“I hate you,” she hisses, glaring at me with so much anger I never knew she possessed. I guess there’s a lot of Gianna I don’t know about. Because she isn’t mine. Because she can’t be.
And yet…
“I know. And I hate you too.”
Her eyes widen. “How can you hate me? I’ve done nothing to you.”
“I hate you for making me feel confused too. For making me feel… things I don’t want to feel.”
“What kind of things?”
“I can’t say,” I force out.
“Tell me.”
“Gianna…”
“Tell me.”
I stare down at her beautiful face and all I want in this moment is her. All I want is to be free myself.
Instead of telling Gianna how I feel, I decide to show her.
Without hesitating, I grab her face and bring my lips to hers. Gianna stiffens for a moment but when I deepen the kiss, she lets her body relax. After a beat, she kisses me back.
My arms wrap around her body, drawing her in close to me. The heat radiating off her makes me want to consume her more. The urge to make my dream a reality is strong but I hold back. A kiss is one thing. Fucking her is an entirely other thing that I cannot come back from.
Gianna lets out a small whimper. So that’s the sound she makes. It only makes me kiss her harder and draw her in closer.
The kiss is electric and passionate and hot and full of anger and sadness and frustration. We’re two people who shouldn’t want each other. Who hate each other and yet, I can’t stop thinking of Gianna and I’m desperate to know if she can’t stop thinking of me.
I never want this kiss to end. I will fight to end it with my life.
Gianna kisses me back harder like she might die if she doesn’t get close enough to me either. Her hands rest right over my heart, softening it with every inhale and exhale she makes. The last thing she can have is my heart.
But I’m not sure how I can stop her from getting it.
When Marco marries her. That’s when I’ll have to move on from Gianna. That’s when I’ll have to let her go.
But can I let her go? Can I be selfless and return her to her brother and face the consequences?
Knowing she is not mine sends an icy chill over my body that makes me finally pull away from the kiss.
Gianna stares at me, wide-eyed, panting heavily. She looks to be as affected by this as I am.
“Why did you do that?” she asks.
I have no answer for her. My only answer is to look back at her and hope she understands what I feel and why I can’t put it into words.
A knock on the door makes me startle. There’s only one person who knows where we are. If it were Enzo, he’d come bursting into the house if he knew Gianna was in here.
That only leaves Marco.
Giving Gianna one last look, I go to the door and open it. Marco strolls right past me and into the house, carrying a garment bag.
“Here,” he says to Gianna, handing her the bag. Tentatively, she takes it.
“What’s this?” she whispers. Her lips are bright red from my kiss. Her hair is messy from when I ran my hands through it. And yet, she is not mine. Not when she stands next to Marco.