Page 117 of 7+Us Makes Nine

If I had known who she was back in the nightclub that fateful day, how I would have reacted? Would I have run screaming the other way, or would I have willingly thrown in the towel early? It was hard to think about in hindsight. And although I wasn’t superstitious, I had a feeling that our meeting had been just as destiny planned it. Maybe we had been meant for each other straight from the start.

It made my head spin just thinking about it. Nevertheless, I felt that I honestly could have been content spending every night for the rest of my life in this position, holding her in my arms after making love.

It was startling, but I knew that it was true. I recalled reading somewhere in some silly magazine or other that it took men apparently three dates to know whether they were in love.

Third time’s a charm…

I suppose it wasn’t anything to brag about, but I had virtually lost track of the number of women I’d entertained over the years. They were all varying degrees of beautiful, and I had treated them all well, but from the second they entered my life, I’d always known they were temporary. I just hadn’t been the type to stick around in one place, or with one person, for an extended amount of time.

“Gio—you’re going to have to settle down one day. You know that right?” my mother had said to me repeatedly.

And my reply had always been the same. “Yeah one day, but that day isn’t going to be today, tomorrow, or next week, even. So please don’t hold your breath, Ma.”

And then she would always insist that the day would probably come sooner than I expected, and I would be thrown for a loop when it did.

I had too much pride to tell her just how right she was…

Arianna stirred in my arms, readjusting herself more comfortably so her head was laying on my shoulder. I smiled and kissed her forehead. A smile drifted across her face in response to my kiss, and then she relaxed again as she drifted back off to sleep.

I rubbed my hand in circles on the smooth skin of her back.

In that instant, I knew that I couldn’t deny it even if I wanted to. After all these years, she was the first girl that I had ever started to develop serious feelings for.

In such a short amount of time, she had already done the impossible. She had captured my heart.

CHAPTER 14

Arianna

I’m not sure how much time had passed, but when I woke up, I was still undressed and lying in Gio’s arms. I stirred around, only to find him sleeping peacefully, his head resting on the pillow as he held me.

Smiling to myself, I gently kissed his lips.

His eyes fluttered open. “Morning,” he said with a grin. “Or…wait…What time is it?”

I laughed. “Not morning, that’s for sure,” I said, raising up from him. I retrieved my clothes from the floor and proceeded to get dressed, feeling a lot less awkward this time around than in our previous encounters of this nature.

Giovanni watched me, hunger in his eyes that almost made me want to strip my clothes right back off and go for another round. But instead, I picked his shirt up off the floor and tossed it to him, laughing when it landed on his head.

My laughter quickly died though, when I realized what unpleasantries lied before us. “You have to take me back home,” I said somberly. There was no doubt that my parents had returned by now. And how they would react to me coming home later, with Gio, was something I wasn’t anxious to find out.

Gio stood, stepped into his pants, and stretched. “Well, let’s get you home then.”

He gathered me into a hug, his arms wrapping tightly around me.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” I asked, looking into the buttery eyes of his.

He sighed. “That—I’m not sure of. I have some family business to attend to with my father, unfortunately. Hey—don’t look at me like that. Don’t for one-second doubt that I wouldn’t rather be spending another night like this with you.” He stooped down, placing a kiss on my neck that made me quiver and giggle like a schoolgirl. “I’ll call you the very second I get the chance to, all right?”

“All right,” I said.

* * *

My suspicions about my parents being back home were confirmed when we spotted my father’s car in the driveway. Gio parked behind it.

My stomach began to clench with nervous knots as I peered at the house, seeing lights still on through the foyer and living room windows. That meant at least one of my parents—likely my father—had stayed up to wait for my return.

“You don’t have a curfew or anything, do you?” Gio asked, raising an eyebrow.

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