <3

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Chapter 28: Sighing, Natalie pulled off her coat. She didn't know it could rain so hard in the summer time, though, she didn't mind. She always loved the rain, ever since she was a little girl. She felt as if the rain could wash away the world's sins, wash away the tears that she had cried at some point in her life and offered a clean slate. She loved the way it pitter-pattered against the windows and the way it smelled when a drifting breeze brought the smell of rain on the wind, or a storm on the horizon. She just loved everything about them.

She smiled as she walked into the kitchen, two bodyguards following close behind her. She turned and smiled at them as she set her purse on the counter and ran a hand through her slightly damp hair.

"You guys can go," she started and stopped, laughed, at their horrified faces. She waved a dismissing hand in the air.

"Not go, go. I mean you guys can go keep watch. I know Giovanni wants you to keep a watch outside. I can get you some hot coco made." She said.

The two men visibly relaxed and she smirked as she walked over to the stove to start making some tea.

"Okay, Ms. Brown. We will be outside if you need us." They said and not a moment later were gone.

Natalie shook her head, chuckling softly under her breath. She had just gotten back from having a dinner date with Ana-Marie and the wedding planner Camilla. They had just talked about the final details and finishing touches and they were pretty much ready to go, except Camilla had given Natalie a checklist a couple pages long for her to go over and make sure everything was correct.

Natalie couldn't believe that they were almost done planning, but she couldn't say she was particularly sad about being done. It had been quite stressful-wedding planner or not. But, she had felt like a thousand pound weights had been lifted off her shoulders after making amends with Ciara and her mother. It had been around 2 and a half weeks since that day when she had gone and talked to her mother and then seen and apologized to Ciara and she was happy to not feel the weight of that anymore. She already had stuff to deal with and that was one less thing off of her list of worries and for getting that out of the way she was beyond grateful.

Thoughts of her father passed through her mind frequently, but each time she had shoved them out of her mind with force. She wasn't going to let him and his sick mindset ruin the happiness that she couldn't deny that she felt lately.

As far as she knew her father hadn't sent anymore photos or messages, but she could just be out of the loop because Giovanni kept her out of said loop. He didn't want her to worry and even though it was at times frustrating she was grateful, though the thought loomed over her head like a dark shroud.

After setting a tea-kettle on the stove for the water to boil she made her way out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the bedroom, all the while rubbing the tension from her neck.

Maybe when Giovanni got home he could give her another massage, though, usually his massages ended in a...different way. Maybe that was why she asked for them so often. Giggling, she made her way into the bedroom she shared with Giovanni and pulled off her jeans, then grimacing at the cold wet hems that brushed her feet as she slipped them off and stepped out of them. That had always been one of her pet peeves.

After slipping out of the rest of her clothes she pulled on a light sky blue silk and lace nightie that fell about mid-thigh and had thin spaghetti straps she knew got Giovanni all hot and bothered. Once done she pulled on a matching ivory silk and lace robe that was flowy and soft, whispering a cool caress against her skin.

She pulled her hair out of the ponytail it had been in all day and let it fall in soft waves down her shoulders.

Not a moment later, she heard the loud high-pitched whistling of the tea pot and began to jog down the stairs and back to the kitchen. She pulled the tea kettle from the stove and then sliced a lemon and grabbed the fresh honey Giovanni had delivered every day and then took a sip. She sighed with pleasure and leaned a hip against the countertop.

After a moment of listening to the rain slashing and battering at the windows with cracks of thunder, she reluctantly pulled herself up and walked over to her purse to pull out the check list Camilla had given her.

She winced at the thought of doing it all tonight, but she didn't want have to deal with the wrath of a wedding planner scorned.

Natalie set down her mug and began going through it when she realized she needed a pen. She groaned with frustration and began to pull open and rifle through the drawers in the kitchen. It felt like forever that she did that and she still could not find a pen, or even a pencil for god's sake.

A thought came into her sleepy mind and she almost face-palmed her forehead at her silliness. She was sure Giovanni had a pen in his office. Who wouldn't have a pen or a pencil in their home office?

