Page 58 of Because I Need You
“Wow,” I breathed.
“It gets me every time,” Petra said behind me. I turned around to face her. “Make yourself at home. I’ll give you a tour so you can see where everything is in case you get bored.”
I nodded and followed her as Joey took my bags up the winding stairs. There was a glass wall there, but I couldn’t see anything else. I wondered if it was some kind of loft. Petra took me into the kitchen and showed me how to work the filtered water and fridge. She showed me the hidden pantry that was organized to perfection, and where the pots and pans and mugs and coffee were. Then, she showed me one guest room, then another. The third room was massive. It was a game room slash movie theater. The movie theater portion had three rows of chairs in front of a big screen. The game room portion had a pool table, foosball table and Pac-Man arcade game.
“His personal favorite,” Petra said, tapping the Pac-Man game. It was my favorite, too. I killed that game every time. She added, “He holds the highest score and talks about it non-stop when we hang out here.”
“Do you hang out here often?” I asked. Not because I was jealous. I wasn’t. I just wanted to know. It was something I needed to ask him, though. It was a conversation I’d need to have if I chose to continue sleeping with him. If. Big if. I looked at Petra. “I’m sorry. You don’t need to answer that.”
“Nah, I get it.” She smiled. It was the first genuine smile she’d given me. “We have never, are not, and will never be together.”
“Thanks.” I felt myself smile back. I didn’t ask why, or whether or not either of them had tried. That wasn’t for me to ask her or for her to disclose.
“Would you be jealous if we had been?” she asked as we left the room and headed toward the stairs.
“Honestly?” I sighed heavily.
Yes, I would have been jealous, and that scared the hell out of me. I wasn’t jealous or possessive. Hell, William had been flirted with heavily, by women right in front of me, and I’d stood there, smiling and trying to bite back laughter sometimes. Thinking about Giovanni with another woman, though? That set ice in my veins. I bit my lip. When we reached the second floor, she turned to me, brow raised, waiting.
“I’m taking that as a yes.”
“Yes, but I shouldn’t be.”
“Because of his reputation or because you’re not cut out for this life?” She turned back around and continued walking. Joey walked out of the room we were standing near.
“Have you been talking to Nadia?”
“Maybe.” She smiled again. “Not many people are cut out for it, but if it makes you feel any better, he’s removed himself as much as possible from anything that may land him in jail.”
“Really?”
“Eh.” She moved her head side to side. “I mean, most things.”
I laughed, shaking my head as I followed her into the room we were standing in front of. The faint smell of wood hit me first, but that was just before my mouth dropped. It wasn’t a massive room, like I’d expected, but the view was incredible.
I looked up and realized there was a second floor. “What’s up there? Bathroom?”
“Nope, bathroom’s down here.” She walked toward a door and opened it. Okay, the bathroom was big.
“How does all of this fit in one space?”
“Well, when you know people and convince the architect to design something a certain way…”
“Wow,” I breathed, taking it all in. “He must have really good connections.”
“You can say that.” She laughed as we walked up stairs. “You really hadn’t heard of him or his family?”
“I mean, I’ve heard the last name because of that Italian restaurant that claims they have the best lasagna in the U.S., but not really, no.”
“That’s wild.” She shook her head as we reached the second floor.
My eyes widened. He had a bookcase, a small bar, and a cozy looking couch that faced the floor to ceiling windows across the room. I turned around and stared at it for a moment.
“How the hell do those get cleaned?” I asked.
She laughed. “Some guys do it. It’s cool to watch. I mean, unless you happen to be getting dressed and forget to push the privacy button. That might be awkward and I’m pretty sure Gio would gauge their eyes out when it comes to you.”
My heart thundered. “Why do you say that?”
“He’s very protective of you.”
“I’m sure he’s protective of all of the women he’s currently fucking.”
Petra set a hand on her narrow hip and shot me a look. “Gio doesn’t give a fuck about the women he’s fucking.”
“That’s…kind of sad.” I thought about Natasha. “He seemed to care about Natasha.”
