Giovanni

by Dominique Butler

  Trey and I get in the car with Mrs. Lilly and Gio's parents while Tisha and Angel get in the other vehicle.

  "You're gonna spend the night with us," Victoria said.

  " Mrs. Ricci Gio wants her to go to the penthouse due to the investigation," Trey says.

  She huffs, " fine, we'll just visit you in the morning," she said. After an hour of driving in New York, we pulled up to one of the most expensive apartments in Manhattan.

  " I'll talk to you guys later," I tell them.

  " Wait," Victoria said, pulling me in another hug.

  " Victoria let her go," Mrs. Lilly said. After I was released, I gave Michael and Mrs. Lilly a hug before getting out. We walk into the building past the front desk to the elevator. Trey hits the P button. The ride was quite going up. We get off the elevator walking down the hall Trey pulls out the key we walk into a hallway to the right is a stainless steel kitchen then farther down was the living room with a beautiful view of Manhattan.

  The place is beautiful with chocolate and black everywhere.

  " Gio wants me to stay with you while you’re here," Trey said.

  " I'll be staying down here in the bedroom right there," he says point to the door on the right

  " Okay," I say. We walk up the steps to see two more doors.

  " This one is the master bedroom with a bathroom attached to it," he tells me, opening the door. The room is decorated in black and white with a king-size bed in the middle. On the left side and a view of Manhattan. " The closet is over there and next to the dresser is the bathroom," Trey tells me

  " Thanks," I say before he leaves.

  I close the door running the ceiling to floor window just looking at everything. After a couple of minutes, I walk to the closet, seeing men suits on one side and the other female clothes. I walk over to the man's side, looking through his clothes, seeing a lot of black, brown, grey, and blue suites. He needs a little more color, I thought. I open the drawers to see his underwear pulling them out. I see that he wears briefs in a size lager that got me thinking. Then the last couple of drawers that I look through had jewelry in them. Most where gold watches, he has bracelets and rings but nothing too fancy just simple. After making sure everything is back in place, I grab some nightclothes and head to the bathroom. The bathroom has the same decorations as the bedroom with his and hers sink large tube that sits to the side of the bathroom and a walking shower.

  Giovanni POV

  After dealing with Dave, we headed back to the hotel. "Gio, Trey just texted me saying that they are in the penthouse," Danny said.

  " I'm hungry," Matt said.

  I ignore him wanting to get to my room a few minutes later.

  " I'm so hungry," Matt whines.

  " Stop at Chick-fil-a," I tell him.

  " Yes," he says, speeding through traffic.

  " Slow down before you kill us," Danny says.

  " Calm down, little boy, I know what I'm doing," he says, stopping at a red light.

  " Little boy, my ass. I'll beat your ass," Danny says.

  " With what that JB haircut," Matt said, making everyone laugh.

  " Shut up, dip shit," Danny said, leaning back into the seat sulking.

  After another ten minutes of Matt driving like a mad man, we get in the drive-thru. We all ordered sandwiches, fries, and a drink. Matt start driving us to the hotel

  " Did you talk to Allen," I ask.

  " He texted me about an hour ago saying that Amy is sleep for the night," Matt said, wiggling his eyebrows.

  " We don't need to know all that," Dom said.

  My phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket, seeing that my mom is calling. " Mama, what are you doing up this late," I ask her.

  "Hello to you, son. I'm grown; I can stay up as long as I want, but I called to ask you why couldn't Camille stay with us," she asks.

  I rub my temple, knowing this conversation will go on for a minute. " Mama, Camille is accused of having a romantic relationship with me while I was in prison. It would look bad if she is staying with me or my family," I tell her.

  " You two never had a relationship, so it would be okay if she stayed with us then by herself," mama said.

  I breathe in and out.

  " Sweetie let Vonnie do what he thinks is best," papa said.

  " Fine, but I'm gonna go over there tomorrow," she said.

  " That's fine, mama. Goodnight," I tell her.

  " Night Gio," she said before hanging up.

  Sitting at the table eating breakfast, I ask," What time does the plane leave?"

  " In three hours," Danny said with his face in his phone.

