“Let’s go for it,” I said, feeling reckless.
“That’s what I like to hear,” Jessica said, clapping her hands together.
The next hour was spent with the three of us priming ourselves to perfection. We curled our hair, painted our nails, and changed clothes about a dozen times before we were each satisfied with our outfits. When it was all said, and done, I was wearing a short red dress with silver accents, with earrings and heels to match. Angela had settled on a pair of skinny jeans and a halter top that showed off her slender waistline, and Jessica wore a black party dress that twirled when she danced, along with a bright green belt at the waist that brought out the color in her eyes.
Before leaving, we stood in the mirror, admiring ourselves and taking at least a dozen selfies.
“All right, ladies,” Jessica said. “Let’s go break some hearts, shall we?”
And with that, we made our way downstairs and out the door, laughing and ready to dance the night away. As I locked up the house, I just hoped that by the end of the night, I would be left saying, “Giovanni who?”
We piled into Angela’s car, me sitting in the passenger’s seat while Jessica sat in the back. Once our seatbelts were buckled, Angela cranked the full radio volume, getting us pumped up for the night.
When we were on the road, I put down the window, enjoying the feel of the wind in my hair and face.
“Girl, raise that window back up!” Jessica said from the backseat. “You’re going to mess up our hair!”
I burst out laughing.
When we pulled into the club, we felt like a trio of superstars. All eyes were on us from the second we stepped inside. The dance floor was packed, and the music was loud. Jessica and Angela each grabbed one of my hands, and we squeezed our way onto the floor.
While I was tempted to glance around, I forced myself not to because Gio was still in the back of my mind. I had to remind myself that starting tonight, he was no longer a part of the equation. He was my past, and I had to leave him there.
I knew that most women had had their hearts broken before. I wasn’t the first and certainly wouldn’t be the last. And now that I had entered the world of men, there would undoubtedly be others. On a positive note, if I had to thank Giovanni for anything, it was for making me wiser and better able handle situations like this in the future.
Smiling, I began to sway my hips to the beat, while Angela and Jessica danced alongside me, cheering me on. After a while, Jessica nudged Angela in the arm and wink. She then nodded her head in my direction—or at something just passed me, rather.
Suddenly, I felt a presence and knew someone was behind me. My heart skipping a beat, I slowly turned around.
I released the breath I’d been holding upon seeing that it wasn’t Giovanni. It was another handsome man though. He was tall with broad shoulders, short shaggy hair, and bright brown eyes. He smiled and held his hand out to me.
“Can I dance with you?” he asked.
I took his hand and grinned. “Sure.”
“What’s your name?”
“Arianna.”
“Nice to meet you, Arianna. I’m Brad.”
I simply smirked, not having the heart to tell him that I didn’t care what his name was. I just wanted him to help me forget Gio. “Well when this song is over, Brad, how about you buy me a drink?”
He grinned. “My pleasure, beautiful.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he slinked his arms around my waist as we moved together to the beat. When the song went off, Brad took me by the hand and led me to the bar. I glanced back over my shoulder toward Jessica and Angela. They smiled and gave me the thumbs up, which I laughed and returned.
Tonight, was starting off pretty good already. I just hoped it stayed that way.
CHAPTER 20
Giovanni
As was always the case whenever I was in a heated mood, I figured the only thing that could help me was going out for a drink. I had tried to call Maria, asking her to come along, but she had been busy and couldn’t make it. I then tried to contact my brothers. Yet, they were weird towards me. I couldn’t even be upset with them though, I knew my father was behind any unusualness in their behavior. They were in a difficult position—t
orn between their older brother, and their father. As hateful of a man as Luca Romano was, I wouldn’t have put it past him to have threatened my brothers, telling them that if they took my side, or even showed me too much sympathy, they too, would be kicked out of the family.
It just made me sick.