Page 133 of 7+Us Makes Nine

I rolled my eyes. “Oh please! I’m not stupid Gio! I wish you would quit acting like I am!”

“Well stop acting like you are! Arianna, look me in the eyes. Do you really think I’m lying? The woman from last night was my cousin! I swear! And when I spotted you, I was about to introduce you to her, but the next thing I knew, you were gone!”

“A likely story!” I spat.

“But it’s true! Will you just stop being so goddamned hard-headed and listen to me, Ari? The whole time I was with Maria, I was telling her about you.”

But I’d heard enough. I wanted to go back to the club to get Jessica and Angela, but I knew that Gio would just follow me and continue giving me his pathetic sob story, trying to convince me that he was a stand-up guy who wasn’t cheating on me. But I wouldn’t be fooled again.

I stormed off, deciding that I would flag down a taxi and go home, and I’d just call Angela and Jessica later to let them know that I was all right. I had genuinely appreciated their effort to make me feel better, and they would have succeeded had Giovanni Romano not showed up to ruin things. It was like the universe just kept playing the cruelest tricks on me, refusing to let me be free of his presence. Every time I tried to let my guard down and move on with my life, I feared he would show up. He was like a parasite; sometimes I couldn’t see him, but he was still there, sucking the life out of me regardless.

“Arianna!” he called. “Come on, listen to me!”

But I blocked him out. Having made it to the main road, I glanced down the street.

Giovanni was talking a mile-a-minute, but I kept ignoring him. When I saw a cab coming, I flagged it down.

“Where are you going? I can give you a ride,” Gio offered.

“If I haven’t already made myself clear, let me make myself perfectly clear right now—I don’t want anything from you ever again in life. So please, just go away already!”

“I will not,” he said, stubbornly. “I will not let things end between us based on a lie.”

“You are the most infuriating person I’ve ever met.”

“Where to, ma’am?” the cab driver had lowered his window and peered out at me.

I hopped in the backseat and quickly gave him my home address, but unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough because Gio ran over to the opposite side and got in the cab too.

“Are you kidding me?” I said, glancing sideways at him.

“Uhm…is he with you, ma’am?” the cab driver asked.

At the same time, I said ‘no’ and Gio said ‘yes.’

I swore. “Just drive,” I told the cab driver. “You can take him wherever the hell he needs to go after you drop me off.”

CHAPTER 22

Giovanni

“Thank you,” Arianna said as the driver pulled up to her parents’ house. She leaned forward to pay the cab fare and hurried out of the car. I followed after her.

“No!” she said, turning around and glaring at me. “You are not welcome here.”

“Well, I seem to remember differently. I’m pretty sure your parents gave me an open invitation to your home.”

“That was before the engagement was called off, you idiot,” Arianna said as she stormed to her front porch.

Following behind her, I couldn’t help but laugh. She sounded so cute when she was furious. Or perhaps it was just that some of my fury at her had dissipated now that I knew why she was carrying on the way she was. On some level, it was flattering that she was so upset because it indicated how much she had cared about me. Now, I just needed to get her to care again.

I wished she would just believe me, but at the same time, I couldn’t fault her for what she’d thought when she saw me with Maria. After all, I certainly hadn’t reacted too well upon seeing her dancing with that guy at the club.

When Ari pulled out her keys and unlocked the front door, she hurried inside and tried to slam it in my face, but I caught it with my foot.

“Ouch! Dammit,” I muttered, hopping on one foot as I stumbled inside.

“Serves you right,” Ari spat. “Now get out of my house before I call the cops.”

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