  " Someone, go make sure that Amy is up," I say, walking away from the table.

  " I did it last time," Dom said, getting up from the table.

  I walk back to my room, calling Trey. " Yes, boss," Trey said, answering the phone.

  " How was last night," I ask, sitting on the bed.

  " Okay. Not really much to tell she stayed in the room last night," he said.

  " Keep her in your sight. I don't want the FEDs all in her face," I tell him.

  " Can do that, but your mom is gonna wanna hang out with her?" he tells me.

  This lady, I thought. "Just make sure they're not out in public," I tell him before hanging up. I get dressed in a grey suit with a white shirt and black dress shoes. I comb my hair then leave the room. I walk into the living room to see Danny white as a ghost. " What's wrong? I ask.

  " I'm never gonna understand why any man would even touch her," Danny said, sitting on the couch.

  " What did you see," I asked, sitting across from him.

  Danny turned to me with the most serious face I ever saw. " I walked in on her coming out of the bathroom naked, but I swear she a man," he said. I started laughing

  " Why do you think that," I ask after calming down.

  " The bush on that thing was some shit you find in the wild," he said. I start laughing even harder. "I'm not playing then when she turned around I swear I saw a penis, so I ran," Danny said.

  I was laughing so hard that I have tears running down my face after a few minutes I calm down. "So you are telling me that Amy is a man and that Allen just fucked a man," I ask.

  " Yes, he did," Danny said.

  " Go get Dom so we can leave," I tell him, trying to stop laughing. After a few minutes, they come in the living room.

  We get on the elevator, not saying a word walking to the front desk. " Here's our key," I tell the receptionist.

  " Thank you. Hope you had a good stay," she says.

  " We did," I tell her, walking to the front door.

  We get outside to see a black Escalade. The windows roll down. "Get in here before y' all have a heat stroke," Matt said. We got in the car sitting for five minutes.

  " Danny, did you tell her we are leaving," I ask.

  " Yes, I told her to get dressed we are leaving through the door," he said I look at him.

  " Dom go ask the receptionist to call her room," I said. Dom leaves.

  " You send me to the room but not him," Danny said.

  " I don't want him to be scared like you were," I tell him. Danny just looks at me. "Matt, how did last night go," I ask Matt looks at me through the mirror.

  " The doc patched him up, then we took him to the mother's house. I told the rest of the family that if they don't leave Camille alone, he won't be the only person getting hurt," he said.

  "They got the picture," I said. Matt shakes his head. Leaning back into the seat a few minutes later, Dom comes out the hotel dragging Amy with the bellboy following behind with her luggage. He opens the door.

  " Get in," he tells her.

  "No, " Amy said, folding her arms. Dom's eye started twitching, and he takes a deep breath then picks her up, throwing her in the seat next to Danny. After he closes the door, Dom gives the bellboy some money then get in the passenger seat. Dom's eye is still twitching. "Let's go," he said.

  Matt starts driving.

  A
my grabs the handle of the car door. " If you jump out of this car, I'm gonna take a piece of rope tie it around your ankle then tie it to bumper," Dom said.

  Amy lets the door go. What did she do to piss off Dom, I thought.

  "Stay your ass put Juwanna Mann," Danny said. I laugh at him; you can't take him anywhere, I thought.

  " Shut up a midget," Amy said, folding her arms across her chest. The rest of the ride to the airport was quiet. Matt drops us off.

  " Thanks for your help," I tell him before getting out of the car.

  We walk into the airport with Danny going to the desk, picking up the tickets, and the rest of us getting in line to go through the metal detectors. After a twenty minutes wait, we finally went through then walk to a sitting area. I pull out my phone calling Nonna.

  " Hello, sweetie," Nonna said.

  " How's your morning," I ask her.

  " Good since you called me," she said. I look around the airport seeing Amy talking on the phone a couple seats away from us.

  " Nonna can you go with mama when she goes see Camille," I ask.

  " Yes, I can go see my baby," she said.

  " Thank you, just make sure they don't go out in public," I tell her.

  "You're asking the impossible," Nonna said.

