Page 86 of Because I Need You
His car was in his parking spot when we got back to the condo. Butterflies instantly swarmed my stomach. At the sight of his car. I inwardly laughed at myself. I’d seen so many women go through this and never thought I’d be one of them, yet here I was. I moved quickly, aching to get upstairs and see him again, even though I’d seen him this morning and he’d left late to the office. Joey and Petra stayed downstairs while I took the elevator up to the penthouse, which I didn’t question, since they often stayed behind unless Gio called them and told them to come up.
When the elevators opened, it was completely silent. Not unlikely, since Gio apparently didn’t listen to music while he was home. He wasn’t in the kitchen or living room or his bedroom. I found him in his closet, shirtless, wearing only jeans as he looked through T-shirts. I’d never seen him wearing jeans before, and I took a moment to admire the view. His eyes snapped up when he heard me.
“You’re home early.” I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorframe of the closet.
“I figured I’d take you on a date.” He set the stack of folded T-shirts down on the island in the closet and walked toward me, his eyes taking me in entirely as my heart beat wildly against my chest.
“For real this time?” I asked, unable to speak louder than a whisper, with the way he was looking at me.
He closed the distance between us, brought a hand up to my chin and tilted it slightly to kiss me, just a peck, then another, before pulling away. I kept my arms crossed because I knew if I uncrossed them and touched him, the way my fingers were burning to, we would never leave. It was what happened every other night when he promised he’d take me on a date. We’d start touching, kissing, fucking, and always ended up staying in. I wasn’t complaining, but I did want to go somewhere.
“For real this time.” Another peck before pulling away again and walking back to the T-shirts.
“Where are we going?” I asked, trying and failing not to ogle him again. It was impossible, though. My eyes trailed down his body and caught the love marks on his torso, the scratches on his shoulder. My stomach dipped as I thought about all the things we’d done the last few days.
“Isabel,” he said, the seriousness in his voice beckoning my eyes on his. “If you keep looking at me like that, we’re never going to leave the house.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” I bit my lip and turned around. He chuckled. I heard him walking over and felt his warmth on my back as he wrapped his arms around my middle. I closed my eyes as he kissed my neck.
“I’m not complaining,” he murmured against my ear. “I just really want to take my wife out.”
“Gio,” I whispered, a slight shiver running through me.
“Tell me where you want to go. What’s another thing you used to do with your dad?”
I opened my eyes and turned in his arms, looking up at him. “Navy Pier.”
“Really?” The look on his face said he really didn’t want to go.
“What? It was fun.”
“How old were you exactly?”
“Young.” I laughed. “Why? Is it bad?”
“I wouldn’t say bad, but it’s not where I’d go.”
“So, just take me somewhere you’d go.”
He searched my eyes for a second. “No, let’s go to the pier.”
“Why are you so paranoid?” I asked, looking up at Gio, who was looking around as if there may or may not have been a sniper aiming a gun at his head from above.
“There are a lot of people here.” He let go of my hand and hugged me to the side of his body. “And we’re not in the clear, you know.”
“Isn’t this the safest place to be, then?” I looked around. There were a lot of people here.
“Hardly.”
“Really?” I shot him a look. “I’d think it would be impossible to get away with something when there are these many witnesses.”
“That’s because you’ve never had to get away with something.” He winked at me. Despite his words, butterflies swarmed my stomach.
“What could they possibly do?”
“Create a diversion. Maybe shoot something, someone, get people running in all different directions, and then come for us.”
“You’ve done that?” I whispered, barely able to breathe at the thought.
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes.” I swallowed. “We said no secrets.”
“No.” He shot me a half-smile. “I’ve never done that.”
I released a relieved breath, then frowned as I thought of something else. “I thought you said things had settled. And no one has even tried to come after me again. Maybe they figured whatever they stole from you was valuable enough.”
“Maybe.” He didn’t sound convinced.
