Page 52 of Gio

I’m in love with you.

Gio was in love with me, he had risked his life to rescue me. It was surreal but every atom that made me pulsed with the belief that his words were real. Genuine and sincere.

Gio loved me.

***

After my shower I sat on the bed wrapped in a towel. I didn’t want to put on the outfit I’d been abducted in, but I had nothing else to wear. I was about to reluctantly get back into yesterday’s clothes, when a knock sounded. I tentatively went to answer andwhen I opened the door Peyton, Ellie, Laura, Grace, and Emma were all standing there, wearing tentative smiles and heavy expressions of worry. “Harper, you look better than I expected.”

Peyton’s words made me laugh. “I feel better than I expected and it’s all thanks to Gio.”

The women stepped in and produced several bags. “We brought you a few things Gio thought you might need.”

“Thank you.” More tears filled my eyes at their kind gesture and the fact that Gio had thought to ask them. The bag was filled with clothes and underwear, toiletries, and anything else a woman could need to feel normal. “Seriously, thank you ladies.”

“We’re a team,” Laura said with a smile. “We help out when and where we can.”

“This is just what I needed.” I took the bag into the bathroom and quickly changed into a pair of black yoga pants and a loose t-shirt. Once I was done I returned to the living room, “Seriously this is so kind of you all.”

Ellie brushed off my words. “How are you doing? Really?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? I sighed heavily and assessed my emotions. “My cheek is bruised, and it still stings but I’m okay. Mostly.” I turned to them and shrugged. “Gio says he’s in love with me. I didn’t even think that was a possibility so what do I do with that?”

Ellie grinned. “Easy, you just have to figure out how you feel about him.”

I didn’t need to figure it out because I knew. “I love him. I’ve loved him since I was a girl.” He was the only person I thought about when I thought I would die.

“Then you have your answer. Tell him how you feel and grab that love by the balls,” Peyton offered with a cheeky grin. “This life is too dangerous not to live with the most intense love you can find every fucking day. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed so grab today by the balls and make it your bitch.”

“Yeah, that,” Grace offered with a smile. “But maybe with a little less violence.”

I laughed. “I will, but first I need to tell you something. I told Gio but I’m not sure how this all works.”

They all gathered closer, and I felt safe and protected. Confident enough to air my suspicions. “What?”

“Someone tipped off the Reapers about where I would be.” I told them what I heard. “I can only think of one person, but I thought they were just as loyal as you ladies.” I shook my head and covered my face. “I only told Gio, so someone had to have been listening in to share my location.”

“Shit.” Laura shook her head. “That’s not good.”

“Right? I felt crazy thinking it but it’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“You told Gio,” Ellie began with a sad smile. “The guys will take care of it how they see fit. It’s what they do,” she explained. “It’s how they operate.”

I swallowed around the lump in my throat. I wasn’t completely sure what that meant but I nodded anyway. “What’s going to happen?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Peyton said, a sympathetic smile on her face. “But it won’t be good.”

A small part of me was happy with the answer but the other, bigger part, hated to think I might have put a target on another woman’s back, even if she wanted me dead.

Chapter 30

Gio

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Diesel’s voice was a thunderous roar that echoed off the walls the moment I stepped into our meeting room. I knew I wouldn’t be safe from his wrath and that he’d kept himself in check for Harper’s sake. “Of that stupid fucking things to do, going off on your own Gio. What the fuck, man?”

I shrugged. “I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. I know it was wrong and I’m sorry that I disobeyed you but I’m not sorry that I went after her.”

“I’m not mad you got Harper back either, man. Fuck!” He raked both hands through his hair and let out a long, slow breath. “Just tell me what other damage you did?”

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