Twenty minutes later I stood in the break room in front of my open locker pulling my hair into a loose bun and securing an apron around my waist. My stomach chose that moment to remind me I hadn’t eaten breakfast. Gio and I had been doing something else when we should’ve been eating. It was worth it. I’d have to grab something in the kitchen quickly before we opened.
Gio returned right then with a bag from the bakery down the street and two large coffees. Bless this man. We sat at the small roundtable and he pulled out a delicious apple Danish I may have devoured in three bites. He watched with amusement.
“What?” I asked through a large bit of Danish.
“I take it you were hungry?” I nodded. “Work up an appetite last night?”
“And this morning don’t forget.”
“And on the first date,” he joked back. “How scandalous.”
“Hardly.”
We fell back into the old routine from before he left. The restaurant remained full most of the day, it was Saturday after all, but we didn’t have the long waits of summer and the beach window had closed for the year and it honestly felt like a vacation. I loved working there, the customers, the way it brightened Gramps face to see me flitting around the place, but I also loved it when we slowed down for the year. I think it might be the same way teachers feel when summer shows up.
I noticed Joe didn’t say too much to Gio, at least when I was around. I don’t remember a time not knowing Joe so he would’ve taken what happened personally both for me and for the restaurant. He’d have to adjust. They commanded the kitchen like choreographed dance partners who’d trained together for years. Kind of like he never left.
The next day I sat beside Gio as our plane to Chicago took off. He stayed last night because I couldn’t bear being away from him. That could become a problem seeing as he bought a freaking house and I had my place. We’d have to figure it out. At O’Hare, he grabbed both our bags off the moving luggage corral and hailed a cab. He made it all look effortless.
“Hey, where are we staying?” I asked once the driver got us on the road.
“My house.” His eyes shot to my face. “Unless you don’t want to.”
“Like, your parents’ house?”
He nodded.
“But it’s not your parents anymore, right?”
“Right. It’s all part of it. And honestly, it holds some decent memories. Bad ones too but we can go to a hotel instead.”
“No,” I grabbed his arm to stop from changing our destination with the driver, “it’s fine. Who lives there when you’re in Harbor Point?”
“Sal. He put his parents’ place on the market. And Gemma whenever she isn’t at school. It’s somewhere we can all go because, besides you, they’re my only family.”
“And Gramps.” He threw me a questioning look. “Come on. You’re his family. If you weren’t you’d have found yourself out on your ass instead of with a detailed rundown of my schedule.” He laughed loud enough to startle the cabbie because even Gio knew what I said was completely true.
The house we pulled up to couldn’t be real. It looked more like a castle than somewhere a person would live. Maybe a museum. Through the black iron gates loomed an enormous white stone mansion. There really wasn’t any other word for it. They lived in a mansion. From the outside, it looked like there were three floors but what did I know? Could’ve been more. I didn’t know they had houses like this one in the city anymore.
Once we got through the double oak doors. we entered a grand foyer. Gio didn’t have the chance to open the door, a woman, did it before his hand could reach for the knob. They had staff which made sense but was weird to me. When I looked at Gio questioningly he shrugged me off. A large staircase wrapped around the entryway in a circle with a large landing at the top.
“Is that where you fell from?” I pointed to the landing. He nodded. “Holy shit. How did you end up with only a broken arm?”
“Luck.”
A shriek stopped him from saying anything more. A flurry of activity kept me from seeing what was coming until Gemma slammed into me with the power of a freight train causing me to stumble back a good three steps. Would have been more but Gio snaked an arm around my back to keep me from falling on my ass. Her arms squeezed me tightly and I couldn’t breathe.
“Ok, come on.” Gio pried her off me. I hadn’t had time to react, to push her off or hug her back. I knew I’d see her here but didn’t think it’d be the moment I walked in the house. I hadn’t been prepared. “Christ, let her breathe, Gemma.”
Finally, the small girl (still taller than me) pulled back.
“I know, I’m sorry,” she gushed. “I just can’t believe you’re here.”
“Who’s here?” Another male voice joined the party. The dude was large, barely shy of being Gio’s height and size but none the less intimidating. He had to be Sal because they looked a lot alike. They could’ve told me they were brothers and I wouldn’t have thought another thing about it. “Ah, you must be Bianca.” He extended his hand for a strong, firm handshake. “I’d like to hug you but I feel like that would be creepy.”
“And I’d kick your ass,” Gio shot back.
“You’d try. You’d fail.” Sal puffed up his chest like a dominant male gorilla. “I only mean hug her because she started all this.”
“Can we get settled? Business shit is for tomorrow. And Tuesday we’re going to Ann Arbor. Not sure when we’ll be back.” Gio pushed passed them to head for the stairs. I followed but couldn’t stop looking around at the house. It was ridiculous.
I loved how he left it all open-ended because I had no idea how things would go at home. Wait, yes I did. Mom would be chill and trust me to know what I’m doing. Dad would get all protective and territorial, all fairly typical.
“Abso-fucking-lutely,” Sal agreed. “Tonight we celebrate.”
“Ah…what did you have in mind?” Gio asked uneasily, stopping halfway up the stairs.