  I just laugh, knowing my mom likes going shopping. " Please try," I ask.

  "I'll try when are you coming back," she asks me.

  " I'm waiting to get on the plane right now," I say.

  " Good, we can have dinner together tonight," she tells me.

  " I'm up for that I'll call you when I land," I tell her.

  " Have a safe flight," she said before hanging up.

  A few minutes later, someone says on the intercom that our flight is boarding. We all walk to the terminal. Danny gives everyone their tickets. Amy starts smacking her lips. " Smack your lips one more time. I'll rip them off," Dom said, walking on the plane.

  " What she did she do to make Dom mad?" Danny asks.

  I shrug my shoulders, knowing that if he's this annoyed by her, he might just kill her.

  Camille POV

  I look around the room, taking a few minutes to remember that I'm in Gio's penthouse. I go to use the bathroom, then wash my face and brush my teeth. I go downstairs, not seeing Trey. He might not be up yet, I thought, going in the kitchen. I open the fridge to see it well stocked; what to eat, I thought. Grabbing bacon and eggs, placing them on the counter, I start digging in the cabinets, grabbing pans. After putting some bacon on, I go back into the fridge, grabbing bagels. I flip the bacon then walk out the kitchen bumping into a girl. I look at her thin frame long brown hair, pretty face, and big boobs.

  "Who are you?" she asks, dropping her bags on the floor.

  " Who are you?" I ask, putting my hands on my hips.

  " This is my boyfriend's house. So who are you?" she asked.

  " The man that you think is your boyfriend is letting me stay here," I tell her then walk back into the kitchen, turning the stove off.

  She follows me in the kitchen. "You need to leave before I call the cops," she tells me I turn around facing her.

  "Call them," I tell her going back to making breakfast. For a few seconds, she stares at me then stomps her way to the front door slamming it. A minute later, Trey comes into the kitchen.

  "Camille, who slammed the door and whose bags are these," he asked, taking a piece of bacon out the pan.

  " I don't know. Some girl is saying she's Gio's girlfriend, "I tell him putting eggs on a plate.

  "What does she look like?" he asked, taking a plate for the counter.

  " She's thin, long brown hair and a couple inches taller than me," I tell him, grabbing some water from the fridge sitting at the table with him.

  " What did she want?" he asks. I shrug my shoulders in response.

  " Wanted me to leave. Talking about she's calling the cops and then left," I tell him.

  The front door opens. Trey and I get out of our chairs when she walks in with a man in a suit.

  "She's not supposed to be here. Can you remove her off the premises?" she says. Trey walks up to them.

  " Madison, what are you doing?" he asks.

  " I'm getting her removed off of Mr. Ricci's property. She nothing but a no-good gold digger," she says. I walk up to them, but Trey stands in front of me.

  " What makes you think you can kick anybody out," he asks.

  " Look, she has to go," Madison said, putting her hands on her hips.

  Trey looks at the man. "Who are you?" he asks.

  " I am security of the building," he said.

  " If you want to keep your job. I would leave now," Trey tells him. The man looks between Madison and us then walks out the door. Trey walks up to Madison. "Either your ass gonna clean this house or when Gio gets here, your gonna be at the unemployment line," he tells her. Trey walks back to the table she stares at me for a minute then grab her bags. I walk back to my seat.

  " She's the maid," I ask him.

  " Yes. She thinks that Gio will eventually marry her," he says.

  " Oh," I say, eating my food.

  " Get dressed. When you're finished, I know that Mrs. Ricci will be over soon," he said, putting his dishes in the dishwasher. After I finish, I did the same. Walking upstairs, I go into the closet, grabbing some blue jeans, a white long sleeve shirt, and a pair of brown boots. I place the clothes on the bed then go in the shower.

  Chapter 25

  Giovanni POV

  After the plane landed, I called Angel. " Boss, " he answered.

  " Who's picking us up," I ask walking to the main entrance.

  " I'm by the front entrance," he said.

  " We'll be there in a minute," I tell him, then hang up the phone.

  " What are we doing next," Danny asks.

  " I need to see my lawyer," I tell him.