She got to the door of Giovanni's office a moment later. She tried the doorknob and frowned as it didn't open.

It was locked.

Locked!

What the hell, she thought with true confusion. Why would Giovanni lock the home office door? He hadn't done it before so why now? She contemplated that for a moment and finally gave up.

She bit her lip as she raked her gaze over the door. Where would Giovanni put a key?

Think like a mafia boss, be the mafia boss...

She hummed briefly and then stood on her tip toes to run her fingertips along the outer edge of the door and on the top and only came away with dusty fingertips.

She growled and scratched her forehead as she stared at the door as if it would magically open. She was turning to leave when her eye caught on a small picture frame hung right next to the door.

That's unusual.

It was a black and white photo of a rose with a single rain drop sliding down one of the drooping petals. Why would Giovanni have that picture? It wasn't anything like the other pieces of 'artwork' in the house.

She reached out and unhooked the picture from the wall and briefly ran her fingertips over the smooth frame before she flipped it around in her hands.

Attached to the back with a piece of scotch tape was a key. She grinned and pumped her fist in the air.

Victory!

She pulled the tape away along with the key and then hooked the picture frame back on the wall and slipped the key in the lock, hearing the amazing sound of the lock clicking before the door creaked open. She couldn't deny she did a small happy dance. Finally she could finish this damn checklist and go to bed. She walked into his office and took in a deep breath, the smell of Giovanni so strong that it made her skin tingle and her belly flutter with want and with need. She shook her hazy head and walked further into the room. It was shrouded in the darkness of evening and the milky grey light that filtered in from the storm brewing outside.

Walking behind his desk she ran her fingertips over the soft wood and sat down in the comfy chair. Holy hell this chair is comfortable, she thought with bliss and resisted the urge to roll her eyes back in her head at the feel of it molding to her bottom.

Back to business, she told herself and smirked as she began looking for a pen or a pencil.

A couple of seconds later she found a black pen behind his keyboard.

It was sleek and silver and she noticed had his initials carved into the sleek surface. She ran the pad of her thumb over it, bit her lip.

She would bring it back as soon as she was done. With a large sigh, she pulled herself from the heavenly chair and was getting ready to leave when she bumped her foot into the monitor.

Cursing, she hissed in a breath as her toe throbbed.

Klutz! Klutz! Klutz!

She pried her eyes open out of her pain filled state to leave when the screen blinked on.

The blue lighting lit her face and deepened the shadows streaming in from the lighting of the storm outside.

Her brows furrowed as she looked closer and realized it was her hometown news page.

Why would Giovanni be keeping an eye on that?

Slightly weary and with a throbbing toe, Natalie lowered herself down into the chair.

She guessed it wouldn't hurt to see what was going on in her hometown, right?

She laid her hand on the mouse and scrolled down, her eyes reading and taking in the details about the annual beauty pageant they held every summer, and about the parade.

She remembered watching the parade from her bedroom window when her mother was passed out drunk and she remembered how she would fall asleep later that night dreaming of the cheers and the candy thrown in the air, the excitement and happiness that radiated and pulsed in the air like the heat from the summer sun beating down on the small town.

As she scrolled, she stopped at a certain column that had apparently made headlines in the small town.

Her face paled as her stomach roiled.

A man named 'Johnny' was found tortured and murdered in his house deep in the swamps. She couldn't help but click on the headline until the page loaded more details.

Apparently, Johnny had been found badly decomposed in his house deep in the swamps. The chief of police said that nobody probably would have found him if it wasn't for his mailman delivering his mail the next week. Even as badly decomposed as the body was it did nothing to hide the trauma Johnny had suffered shortly before his death.

They had found ligature marks on his wrists and he had been tortured in various and sickening ways.

As they listed the details, gruesome and cruel in each sentence Natalie's vision blurred.

A picture popped up and she flinched.

She knew that face.

She could remember those harsh protruding cheekbones and dark sleazy eyes anywhere.

Bile burned her throat and she pushed down the urge to let her tears fall, but as she read the sickening feeling in her stomach only deepened.

The police ruled the time of death and Natalie noticed that it was the same days Giovanni had disappeared after their fight.

