Page 77 of Because I Need You
“Yes.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Really, G?”
“I said yes, god damn it. Why is this happening?” I buried my face in my hands and tugged on my hair. “This woman is going to give me a god damn heart attack.”
“Seems like it,” Nadia quipped. “Still no news on Evelyn?”
I groaned at the sound of my mother’s name, pressed the heels of my palms harder against my eyes. “Nope.”
“She hasn’t called Cat or Emma?”
“Nope.”
“Geez.”
“Mother of the century, am I right?” I dropping my hands.
“Right.” She eyed me peculiarly. “I heard the meeting got pushed forward.”
“Yep. Fucking Silvio.” I stared at a dark spot of wood on her desk. That was another curious thing, Silvio wanting the meeting moved forward to fill that seat ASAP.
“It’ll mean Isabel can finally go home and leave this all behind,” she said. I didn’t like the sound of that at all, and Nadia seemed to notice, because she added, “I guess you could try courting her the way a normal person would if you truly wanted to date her.”
“Maybe I will.”
“Do you even know what that entails?” She raised an eyebrow, looking entirely too amused for my liking.
“I’ve courted people, Nadia.” I shot her a look.
“Name one and if you say Natasha, I’m going to throw this stapler at your face.”
I sighed and looked away. That was exactly who I was going to say.
“Natasha was all over you the moment you met. It was just, we’re together now, and that was that.” Nadia laughed. “Kind of funny, really, since she was the one who asked you out on your first actual date, so I guess in a sense, she courted you.”
“I like women who take initiative.” I shrugged. I did.
“And Isabel doesn’t.”
“Isabel won’t even let me fucking touch her.”
Nadia’s brows hiked up. “So, I’m assuming you’re seeing someone else at the moment.”
“Wrong.”
“You’re, what, practicing celibacy?” Nadia laughed loudly, throwing her head back.
“It’s not fucking funny.”
“It kind of is, G. When was the last time you tried to do this?”
“Never.” I scowled. “Why would anyone do this willingly?”
“You’re doing it willingly, moron.”
“No, I’m doing it because Isabel won’t let me touch her. I thought we covered this already.” I kicked the desk by mistake as I tried to get comfortable in the seat. The fucking stapler shook and fell over. “I’m over here, running six miles, waiting around, not even paying any mind to any woman who even looks in my direction, and she’s at a fucking baseball game with her ex-boyfriend.”
“So, go to the game.” Nadia shrugged.
Fuck. “If I go, I’ll kill him.”
“Why?” She laughed again.
“Because I feel like it.”
Her laughter died instantly, her eyes bouncing between mine as if she was trying to figure something out. “You’re serious.”
“Glad we’re finally on the same page.”
“Holy shit.” Nadia sat back in her seat. “You’re in love with her.”
“She won’t open up and tell me anything about her past. How the fuck could I be in love with her? What even is that?”
She pressed her lips together and shook her head slowly. “I don’t know, G. It seems like you are.”
“I’m not.”
“Okay.” She shrugged, reaching for her phone and typing something. She stared at it while she waited for a response to whatever she’d sent someone, then tilted her phone so I could see the screen. It was a picture of Isabel sitting next to William. She was wearing a too-big-for-her Sammy Sosa jersey and a backwards Cubs cap, her head thrown back in laughter as William smiled at her. The look he was giving her. I knew that fucking look. I stood up, the chair I’d been sitting on tipping over with the force of my movement.
“Yeah, he’s dead.”
I walked out of the office, calling Tony on my way down.
33
ISABEL
Will and I were walking side by side as we exited the stadium. We left at the bottom of the sixth inning, since the Cubs were winning by a landslide, and Will had to be up at six in the morning for his first meeting. It was me, Will, Petra, Joey, and one of Will’s security guys. Five of us, yet the moment I looked forward and saw Giovanni leaning against his black SUV, I knew we’d be no match for him. He was looking at me like he wanted to douse me in gasoline and set me on fire on the spot, his jaw tense, his expression blank, but those eyes, fuck, those eyes said everything. I swallowed. My heart raced as I continued walking, keeping my eyes on his, silently praying that he wouldn’t do anything stupid.
“I guess someone is trying to stake his claim,” Will said beside me. He stopped walking. I stopped walking. The other three people also stopped walking, creating somewhat of a barrier between us and Giovanni, but I knew that was as much of a façade as the nonchalant expression on his face. Will and I faced each other.
