Page 58 of The Sexy Billionaire

Giorgio: If she needs anything, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

“What do you mean, you’re leaving for New York?” Natalia asks.

“I have a work thing,” I tell her as I shove my necessities into a bag. I’m not lying as I do have some meetings. They were going to be via Zoom, but now they can be in person.

“Are you seeing that girl?” she asks.

“What girl?” I answer.Liar.It’s the entire reason I am furiously packing my bag. As soon as Paige’s call went dead after I had to listen to her being attacked by her ex-husband, I called my pilot and told him I needed to be in New York as soon as possible.

“Your new friend. Is this a booty call?” my sister continues to question me.

“No. Are you absurd? I thought you, of all people, would understand the need to get out of my life for a moment.” The line falls silent as she contemplates what I’ve said. I feel bad for twisting her words to use against her, but I need to get to New York to check on Paige. I can’t get past her scream and the fear on her face when she saw him. I can’t sit here and do nothing. I just need to see that she is okay with my own eyes, and maybe pay this ex-husband a visit; someone needs to put that little weasel in his place.

“Fine. Do you need a wing woman?” she asks.

“No.” My answer comes out with more bite than I wanted it to.

“Wow, okay was just asking,” she moans.

“I appreciate your support, but I have work; it’s going to be heaps of meetings. It will be boring for you,” I tell her.

“It’s fricken New York, Gio, it won’t be boring,” she adds.

Urgh. I shouldn’t have told her. Natalia loves New York, especially the parties and shopping; she’s not going to take no for an answer.

“Fine. If you want, you can come, but you need to be ready in an hour, or I will leave without you,” I tell her firmly.

“You’re the best, Gio. I promise I’ll be ready to go. Meet you at the airport?” she asks.

“Yes, I’ll see you there.” I sigh before hanging up. This is going to be a disaster. I’m hoping she’ll be too distracted by New York to worry about what I’m doing there. I hope Paige is going to be okay with me turning up;that’s not weird, is it?I’ll only bother her for five minutes and then I’ll be gone; I just need to know she’s okay. I can’t stop seeing the venom in that man’s eyes when he looked at her. He’s the cheater, he made her leave. None of this is her fault.

Yet his eyes said otherwise.

“You made it on time.” I grin as my sister strides onto the jet.

Her dark eyes narrow on me. “Told you so,” she states, taking a seat beside me. The hostess brings over my whisky and a glass of champagne to my sister. “Cheers, brother, to having fun in New York,” she says, clinking our glasses together.

“This is a work trip, Nat,” I remind her.

She shoos my concern away. “I know, but not every single day.”

I let out a sigh. “No, you’re right, not every day.”

This makes her happy. “Good, this can be like a brother-sister bonding trip. I can’t remember the last time the two of us went away with each other. It was always you and Luca.”

My brows pull together; I’m sure we’ve traveled together before, haven’t we?

“See, you can’t even remember when.”

“I swear we have,” I tell her.

She shakes her head. “Nope, never. I know this because Allegra never invited me on any of her trips, so I always had to go with friends.”

Now I feel bad.

“You were busy, I get it, but thanks for letting me tag along, even though I know you didn’t want me to,” she adds.

Aw, come on, now I feel like a real ass.

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