Merciful Vows: A Bittersweet Second Chance Romantic Suspense (The Giannotti World Book 1)

by Vanessa Luisa

  Holy hell.

  His touch drives me wild and when Giulio sets down my hand, his lips draw inches from my neck. It’s allusive. Lustful. Our problems are placed on pause. He’s going to kiss me, right here, just when I need him the most. I’m sure of it. So certain that I yearn for it.

  Instead, Giulio’s mouth skims to my ear. There’s no kiss. His voice becomes a raspy, sensual whisper. I wish I had the willpower to ignore the effects it has on my body, but I can’t. “Next time another man touches you, they will not again see the light of day. Even on the days we disagree and disregard each other, you’re still my wife. I’m still your husband. The hell with the ones who get in the way. The hell with anybody who even attempts to break us down.”

  Energy swirls in the room. Sexual and emotional tension. I never imagined that such a bleak night yesterday could turn into such a thriving positive. It feels as though we have finally progressed and taken a leap forward. My mind repeats what I told myself the other day: it’s over. The thing is…it isn’t. It sure as hell isn’t over from the way we’re acting. I don’t know how long it will last, but for now, I want to stay in the present.

  And so I kiss his cheek and smile as his eyes darken.

  Yes.

  I take our promises to heart and enjoy this breakfast with him. We talk about work, the twins, and how I have begun the handbook he gifted me. I’ve been loving it and knowing it came from the heart…it does something to me. We both need serenity today and I’m feeling much better than I did last night.

  “Thank you for everything you did for me, Giulio. For everything you are doing now. Especially with the kids. You know I’m not the type of person who goes out drinking like that. I don’t know what happened. I lost track of time and myself.”

  “It isn’t your fault. Any person with human decency would have done what I did last night. I still don’t understand how nobody came to your aid before.”

  “I know.” I fold the towel as we finish drying the dishes. “What do we do about Bryce?”

  “I’m going to fire him.” Something flashes in his eyes and he sighs. “I…I want to fire him.”

  “You have every right to, but he’s not a bad man. Yes, he was drunk and what he did was illegal, but…before that he genuinely wanted assistance to better your company.”

  “I’m prepared to do whatever you’re comfortable with. It’s just that with Marcus…”

  “What about Marcus?”

  “We have this…” Giulio rubs the back of his neck and begins shaking his head. “What do you want to happen to Bryce at work? How about we call the police and report him?”

  “I don’t want him fired or reported. I think he deserves another chance to prove himself.”

  “But he was trying to persuade you. He was making advances, and if I hadn’t gotten there when I did…god knows what would have happened. I know he was drunk, but that isn’t a reason. Seeing you like that last night…it ruined me. If you don’t want him fired, I can suspend him until your contract ends. Whatever you want to happen, I’ll see it through.”

  I shake my head. “That will only prove he’s winning. I’m not scared of seeing him.”

  “Are you positive?”

  “Positive.”

  Giulio blows out an unconvinced sigh. “Okay. If that’s what you really want, but I want you to think about it. There’s always time to change your mind. Always. I’ll talk to him this morning.”

  “Thank you.” I stay on track with our conversation, appreciating that for once we’re dissecting something without restraint. “I decided to drink. Everything would have been different if I hadn’t stayed there so long or continued accepting those glasses.”

  “That’s even more of a reason why this is on him. It doesn’t matter how much you drink; it doesn’t mean others can advance on or take advantage of you. Yes, he could have gone much further than he did, but either way it’s wrong and I’m almost certain Bryce did it in spite of me. He knows how fragile we are at the moment with everything going on.”

  “I know…Last night he noticed I don’t wear my ring anymore. He said something along the lines of it technically meaning him and I can spend time together without anybody talking.”

  Giulio’s jaw clenches. “Is this guy serious?”

  “Apparently nobody can resist the English charm. His words, not mine.”

