Page 44 of Greed

“If he had his way, he’d be all the ologists allowed,” I say with a chuckle.

It feels like we reach the dog park in no time, and Giovanni stands at the edge pointing out the various dogs. Gia knows all the breeds and has interesting facts about each one.

“Maybe you should have been a vet instead of a cook,” I joke.

She smiles at me again, sending my heart racing.

“Can I get a dog, Daddy?” Giovanni asks, eying out a golden retriever.

“Maybe when you’re eight and ready for that responsibility,” I say with a nod. “Not now while you can’t grasp what it takes to raise a dog. Let’s keep going.”

We continue through the Hammock Nature Trails. With Gia and Giovanni walking ahead of me, I get to ogle Gia’s athletic body all I want, and she doesn’t seem to notice, or if she does, she doesn’t seem to mind.

Giovanni gets tired, though, and she scoops him up in her arms and carries him some of the way so he can rest. Seeing Giovanni in her arms does things to me. Terrible, wonderful things.

I want her so badly, not just in my bed but in my life. I know next week is going to be hard and might set our relationship back some, and a part of me wants to discuss it with her, but I don’t want to spook her or ruin the day.

I put Giovanni on my shoulders for a bit, and we approach the vegetable and fruit stand.

“You must try their smoothies. They’re the best,” I say to Gia. “Giovanni loves the mango one.”

Gia smiles. “That does sound good. I love mangos.”

Giovanni kicks his legs. “It’s my favorite.”

Gia smiles at him, and I approach the stand. “Three mango smoothies please, with extra ice.”

The lady nods. “That’ll be sixteen sixty.”

I try to balance Giovanni and reach for my wallet, but Gia stops me. “I’ve got it.”

She sticks her hand into my back pocket and pulls out my wallet, paying the lady before she pops my wallet back into the pocket.

“Keep the change,” she says.

My dick presses against the inside of my pants, but with Giovanni on my shoulders and a smoothie in my hand, I can’t rearrange myself. I try to walk casually, but the tightness makes it difficult.

Jesus, her touching my ass was something else.

We walk toward the car, laughing and joking, sipping on our smoothies. As we walk, I look at Gia and realize that she could have taken off at any point today, and she didn’t. She stuck by us.

I let Giovanni down, and he gets in his side of the car. I open the door for Gia, my look lingering on her. She looks up at me, and our gazes meet, scorching, burning me from the inside out.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

ANDREA

Iwas enraged when I found out my sparring partner Joe had discussed my business with someone, let alone Tony from the Shifty-left gang, but after the promises Tony made, I felt more optimistic about getting Gia back.

The Russos used Tony before, and I know that they had success with him, so maybe this is just what I need to get Gia back. I will never promise her off to anyone ever again, I swear.

I wasn’t happy about Joe blabbing my news around, but the days dragged by and each day Gia wasn’t home was a day my guilt increased.

Who knows what Matteo Ricci is doing to her in that mansion of his. We planned a rescue mission, a way to attack the Ricci estate and find Gia and get out before anything happened, but like Lorenzo keeps saying, it’s going to be challenging, and we still aren’t a hundred percent sure that is where Matteo is keeping Gia.

It took me a while, but I came around to the idea of the Shift-left gang helping us out, even if Lorenzo keeps stating that it’s a bad idea, and he doesn’t feel good about it.

I’ve pointed out numerous times that we don’t do things that people feel good about. We’re the Mafia, for fuck’s sake. And I need to rescue Gia, because it’s my fault she’s in this mess at all.