Page 20 of Glass & Groundwork
Eyes blinking harder, he sat up straighter. “What? Did I miss something?”
“No. It just occurred to me, though. It would solve all my problems.”
Gio's brow furrowed, even as his cheeks pinked. “I'm not sure I follow.”
Reluctantly leaving my spot on his lean, muscled leg, I sat up to face him. “There's a clause with my trust fund that will force my parents to relinquish their hold on my account. It's a bit antiquated—if you ask me—but I guess they figured if I was ready for the responsibility of marriage, then I was ready for financial responsibility as well.”
“What… do you mean… exactly?” Gio asked.
“If I'm married, I gain full ownership of my trust. I would be able to finish paying for the construction and get my business off the ground.”
“And you'd want to marryme?”
“Why not?”
Gio’s pinched brows relaxed slightly as he tried to process what I was saying. “So it would be a fake marriage, then?”
I clicked my tongue as I tried to picture how it would work. “It would have to be real. The ceremony and the certificate, anyway. My parents and the bank would see right through falsified documents, especially with this kind of money on the line. It could be platonic, though. It wouldn't have to be anything you're not comfortable with.”
“But if you just need a name on a document, why me?”
I grabbed Gio's hand in mine. “You’re my friend and you make me feel safe. I trust you, Gio. Oh! And I can pay you if you do this. We can work up an agreement.”
With a shake of his head, he said, “I told you before, I don't want your money.”
“Okay. Anything else? Surely, there’s something you want, right? Name it, and I'll do whatever I can to make it happen if you'll do this for me.”
“What I want… is to see you happy.”
Butterflies fluttered about in my stomach. “See? That, right there, is why it has to be you. There’s no one else I trust.”
“Marriage?” Gio said slowly, as if he was still wrapping his mouth around the word.
It was a big word. One that carried a lot of weight. Was it too much? Probably. I was starting to second-guess the idea as the word hung between us. When I answered, it sounded more like a question. “Yes?”
“With me?”
“Yes.” That reply came easier. Whatever the next step, I wanted Gio with me for it. He’d already been amazing in helping me get started, but what he did for me tonight endeared him to me deeply. I could easily put out feelers and would have a whole slew of guys who would marry me for the price of it, but I’d seen enough vultures hanging around my parents and the business waiting for scraps to come their way. I didn’t want that. Gio was content in his life and wasn’t trying to get whatever he could from me to help him move up in society.
“Yes,” Gio said softly, pulling me out of my thoughts.
It took me a moment to grasp the hushed word, but I tilted my head, and stared at him. His cheeks were a lovely red, and he seemed anxious for some kind of response.
“Wait. What?”
Gio inhaled deeply before lifting his chin, determination pushing the anxiousness aside. “I said, yes.”
“You’ll marry me?” I couldn’t believe it. I mean, I’d been thinking it through, but hearing him actually agree to it caught me off guard.
A crooked smile appeared. “Yes, Jasper.”
“Why?”
A laugh popped out of him. “Did you want me to say no?”
“No, of course not, I just… I guess I didn’t really expect it. It sounded fine in my head, but now that it’s out there, I, um, are you sure?”
The color in his cheeks toned down and he reached for his glasses on the side table, sliding them onto his face. With his eyes highlighted through the lenses, he met my gaze with a sincere expression.