  “They say the same thing about Italian men, but I don’t go around raving about it. Maybe I should. Maybe I should get a gun and shove it up his ass for even thinking let alone saying such a thing—”

  “Damn. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Marcus’ voice has me clutching my chest and screaming in shock. Oh, my heart. My brother-in-law chuckles from the entry of the kitchen at Giulio who responded to my reaction by instinctively throwing the sponge at his half-brother and protectively stepping in front of me.

  The moment we see who it is, we both let out a sigh of relief.

  “Fuck, Marcus!” Giulio curses, rounding the counter to collect the sponge. “Why did you have to scare us like that? There’s such a thing as a doorbell!”

  “Why ring the bell when you have a key? If architecture ever gets exhausting at least I know I have a secure job in home invasions.” A cackle escapes Marcus, who winks in my direction. “Isn’t that right, Val?”

  I feel as though I’ve received a blow to the stomach.

  Addilyn. The home invasion. The abduction.

  The havoc in my head must be evident in my eyes because Marcus’ expression falls and worry replaces it. “Oh shit, I’m sorry. I’m such a dick. I didn’t think.”

  It’s not his fault. It’s mine. My incapability to detach everything that has been happening to us. Especially the fact that last night was the first night I actually slept well under the same roof since everything happened…well, I have the alcohol to thank.

  I gulp down my glass of water.

  Giulio glances my way and his jaw locks when he looks back at his half-brother. “That was a low blow. Do you ever think before you speak?”

  “No need to get so defensive, bro. I admitted it was a shit move.”

  “Wrong move or not, you knew better.”

  “I thought that after all these months you wouldn’t tense up at every single thing associated with my goddaughter.”

  “A parent’s pain doesn’t go away. Especially not when your child is taken like that.”

  I don’t see what unfolds next between the men because my eyes stay on my hands. I take in my ring finger and swallow harshly as I recall Bryce’s words from last night. I never thought of it that way. Giulio and I decided to take off our rings to make it easier for us—I never considered the possibility of it meaning I’m open for business. I certainly am not. I am simply being.

  Marcus scoffs. “I still don’t know why you’re going on about this!”

  “You know why. Don’t play dumb with me,” Giulio growls in disgust.

  “You’re the one acting like a lunatic! I said I’m sorry!”

  “Me? Lunatic? I’m not the one spending my entire weekly pay all in one single day.”

  Marcus’ reddened face turns livid. “Fuck you! You don’t have sex for half a year and all of a sudden you have no filter! Wow, talk about low blows. I can’t believe you just said that!”

  “All I’m saying is the truth and you know it. I have always helped you. Always.”

  I step in between them feeling lost. “Wait. What are you both talking about?”

  What did Giulio mean about Marcus spending his entire pay in one single day?

  Marcus must be ashamed to tell me what’s going on with him, but he knows the type of woman I am. I don’t judge. I will always willingly listen and help the best I can.

  Marcus’ expression weakens at my furrowed brows. “Now is not the time.”

  “No, now is perfect,” Giulio says, “I think Valencia has the right to know.”

  Marcus mocks the suggestion. “Oh, is she your best friend now?”r />
  “She was my best friend.”

  “Until you both fucked things up.”

  Giulio loses it, his composure cut prematurely short. He’s face-to-face with Marcus in three strides. “What is wrong with you this morning? Huh? You think you can come into my house and bad mouth my relationship? Let me tell you something. I loved Valencia, you know that. She was my best friend. My lover. My everything. Then in an instant, she was gone, along with Addilyn and my entire purpose. A family broken by the touch of evil. Have you ever felt that? Huh? The feeling that you could have it all and then suddenly you’ve lost it all?”

  She was my best friend.

  My lover.

  My everything.

  My throat tightens at the poetic melancholy.

  “Give me a couple years. Maybe I’ll get to that point too, brother.”

  “Marcus!” I gasp at his attitude. “Giulio has done nothing but help you. He’s funded your studies, flew you across the world, and gave you a successful position at his firm. I know your relationship is messy because of the past, but he’s always been good to you.”