“Oh you know how we do,” Sal smiled widely.
“Yeah, I do which is why I’m asking.” There was at least one story there I needed to hear. I made a mental note to ask when we were alone.
“I’m a big girl, Gio,” I broke in patting his back roughly.
First, we got settled in his room. It was weird being in there because I’d never been in Gio’s space before. He always came to my apartment. But like everything else about the house, he had a huge room with an enormous bed to one side and what I’d call a small living area to the other. A couch, huge TV and coffee table with a dorm sized refrigerator tucked into the corner. The walls were white lined with cherry wood accents. At least, it looked like cherry. I roamed into the attached bathroom. Holy shit. It was the brightest white I’ve ever seen. Subway tile covered the area around the shower, though when I ran my hand over it, I knew it wasn’t normal tile. It was marble. The tub was so large and deep that it could double as a swimming pool. I wouldn’t know what to do with all of this space.
“This is kind of weird,” he said as I looked around his palace apartment. Ok, it wasn’t quite that big but bigger than my apartment. Instead, I looked to him for an explanation. “I’ve never had anyone in here before.”
“You mean girls?”
He nodded.
“I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
“It’s not like they could know who my family was.” Truth right there. It gave me a few warm fuzzies when he opened up honestly about everything. We were on the right track. For the first time, I felt like we could make this craziness work. I’d told myself many, many times we would figure it out but I truly felt it to the core right there.
We got in late that night after stopping at several clubs. Somehow they managed to get Gemma, who was still only twenty, in wherever we went. For the first time, I realized how big of a deal they all were, especially in Chicago. Gemma wavered between acting as if nothing had happened between us to trying to leave every single decision up to me. Gio shooed her away a few times but
she always found her way back.
Turned out Gio told me they only needed Gemma first thing in the morning. To be nice, I offered her a Magnificent Mile shopping trip as a way for us to spend some time together and begin to figure our new friendship out. I wanted us to be friends again. She ate that up like cake. Gio leaned in to kiss me softly saying I was far too nice.
The extremely early morning hour didn’t stop Gio from pulling me to him the minute I climbed into bed. There was little talking before he played my body like a fiddle with me on my side, my back to his front. Then he lifted one of my legs over his and made me feel everything good in the world. There wasn’t a moment wasted and I had no complaints.
Still, he wasn’t beside me when I woke up though a note sat perched on the nightstand. Just a little thing telling me to have a good day and that he loved me. With time to waste, I took a dip in his tub. Seriously, you could fit four people in there if you had to. Soft and scented, I went to the kitchen to find breakfast waiting. He’d thought of everything, though another housekeeper cooked it to his specifications.
Gemma came home around ten thirty and we headed out right away. The first two stores were a little awkward but we found our way. She apologized again. I told her I understood but she had to stop. The constant apologies got annoying and it didn’t change anything. I knew she was sorry. I got that. We had to make our way back into a friendship. She rambled on about the morning meeting and how boring it was. Sal and Gio knew more about the business stuff apparently.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she squealed as we climbed another level in the mall. “I’m so glad but I didn’t think he’d be able to pull it off. How’d he weasel his way back in? And is it something I can replicate?” The look on my face must have freaked her because she added, “I mean it in a good way.”
“Listen, Gemma. First of all, I knew him longer before the shit hit the fan. I was already in love with him when things went south. You and I were becoming friends. Just chill out and it’ll be fine ok?”
Nodding, we moved on and things did fall into place for the day. She shopped as if money was a concept that didn’t apply to her. When I thought about it, I realized it probably didn’t. She had more than a person could spend in a couple of lifetimes. I, on the other hand, while not poor, didn’t. She tried buying me a million things whenever I said something was cute but put it back on the rack when I refused. Then she said Gio would reimburse her for whatever she spent as if knowing that would make me feel better. It sort of did, but not enough to make me actually let her make the purchases.
When we got back to the palace (as I called it), Gio and Sal were in the gym working out. I hadn’t realized we’d been gone as long as we had. Having snacked the day away I didn’t notice missing dinner until my stomach growled again. Sal worked a bench press with enough weight to equal two of me. Gio danced on his toes hitting the body bag. I didn’t even know he boxed. Hey, it’d give him something to break the ice with Joe. But it did a body good. Sweat glistened across his naked chest and back, dripping into the shorts hanging low, deliciously low on his hips. I stood there watching him for as long as I could without him noticing me. He was beautiful. Both of them grunted loudly with exertion until Gemma burst in.
“You guys are gross,” she called across the large room, her voice echoing off the mirrors that lined the far wall. “We find all the sweating disgusting.”
“Speak for yourself,” I smiled back at her.
Gio’s head snapped up with a smile. He looked young in there doing something he enjoyed with his tattoos on display. Sal hopped up to join us and I noticed he had a little bit of ink on his body as well. I wondered if getting tattoos was something they did together though clearly, Gio threw himself into it more. Gio came over, careful not to douse me with perspiration, to give me a quick kiss.
“Hungry?” he asked. I nodded. “Let me shower and we’ll go out.”
“Let’s order in,” Gemma started bouncing, “we can all eat together.”
