Giuliano seems more relaxed since my mother’s visit this afternoon, it’s as if his mind has switched over from despair to something more positive.
Although, I’m not quite sure exactly what that is.
I’ve stayed silent, pretending that I don’t know what my mother has offered him.
He’ll tell me when he’s ready.
I hope.
Giuliano’s large hands slide up and down my legs as he lies deep in thought. Up on the insides of my thighs and I get tingles every time his fingers nearly skim the lips of my sex.
Nearly.
Then he runs them down on the outsides and repeats the delicious process.
I’m in bubble bath heaven.
“What did Mom say this afternoon?” I ask as I act casual.
He shrugs, his fingers gently skimming my sex this time, and I smile over at my beautiful man.
That’s it.
He shrugs. “Not much.”
I roll my lips to hold my tongue, tell me, damn it. I close my eyes as I act uninterested.
“She….” He pauses.
I purposely keep my eyes closed.
“She wants me to keep the Lombardi thing on the down low.”
“What do you mean?” I ask as I play along.
His hands slide up my inner thighs and he parts the lips of my sex and I inhale sharply.
Yes…right there.
“If it turns out that I am Lombardi’s son, she wants me to keep it a secret.”
“How?”
“Not tell anyone, act as if I’m still a Ferrara.”
My eyes open and meet his, I spread my legs a little wider, hoping to invite him in. “What did you say?” I ask.
“No.”
“Why?”
“I’m not spending my life with your mother blackmailing me to do whatever she wants. There’s no fucking way.”
What?
“Why do you think that everything she does is sinister? Did it ever occur to you that maybe she is protecting me?”
He shrugs, his fingers sliding through me, I clench on the up stroke.
“Did it ever occur to you that there is something seriously off with this?” he says.
“What do you mean?”
“Lombardi turns up one day and tells me that he’s my father and wants me to take over his company?”
I stare at him as I listen.
“What if your mother is working with Lombardi to get rid of me? What if this is some elaborate plan to bring me down from the inside. Don’t you think it’s weird that she’s done a complete 180 on our relationship?”
I frown. “You need to trust her.”
“Trust is earned, Francesca,” he says as he sits forward in a rush, bringing himself closer.
“I trust her,” I say. “My mother is a lot of things, Giuliano, but I know her. She will always do what’s best for Ferrara. She’s sacrificed everything for the family.”
He slides his finger into my sex. “Do you trust me?” he murmurs as his dark eyes hold mine.
I nod, my legs spread a little farther open and he adds another finger, his jaw clenches as he begins to work me. The room is steamy and hot, our eyes are locked.
Arousal is bouncing between us like electricity and, as if unable to wait a second longer, he grabs himself at his base and holds his dick up, it sticks out of the water like a tent pole.
“Get on it.”
* * *
Giuliano pulls his car into the car park and turns the engine off. He puffs air into his cheeks and stares straight ahead, he’s been quiet all morning.
I hate seeing him like this.
I reach over and rub his thigh, his strong quad muscle making its presence known beneath his jeans. “It will be over soon,” I say softly to try to make everything better. “Ten minutes and it will all be done and dusted.”
We’ve just arrived at the doctor’s to perform the DNA tests, we’re meeting the rest of my family here.
“Or ten minutes and life as I know it will be done and dusted,” he replies.
I nod, trying so hard not to say the wrong thing. I stay silent for a moment as I think.
“Either way.” I reach over and kiss his cheek. “We get to be together. I know this is…shitty.” I pull his face around so that he has to look me in the eye. “But I like this scenario a whole lot better than us being brother and sister and never being able to be together.”
“You’re right.” He nods. “Sorry, I just….”
“Hey, don’t apologize. It’s perfectly normal to be pissed about this situation, both of us may have been deceived by our mothers. It’s a tough reality to face.”
He rests his forehead against mine.
“Anyway.” I smile hopefully. “You said your gut feeling was that the Lombardi story was wrong.”
“It is.”
“So?” I smile hopefully. “Trust your gut…it’s never wrong.”
He nods with a deep exhale, then his eyes meet mine. “What if it is?”
I watch him.
“What if my whole life is a lie? Where do I go from that?”
I pick up his hand and kiss his fingertips. “We go forward, Giuliano…together. Because no matter what this testing today takes from us, it can’t take away our love for each other.”