Page 87 of Third Degree

“I know, amore.”

“I’m so glad that I did. I am so glad it was you. I’ve loved you since I was eighteen. You are all that I’ve ever known, and it was terrifying that someone else was going to be at the end of the aisle.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized for not telling her the truth again.

“I don’t want to rehash it, but I just need you to know that is why I was so mad at you. I wanted to be a part of it because I was absolutely and utterly terrified of what was going to happen next. Because I truly cannot imagine a world without you in it.”

“Neither can I, Gianna.” I stood up, bringing her to her feet beside me. “I have one more surprise for you.”

28

Gianna

“What?” I asked, my brow creasing.

“I invited your friends over.”

I gaped at him, my mouth falling open in shock.

He amended, “Well, I told Julian to tell Tatum. She knew that I was moving here. So, she thinks she is coming to see us. I told her to invite the other girls.”

I had no words.

“If you aren’t ready, though, it is your choice. I know you said you wanted to talk to them together and explain. I can always tell Julian we are tired from the trip home.”

I thought about it for a second. I guessed it was better to rip the whole bandage off at once than to wait.

“Okay. No, let’s do it. Alex isn’t coming, I assume, because of Chelsea?” The two were still feuding from what I was aware, even though all of us knew that they were eventually going to end up together.

“No, he is in Sacramento.”

“Is Julian coming?”

Elio nodded.

“He will sit inside with me, though. I am sure there is a lot you need to catch up on.” I’m not going to lie. Julian was a scary-looking dude, so the fact that myhusbandcould tell him what to do was such a turn-on.

Elio didn’t act like it, but after his confession yesterday, I knew he was a powerful man and had to be similar to my father.

I bit my lip. “Let me go freshen up.”

Elio nodded, and I walked back into our house.Our house. It was going to take a while to get used to the fact that this was mine. I walked up the stairs and opened the largest French door, which I could only assume was our bedroom.

There was a huge room with a large bed in the middle. It looked so similar to the house in Half Moon Bay that it made me feel so nostalgic for it. I walked around the room, taking everything in, and I looked in the closet and realized that all my clothes were already hung up, my shoes were put away, and the very few personal items I had were stashed in the closet.

“I didn’t know where you wanted your stuff, but I can have someone put it anywhere you want. Margarita is downstairs preparing some snacks for your friends.”

The deep voice scared me for a second, but then I turned around to see it was Elio leaning against the doorframe.

“Who?” I raised my eyebrows at him.

“The chef.”

Of course we had a chef. Why did I expect anything else?

“You know I’m Italian,” I playfully joked. “I can cook too.”

“Whenever you want to cook, I’ll be delighted to savor one of your meals, rosa mia,” he responded tenderly.

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