Page 122 of Mafia Billionaire's Surprise Baby
And I’m absolutely certain that I didn’t give a fuck about it then either.
“Good. We’re on the same page then.”
“Tell me what page you think you’re on, Gia, so I can make sure it’s the page that I’m on as well.”
“That we need to end this.”
My heart stops.
“What?”
“We should probably do it sooner, rather than later. Before we get back so that it’s not weird or anything, and we can just go back to the way things were before.”
“The way things were before,” I repeat.
Gia raises her eyebrow at me. “For a brilliant linguist you sure do repeat what I’ve already said a lot.”
I’m repeating it because it’s surreal to hear it. It’s a statement that I can’t wrap my mind around.
And, more than that, it’s a lie.
“Tell me when this before is that you’re alluding to, Gia,” I say with a tone that I normally reserve for those I’m about to destroy. “Tell me when you think this ‘before’ was. Because I will tell you what I know.”
I step closer to her. Instinctively she moves back on the bed, her eyes widening.
She’s afraid.
Good.
She should be.
“Before, when I asked you to have a relationship with me, and you told me no. You had to remain unattached in order to serve as Elio’s spymaster. Before, when I held you as you cried yourself to sleep every night after Belarus. Before, when I pulled you from a fucking burning warehouse in Belarus. Before, when you and I chased each other around the globe, each one of us working to outwit the other.”
She blinks. “Sal…”
“Before, when we knew before either one of our families did that our parents were not killed in a feud between the De Lucas and Rossi’s. Before, when I saw you the night of Caterina’s engagement and thought that I was standing in the presence of the most beautiful creature that the earth has ever seen. Before, when you opened your mouth to eviscerate Elio’s foolish pride, and I knew that you were perfect in every way, not just your beauty.”
Her eyes are wide. I know that I’m playing my hand here, and I’m putting down every card I have.
I’ve never told Gia about any of this.
About how I’ve watched her from afar… for years.
Even before Gia knew I existed, I knew she did. She’s always been the sun, and I’ve always been in her orbit, waiting for her to shine the light she freely gives to others on me.
Except now I think that maybe, that will never happen for me.
Gia is never going to want me the way I want her to. Despite the fact that we’re compatible in every way, she doesn’t want me.
I’m not going to beg her.
I’m not going to force her.
I’ve never forced a woman to do anything in my life, and I’m not going to start now.
I snort. “Have it your way, Gia. I won’t beg you. I won’t tell you the reasons we’re perfect for each other. I won’t list out the reasons that I can see, perfectly, a future for us. And I know—” I hold up a hand as her mouth opens. “I know, talking about the future fucking terrifies you. I don’t know where that comes from Gia because you won’t. Let. Me,” I roar.
“Sal…”