AllFreeNovel
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His nod is gradual, his hand curling over mine. We sit for a long moment with the background chatter and music of the bar playing in the background, though we barely notice.
“I love you, Honey. I’m a fucked-up man who has made many mistakes, and whom you’d probably be better off without, but if you believe only one thing, believe that I love you, okay? That willneverchange.”
“I love you too,” I whisper, aching pain welled up in my chest. “But…it isn’t enough, Gio. I can’t give you a child. It’s not going to happen. I’m not able to. I can’t do it again—the treatments, the clinics, the meds—I just can’t. You should find a woman who can—”
“No,” he answers. “You are my woman.”
“Gio.”
“Our little one was a blessing. I see that now. Perhaps it was a once-in-a-lifetime blessing, but it was what we created together…organically. If it happens for us in that way a second time, then I will happily welcome the blessing again. But if it never does, then it wasn’t meant to be. What we have on our own is blessing enough.”
Tears blur my vision so much so, I don’t even bother wiping them away anymore. Fresh ones replace them when I do. My tongue struggles as I attempt to answer him, caught between telling him he deserves his heirs, and being touched by his epiphany.
“Before you start, don’t,” he says knowingly. “The only heirs I want are from you—half of me and half of you—and if that doesn’t happen for us, then my legacy will end with me, and that means it’s how it’s supposed to end. Just please don’t fight it.”
“So if we’re never able to…if it never happens…you’re okay with it?”
“With you by my side, I am,” he says, rising from his seat. He comes around to my side and wraps an arm around my shoulders. I twist my body and fall against his chest, using his perfectly crisp dress shirt to catch my tears. Not that he ever minds. His fingers wind up in my hair, soft strokes that make me curl up more against him. “It’s all right. You know I never want you crying.”
“I’m just so…overwhelmed.”
“You need fresh air. Come.”
Gio leads me outside to the private patio area where sometimes guests come to eat and hang around if the weather is nice enough. Right now, we have it to ourselves. We stop when we reach a corner pocket, offering us even more seclusion than the empty but open patio itself. I lean against the wall and thank the fresh air that helps me think more clearly.
“You’re bad for me,” I tell him. I mean it. Though what I also don’t say is that I like that about him. Always have, always will.
He leans an arm out against the wall, standing opposite me, halfway boxing me in, but still not close enough to overwhelm me and invade my space. His eyes scan my face, and I can’t place the expression in them except that he’s deep in thought.
Could he be hesitating on what he wants to say?
“I know,” he answers finally. A slow breath leaves him. “I should stay away from you. I said I would. Yet here we are.”
“A lot happened. I don’t know if we could ever… I just don’t know if it’s fixable.”
“You’re right. I fucked up so much, you can’t repair what’s been destroyed. I know that, Falynn. But even if I do, I still find it impossible to resist. The second I saw you in that hotel room…” He trails off and shakes his head.
My heart beats fast. I’m breathless and acutely aware of how alone and close we are. I lick my lips and notice how his gaze dips to watch me. Today I promised myself I wouldn’t give in to temptation, but Gio’s right about one thing—is it even possible to fight the impossible?
I still love him. Even after everything. Even though my heart’s been damaged and hasn’t repaired itself, I love him with every broken, fragmented piece.
Things got so complicated and dark along the way. But once upon a time, we’d been so good together. We’d been sohappy.
“I miss it. Us.” I blink a few times, hoping to fend off the emotion watering to freedom.
Gio reaches out, his hand sliding up the side of my neck, palm stopping on my cheek. “Me too, Falynn.”
“Honey. You used to call me Honey.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. “I did. And you used to call me Gio.”
“Gio, I miss us.”
“I’d give anything to go back,” he admits, and he leans closer.
His broad form shields me from view should anyone walk out onto the patio. I press myself further into the wall and look up at him, so hungry for his kiss, just to feel his lips again, I can’t think about anything else.
Gio feels the same. He takes a chance. With my face held in his hand, he moves in and teases me with the softest, most cautious kiss. I suck in a breath and then blink up at him some more as he pulls back and runs his thumb along the curve of my cheek.