Gio groaned, but caught the encouraging smile on my face and agreed. We were leaving in the morning for Michigan so it only made sense to hang with them. I knew we’d fly back out of O’Hare but had no idea if we’d see them before that.
Sal decided to take care of it and he ordered pizza. I couldn’t be sure if he’d done it on purpose or not but Gio didn’t need to see the horrified look on my face when I noticed the boy with “3D Pizza” on the front to lay into his cousin.
“Are you fucking with us, Sal?”
“What? No. What are you talking about?” Gio motioned to the box. “Shit.” It clicked. “I didn’t think about it.”
“It’s fine.” I recovered quickly. I couldn’t avoid their company forever. Even if Gio was a silent partner he still had a stake in it and it would be part of his life.
Before popping in a movie, Gemma and I both went to our rooms to get comfortable. I threw on a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt then pulled my hair into a messy knot at the back of my head. We joined the guys back in the room they called the living room. Whatever. It was enormous like everything else. I think Gramps house could fit in there but we hunkered down into a cozy area near the huge television. Pizza boxes dropped onto the coffee table, Gio already sat on one side of the couch with Sal in the oversized chair nearby. Gemma curled onto the floor by the table. I, of course, would sit with Gio but I was hungry so I grabbed a plate and plopped two slices onto it.
“Thank God for yoga pants,” Gio said when I walked by. I slapped him on the shoulder.
“Best thing ever made,” Sal agreed.
“Eyes off, buddy,” Gio gave him a hard look.
“You know me better than that.” A weird moment passed between the guys. No idea what was going on there.
Suddenly, I became aware of everyone watching me as I lifted a slice to my mouth. Before taking a bite, I rolled my eyes making sure they could all see. I felt like an animal at the zoo everyone was waiting to see eat the meat they’d thrown into the pen. I took a decent sized bite. They waited. I chewed as slowly as possible just to mess with them.
Shrugging, I said, “Ours is better.” The room erupted in relieved laughter.
“Of course it is,” Sal said with a wide grin while trying to catch his breath. “That’s why they wanted it.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The next morning we left early to make the three and a half hour drive to Ann Arbor. I didn’t call my parents to let them know we were coming. I didn’t want to deal with whatever they were going to say until after we got there and could do it in person. I wanted us all in the same room when I told them Gio was part of my life again. I couldn’t decide if that was genius or stupid.
The drive went smoothly. We laughed a lot and spent most of the time talking. Sometimes about nothing, sometimes about our childhoods and sometimes about the time we were apart. Though the last one we tried to keep to a minimum because neither of us liked to think about the dead zone. Halfway through we stopped at a rest area. When I came out of the restroom, Gio handed me a bottle of water then we got back into the car. However, he didn’t start it up right away.
“So what would be the appropriate amount of time to ask you to move in with me?” he asked giving me the smoldering brown-eyed puppy dog look. If we weren’t sitting in the front seat of a car parked in a rest area in the extremely bright morning, I’m pretty sure the conversation would’ve ended in a carnal way.
“What?” My hand flew to my chest.
“Yeah, I know we only live a few blocks away from each other but I want to come home to you, want to be there when you come home.” He waited for a reply. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about my future with Gio before we broke up or now that we were back together. But moving in together? That would be a huge step and we did just reconcile. Maybe it was too soon. It didn’t feel too soon but that could be me responding to my heart and not to the logic in my head. Getting no answer he continued. “I could move into your place, too. Ei
ther way, I just want us together.”
“You have that great house. You wouldn’t want to live in my tiny apartment.”
“I’d live in a shoe box if it’s where you were. So? Too soon?”
“Not too soon to ask.” Working my bottom lip, I tried to keep my instinct to jump him then and there at bay.
“I mean, we’ll live together eventually, I don’t want to wait. I will though if it’s what you want.”
It wasn’t often Gio sounded nervous but this was one of those times. He sounded the same way he did on the pier the other night when he said he wanted to kiss me. Hard to believe it hadn’t been long since he came back. It’s like he’d always been there. But he hadn’t been.
“What do you mean? Eventually.”
“When we get married. Assuming you’d have me anyway.” He caught the surprise on my face. “Come on, Bianca. Everything I’ve done since I left Harbor Point was in the hopes that you’d marry me one day. I love you.”
“Don’t be stupid,” I threw a playful punch to his bicep but he intercepted it to hold my hand between his own. “Obviously I’d marry you. Eventually. I’m not saying let’s hit the courthouse on the way, but clearly, I want this to work out and for us to be together always.”
He pulled me to his mouth, kissing me tenderly, making me want cry. He acted as if I was precious, breakable, something he cherished. I basked in the feeling until he pulled away.
“Guess it’s time to get my ass kicked by your dad first, huh?” He smirked over at me while maneuvering the car out of the lot.
***
My parents’ house dwarfed in the shadow of the palace back in Chicago but ours felt like a home. A second home, anyway. Warm and comfortable, somewhere you always knew someone would be waiting for you and loved you. The Palace had an opulent, sterile feeling that left a girl wanting a little something else.
Love by the Slice (Harbor Point Book 1) Page 20
