by Andromeda
"Well, he's like a best friend to me, and he's bisexual. Not only that, but he has a thing for Marcus."
"Marcus is gay?!" he gasps.
"Yep," I say, popping the p. It is kind of hard to picture Marcus as gay because he is a really good looking guy. A lot of women drool over him only to get their hearts crushed.
"W...well what about the other two men in your little group?" Giovanni asks. "You seem really close to them."
"Kenny is married, and David is with a new girl every other week. I don't need that kind of man around me." I look away a moment and then back. "I haven't been with a man since you...I...couldn't do it.”
All the anger and shock wash from his face as he cups my chin and kisses my forehead.
"Honestly...neither have I..." he says.
I raise an eyebrow, and he corrects himself. "I meant being with another woman! I didn't mean men! I...I er..."
I giggle and kiss his cheek. "I know what you mean, Gio."
He smiles at me.
********************************
Giovanni
I give her the best of everything the night has to offer, from the best wine to the best food. We talk for what seems like hours; friendly talk, nothing sexual at all. She tells me about Robyn, Grace, Ruby, and Jordan, who I'm pleased to hear is being looked at by Richmond U.
"If you want, I’ll get some of my old buddies to look into some scholarships for you."
"You'd do that?" she asks, her face lighting up.
I cover my hand with hers. "I'd do anything for you, mia angela."
She blushes slightly and sips her wine. Dinner goes by well, but we both drink like 3 to 4 glasses of wine each, and after a while we both get a little tipsy. We're able to make it to the limo, and he pulls off. She's really drunk; I can tell because she keeps giggling and touching me. She can't go home this way, so I direct the driver to take us to my home.
I can barely walk up the stairs myself, but I make it and take her to an empty guest room.
She giggles and begins to kiss me. "Where are you going?"
"T...to my room," I choke, trying my hardest to keep a clear head but the wine isn't helping.
"Stay here with me," she giggles.
"Mala, that isn't..."
"Call me your angel," she says, trailing kisses down my neck.
"M...my angel..."
"Noooo," she slurs. "In your native tongue...it's such a turn on..."
"A...a mia angela," I croak.
I can't hold back anymore and begin to kiss her back. Sparks erupt, and a fire I thought had died comes flaming back to life. Our kisses get more and more passionate, our hands exploring places that we had sworn never to touch again. Whoa...how much did we both drink?
Malaika giggles as she begins to unbutton my shirt, and I begin to undo her pants. Before we know it, our clothes are lying on the floor and I'm holding her legs open. Slowly, I push myself into her warm depths, making us both moan in unison.
"Gio..."
"Mala...”
I quickly begin to move my hips, holding her waist as she tilts her head back; she cries out with pleasure, her breasts bouncing as I pound into her. This feels so good...and not just sexual. The void in my heart that I thought would never close is now mending with her. I know it sounds crazy, but with each thrust I feel my heart mending. My pace quickens, my fingers digging into her hips so deeply that I know that I'll leave bruises but I don't care—neither of us do. We're lost in this daze of drunken love that seems so right!
I pound into her faster, slamming the head of the bed against the wall, working hard to bring us both to a shattering release. My fingers find her sacred pearl and I rub it furiously. I suddenly feel her inner walls clench around me as she throws her head back with a scream. With a deep roar, I pour into her before falling limp at her side with a groan.
We both lay side by side, trying to catch our breath and our thoughts. We just had sex. We just had back-breaking, screaming at the top of our lungs sex! Wow, I knew I was good but damn. I can feel the sharp lines on my back where her nails seem to have torn through the skin.
I smirk to myself and look at her. Her eyes are unreadable. For a moment I believe she's going to slap me, but she just sleepily smiles and kisses me.
"I love you, Gio..." she whispers before falling asleep, cuddling close to me.
My heart freezes. She just said the L word to me! There is a twisting in my gut, and I kiss the top of her head.
"I love you too," I whisper in the darkness. "I tried so hard to fight it, but I can't..."
