Chapter Seventeen

I love you.

Her words almost pulled him from his foggy, aroused state. She moved swiftly, thrusting herself onto his dick, swaying her hips in a sensual dance he couldn’t deny.

Maybe she didn’t mean it and had said she loved him in the heat of the moment. Even though he didn’t completely convince himself, he used the possibility to enjoy the sex without thinking.

He thrust his cock upward, and she took him, using her inner muscles to clench him. An insane throb dominated his body, knotting his whole being into one pulse. He had to close his eyes and will himself to wait to come.

Eager for more, he lifted his hands and cupped her tits. She threw her head back for a moment, and he touched her breasts, encircling the nipples with his fingers. She gazed at him, her eyes challenging him to respond to her spontaneous declaration of love.

He searched for undercurrents of fear or uncertainty or frustration but only found clarity in the depths of her green irises. His heart drummed in his chest, and he didn’t know how to react. Luckily, his own body responded for him. As if entranced, he shifted his position so he sat on the mattress, legs crossed around her, without disengaging from her. Lily was still on top of him but much closer, his arms wrapped around her, bringing her to him.

That’s when he knew. Fuck. She loved him.

He should call it quits immediately, leave the bed, and get her on the first flight back to the United States. But as she moved, each time undulating her hips so he’d hit a deeper part of her, he wanted to stay with her more than anything.

Groaning, he thrust into her, provoking a series of moans from her sinful lips. He upped his game, plummeting hard then retreating enough to make her squirm.

“Yes,” she hissed out, her long eyelashes sweeping over her lids. “Yes. I love you. Oh, Marco… How I love you,” she said.

Air rushed from his lungs. He only rammed her with more strength, unsure if he wished her words were truth or lies. Sweat broke out on his forehead, and then she kissed him in such a passionate way, for an instant he didn’t remember where they were.

He matched her intensity, shoving his fingers into her hair and massaging her scalp, hoping to give her the same kind of short circuit he experienced whenever she touched him. She tightened her wet walls around his rod, and this time, he felt the building pressure in his core, his balls heavy and throbbing.

“Yes,” she said when he momentarily came up for air. She bucked into him, hinting she was close. Without letting go of her hair, he used his free hand to slide down and flick her clit, working it relentlessly.

She shuddered, the vein on her neck pulsating and warning him she was coming. Responding to his own urges, he plunged one last time, unable to wait. His body contracted, then released, and he spilled his load inside her welcoming pussy. Fireworks exploded through him, the glorious sensation making waves until it had ridden his entire being, and his breathing became labored.

He kissed her forehead and eased her onto the mattress, when a sharp knock on the door made him extract himself from her and jump from the bed.

“What is it?” she whispered.

“Let me find out,” he said, pulling on his pants. Quickly, he fetched his shirt from the floor, putting it on before opening the door.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, but we need to talk,” his father said on the other side of the threshold.

He swallowed razors in his throat. Seeing his father this late at night meant something had gone wrong. “Wait,” he ordered, then closed the door quickly to tell Lily, “I’ll be right back.” She nodded at him, her face confused, but he took advantage of her post-bliss state and slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

He buttoned his shirt, walking alongside his father in the hall. Then his father came to a halt and told him, “Your grandmother has passed.”

Marco froze, pinned to the spot, even though his knees threatened to buckle under his weight. Sadness welled up inside him, constricting his throat. Until now, he’d dealt with Nonna’s weak heart as a fact, a certainty, and used a measure of practicality to cope. He looked at his father’s expression—neutral as always, but his eyes seemed almost kind for a moment. Kind? Marco mocked inwardly. Why didn’t his brother or Arietta break the news to him?

Tears he wouldn’t have normally allowed fogged his field of vision. Marco wiped them with the back of his hand in a rough manner, but others replaced the ones dampening his skin. He remembered his grandmother’s love for him, the sweet way she called his name, her genuine, positive outlook on life.

“I’m sorry,” his father said, and planted a hand on his shoulder. Marco almost jerked away, driven by instinct, but his father pressed his palm into his shirt.

“Why did you come to tell me? Why not Nico?” Marco asked.

His father drew in a breath and then nodded to himself, as if realizing Marco’s question made complete sense. Maybe Nico was calling the doctors, or making arrangements, and, out of convenience, someone had asked Calogero to notify Marco. Simple as that.

Calogero loosened his hold on him until he slid his hand off Marco completely. He opened his mouth, then hesitated. Marco looked into his father’s dark eyes and found an emotion he had never seen before. A lump of frustration lodged in his throat.

“Because I’m sorry,” his father said, his voice wavering.

His father opened his arms and hugged him, and Marco swallowed hard. He didn’t want to believe his father, wasn’t willing to forgive him so quickly. Yet, as Calogero kept clumsily embracing him, Marco tapped his back then slowly embraced him in return. Sorry wasn’t enough, but it would do for now.

…

“Don’t you want to come in?” Lily asked Marco when he motioned for her to enter her own house.

The past three days had been rough. They were supposed to return to the States sooner, but because of Nonna’s death, Marco decided to stay longer and attend her funeral service. Lily supported him and didn’t ask anything of him—particularly after she had declared her love for him.

Marco followed her inside. He’d entered her apartment once or twice before, on much happier occasions. Now he had the painful task of ending their affair and breaking the contract he’d insisted on.