Had he done this? Had he really been capable to do this?

She stood abruptly and began rifling through the papers on his  desk, not caring when they floated towards the floor or how a paperweight slipped off the desk and landed on the carpeted floor with soft 'thunk', she could barely hear anything over the pounding in her ears.

She tore open the desk drawers and after not finding anything in the first one pulled open the next one and then froze, her body going cold.

With trembling hands she lifted a stack of papers out of the drawer and the sickening cold feeling in her stomach only grew as she read the names printed on the paper, along with phone numbers, addresses, family members. One name in particular caught her attention and she swallowed hard at the letters printed in bold font 'JOHNNY' circled in bright red pen.

She dropped the papers as if they had burned her and before a second thought had entered her mind she was running out of the room and up the stairs to the bedroom. She quickly pulled on her jeans- not bothering to button them- and slipped on some flip-flops before she raced down the stairs.

How could he do something like that? Someone she loved? Why hadn't he told her? Why had he lied?

She couldn't help it as her tears finally fell down her cheeks, warm against her cool skin. She grabbed her purse, some keys hanging on a hook by the refrigerator and ran outside, barely noticing the relentless pour of rain that pounded down on her and made her hair wet and cling to her pale face.

She saw the car and ran right past the guards before she threw open the door and her purse and climbed in.

The guards were just staring, their mouths open in shock before they shot up and began to run towards the car-screaming and bellowing at her to stop.

She didn't even blink as she gunned the engine down the road, dust and gravel flying, the only sound she was able to hear was the cracking pieces of her heart.

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Giovanni ran into the house, his breathing labored as a drop of rain fell from a piece of his dark hair onto his forehead.

"What happened?!" he bellowed at the men he had called his guards.

They all shifted their feet, not meeting his eyes. He had gotten the phone call that Natalie had raced out of here like the devil was on her heels and he had instantly raced over.

He snarled with frustration and stepped forward so he was in one of the guards faced as he poked the big man's chest.

The man trembled with fear at the murderous glare Giovanni was giving him.

"What happened? You were in charge of her!!!" he shouted.

"S-She was fine when we got back from the dinner, she said she was just going to make some tea and then we were outside and she just f-flew out of the house and she was in the car and driving off before w-we could d-do anything!" he said hopelessly.

Giovanni sneered at him and turned his back to go through the house. He found a stack of papers on the kitchen counter, a checklist he noticed and next to it was a mug of now cool tea.

He ran his fingertips over the rim of the mug, seeing the stain of her lipsticks on the side. It had bothered him at first, but not he couldn't see his mugs not being covered with her lipstick.

He took in a deep breath and turned away to go up the stairs to their room.

It smelled of her perfume and he inhaled deeply.

He bent down and picked up the soft cashmere of her sweater and rubbed it between his thumb and fore-finger before sighing and dropping it on the sheets. The sheets they had shared.

What had caused her to leave like that? She knew the danger she was in so what in the hell was she thinking?!

His irritation grew until his skin prickled and he jogged down the stairs and was walking down the hallways to see if there might be a clue when he stopped dead.

He turned slowly and found his office door open.

A sickening sense of dread filled his chest and he swallowed hard as he slowly entered the office.

He walked towards his desk slowly as if it was a bomb about to detonate. He finally was behind his desk, found the drawers torn open and papers littering the floor.

He picked them up and looked at the computer screen, a picture of Johnny underneath a long article. He looked down at the list of names in his hands and closed his eyes tightly.

His chest got tight and began to ache so he rubbed his palm over it, grimacing.

Giovanni cursed. She knew... She knew...

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OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! Caannnn you believe it? Sorry I had to do that to you, but hey gotta have suspense...! *Evil laughs* I really really REALLY hope you liked this chapter! I've been trying to upload as much as I can as soon as I can. I love seeing new reads with each chapter. I can't even tell you how happy it makes me. If you guys have any advice of how to get more reads and votes and comments it would be greatly, GREATLY appreciated. Thank you so much for reading! Keep tuned... More to come... Mwuahahaha! Hehe. Vote. Comment. Follow. Share. XX, Love, Hannah :)