I doubt she can hear me, but finally saying the words out loud really lifts a weight off my chest, and hearing her say it is all the better. I regret ever leaving her. Three years, that's a lot of time I've lost...we could have had another child during that time. I might...have proposed to her...
I kiss her head again, rubbing her shoulders. "I'm going to make this right, angela mia,” I whisper. "You are mine and I am yours."
Slowly, I let sleep’s sweet embrace take me.
********************************
Time. It's a precious resource that we constantly waste. Some people would do anything for more of it, to help others, to get the jump on the enemies, to change our past mistakes and try to make things right for the ones we love.
I'd give anything to change the mistakes I have made in my life. I have a lot of 'maybes'. Maybe if I hadn't eaten that bad seafood while I was overseas, I wouldn't have gotten a month-long case of the runs. Maybe if I hadn't been yelling at my brother while I was shaving, I wouldn't have this bad cut on my cheek. Maybe if I had turned back to Malaika that night she lost our child instead of running away, then I'd wouldn't be trying to win her back. Maybe...if I hadn't cheated on the love of my life, then she wouldn't have died...
I shake my head. No, Veronica is in the past and I have Malaika now; but...my mind can't help but go back to that night...and how much 20 seconds really changes a person's life...
Brittany giggled as I chased her through the house. Clothes flew off our bodies like tissue paper and I pounced on her, pushing her to the bed.
"Now I'll have to punish you," I said, grinning wickedly as I took off my belt and pants.
We had our normal wild sex, tumbling around the sheets, tearing up the bedroom. Our moaning and groaning filling the air.
"When are you going to leave that pale, sorry milksop?" Brittany asked as she rode me.
Groaning, I slapped her ass. "Soon my love, I promise. I never really loved her. The only reason I'm with her is because of her father.”
"He's that rival mob boss you were telling me about?" she asked, rocking faster.
"The very one. I'm just using her to get to him. I'll dump her like the garbage she really is when I'm done with her."
"And then marry me," she moans.
I slapped her ass again. "And then marry you," I repeated with a grin.
We were so wrapped up with each other that I didn't hear the door open, or the sound of a soft gasp. I don't know how long she stood there watching us, but when her phone began to ring my eyes snapped toward the door.
I shove Brittany off me, wrapping a sheet around my waist. "Amore mio..." I whispered, reaching for her.
She slapped me hard across the cheeks. "Non mi toccare," she choked. "Don't touch me...I heard it all."
I rubbed my face. "Veronica please..."
She turned on her heels, running out of the house as I ran after her calling her name. "Veronica, please listen to me!"
She climbed into her car, her eyes brimming with tears as she drove off. Cursing under my breath, I ran back into the house, putting on some clothes.
"Where are you going?" Brittany asked.
"After her!" I respond. "I have to bring her back!"
"Why?"
"Because if she tells, them my plan is ruined!"
DING!
My phone goes off and when I look at the text message, my blood turns cold.
"
What's wrong?" Brittany asks.
"Veronica's been in a bad car accident," I choke. "I have to go to the hospital!"
That was the second worst night of my life. When I had gotten to the hospital, Veronica was already gone. I learned that she was going 80 in a 50 mile per hour lane. She was crying so much that the tears blurred her eyes, and she crashed into an 18-wheeler. She was in a coma, but died on the way to the hospital.
The doctors told me that there was nothing they could do, and her injuries were too severe for her or my baby to survive. That caught my attention. Yes, Veronica was pregnant. 3 months to be exact. She must have just found out, and was on her way to tell me when she found out, and then walked in on Brittany and I.
I was a complete asshole to her. When she died, I didn't even mourn her long, getting engaged to Brittany 6 months after the funeral; but then I found out that she cheated on me, and I left her. Thus began my almost decade of bachelorhood, but now I have Malaika, my perfect angel. I swear, I'm not going to mess this up or let her go.
Chapter Sixteen: Gaining Some Feelings
Malaika
"Look at you...someone is glowing...you still haven't told me how the date went..."
