Page 1 of Giorgio

Chapter 1

“You look like hell!” Julian tried to hide his concern as his sister slid into the booth across from him.

“Thanks...” She murmured dryly, picking up the glass of water and taking a sip. “I can always count on you to set me straight.”

“I ordered the beef sandwich, fully loaded and you are going to eat every bite,” his attractive face was set as if daring her to defy him.

“I am not really hungry,” she toyed with the utensils; her long fingers restless as she avoided his gaze.

He did not respond, and they waited in silence for their meals to arrive. Julian had threatened her when persuasion had not done the trick and that was what had forced her to be here at the restaurant to have lunch with him.

He had been trying to reach her for two days straight and had left several angry messages on her voicemail. His sister was suffering – had been through a lot since the start of the year.

The first hard hit had been when their only living parent had succumbed to his illness. After that, she had received the notice that the publishing house where she had spent her years working and putting in the time had closed and left her without a job.

On top of that, the jerk she had been seeing for almost a year, told her that he was no longer interested. Julian knew his sister was at a breaking point and was worried about her.

Their meals arrived and he started eating, lifting a brow when she sat there staring at the sandwich. “Don’t let me force feed you. I swear I will.”

Making a face, she picked up half of the sandwich and made an effort to eat.

“You have lost weight,” he accused her, “I hope you are not pining over that asshole. He doesn’t deserve one minute of your regret.”

“Jeremy and I were drifting apart for months,” she shrugged slender shoulders, “the split was expected. Julian, we just lost our dad, I am still in mourning.”

“And I am not?” Picking up his drink, he took a sip.

She did not remind him that he had a very lucrative career and a highly active social life. She had lost everything that mattered to her. Jeremy was not the best boyfriend, but the familiarity had been comforting.

She loved her job, diving into manuscripts and making changes had been fulfilling. Now she had no idea what she was going to do. She felt as if she was on a boat drifting upstream without a paddle.

“I want you to come and live with me. For as long as you want.”

She stared at him wryly. “You have a bachelor pad.”

“With two suites. You would have your own room and bathroom. It would be temporary because I know how much you value your privacy.”

“You use the extra room as an office.”

“That can be remedied. I can set up my desk and cabinets in my bedroom, it’s large enough to accommodate everything I need.” Leaning forward, he continued in an intense tone. He had thought about it while he was driving to the restaurant and the idea had taken root.

“I earn a damn good living and…”

“No.”

“Why the hell not?”

“I am not going to start depending on you.”

He stared at her in frustration. “You are my bloody sister, my twin, we shared the same egg, and I happen to be older than you are.”

“By five minutes,” she reminded him whimsically.

“We are not going into semantics. I am supposed to look out for you. You insisted on contributing to dad’s care and it practically wiped out your savings. How the hell are you going to pay your rent?”

“I will figure something out.”

“Oh, for Crissakes!” He lapsed into silence and took a healthy bite of his sandwich as he glowered at her. His heart ached to see her like this. They were both mourning the loss of their dad, but she was feeling it a lot more than he was.

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