Page 128 of The Sexy Billionaire

Right, yes, I’m sure he is worried, too, it’s his sister. “Okay,” I say, reluctantly leaving my spot beside her. Luca places a welcoming hand around my shoulders as he drags my weary ass toward the café. Thankfully, we have a private area of the hospital with our own café area, so no one can bother us. Luca orders our coffees at the window and comes back and sits down beside me.

“I can’t lose her,” I say as my head falls into my hands and tears splash against the linoleum floor.

“You’re not going to. She’s a fighter, that’s what the doctor said; she’s just not healed enough to wake up yet. Her body will tell her when the time is right.

“What happens if she wakes up, and she doesn’t remember me, us? What if she is a different person?”

“Then you will deal with it. There is no point worrying about the what-ifs. She’s alive. And her brain function is good. She just needs time,” my brother states, trying to reassure me.

He’s right. I know he is, but I’m so fucking scared. I lost her once, I can’t lose her a second time.

“I love her so much, Luca. She’s the one. I want to marry her and have babies, lots of babies for Mamma. I want to grow old with her.”

“And you will. I promise you.”

“Holy shit,” Natalia curses as she stares down at her phone when she joins us in Paige’s room. It’s a full house today with her best friends, Savannah and Callie here, swapping out for her parents, who had done the morning shift. “I can’t believe they did that.” Her eyes widen and a big smile falls across her face.

“What is it?” Luca asks impatiently.

“Giada and Allegra released something,” she declares. They did what? Why would they do that?

“She can’t stand not being the center of attention,” Luca snips.

“I’m not her biggest fan either, but I don’t think they were being self-centered for once,” Natalia explains.

“What are they saying?” I question her.

“Okay. Giada’s statement says …I’m ashamed to be Italian. The disgusting pursuit of a story has gone too far this time. The actions of unscrupulous people in the media have put three people in the hospital. Three innocent people. Three lives nearly destroyed because of the delusional lies of one unhinged French man. If anyone had cared to ask more questions than print one man’s delusions, you would have found that the countess was never married to him. That it was he who was caught cheating while she was laying to rest a family member. That this individual has a protective order against him for stalking and physical assault of the countess. That she had to escape halfway across the world to get away from this man, and yet he continues to stalk her, and you all played a part in it. This man has shown you photos of Giorgio and the countess together. Giorgio was a single man in all those photos, they were doing nothing wrong. I know this because Giorgio and Ibroke up the night of our engagement party because he found me with someone else. I’m not proud of how I handled the situation. I should have been honest, and if I had, maybe none of this would have happened. But the reason why I had lied was because the person I was seeing behind Giorgio’s back was his sister, Allegra. My best friend. It was never my intention to fall for my best friend, but I did. She is the love of my life and I’ve been too scared to admit my feelings. I pushed them aside and made the biggest mistake of my life and started dating her brother, hoping that it would make me forget the feelings I believed I shouldn’t have had for my best friend. I couldn’t run from them, they only got stronger. I asked Giorgio to give me time before announcing our separation, trying to stave off the media fallout. That didn’t work. And as the selfless guy that he is, he gave Allegra and me the time we needed to sort out our feelings toward one another. What Giorgio wasn’t expecting was to reconnect with the countess again. You see, he has known her and her family for most of his life, each of them finding a supportive shoulder during a difficult time. The villain in this story is me, not her, not him. Me. I’m taking responsibility for this incredibly twisted mess I’ve created because I was too scared to tell the world I was in love with a woman. I was worried that I would lose everything if I was honest with you all. None of that matters when three people could have lost their lives. One is still fighting for hers, the innocent bystander in this tale, the countess. I’m asking the media to do better. If you would like to help, then here is a link to a funding page that we will be using to raise money for the countess’s favorite charities. Maybe we can make some good out of this tragedy.”

The room falls silent.

“That was ballsy,” Savannah states, breaking the tension.

It was. I can’t believe she said all that.

“Fuck, she’s raised two hundred thousand euros for the charities since posting it,” Natalia states.

“That’s amazing,” Lilly adds.

“What’s amazing?”

The room stops when we hear Paige ask the question.

“Paige,” I call out as I rush to her.

“Get the doctors,” Smith calls out.

“You’re alive,” I say as I grab her hand and kiss it.

She blinks a couple of times as she stares at me and then around the room. “Why is everyone here?”

“You were in an accident,” I explain gently, and she turns to look at me.

“You look like shit,” she says, and I burst out laughing. That has to be the best thing I’ve heard all day.

“He hasn’t left your side,” Smith tells her as he comes and sits on the other side.

“You’re in Rome?” she questions him. At least she knows where she is. “Sav, Callie, you’re here, too?” she says once she notices her best friends who are crying as they move toward her slowly, not sure if they should touch her or not. “What about your case?” she asks Callie.

---