AllFreeNovel
Share Us
No. No. No. She’s mine.
When I meet Gina’s glare, the truth sinks in. In my head I’m running for the car keys, getting behind the wheel and chasing after her. I just need to ask where she went.
In reality, I’m frozen. The only tangible certainty is the hollow, painful feeling in my chest. I’m having a heart attack.
Gina decides she can’t stand the silence. “You ignored her, treated her like an acquisition you don’t really want, and without respect.”
“What do you know about it?” I snap. This can’t be happening.
“Not enough for me to have realized sooner how you’ve been hurting her, you asshole. But enough to know she made the right decision. I wish we had spoken sooner than this morning. You’re an arrogant egoist, Gio Cassinetti.”
Massi walks in, his hair damp, freshly showered. He kisses Gina’s crown and takes the sleeping baby from her. “What’s going on?”
“The wedding is off.” Gina folds her arms across her chest.
Massi raises his eyebrows and darts his eyes between the two of us.
“Yeah, Mila left,” I growl. “Apparently all the money wasn’t enough for her.” Why does it hurt so much? I’m a sore loser, but I’ve lost before. I can cope.
“Is that what you think?” Gina grits through her teeth.
“She left, didn’t she?” I shrug. “She signed the prenup and still left. Money wasn’t enough for her. That’s the fact.”
“Are you for real? You’re a fucking idiot. That’s the fact.” Gina looks at me like I’m garbage she hopes she doesn’t have to get closer to.
Massi puts his hand on her shoulder and looks at me, unimpressed. I recall a similar situation when Gina was gone from his life and I sat across from him, not really understanding why he was so down.
Well, I don’t think he even remotely hit the low I’m drowning in right now. “Where did she go? To her tour guide?”
“You have no right to judge her. It’s not likeyouspend any time with her. She’s done nothing wrong.” Gina checks her watch. “By now she is over the Atlantic, I hope. I gave her our plane.”
Massi’s eyebrows almost reach his hairline, but he doesn’t comment. I don’t have time for this shit. I have a wedding to cancel and proposals to review and—
“Just get the fuck out of here,” I spit in Gina’s direction.
Massi raises his hand. “Hey, asshole, don’t you dare talk to Blue like that.” Him threatening me with a baby in his arms is pathetic. This whole situation is pathetic. I drop my head and shake it.
“Don’t…” Massi warns, and I look up, startled to see Gina in front of me.
She jabs her finger into my chest. “You want facts? In December, she got you off the screen because suddenly there was something else to care about. Fact. For the first time in your workaholic life, you took time off and enjoyed life. Fact. She was the first woman who cared about you for you. Fact.”
“The evidence suggests—”
“She left you this.” She pulls an envelope from her back pocket and plasters it against my chest. She takes the baby from Massi. “I’m going to have a nap with her. Don’t let us sleep too long, love, so we adjust to the local time.”
They kiss. “I’ll join you shortly. Sebastien was sleeping when I got out of the shower.”
The cook/housekeeper arrives and stops in the doorway, unsure if she can enter. Massi tells her something in Italian and she laughs and gets busy. What’s so fucking funny?
My brother pulls me outside and pushes me into the chair. “Read what she has to say, and then we can talk about how you’re going to salvage the situation.”
I meet his eyes. He doesn’t even consider the option of me just letting her go. Everyone is on team Mila. Well, I can’t blame them. I’m there with them.
Massi leaves, and I stare at the lake, hoping to draw solace and strength from the view I’ve admired and enjoyed so many times before. It looks blank right now. The sun is warming up the tiles, but the only burning thing is the paper in my hand.
I tear the envelope open, but I don’t start reading. Reading her words has the air of finality. She took matters into her own hands, and I don’t like relinquishing control.
Ironically, I admire her for that. I don’t want her gone, but fuck, I admire the shit out of her for standing up to me.
