What We Left in the Dark

Forty Six

Gian took a deep breath, glancing toward the window, his gaze hardening as if bracing himself. "My uncle," he replied quietly, almost as if saying it out loud would make the danger more real. "Or rather, the men he's sent after me. He's furious that I left Italy, that I'd even think about abandoning the family's interests after my grandfather died."

I blinked, processing his words slowly. "Why would he—why would anyone want you dead for coming back here?" I asked, struggling to understand. The implication made no sense to me, at least not yet.

His jaw clenched, and a shadow of hesitation crossed his face. "There are... things you don't know about my family, Cat." He looked down, his fingers lacing tighter with mine, like he was afraid of letting go.

My pulse quickened. "What are you talking about?"

"My family," he began, his voice raw with confession, "isn't just some big business with ties to shipping and finance. Those are just facades. We're involved in things far darker, things you've only read about or seen on TV. The Riccis are one of the oldest families in Italy. As such, we have... illicit ties."

A cold wave washed over me, leaving me breathless. I pulled my hand back, trying to make sense of what I was hearing. "You're serious?" My voice sounded foreign, laced with disbelief.

"I am. I was supposed to take over, eventually," he admitted, each word heavy and hard. "My grandfather wanted me to carry on the legacy, to keep the family... secure. And for years, I thought I would. It was all I knew, all I was raised to know."

I shook my head, reeling from the revelation. "And you didn't think to tell me this before?"

"Because I was trying to protect you," he said, desperation thickening his voice. "If you knew, if you understood how deep it goes... I was afraid it would ruin everything between us."

"Ruin everything?" I echoed, my voice sharper now. "Gian, your family's out here placing hits on you because you wouldn't go back to them. That's not just 'deep'—it's lethal."

"I didn't expect this to happen, Cat," he said, his tone almost pleading. "I thought I could come here, tie up the loose ends with the family's business in New York, then come back to Italy with you—"

"With me?" I interrupted, anger flaring up as I pieced together what he'd just said. "You expected me to go with you, without even knowing the truth?"

Gian hesitated, his mouth open as he searched for the right words. "I thought... I thought I could convince you once you were there. Once you saw the good my family could do, even from the shadows."

I let out a bitter laugh. "Good? Gian, do you hear yourself? Your family's sending people to kill you! How can you possibly think there's any good in this?"

For the first time, Gian looked genuinely lost, like a man untethered. "I don't know what to think anymore, Cat. My entire life, I believed in the family, in loyalty, in everything they taught me. But now... now I don't even recognize the people I grew up with."

Silence fell between us, thick and charged. I took a shaky breath, struggling to process the enormity of what he'd just revealed. This wasn't the man I thought I knew; he was someone far more complicated, caught between the world he'd left behind and the life he'd tried to build with me.

"So what now?" I asked, the question hanging heavily in the air. "You're just going to hide? Run from them forever?"

"I can't go back until I've made it clear that I won't abandon you," he said, determination flickering in his eyes. "But staying here puts you in danger. Luca too. And as much as I want to protect you both, I don't know if I can."