Page 134 of 7+Us Makes Nine

I shut the door behind me and proceeded to stare at her. She looked back at me, her expression livid, but her bottom lip trembling as if she was close to tears. As angry as I was with her before, I couldn’t stay mad at her. I wanted nothing more than to take her into my arms and tell her that she had the wrong idea. And then I wanted to kiss her anger away, and perhaps make love to her for the rest of the night.

But first, I simply had to get her to believe me.

“Remember how pissed you were when you first found out that I was the guy you were going to marry?” I asked.

“Why are you speaking in the past-tense? I’m still pissed,” she retorted. She was about to say something else when her cell phone started ringing in her purse. “Hello? Angela—I’m sorry. I’m home. I’m all right.”

I crossed the living room and went to sit on the couch to get off my foot, which was throbbing from where the door hit it.

“Look, I’ll explain everything tomorrow, okay?” Ari said into the phone. “I just can’t talk right now. I’m sorry again. Okay. Bye.”

She set her phone back down on the table and turned her attention to me. “Listen, you need to leave, Gio.”

“And you need to hear me out one good time.”

“There’s nothing for me to hear. I know your type, and I know you sleep around. I was dumb to think I could change that, but I know better now. So please, just go.”

I sighed and stood. Ignoring the throbbing in my foot, I moved toward her. She attempted to step back, but I grabbed her shoulders.

“Don’t touch me!” she yelled.

I lowered my hands. “Arianna, I love you!” I shouted. “All, right? I…love…you. You’ve been on my mind constantly from the moment we met. I think about you day and night, and I can honestly say that I have never felt this way about anyone before. You may not think you’ve changed me, but I know you’ve changed me. This all started out as an agreement I made with my father, but it is so much more than that now. I want you, Ar

ianna, and you alone. I don’t care about my family obligations. I don’t care about my father. I don’t care about arranged marriages or anything. All I care about is you, and being able to wake up beside you every day for the rest of my life. Arranged marriage be damned. I want to marry you. I love you, and I literally feel like my life will have no purpose anymore if you aren’t in it.”

A long silence stretched between us, and I felt like my heart was sinking lower in my chest with each second that ticked by. I stepped backward.

“Well—I’ve said all that I have to say. If you don’t feel the same way, then just say so. Then I’ll get out of your life for good.”

Arianna pursed her lips. “Do you mean it?”

“I’ve never meant anything more in my life.” She looked down at the ground.

“Look, I’m not sleeping with anyone but you.” I closed the distance between us, burning to touch her and end with all these doubts and fights. “I love you, Arianna. Can’t you see this? I can’t be with anyone else because I have eyes only for you.”

She took a step backward, completely surprised with my revelation, and I followed her. “Since the moment I saw you, you got under my skin. I can’t stop thinking about you, always wondering what you’re doing and when I’m going to see you again. And when I see you, it’s the best time of my life.”

I allowed myself to touch her, taking her cold hands in mine. I needed this—her skin against my skin—and I needed her scent that was pervading my senses. Luckily, she didn’t recoil, allowing me to hold her, which encouraged me to tell her everything.

“I’d never felt like this with any other woman before, and God knows I’ve had plenty of them. Up until now, it was all about pleasure and the rush I got whenever I brought them to my bed, but it was never serious. I never felt anything for them. I would always forget them, moving on to my next conquest... Until you. You appeared in my life, and that was it. You stole my heart, and I don’t want it back. I want to build my future with you, Arianna, so please, believe me.”

I kissed the back of her hand, pressing my lips slowly against her smooth skin. She trembled, and a small moan escaped her lips.

“I love you.”

Her lips quivered, her face twisting in a mix of insecurity and affection. “Oh, Gio. I...”

Not able to resist anymore, I grabbed her face and kissed her, drawn to her lips more than anything. Her kiss revived me, making me powerful—making me high... She owned me.

I rested my forehead on hers, looking into her eyes. “Tell me you feel the same. Tell me you love me,” I whispered and brushed my lips against hers. “Tell me.”

She let a long sigh out and covered my hands on her face. “I love you. I love you so much, Gio.”

“You’re mine—always remember that.”

“Only yours.”

I kissed her and picked her up, wrapping her legs around my waist. I brought her to a piano in the corner of the room and put her on its lid, stopping in between her legs. At this point, I didn’t even care if her parents were home.

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