I smile sheepishly at Pearl as we walk into the hospital. It's been two weeks since I went on my date with Giovanni, and while it's still a drunken glaze, I do remember one thing: we slept together. I remember waking up in his house with his arm draped across my chest. While I was in shock, something about it felt so...right. I couldn't even remember if we used protection or not.
"It was ok," I finally say, pulling on my scrubs.
"Just ok?" she chuckles.
"Yes, just ok," I laugh. "Leave it be."
I walk to the elevator and when the doors open, guess who's standing there? We both stare at each other, as if we haven't talked since that night. Pearl blinks, looking at us, and then a sly smile forms on her lips.
"I'll...er...take the next one," she says, walking off.
Giovanni looks at me. "Going up?"
"Y...yeah," I stammer, slowly stepping inside.
I press the button for the 4th floor and stand next to him, holding my breath. After a while, he clears his throat.
"You know, Mala..."
"It's done," I finish for him. "It...was an accident and won't happen again."
He looks at me with an arched eyebrow and then smirks. "I highly doubt that, mia angela. I remember you begging for more..."
I slap his shoulder. "Shut up," I growl. "I was drunk!"
"They say when people are drunk, their true nature comes out; you said you loved me."
My cheeks bloom red and when the doors open, I shove past him. "How can I love someone...that abandoned me in my most dire hour?"
That was a low blow, and even I know it. I mean...he lost a child too but he abandoned me, abandoned us. I spent days crying for our child, and then I heard that he was living it up in Italy with a beautiful daughter by the fiancée he never told me about? That killed me. Any emotion that I might have felt for him even gained after he came back got squashed.
If he would have been upfront to me the first time with telling me about the woman, our future would have changed; but...then again, would I have agreed to that contract? To the thing that bound me to him for all those months?
********************************
Giovanni
"Look at me, Papà!"
I smile as Rosie stands before me in her Princess costume. "And where do you think you're going dressed like that?"
"To work with you!" she says proudly.
"Dolce cuore," I say, shaking my head. "You can't go to work with Daddy today."
She sticks out her lower lip, her eyes watering with tears. "B...b...but..." she stammers.
Inwardly, I groan. She's got me; I always fall under her spell with her puppy-dog eyes.
"Bene bene," I groan, rubbing the back of my neck. "You can come with Papà."
"Yay!" she cries, running over and leaping into my arms. "Ti amo papà."
"I love you too sweetheart," I chuckle.
The ride to the hospital is a quick one, and I take Rosie up to my office. As we pass Glitterland, I see Malaika helping a girl who’s had leg surgery walk again. My heart thuds in my chest. She's so beautiful, so perfect. Motherly, but also sassy at the same time, she'd make the perfect mother for Rosie. I just wish she'd give me a chance.
"Mala!" Rosie cries out when she sees her. Malaika looks up and smiles. She helps the girl to a wheelchair before walking over.
"Hello Rosie...Mr. Rinaldi."
I stiffen. Why does she continue to use my last name in formality when a couple weeks ago, she was crying out my first one in passion?
"Hi Mala," Rosie grins. "Guess what?"
"What?" Malaika asks.
Rosie smiles. "I get to spend the day with Papà!"
"You do?" Malaika gasps.
"Si!" Rosie says, smiling. "I do!"
"Well I'm glad," she says with a smile. "And might I say, you look amazing today!"
"Grazie," Rosie giggle. "Is Robyn here?"
"She gets here later," Malaika says. "But you know what? There is a girl who is sad that she can't walk yet. Want to go cheer her up?"
Rosie nods and takes Malaika's hand. They look so perfect, so at ease with each other. Rosie could pass off as her daughter if she didn't have blond hair. Malaika has always had this glow around her that children just love. She has given Rosie more attention in almost 2 months than Brittany, the girl's mother, has given her all her life.
Sighing, I walk to my office and sit in my chair. My life should be perfect. I have a beautiful child, I'm one of the richest men on the planet, and yet I feel so empty...
