Page 34 of The Godfather’s Christmas Twins
My thoughts screeched to a halt when I saw Whitley standing in my living room wearing nothing but lingerie and Gia explaining to her that sex needed to stay in my bedroom. What the fuck?
I want Whitley out, but I don’t really want to deal with it in front of Gia, so I’m relieved that Gia has left. She'd just better not call Nic. What a shitshow.
“What the fuck are you thinking?” I say to Whitley once Gia is gone.
She has the good sense to finally cover up. “I hadn’t seen you in a while. I thought we could?—”
“You thought wrong.” This is my fault. I should have shut this down the last time I saw her. Now Gia thinks… Christ. The look on her face when she mentioned keeping my "sexy time" confined to my room. Like I'm some hormone-driven teenager who can't control himself.
The fact that Whitley would waltz in here like she owned the place, expose herself in front of Gia and the kids, is beyond infuriating. This is their home now, their safe haven.
“I didn’t know you had company.” Whitley slinks into her dress, her movements deliberately slow and sensual. My patience, already threadbare, stretches thinner with each passing second.
“You should have called.Fucking hell, Whitley…” I rein in my temper knowing it’s not entirely her fault. This time, she’ll know for sure that we’re done.
"I wouldn't have come if I'd known you had… company."
"This isn't about company. It's about boundaries." I grab her coat from where it's draped over my couch. "Which you crossed."
She steps closer, pressing her hand against my chest. "Come on, Max. Remember how good we are together?" Her fingers trail down my shirt. "I miss you."
I catch her wrist, removing her hand. "There is no 'we', Whitley.” I don’t want to be a dick, but I don’t know how to say this without being one. “Things between us are done. You need to stop showing up at my office, at my home.”
"Is this about her?" She jerks her head toward where Gia disappeared. "Your little houseguest?"
The suggestion in her tone makes my jaw clench. "This is about your breaking into my home and disrespecting my privacy. It ends now."
"Breaking in?" She scoffs, finally taking her coat. "Your security let me in. They always have."
"That changes today." I pull out my phone, already drafting a message to Marcus. "You're not welcome here anymore, Whitley. We're done."
She opens her mouth, probably for another attempt at changing my mind, but something in my expression stops her. Good. At least she's not completely blind to reality.
“She looks like me.”
What the fuck?
She sighs. “Or maybe I look like her. I mean, if you’ve taken in her kids too, it must be something special. Is that what I was, a substitute for her?”
“My relationship with Gia is none of your fucking business.” I move to the door, yanking it open.
“She’s so young, though, Max. God, she had to have been a teenager when she had those kids.”
“Like I said, none of your business.”
She steps up to me on her way out the door. “I feel bad for her. Women like her don’t get a say in their lives, do they? Is that what men like you prefer? Docile, obedient women?”
The truth in her words hits harder than I expect. Gia’s life has been dictated since the day she was born. By her father. By Nic. By Aldo. And now me until she returns to Nic’s protection.
“You don’t know me or her,” I say, hating how defensive I sound.
She laughs. “I know more than you think, Max. I lived my life. Achieved my goals. I’m a strong woman willing to support a man in your line of work.”
I suppose it’s an open secret who I work for, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to confirm her suspicions.
“I’m willing to choose this world. She doesn’t have a choice, does she? Seriously, is that what you really want?”
"Get out." I pull the door open wider. "And don't come back."