Page 32 of Alessio

His frankness never failed to surprise her.

“I shouldn’t be in here,” she said truthfully.

Corrado raised a brow. “I would prefer you in my bed.”

Wow.

And he didn’t pull punches, either.

“And if you think,” he continued, not giving her the chance to speak, “you sleeping in my bed is a problem for Alessio, you’re wrong … you’re not giving this enough consideration, Ginevra. He doesn’t care if you’re in my bed, or if I’m fucking you in the shower first thing in the morning. It’s not about sex for him—oh, he fucking loves that, yeah—but it’s something more for him about this.

“The physical side of a relationship is probably the easiest thing for him to deal with, if I’m being honest. He can compartmentalize and comprehend all the whys I want to fuck you, doesn’t see a problem, and because of that, doesn’t care. It’s not the real issue.”

“Seems strange. I would imagine that part of this would be the hardest to deal with.”

“Not for him, or me.” Corrado shrugged one shoulder, pulled the blankets back, and slipped into the bed as he said, “It’s not about the sex, and it doesn’t matter how much you think it is, it won’t change that he doesn’t give a shit.”

“He told me about where he came from, his mom, and stuff. After you left earlier, I mean.”

Corrado made a noise under his breath, dark and irritated. Over what, though, she didn’t have a clue. It could have been something hurt Alessio, or that they had a conversation. Because frankly, Alessio was right.

This man was shit at communication.

He needed to work on it.

“Stem it back to that,” Corrado said, gesturing between them, “for this, huh? You want to understand what his problem is here—it’s that. It’s about being vulnerable to someone else for Alessio, him giving something willingly when he doesn’t give it to fucking anybody.”

“Loyalty. Trust.”

“That, yeah. And I abused it, in a way.” Corrado leaned back against the headboard, using his arms crossed behind his head as a pillow while he watched her with that stare of his, so penetrating and vast. All it took was a look, too. “So, again, if you believe this is about sex, or the fact you’re in my bed might piss him off, you’re wrong. It’s not even a fraction of the problem.”

“It’s good to know, but it’s not why I came in here to talk, either.”

Corrado nodded at her. “What do you want, then?”

“I want to ask some things.”

“About?”

She shifted on her feet, tightening her hold on the blanket like it might make it easier to say the words drifting through her thoughts. Because, if she wanted to think about two men, their relationship, and her interest in both, then shouldn’t she voice those same feelings, too?

What was it her mama told her years ago?

If you suppose you’re mature enough to have sex with a man, Ginevra, then you best be ready to talk about it, too.

Right.

“How long have you been together?”

Corrado smiled a little. “Five years, or so. Almost from the day we met, but it was a shaky thing for a while.”

Huh.

“And you … love him?”

“Even if he doesn’t want me to say it, yes.”

“Is what he told me true?”