Page 39 of The Godfather’s Christmas Twins

"From what?"

"From your father. From Aldo.” He turns back to look at me, his eyes filled with sincerity. “I thought about saving you from them."

I'm shocked at his statement and hurt that he didn't follow through. "Right, well, we know what won out. Too taboo to save little Gia. Better to take the big promotion from Don Gino Nardone and move to Vegas to become rich and powerful. Yeah, what a hard choice for you."

His eyes are blazing hot as he stares at me. "We'd both be dead now if I tried to save you."

I stare at him, not sure what he means.

He runs his fingers through his hair. "I don't know what your father knew, but he was aware of the time we spent together, of your crush on me."

“I was an innocent girl?—"

"I'm lucky I got sent here instead of a bullet through the brain.”

My breath hitches. Had that been a possibility? I mean, of course it was if my father found out, but was it possible my father knew about me and Max?

“He told me to leave because if any question of your virginity came up before your marriage to Aldo, your value to him dropped to less than nothing."

I feel sick, my legs weaken, and I sink back down on the couch. "He'd kill me." Of course he would. I knew who my father was. If I’d ruined his deal with Aldo, he’d see it as a betrayal. I’d be of zero use to him and I was disposable.

"I was a coward, Gia, I know. But at the time, I couldn't see a way to save you that wouldn't lead to a high probability of your death. I know life with Aldo wasn't great, but he's dead, I suspect because of Nic. And you have those two great kids… so… tell me I made the wrong choice."

I should tell him the truth now about the kids. And yet, it will make him feel worse, even more guilty to know he didn’t just leave me, but them as well. Is that a good reason to keep the truth from him?

I look down, feeling ashamed for not considering the difficult position he was in. It isn’t that I don’t realize the problems, but I suppose the romantic, naïve part of me believed if he loved me, it would be enough to overcome all the obstacles.

"No. You weren't wrong." But I also know that my father’s threat wasn’t the only obstacle. Max felt guilty for having slept with me all those years ago because of his role in my life and relationship with my brother. Even without my father, he’d have left.

The silence stretches out between us. It feels like this conversation is over. It feels like something between us has broken.

“I should go to bed.” I rise and start toward the hall.

“What about last night? Have you decided it never happened?”

I stop, wondering why he won’t let this go.

"Last night, you kissed me." I stare at a spot over his shoulder, unable to meet his intense gaze.

"And you kissed me back." His voice drops lower, sending a shiver down my spine. "But I guess it meant nothing since this morning, you acted like it never happened."

Heat floods my cheeks. "You're the one who acted like it never happened. Making breakfast, joking with the kids, not saying a word about it."

"What did you expect me to say with the kids right there?" He steps closer, and I catch the familiar scent of his cologne. "'Hey, kids, pass the pancakes. By the way, I kissed your mother last night.'"

"No, but…" I cross my arms, hating how my body responds to his nearness. "You could have… I don't know, given some sign that it wasn't just…"

"Just what?"

"A mistake." The word comes out barely above a whisper. "Another moment of weakness like six years ago. I’d hate for your guilt to eat at you. And I’m not interested in a repeat of last year when you made it clear that being around me was torture. You couldn't wait to escape back to Vegas."

"Because being near you and not being able to touch you was driving me insane." Max's fingers flex like he wants to touch me, but he doesn’t. "You have no idea what you do to me."

"Right." I scoff, though my heart races at his words. "That's why you treated me like I had the plague. That's why you barely spoke two words to me unless forced."

“I explained all that.”

“You did. So why are you confusing things now? You can’t keep going back and forth like this, Max. It’s not fair to me.”