Page 30 of Taking His Heart

Before she can tell me this can’t happen again, I move to the side and pull myself out of the pool.

“Don’t stay in there too long. A storm is rolling over,” I tell her as I pick up my things and then walk away. Because for once, I’m taking control of how this ends.

I enter the house through the mudroom and find a towel.

“Why are you wet?” my father asks when I finally walk into the kitchen.

“I was swimming,” I tell him.

“You hate swimming.” He gives me a scrutinizing glare.

“I’ve found a new reason to love it.” I smirk and then look to Gio De Bellis. “If you’re going to marry Daniella off to anyone, it’s going to be me. I’ll marry her,” I tell him.

The asshole smiles. “I figured you’d say that.”

“Really?”

“I’m not blind. I see how you watch my daughter, CJ. I also know about how the two of you used to sneak around a while back.”

I try and fail to school the shock on my face. He knew? And I don’t have a hole in my head? “Okay, well, you get her to agree and I’ll marry her.”

“You get her to agree, and I’ll let you marry her,” he challenges.

I snort. “If I knew how to get Dani to agree to marry me, we would have been married years ago.”

With that, I walk out of the kitchen and head upstairs to my room.

Chapter Fourteen

When I walk into the house after hiding in the pool for another twenty minutes, my dad takes a second look at me.

“Why are you wet?” he asks.

“I was swimming,” I tell him, holding the towel tight around my body.

I spent the last few minutes floating and trying to figure out what the hell just happened. I fucked CJ—okay, technically, he fucked me but you get the point. I let go. I wanted him in that moment and I was selfish enough to take him.

Then again, I’ve always wanted him. I’m not naïve. I know it had something to do with seeing him with another woman. Even if he says they’re business associates, that ugly jealous devil was sitting on my shoulder telling me to make a claim on what’s mine.

“Swimming? By yourself?” Dad presses.

“Mhmm,” I hum noncommittally.

“Interesting. You got more than one pool in this house, Carlo?” Dad turns to Mr. Bianchi.

“Nope, just the one, Gio. You thinking what I’m thinking?” Mr. Bianchi replies.

“I’m trying real fucking hard not to think about it,” Dad grunts.

“I bet.” Mr. Bianchi laughs. “Daniella, sweetheart, can you pass these to CJ on your way to your room? Tell him I need them signed.” Mr. Bianchi hands me a stack of papers.

“Oh, is he here?” I shrug.

“Pretty sure he just headed up to his room,” Mr. Bianchi tells me.

“Um, okay.” I walk away and take the staircase as slow as humanly possible because I need to come up with a way to hand these papers to CJ, without actually seeing or talking to him.

Shit, how am I in this situation? Oh, I know how! My damn vagina really wanted to feel him fill it.