********************************
Malaika
"Come on Marcy, just walk to the door."
"I can't Dr. Robin!" the girl weeps. "I still can't feel my legs!"
Sighing, I sit back on my knees. This has been the struggle for the last week and a half. Marcy had leg surgery, but there were some minor complications. While she has the use of her legs, she says she can't feel them and thus can't move.
We've tried everything, from lightly poking her with pins to massages, to even putting a toe in hot water to see if she feels it. Nothing. Getting up, I walk to where her parents stand.
"Mr. and Mrs. Larkan...I'm sorry," I sigh. "We've tried everything. But I believe your daughter might be paralyzed."
"No!" her mother screams, tears streaming down her face. "Don't you say that!"
"I'm sorry, Dr. Robin," Mr. Larkan sighs. "My wife is a little...over emotional."
I nod. "It's alright. Trust me, it's not easy for me to tell you this. There might be use coming soon in her legs, if she continues with the therapy. But I do have some good news."
"What is it?" Mrs. Larkan asks.
"There are these new braces, called Move U2's. They are made in China, and have been proven successful in clinical trials. I believe they might help Marcy."
"What do they do?"
"They insert a controller into her brain stem. It helps control the braces, and Marcy can use them to learn how to walk again. When she is good enough without them, the controller is removed and she'll walk on her own."
"Does insurance cover it?"
"As for now, no."
"How much would this cost?" Mr. Larkan asks.
I bite my lip. "They start...at twenty-thousand dollars."
"We don't have that kind of money on us!" Mrs. Larkin gasps.
"Yes we do," Mr. Larkan says after a moment. "Macey's college fund..."
"That money is for her education!" Mrs. Larkan hisses.
"We can home school her!" Mr. Larkan roars. "But I'd rather do that and have my daughter walk and play her favorite sports than spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair!"
I leave them alone to talk and as I'm heading downstairs for lunch, I run into Giovanni.
"Hey," he says.
"Hey," I whisper
back.
"Can I buy you lunch?"
"I'm fine, thank you."
He grabs my arm and pulls me into an empty room.
"Malakia," he whispers, his voice husky. "We can't help pretending that nothing happened that night."
"I was drunk," I hiss back.
"We both were!" he growls. "Why can't you grow up and accept that we have something between us! You love me!"
"We don't have anything, Giovanni! Nor do I love you! Because the man I loved would have told me about his pregnant fiancée!"
"She wasn't my fiancée! We had broken up long before I met you! And I didn't know she was pregnant!"
"You still chose her! I had just lost our...child, and you left me for the one living!" my voice cracks with emotion as I remember.
"Why can't you let it go?" he asks.
"Because it's like a part of me died," I whisper. "I wanted that baby, Giovanni. And while I know that you only wanted me for my body and to get an heir, I let myself fall for you and you let me crash to the ground!"
"I love you!" he yells. "Alright? I love you! I've loved you for so long that I can't remember when it started! It might have started out as something small, but it turned into something more! I love you, Malaika Robinson. Please...give me a chance..."
I shake my head. "I can't, Giovanni...I don't know if you'll break my heart again...and I can't handle if it happens again..."
********************************
I walk back into Glitterland two days later. Today Macey is supposed to be checked out, but I don't want her to. She will spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair unless she gets those braces.
I spent the whole two days trying to figure out how to get the money, but I couldn't get an answer. Sighing, I approach Macey's room, ready to help her into her wheelchair. Suddenly, the door bursts open and I'm enveloped into Mrs. Larkan's warm embrace. "Thank you!" she cries. "Thank you so much!"
I blink. "W...what?"
Stepping inside, I gasp. Sitting on the bed is Macey, with the braces on her legs.
She smiles at me. "Thank you, Dr. Robin!"
Mr. Larkan walks over and grasps my hand. "Thank you so much," he says.
"W...what did I do?" I stammer.
He holds out a card and I read it over.
To my favorite patient Macey,