  “I’m not the issue. He is,” Marcus hisses, “Something has got him so uptight and it all started the moment you began working for us, Valencia.”

  Giulio silences any further accusation. “Don’t you dare go there. Why are you here, Marcus?”

  He glances between us, eventually calming down. “Tate called and needs to move the meeting an hour ahead. We are due to be there in fifteen minutes.”

  “Was Bryce at the office?”

  “Haven’t seen him all morning. Are you ready to go? We don’t have much time.”

  I take their plans lightly. Although his words are directed at his half-brother, Giulio turns to me with a frown. “Since Bryce is not in the office, I’ll work from home today with Valencia. Can you go without me, Marcus?”

  “No. I need you there.”

  “Go,” I encourage Giulio with a soft smile. “I’ll be okay if you drop me off at home.”

  He doesn’t take it lightly. “I don’t know…”

  “What’s going on with you two?”

  I let Giulio take the lead. “I was hoping to speak to Bryce. Apparently for him, if there isn’t a wedding band on a woman’s finger it’s a green light saying come and fuck me.”

  Marcus’ jaw drops and he looks my way. “What?”

  “After I met Bryce at the bar last night, he was adamant for me to stay. We had a few drinks and…he went too far.”

  “As in?”

  Giulio steps in. “Unwanted advances. We’re talking borderline sexual assault.”

  The tension between us all simmers. I’m still adjusting to the fact that I’m in Giulio’s house and recovering from a hangover.

  “So you’re telling me he’s a threat?”

  “I think you were out of your goddamn mind hiring him. The man doesn’t have any interior design skills. Last week I brought him along to a client’s house, and do you know what he suggested for a contemporary design? An orange granite kitchen counter-top and a mint backsplash?”

  Marcus shrugs, unfazed. “Maybe it’s a common trend where he’s from. Don’t be so hard on him; he’s worked hard to make it to where he is now. Remember what I said? Deal with it.”

  Giulio shakes his head. “I can’t just deal with it when I’m questioning his ability to perform well in my company and his intentions with my wife.”

  “She’s not your wife anymore.”

  You are enough.

  Being you is enough.

  My heart drops into my stomach. I can’t take the drama anymore. “Giulio, please take me home. You need to go to that meeting and I will be fine on my own. Come on, let’s go.”

  I can see it in his stance that he’s torn. He eventually gives. Marcus leaves without saying goodbye and ignores mine. That’s nice.

  Giulio and I don’t say a word as he drives me to Helena’s. Our new normal is something we’ve been involuntarily forced into. I can barely tolerate it on top of all the angst. The tension between the half-brothers sparked a tension that renewed our new normal, back to that tense silence.

  Before Marcus intervened, we were two different people, caught inside a make-believe fantasy, one without the water rising. Despite all of the chaos, this morning our laughter and smiles blanketed out the worries.

  But that isn’t real life for us…not anymore.

  Call me delusional but I somehow make it to Notti Designs an hour after Giulio drove me home. He wanted me to rest and take it easy, but I couldn’t stay cooped up at home any longer. The dizziness turned to guilt and I don’t want to let go of my dedication to my job.

  Helena’s the first one to deconstruct my plan in a phone call during her lunch hour. “Girl, why the hell are you there? You should have stayed home!”

  “I couldn’t stand it any longer,” I admit, flashing Lee my keycard. He smiles and allows me through to the elevator. There are a few people already waiting. “Plus, it’s the least I can do for Giulio. He’s done so much for me.”

  “True, he’s been incredible with you. That Bryce must have been a nightmare. What an asshole! I had a terrible feeling when you didn’t answer my texts. I wanted to come over last night, but I figured you needed the rest.”

  “Yeah, trust my phone to die. It was…up there with one of the worst experiences in my life, next to having Addilyn taken. I couldn’t get him off me and I know he was drunk but—”

  She cuts me off. “That’s still no excuse to act the way he did.”