  " Okay, I'll go home," he said.

  I look at Dom, seeing that he calmed down. "Why were you mad earlier," I ask.

  " I called up to her room. She hangs up on me, so then I go to her room damn near having to break the door down. Before she opens the door, talking about how she's gonna press charges on Danny for busting in on her. She just kept on talking. I grabbed her by her shoulder, shaking her telling her we’re leaving, then she had the nerve to almost spit in my face when I told her to stop bitching," Dom said. I just shake my head, getting in the car.

  "Wassup," Angel said when we got in the car.

  "My boy," Dom said, giving him a manly hug, then Angel and Danny did a handshake. Angel pulls off.

  "Where everybody going?" he asks.

  "You can drop me off at my house," Danny said.

  "You can drop me off at Shay's house," Dom said.

  "Dom tryna get some cutty," Angel says. We all laugh, and Dom just smacked his lips.

  " Where's Tisha," I ask.

  "Dropped her off at the penthouse," he tells me. Ten minutes later we drop off Danny.

  "Call me if you need me," Danny said, getting out of the car.

  "Okay, man," I said, five minutes later we drop Dom off.

  "I'll talk to y' all later," he said before closing the door.

  You need to call Trey," Angel tells me after Dom close the door

  “What happened?" I asked.

  “Talk to Trey," he tells me. I pull out my phone, calling Trey.

  " Boss," he says.

  "What happened," I asked, getting straight to the point.

  "Man Madison crazy-ass gonna tell Camille that you’re her boyfriend and she was gonna get her removed off your property," Trey tells me.

  " What did her crazy ass do?" I ask.

  " She brought security from the building to remove Camille," he tells me.

  " What she is doing now," I ask him.

  " Cleaning," he tells me.

  " When I get done talking to my lawyer, I'll deal with her," I tell him, then hang up.

  " You must have the magic touch on these females," Angel says, laughing
. I ignore him texting papa where I'm going. We pull to Hawthorne and Chase law practice. After getting out of the car, we walk into the building to the building straight to the front desk.

  " Morning, Mrs. Margie," I say to the receptionist.

  "Morning Giovanni and Angel. How are you two fellas doing?" she asks.

  " We are doing good is Sam in," I ask.

  " Yes, let me call him," she picked up the office phone. "Mr. Hawthorne Giovanni Ricci is here to see you," said Mrs. Margie she paused for a second. “Okay, I'll send them to your office," she said.

  " Thank you," I tell her before walking down the hall. As we approach Sam's office, I get a text from papa talking about how he fired Madison. I put my phone back in my pocket. I knock on the door a few seconds later, and Sam opens the door.

  " Mr. Ricci and Mr. Romano," Sam greeted us as we take a seat in front of his desk. "The feds don't have that much on the investigation. Some ‘he say-she say’ stuff. No hardcore evidence," Sam says.

  "How fast can this be wrapped up?" I ask.

  "In another week or so," he tells me.

  "Okay. Keep me updated on anything that changes. Now tell me about the other case with DeAndre Smith," I ask.

  Camille POV

  After getting dressed, I came downstairs to see Tisha sitting on the couch watching TV.

  " When did you get here," I ask her.

  " A few minutes ago," she said. I take a seat across from her.

  " Where is Angel," I ask.

  " He said he had to pick up Gio and them from the airport," she said. I smiled.

  "I see you smiling over your boo," Tisha says, trying to hype me up.

  " Shut up," I say, laughing. Madison walks in the living room, dusting.

  "Who's this?" Tisha asks, looking at Madison.

  " This is Gio's maid," I tell her, and Madison stops dusting for a second.

  " Ooh, I would have thought that he would have an older lady," Tisha says. Madison leaves the room, and we go back to watching TV. Five minutes later, the front door opens, we turn to face the door seeing Mrs. Lilly and Gio's parents walking into the living room.

  " Hey girls," Victoria said, walking towards us we get up giving her, Mrs. Lilly and Michael a hug.

  “What are your plans for the day," Tisha asks, taking a seat on the couch.

  "Since we can't go out, I have my stylist come here," Victoria said.