Castle ambled back home, where Martha and Alexis were chatting on the couch in the living room. Upon seeing Castle return, his red-haired daughter immediately ran up to him. "Dad, didn't you say you were going to take advantage of Detective Beckett not having many cases these days to stay home and write your new book? Why did you run out after just two days?"
Castle laughed, hugging his little princess as they walked towards the living room. "I had something urgent to deal with today, so I had to interrupt my writing!"
"Now that it's taken care of, I'll be back to writing at home starting tomorrow…"
His mother, Martha, was more interested in gossip about John. "I heard from Alexis that John's girlfriend is pregnant?"
Castle thoroughly enjoyed these moments of gossiping with his family. Hearing his mother's question, he immediately made a show of gleeful anticipation and sat down on the couch with Alexis, ready to share the details about John and Gianna, showing none of the ruthlessness of someone who had just coldly dispatched five people.
While Castle was savoring these warm family moments, six hours ahead in Rome, in the D'Antonio family castle, the pregnant Gianna was excitedly arranging to take over the family power held by Santino, under the helpless gaze of John Wick.
"Gianna, Santino is still on the plane back to Rome. Even if it's quick, it will take seven or eight hours. You should rest a bit. Don't forget, you're pregnant!"
John Wick had reminded his girlfriend to rest countless times, but Gianna, in her excitement, just couldn't calm down. She couldn't believe that her foolish brother Santino's revenge attempt on Castle had resulted in such a great benefit for her. It truly felt like a gift from heaven!
Initially, when Gianna learned that Santino had taken people to New York to seek revenge on Castle, she, like John, was purely worried for their friend Castle and angry at Santino's recklessness. She immediately informed Castle of Santino's plans and whereabouts, urging him to be on guard and not let her foolish brother catch him off guard.
Although Gianna, like her father, knew Castle's capabilities well and had already prepared for the possibility of Santino being counter-killed by Castle or the mysterious person who had helped Castle in Paris, familial ties still overpowered her feelings, especially with her current maternal instincts heightened by her pregnancy, making her wish less for her brother Santino's death.
Therefore, John made call after call to hint to Castle to merely teach Santino a lesson and spare his life.
John had realized that his girlfriend was beginning to soften, but since Santino had brought this upon himself, Gianna couldn't directly ask Castle for mercy, so John stepped in to resolve the issue.
If John weren't about to become a father and in such a good mood, his former vengeful self wouldn't have called Castle to plead for Santino. He would've instead taken his gun and wiped out Santino's men himself, proving he was still the infamous 'Baba Yaga' John Wick.
Once Castle agreed to John's implicit request to spare Santino's life, Gianna's biggest worry was lifted. She felt a bit guilty towards Castle, but she had already planned to sternly discipline Santino upon his return and later make it up to Castle appropriately.
Unexpectedly, Castle called not long after, hinting that he had forced Santino to sign a humiliating agreement. The greatest gain was making Santino promise to relinquish the family power he controlled to Gianna.
Upon hearing this news, Gianna was overjoyed. Though her father's health was poor, he still held the family's power. Her succession was already assured after the last confrontation with Santino in front of their father, but the D'Antonio family was never a monolith.
Internally, a significant portion remained loyal to her father. Through her efforts and her father's early confirmation of her as his successor, a part of the family had pledged allegiance to her. Yet, there were still some who sided with Santino, and they weren't keen on her leadership.
Thus, unexpectedly gaining Santino's promise to transfer his faction's power to her was crucial for Gianna's smooth transition to leading the family.
Combining her existing faction with Santino's would give her control over almost a third of the family's power. Even without her father's full authority, Gianna's influence would be formidable enough to secure the family's leadership quickly and efficiently when the time came.
This would minimize the losses during the transition of power, avoiding internal strife that could weaken the family.
Therefore, Gianna was too excited to sleep, ignoring her pregnant state as she planned the takeover of Santino's forces.
"Alright, dear. I just got word that Santino is on our family's private plane, monitored by my people. The plane has taken off and is en route to Rome. I'll go rest now. Santino should be back in Rome by this afternoon, and I'll aim to settle everything by tonight.
With Santino having surrendered all his power, even if he harbors ill intentions towards Rick in the future, he won't have the strength to act on them…"
Seeing John's worried face, Gianna smiled sweetly, explained herself, gave orders to her subordinates to proceed according to her plans, and then, smiling, took John's hand and walked to their bedroom.
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