I tilt my head, wondering what he’s planning this time. Gio’s brain moves so fast, if you’re not a thinker, you’ll be ten steps behind him, wondering what you missed.
“Ming?”
“Yeah, I need to know how loyal she is to Ny.”
“Okay, I’ll make that happen.”
“Good.”
“Is that all?”
“No, I know how I’m going to create my value. It’s time for you to start finding my collection, like we talked about. Each one needs to be smart, a head turner, and willing to do anything, including lay down her life for us.”
“Us?”
“Don’t play stupid. You know what I’m saying. If I’m to be king, Ny is my queen, and you’re my knight, all of this will be ours. For now, I’m setting up the board, I’m going to allow Riccardo to play out his game. Dario has to move through the promotions.”
“I see.”
My thoughts turn to Frances’s sons. Gio looks me in the eyes, the look in his says he knows what I’m thinking.
“I want to know everything about them. If they move an inch, I want to know where. I have a feeling they will be of use to me.”
I nod. I had planned to look into them anyway. I always have Gio covered.
“And the rumors?”
He gets up and comes to slap my cheek then smirks. “You’re not so bad. If I’m going to be into guys, you will work.”
“Fuck you.” I laugh and shove him back.
He shrugs. “Let them keep talking. I’m going to make everyone envy me. They’ll all wish they had my life. Find my collection. I’ll control the narrative from there.”
“And Ny?”
“She will come to me. I just made sure of that. Weren’t you paying attention?”
I grin. Yeah, I was. I give it a week.
I stand and head for my room to jump on Black Planet to start my search for his collection and to summon Ming. I’ve had my eye on a few I think Gio will like.
Once logged on. I go to Nyla’s profile. I lift a brow as I notice she’s finally uploaded photos. I miss her face and have been hoping she would post something.
I start to choke as I click on the first full-length photo. I click through them all, biting my lip.
“Fuck me.” I pull a hand down my face and groan. “Please don’t fuck this up,” I mutter like a prayer.
CHAPTER 15
Take Me Home
Gio
Three days later…
“Lucas told you their plane comes in today. Why are you playing these games with her?”
“I’m not playing games with her. I’m trying to see where her head is, if she can handle this task. If this doesn’t look right, we can’t pull it off.
“Nonno was the first person to point out to me I was in love with Ny. What he sees will tell me my next move.”
Jace snorts. “You’re going to fail.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He laughs. “You’ll see.” With that, he turns and dives into the pool.
I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to my guests. They’re pretty, but not my type. However, Jace and I have given the short one attention enough for it to look like we’re both interested.
Marco will be sure to carry that back to the other families. I realized he’s the one Nonno feels has his ears open for things to run and tell. I’m going to use that.
“Can I get you ladies anything?” I croon as the two look up at me from the loungers they’re perched on.
They both give goofy smiles as they ogle my bare chest. The one we’ve been given attention to shakes her head no but drops her eyes to my swim trunks as she bites her lip. Her friend blushes as she drags her eyes over me.
They can both relax. It’s not happening.
I shrug and hop on the lounger between the two, stretching my long legs out in front of me. There’s music playing and the grill is going, with Nonno cooking up steaks.
I look cool on the outside, but my stomach is in knots. The last time I saw Ny was the morning after her birthday when I left her sleeping in her bed. I couldn’t wake her or wait for her to wake because I wouldn’t have been able to leave.
I had taken things too far by fingering her tight, hot pussy. I almost caved. I wanted to take her that night right on top of that car. The way she fell apart for me, I’ll never forget it.
Now, I’m twenty-two and she’ll be twenty-one in October. There will be nothing to stop me from claiming her this time. I haven’t seen her in years, and that was by design. I knew I would break if I laid eyes on her.
Placing my hands behind my head, I lift my face to the sun. Today will be a good day. That thought is short lived as the Italian music that was playing at a reasonable level is replaced by Phil Collins “Take Me Home” and starts to blur.