Page 29 of Alessio

It took all of five minutes.

Alessio pulled his arm back when Corrado released his wrist, all the braided cords sitting nicely against each other instead of the mess they had been. “Better?”

Corrado shrugged. “Getting there.”

“Hmm.”

Ginevra raised a brow, wondering what in the hell she had just watched. “How did you two meet?”

Corrado stilled on the couch, but didn’t take his gaze away from the screen. Alessio tipped his head sideways as he peered over at Ginevra.

“Work.”

“Easy,” Corrado muttered.

“She asked.”

“That doesn’t mean she needs to know.”

“Except that’s exactly what it means.”

Corrado let out a sigh and pushed up from the couch. He didn’t even bother to say goodbye, or explain what he was doing before he left the sitting room, and disappeared into the hallway. Ginevra was still staring at the spot where he’d left when Alessio grunted under his breath, gaining her attention instead.

“What was that about?” she asked.

Alessio clicked his tongue. “He doesn’t talk well.”

“He talks perfectly fine.”

“Okay, his communication is sometimes shit.”

Ginevra considered it. “Yeah, that’s fair.”

“And he’s in a mood.”

“I figured. It’s the whys.”

Alessio chuckled. “He’s sleeping alone, and he isn’t getting to fuck first thing when he wakes up. He doesn’t have quiet time in the morning because when he does roll his ass out of bed, there’s already two other people in this house that have been up for hours. Oh, and he doesn’t like to run on a treadmill, but he hates jogging on a city street, so all he has is the gym here. He ran out of his favorite whiskey he likes in his nightly coffee three days ago and hasn’t gone out to get more. The current ringtone on my phone irritates the hell out of him, but he won’t tell me to change it. You sat on the chair instead of next to him when we started the movie. Pick one, Ginevra.”

She blinked.

He … knew all of that.

Like he’d been keeping a tab.

“I’m very out of place here,” she murmured.

Alessio’s amusement faded. “Or you need time to learn.” He waved a hand, adding quieter, “He’s moody, difficult, and fickle. Constantly. His mornings often determine how the rest of his day is going to go, and God knows it’s better for everyone when it goes well. And yet, he puts up with my shit, too, or the fact he has to turn on the heat in the penthouse at night because you won’t sleep under a blanket.”

Ginevra guffawed. “That’s—”

“The truth. Everybody’s human, and it’s not the flaws that make up the person … we all have those, and it’s only a small portion of what defines us. Corrado isn’t easy to deal with, but I’m not perfect, either, and neither are you. If you want to know why he gets into his moods, then pay attention. You’ll figure it out, too.”

They stared at each other, but neither spoke. He had offered her something—the confirmation she was wanted here, by at least one. And she was kind enough not to point it out to him.

Alessio had his pain, after all.

“So, will you tell me how you met?”