Page 110 of Because I Need You
“And you’re going to wear yours?”
“I’m never going to take it off.” He kissed me again, and again, and again, soft pecks against my lips. “And we’re moving all of your shit to my place ASAP.”
“I like my place.” I frowned.
“You did the living alone thing, and it seems like you enjoy it, but I need you with me. All the time.”
“All the time?” I laughed. “Are you going to come to school with me?”
“You want me to?” His brows rose. “I’ll sit in the back and fantasize about all the ways I’d fuck you in the classroom.”
“Gio.” I slapped his hands away playfully, feeling his words between my legs.
“Let’s go home.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the desk, then stopped when we got to the door to give me a full once-over. “I swear you’re going to fucking kill me.”
I laughed as I followed him. Petra threw her hands up with a laugh when we walked by her. Nico hugged me when he saw me. I called Luke and Noah and told them what happened, and promised I’d be at the rum bar tomorrow night.
“I’ll be there too,” Gio added beside me. “Make sure you stock up on Havana Club.”
I hung up the phone and smiled at him. “You don’t even drink.”
“Oh, I’m drinking. I’m celebrating the fuck out of this.” He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into him, almost on top of his lap. “My wife deserves to be celebrated every day. And she will be.”
He kissed me again, and I felt all of my worries drift away. He felt like the home I’d always wanted. And now, I was his.
EPILOGUE
Gio
It was always something.
We were sitting in my rooftop, grilling, and Rocco, the absolute fucking moron, set one of the umbrellas on fire, so now we had the entire fucking fire department on the rooftop, hosing everything down, while I bounced between wanting to strangle him to death or throw him off the roof. He was lucky I couldn’t do either. Mostly, he was lucky Russo decided to attend this little party, and my wife was standing next to me, so I couldn’t do either right now.
“I mean, at least none of the furniture burned,” Isabel said beside me.
“That’s one way to look at it.”
“Are you upset that it was your steak that burned?” I could hear the smile in her voice without looking at her, and my own lips itched to smile back, but I didn’t.
“I’m upset it wasn’t his face that burned.”
“Giovanni.” Isabel slapped my arm with a laugh. “He didn’t mean it.”
“He didn’t, but him and Dom are always goofing off. He shouldn’t have been grilling to begin with.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I prefer it when you grill anyway.”
At this, I faced her fully. She was smiling as she stepped into me and wrapped her arms around my waist. She set her chin on my chest and looked up at me. She was wearing flats today. Flats and a yellow summer dress that made her look like she was glowing. Everything from the smile on her face to the twinkle in her eyes radiated happiness, and knowing I played a role in bringing that to her made me feel invincible some days. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her forehead.
“You smell like a forest fire now.”
“Ew.” She started to pull away, but I held her tighter.
“Just stay,” I whispered. “Stay right here.”
She melted into me, and I shut my eyes. I heard the firefighters talking to someone, Loren, I thought, maybe Dominic. If they had any sense, they wouldn’t direct any questions in my direction, especially when having Isabel in my arms was the only thing keeping me from losing my shit. The wind picked up slightly, blowing her hair into my face, but I kept my eyes closed as I held her.
“I love it here,” Isabel said against my chest. “I really, really, love it here.”
“Yeah? You have a thing for rooftop fires?”
She laughed, pulling away from me. I let her this time, mostly because I wanted to see her face. I took my eyes off hers briefly, looking over at the chaos I’d been trying to avoid. The firefighters were gone, and everything seemed to be back to normal. Even the burned umbrella was gone. Maybe Rocco had some sense after all. When I looked back down at Isabel, she was still smiling at me. Every time she smiled at me like that, it knocked me off my feet all over again.
“I have a thing for you,” she said, then waved a hand in the direction of the chaos. “And this? This is family. This feels like the home I never had.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” I glanced back at them.
Everyone was bickering, even Cat was jabbing a finger in Loren’s chest as he looked down at her, unmoved, letting her complain about whatever it was my sister was complaining about, probably smelling like fire, if I had to guess.
