Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
It’s there, as I’m wandering among the trees, that Giovanni finds me.
Are You Ready For Us?
“I heard you went for a walk.” Giovanni’s jeans are snug across his thighs, and the sleeves on his light blue denim shirt are rolled up, exposing his strong forearms.
“Did you follow me?”
“I was afraid you might get lost.” His smile is more a smirk.
“I can think of worse places to be lost.”
“You like it here?”
I turn my face to the sun, feeling its warmth. “I love it here.”
He pivots to walk beside me as I continue on through the grove. “Maybe my brothers will bring you back sometime.”
I make a noncommittal hmmm sound as my chest tightens, because I know that won’t be happening.
Giovanni is quiet for a few moments before he says, “I’ve been wondering … are you in a relationship with both of them?”
“We’re friends,” I say automatically. “Didn’t they tell you that?”
“That’s what they told me, yes, but I suspected there was more going on, and the way they acted at the club the other night proved it.”
When the line of trees ends, I make a U-turn and start back, walking between the first two rows. “Is that why you asked me to dance, and held me so close? To test your theory?”
His eyes darken. “That wasn’t my main reason.” Giovanni reaches for my hand, turns me toward him, and backs me against a tree. “I wanted to know how this would feel.”
He presses his body against mine, as close as it had been on the dance floor, and my breath catches in my chest. “I wanted to know how you would respond.”
He’s looking down at me, that big-bad-wolf gleam in his eyes again. He’s going to kiss me, and I know I should stop him, but he’s so close, and I’m so tempted.
Matteo and Fiero are probably about to break up with me; either way, we’ll be ending things soon, so what would it hurt to find out how it would feel to kiss Giovanni?
These are the rationalizations that flash through my mind in the few seconds before he brings his head down to mine and covers my lips with his.
His taste is intoxicating. Similar to his brothers, but unique, and addicting. He pauses after the initial kiss, and I close the small space between our mouths, needing to taste him again.
“Gio!”
“Dani!”
Matteo and Fiero are suddenly here, witnessing everything. My arm is around Giovanni’s waist and I pull it back, not even sure how it got there. Giovanni turns toward his brothers, but keeps hold of me, his arm around me, casually possessive.
Words fly, rapid-fire, all of them in Italian, and very little that I understand, though of course, the overall tone of the exchange is crystal clear. Matteo and Fiero are angry, understandably so, but Giovanni is unmoved by what they’re saying.
“Enough,” he says finally, cutting them off, transitioning to English. “If you want her to choose, you must honor her choice, no?”
Fiero frowns. “What are you saying?”
“I am saying it is up to Daniela. If she chooses not to choose between you … or among us … why should we argue?”
Matteo scowls. “She cannot have all of us.”
“Why not?”
I step out from under Giovanni’s arm. “I’m right here, you know.”
“Forgive me,” Giovanni says, offering me a small bow. “This is what I have been trying to say to my brothers, but I have committed the same error. What do you think, Daniela? What do you want?”
I look at Matteo and Fiero. “I’ve told you both, more than once, that I can’t choose between you. I wasn’t expecting to feel the same attraction to Giovanni, though I guess I should have anticipated it. You are exceptional men, each of you wonderful in his own ways.”
Fiero scoffs. “It would never work.”
Knowing Giovanni is on my side makes me bold enough to press the issue. “Remember Thanksgiving?” I say to Matteo. “The other people there?”
Matteo nods. “Yes. I remember.”
“What is this?” Giovanni asks.
“Some of my good friends, and a few other … relationships … I know of, involve one woman and multiple men,” I explain.
“There, you see?” Giovanni spreads his hands, triumphant. “She is already prepared.”
“So, what will we do? Make a schedule for when we can take her to bed?” Fiero says scornfully. “Sign up and wait our turn?”
“No.” My voice is soft, and I can hardly look at them as excitement flutters in my chest. “That’s … not how it works.”
Fiero stares at me. “All together?” He adds a phrase in Italian that I’m not familiar with, but his gestures make his meaning clear. “Like a porn film?”
I glare at him. “Not like that … but, yes, like that.” My cheeks are suddenly hot, and it’s not from the sun.
“Mamma mia.” Fiero looks skyward and throws up his hands, as if appealing to a higher power, before looking back at me. “You will not be able to walk for days, bella, if we do this.”