  “Exactly. It’s never okay.” I blow out a breath, waiting for the elevator doors to open. “But as I was saying, last night with Giulio was so raw and intimate. We haven’t been like that since before the separation. It just proved how much I miss him and the people we once were.”

  “I truly believe that with time you’ll get there again with him. If he didn’t care, he would have never gone to the extent you described before. Lencia…it’s obvious Giulio still cares.”

  “But everything is so different now. He cares because I’m the mother of his children.”

  “We both know it’s more than that.”

  Deep down, I know that too.

  Silence overtakes me until I push through. “So, how’s work going?”

  “Nah, ah! We’re still on you, girlfriend. I would eliminate all interaction with this Bryce.”

  “Oh, I will. Whenever Giulio and Bryce are in the same room there was always this tense energy. Now I know it’s because of Bryce straying from schedule and forging Giulio’s signature. Oh, did I forget to tell you that the reason the intern set to replace Amanda didn’t work out was because Bryce and her got it on in his office?”

  “Oh my god, get out! Giulio caught them?”

  “I’m not sure what exactly happened but it was Bryce himself who told me that the incident occurred. Apparently he doesn’t see it as a big deal and we both know what that means…”

  “That he doesn’t give a shit about the company.” Helena finishes my thought with a scoff. “But that’s between them so don’t worry about a thing, hun. You do what’s best for you.”

  “I know, I just hate being in the middle of it. Oh, I have to go. He’s walking up to me.”

  “Who? Giulio?”

  “No. The one from last night.” My rushed words come out as barely a whisper as Bryce nears the elevator. I don’t think he’s seen me yet. The elevator doors answer my prayers and the second they slide open, I rush inside.

  “Bryce? Oh my god. Let me speak to him and give him a piece of my mind!”

  The reception begins breaking up. “It’s okay, honey. I have to go. I’ll see you later!”

  Her words bring a brief smile to my lips. Helena is my sanity. One of the only people I can openly speak to without feeling judged or overwhelmed. I would be so lost without her.

  I stab the twelfth floor button, but then I watch Bryce’s white Converse enter the elevator and it’s all over. Confined anywhere near h
im is the last thing I want to be.

  At least we’re not alone.

  Bryce’s broad shoulders brush against mine when he steps in. Those distant green eyes linger for a fraction too long and for a moment I debate stepping out and taking the stairs. Hesitation has never blinded me more. There is nothing I want more than to be away from this man. Giulio is right. I feel it too, the mystery that looms above Bryce’s head from the first moment I met him

  The elevator stops on numerous floors before the top floor permitting Bryce and me to create a distance between us. Silence floods the space. Instead of a quick elevator ride, this one is beginning to be the longest of my life.

  There’s still another man dressed in a navy business suit, and he seems to be heading for Notti Designs too. I recognize him as Mr. Jermaine, one of the realtors set to meet Lance.

  “Aye…I won’t bite, Valencia.”

  Oh, here we go…

  “I don’t know that.” I raise my chin high, displaying my resistance is not based upon Bryce’s reputation, it’s wholly based upon last night. He went too far. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Fine. But you can’t escape my existence. We work together.”

  Not for long. I’m out of here in six weeks, McCarson.

  His words reel me in despite his cruel gaze, but I stare ahead, unable to look at the dark bruises around his eyes and swollen nose. It doesn’t seem broken, but it’s obvious Giulio did some damage.

  “So last night was something else, huh?”

  Mr. Jermaine glances our way and bites back a smirk before he turns back to his phone.

  Perfect. Now he thinks the absolute worst about McCarson and me. Just what I need.

  “I had too much to drink.”

  “Same. It didn’t surprise me ya know who ruined the night. He has a tendency to ruin things.”

  “He didn’t ruin it.”

  “He did in my book.”

  “I beg to differ, Bryce.” I shake my head and turn to him, noting the way his jaw clenches when he rubs his beard. It’s a long steady stroke. His lack of speech falls on white noise and when the elevator doors slide open; I excuse myself to step through to Notti Designs first.