Page 106 of The Sexy Billionaire

GIORGIO

We’ve arranged for dinner on top of the Eiffel Tower. Lilly and Luca’s friends are in town, so they are joining us for dinner tonight, too.

“Not sure if you realize, but Zoe is married to Matteo and Tomas,” I whisper to Paige as we walk through the VIP entrance to the restaurant.

“She said something today at the boutique, but I thought I heard it wrong. And they have a child together and she’s pregnant again?”

I nod my head.

“I mean, look at those two men. I understand why she’d be pregnant all the time.” She giggles.

My body tenses at hearing Paige notice how good-looking Matteo and Tomas are. I place my hand at the small of her back and lean in as we walk. “Are you saying one of me isn’t enough?”

Her cheeks flush at my comment; she turns and looks up at me. “You’re enough for me, Gio.”

And in that moment, under the Eiffel Tower surrounded by people, all I want to do is kiss the ever-loving hell out of her, but I can’t. Because she’s not mine yet, not publicly anyway.

“All I want to do right now is kiss you, and I fucking can’t,” I curse.

She links our pinky fingers together as we walk. “One day,” she says, giving me a wide smile. I don’t deserve this woman at all.

We are escorted up to the restaurant and shown to our private room. It has the most magnificent view over all of Paris.

“This is beautiful,” Paige declares as she stares out the window. She’s dressed in a gorgeous emerald-green cocktail dress, her brunette hair cascading around her shoulders in waves. Natalia has loaned her some jewels to wear with the dress. Which I make a note of, I need to get her some. She looks regal even, every inch the countess that she has now become. Every day since leaving New York, I can see she is becoming more at ease in her new skin, her new life.

“Wipe your mouth, you’re drooling,” my brother whispers, elbowing me as he walks past.

Reluctantly, I pull my eyes from where Paige is standing admiring the Parisian skyline and engage in a conversation with our friends.

“Where’s your lovely fiancée? Thought she would be here tonight or is she back filming again?” Matteo asks as I choke on my whisky. He’s a famous Spanish actor back in Barcelona and knows Giada through the business.

I stiffen at Matteo’s question, and I don’t quite know how to answer it. I look over at where Paige is talking to Lilly and Zoe.

“Um …”

“She’s too busy fucking our sister to be here tonight,” Natalia says as she interrupts our conversation. Matteo and Tomas choke on their drinks as the room falls silent. My heart is thundering in my chest as panic sets in.

“What the hell, Natalia?” Luca says, breaking the awkward silence.

“I’m sick of it. It’s not fair, Giada can spend the summer in bed with Allegra while Gio does what? Just puts up with it? She messed up, not him,” Natalia explains to the group.

“Natalia, enough,” Luca warns her.

I reach out and pull my passionate sister to my side and place a tender kiss on her forehead. “I appreciate you sticking up for me, but it is not our place to out them,” I whisper against her ear.

“I want you to be happy, Gio,” she says, looking up and giving me a pout.

“But I am,” I tell her as my eyes trail over to where Paige is sipping on champagne. Her brows are pulled together, watching the room intensely.

“Wait, Giada and Allegra are together?” Matteo asks.

“Matteo,” Tomas warns, glaring at his partner.

“Natalia offered up the information,” he says, rolling his eyes.

“I think it might be a family matter, Matteo, we should leave it,” Mackenzie adds. She’s Zoe’s older sister and one of Lilly’s best friends. She’s become very close with Lilly, working on charity projects together. Luca gave Lilly her own charity as a wedding present called Lilly’sPlace, a refuge for humans who have been trafficked throughout Europe. A place they can go before moving back into society. Mackenzie’s family rescues women from dangerous situations and brings them back to civilization. They were the ones who found Lilly when she was kidnapped and brought her home safely. Ever since then, Mackenzie and Lilly have been tight. Now that Lilly’s pregnant, Mackenzie has offered to come on board to help at the charity, moving from Spain to Italy. She's the only one Lilly would trust to run the charity while she’s on maternity leave. Luca may have offered her a lot of money to take the job so that Lilly wouldn’t have to work through the pregnancy so much.

There’s a tap of a glass that silences the room. Lilly moves to the front of the room so everyone can see her. “Thank youeveryone for coming to Paris this weekend, it’s been too long since catching up.” Everyone nods in agreement. “You’re some of my closest friends, and it means the world to me that you are all here. I wanted to say a huge thank you to Mackenzie for taking over my position at Lilly’s Place, and I’m sorry, Zoe, for stealing your sister.” Zoe wags her finger at Lilly while laughing. “I wanted to let everyone know that Lilly’s Place will be one of the charities that the Summer Ball is raising money for.” The room erupts in applause. “Just wanted to say it wasn’t because I’m sleeping with one of the board members.” She smirks, looking at my brother.

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