“Solid self-defense,” Gio reports, peeling himself from the shadows.
I dust myself off, then check my fur babies, happy to ignore the man in front of me. Charlie and Nolan are perfectly fine. Nolan’s panting a little, but neither seem upset. I rub their heads gently.
“I’ll get Patricia home,” Max says as he comes out and straightens his t-shirt. I notice there’s some blood on the sleeve, but decide it’s not worth the conversation tonight. “Patricia, please.”
“Um ... okay.” She says once I give her a nod. She hugs me, kisses Nolan and Charlie, then hurries into the limo. “I won’t do anything you wouldn’t do, Juls!”
I roll my eyes. Gio loops his arm in mine and flags down a taxi. I arch an eyebrow. “A taxi?”
“Would you rather wait on the side of the road?”
“Point made.”
Once we’re in, he sighs. I focus on my dogs, giving them some water while Gio decides how he’s going to chew me out today. Then I notice he’s shaking a little. Very unlike himself. I take his hand. “What’s going on?”
“You were so focused with man one that you didn’t see man two.”
“Man ... two.”
“The one who had a gun trained on you. I took care of it.”
There’s not any blood on him, not a sign he’s been in a fight, and Gio is happy to fight. I learned that when I’d visit his frat. He was basically the bouncer. Always eager to finish what someone else started.
“You ....”
“Took care of it. Like I always do for you, Juliana. Whether you want me to or not.”
I swallow that knowledge and digest it until both of us are in my penthouse. Turning to Gio, I open my mouth, stop, then go to the kitchen. Cooking gives my hands something to do. It is a measurable kind of progress that makes everything else seem just as easy. So first, I put together some good food for my dogs, mixing boiled meat with some veggies and a low sodium broth before pouring it over their food.
They eat it up happily while I work on something for Gio and me.
“I know you want to be normal, Juliana,” Gio says finally, lingering in the shadows. “I wish you could be. Right now, though, you’re a target and I need you to let me make you safe.”
“You saw how capable I am of making myself safe,” I grumble.
“I know you are. I know all that you can do and I’m still sticking tightly to you, what does that say?”
I bite my bottom lip and finish emptying the bell pepper. I start cooking some shredded meat and cut mushrooms in another pan.
“I’ve already seen my father die, I can’t see you in the hospital or worse now.”
My hands shake so badly, that I drop my mixing spoon. Gio retrieves it, washes it, and stands behind me. I swallow. “I ... I didn’t know, Gio. I’m kind of a homebody and I avoid the news.”
“I know.” He wraps his arms around me. “You’re not the only one who lost someone, Juls. I know how much it hurts. I know that it changes everything, every perspective you thought you had, every moment you’re awake, the nightmares.”
I sniff.
“I’m sorry, Gio, I had no idea.”
“We’ve both changed since college. I embraced the pain and used it. Why does it seem like you’re running away from it?” He slowly turns me around and I see a different side to him. The nervous, open, gentle side that I thought got destroyed somewhere in the last four years. “You’ve never run from a single thing.”
“I ran from you,” I disagree as my eyes water. “and it took you four years to catch up.”
Gio takes my hands and pulls me into a hug. “I’m here now. Let me be here for you, Juliana, not just as some bodyguard.”
“What, you want to be my friend to keep me under control?”
He lifts my chin and his warm fingers gently stroke across my jaw before he cups my cheek. Gio’s eyes study mine intently. “Your father doesn’t matter right now. Control doesn’t matter right now.”