Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 123153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
“Grr. Just tell me to come home already, Gio,” I flip over and growl into my pillow.
I kick my feet like a toddler. I’m so sexually frustrated. Toys won’t do because I need the intimacy of touch, not mine, but the big strong hands I’m used to.
I want the safety and comfort of Gio and Jace pressed against me. I want to be wrapped in their love and passion. This time apart has helped me to see our relationship for what it is.
A knock comes at the door. I look over my shoulder. “Hey,” Holly calls as she sticks her head into the room.
I turn over and throw an arm over my face. “Hey.”
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah.”
She enters the room and the bed dips as she lies beside me. Silence fills the room for a moment. She reaches for my hand and gives it a squeeze.
“Why don’t you just go back?”
“It’s complicated. It’s Gio’s move this time. Not mine.”
“But you miss them.”
“Yeah, I do. They complete me. If I’m earth, Jace is the wind, and Gio is the fire.
“We need each other to survive. Some days, I don’t feel like I’m surviving, but I can’t keep allowing myself to accept tiny flames from Gio, I need him to burn bright and hot for me.”
“So you want him to call for you.”
“Yeah, I need him to. I can’t take pieces of him again. This time he has to change. The change has to be real.”
“I get it.”
Silents takes over again. My thoughts are all over the place. Holly turns on her side and stares at the side of my face.
“I want you to hear me out. You are all I have. I see you like a big sister. I could never repay you for all you’ve done for me.
“I don’t want you to keep stressing about time running out. When you go back to them, let them love you. Live the life you deserve, and if you need me, I’ll be there to give y’all my body for your babies.”
I turn to her with tears in my eyes. “What?”
She squeezes my hand. “You saved me. Donny was going to kill me. I remember hating that baby inside me so much and being relieved when he beat it out of me.
“I was blaming my child for trapping me with that psycho. The guilt I’ve carried for that all these years has been crippling. I want to do this for you. If you need a vessel, I’ll be it. You don’t have to rush away from happiness or stress about when and what if.
“You don’t even have to worry about me wanting in on your relationship or your money because A, I’ve got my own money thanks to you and B, relationships aren’t for me. Donny wasn’t the first dude to hit me. I fell into the cycle I grew up in. I don’t trust myself to find love.”
I fully turn and wrap an arm around her. Somewhere along the line, this girl has become one of my best friends. I have no words for what she’s just offered.
I kiss her forehead. “Thank you, but I still have hope for me and you. Let’s not give up yet. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Gio
Dario stands to leave out of my office as Jace returns. I head for another drink. As I look down into my glass, I smile.
“Do you know why Tony kept his mouth shut?” I snort into my glass, not turning to look at Jace.
“No, but it better be a good fucking reason.”
“Nyla and some chick she has with her hung him by his ankles over the balcony of the penthouse suite and threatened him if he told.”
I burst into laughter now that I’m fully processing Tony’s frantic call to give me an explanation. I don’t know what I want more, to laugh or fuck Ny. I laugh because it’s all I can do for now.
“Are you shitting me?”
“No, but he probably shit his pants.”
Jace laughs. “I miss her so much.”
I change the subject because I know he’s going to try to talk me into telling her to come home. Ny didn’t talk to me, and she took off. Yes, I wanted her to hold on to her anger and build my collection properly this time, but now she’s operating in her feelings again and treating me like a mind reader.
The fact that I’m ready to bring her home and she’s taken off to hide tells me we’re not where we need to be. We still don’t communicate and that temper of hers clashes with mine at every turn. Now that I have the facts and I’ve set everything I need in motion, I want her home, but this last move tells me she still needs time.
“The pictures are of Franky. He’s the one watching Dario at Anima Mias. Have one of the girls he’s never seen follow him. If he wants to watch my brother, I’ll be watching him.”