“Hi,” she said under her breath. “Did you come out here to yell at me?”
I sat on the grass in a thousand-dollar suit and slid my jacket off my shoulders. “No, I’m not going to yell at you. If the same thing had happened to Ma, I would have been far worse. Your dress is getting dirty. Here,” I offered my jacket to her, and she sat up enough for me to place it under her.
She scooted up to me and laid her head on my lap, staring up at me. “Will you tell me the truth?”
“About what?” I was confused by her question.
“My mom. Did she die because of your family? Was I supposed to die that night, too? Was my dad?”
I threaded my fingers through her hair and sighed. “I have no idea, G. It doesn’t make any sense. If Enzo and his crew wanted to take out my dad, they would have rigged his car to blow not your dad’s.”
“Did your dad do it to teach my dad a lesson?”
“No.” I shook my head almost sure it was the correct answer. My father was capable of anything. I never put anything past him. “My dad loves your dad. He would never hurt him.”
“Are you sure about that? You didn’t hear the conversation between my dad and Paulie. My mom died the night of the event Paulie forced my dad to allow your family to attend.”
“Listen to yourself, babe. You sound crazy. Why would my dad want to come to a charity event to kill your mom? If he was going to whack your dad, no one would even know about it. He sure as hell wouldn’t have done it on the night he was trying to win over politicians.”
She sighed. “I guess you’re right. I want someone to blame for taking her from me. She wasn’t around for a large portion of my life, but I loved her. She was still my mom. I miss her, Angelo.”
I twisted one of her curls between my fingers. “I know, G. I’m so sorry. I have no idea what to do or say to make it better.”
“Going through this made me realize the same thing could happen to you or me. I don’t want to die, Angelo. I didn’t sign up for this.”
“What happened to death do us part?”
She closed her eyes and tears streamed down her face, mixing with her mascara. “I love you, but I’m scared. I think we should spend some time apart.”
“No,” I growled. “You are not leaving me, G. When I said you’re mine, I fucking meant it. We’re in this shit together. Forever.” I slipped my hand beneath the thin straps on her shoulders and dug my finger into her skin, not meaning to hurt her. “We made promises to each other.”
She held her hands up to her face and sobbed. “I need some time, Angelo. Give me some space.” Gia sat up and folded one leg over the other, her eyes pointed down at the grass. “I have spent almost every day with you since we were kids. We’ve never had a break from each other. We never even dated other people.”
“What are you saying?” My jaw clenched in anger, rushing through me in red-hot waves. “You want to fuck other people?”
She shook her head. “No, of course not. You’re the only man I’ve ever been with, and I want it to stay that way. All I ask is for some time to be alone. I need to decompress and help my father heal. He needs me just as much as I need him.”
“This isn’t a break,” I told her. “We are still together.”
“Don’t be silly, Angelo. I’m not going to run into the arms of another man when we’re not together. You will still see me at school. The only difference is I won’t sleep at your house, and we won’t have sex.”
“Am I missing something here? You don’t want to see me, and you don’t want to have sex. That sounds like a breakup.”
“I’ll send you pics.” She looked up from the ground and smiled at me. “You can jerk off to my tits until I feel like having sex again.”
Before her mother’s death, I fucked Gia every chance we had. Bathrooms at school, the library, my car, her office, wherever I could bend her over.
“My dick is starting to hate my hand,” I confessed. More like I was getting tired of jerking off to the idea of her when I had her right in front of me. “I’d rather you suck my cock and let me come on your tits.”
She laughed. “Give me a few days, okay?”
“For you,” I sighed. “I would do anything.”
“Have patience.” She squeezed my hand. “Let me grieve, and I will come back to you on my own.”
“What about protection? You’re not safe right now.”
“My dad has that covered.”