She put her bag on the couch and then washed her hands at the kitchen sink. During the flight home, he fooled her by pretending to work on his laptop, while what he was really doing was thinking about a hard conversation he had to have. He’d also kept his thoughts to himself during the drive to her place. The idea of having the driver take her in a separate car crossed his mind, but that would have broken her heart.

Not like what I’m about to do is any different.

When his brother had accused him of falling for her, he’d dismissed the idea. He couldn’t have. That would have been careless. When she’d told him she loved him three days prior, he’d known for sure that she truly loved him. Being with her because she cared about his sexual desires was selfish, but that he could handle. Being with her because she loved him meant opening the door to a world of disappointment.

He hadn’t been able to love his mother, or his father, even after he tried to mend fences following Nonna’s death. Well, mend fences the Calogero way, by pretending he hadn’t ruined his childhood, but that was beside the point. Hell, even his grandmother, whom he did love—he did a bad job of being there for her. He’d kept away for far longer than he should have. He had to save Lily from himself.

“Do you want anything to drink?” she asked.

He took a deep breath. “Lily, our agreement is coming to an end.”

She tilted her head to the side, as if trying to understand if that was a good or bad thing. “What does this mean?”

“I no longer require you to continue to live up to your part of the bargain. You’re released of all your duties, and I’ll keep up my end of our deal.”

Tears rolled down from her eyes before she parted her lips. A side of him simmered with anger, anger at himself. His gut grew tight, but he had to keep his resolve. If he wavered, all would be lost. She would be lost.

“Just like that? You’re releasing me of my duties?” she said, pain lacing her words.

His throat pulsed, and he had to convince himself to move on with his plan, for her sake and happiness, even if it seemed like he was doing the opposite. “This has been the agreement from the beginning. I never wanted to hurt you, Lily. That’s why I had a contract.”

“You didn’t want to hurt yourself. That’s why you needed a piece of paper to keep from getting close.”

A knot formed in his gut, and each time he glanced at her, the knot twisted painfully. “I’m sorry. I can’t give you anything else. I never promised I would.”

“Another easy way out for you. You can shove your so-called honesty up your ass. I doubt you’re being honest right now. You’re going to stand here in my home and tell me you’re totally fine with letting me go? That you don’t feel anything for me other than sexual chemistry?”

He paced, shoving his trembling fingers into his pockets to keep them from view. “What I feel doesn’t matter. Feelings don’t have an IQ. I need to follow my instinct.”

She grabbed a box of tissues from her countertop and used them to wipe the tears from her glossy, achingly sad eyes. He had to wrestle the need to erase the distance between them and hug her tightly.

“Your instincts suck. And you know what?” She crumpled the tissue and tossed it to the floor, then locked her eyes with his. “You’re not honest. You’re afraid.”

He exhaled. “I’m rational. Trust me, I’m making a decision for the both of us that you’ll thank me for later.”

“Is this because I told you I loved you?”

“No,” he lied. He’d hate for her to rehash what she’d said later on her own. She hadn’t done or said anything wrong, anyway. “It’s over.”

“When I met you, I thought you were this powerful man who fought for what he wanted. Then I learned you fought against your own emotions because they’d hurt you through the years. Now I see a coward who’s not even willing to fight for what he deserves. You’re too set in your own little world of games and documents.”

“That’s right,” he said.

“Get out of my home,” she said, stretching to her full height. Despite the tears, and the melancholy in her voice, there was a challenge in her eyes he didn’t dare to accept. “I was always okay with you being broken, but I’m not good with you being a coward.”

…

“Honey, I love all my gifts. You shouldn’t have,” her mother said, glancing at all the souvenir knickknacks and shirts Lily had bought in Italy. “But I’m so glad you did,” her mother said with a wink, then played with a small key ring.

Lily willed herself to smile. After Marco had left her apartment, she’d given herself three full days before visiting her mother. To conceal her puffy red eyes, she’d put on a godawful amount of makeup.

“What’s wrong?” her mother asked, sitting next to her on the opposite bed. Lily was glad her mother’s roommate had left for an aqua aerobics class and they could be alone.

Crap. Her mother knew her too well, so saying nothing was out of question.

“A couple of different things. I did meet a handsome Italian man, who ended up not returning my feelings.” Or he was too afraid to admit them. Sadness welled in her throat, but she swallowed the dry lump, determined to continue the clean version of what had happened, even if her voice trembled, a thread away from breaking completely. “He lives in New York, but…it’s complicated.”

His mother withdrew. “Is he married?”

“No. No.”

“Then the war isn’t lost, my dear. Either he needs time to get to know you better, or he’s a fool.”

For the past couple of days, Lily had called him every name in the book—fool hadn’t been one of them. He’d been a fucking coward. Maybe he didn’t love her the same way as she did him, but crap, she knew he had strong feelings for her. She’d felt it in his possession, had seen it in his eyes. “He’s a big fool who doesn’t want complications.”

“Those are the biggest fools. You said two things—that you had something else to tell me. What is it?”

“Well, I was able to save the salon. I didn’t want to tell you before, but it wasn’t doing well. Financially.”

Her mother took her hand in hers and gave it a gentle tug. “Honey, I’m so sorry,” she said. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Because you were so excited every time you mentioned it. That salon is the last thing left of the family I once had, of my childhood. I didn’t want it to slip away.”

“Honey, that’s not true. I love the salon with every fiber of my being, but I hope your father and I left you with more than that,” she said, lifting her hand and briefly touching Lily’s heart. “Remember our first family trip to Coney Island? How every winter we drove up north to pick up a Christmas tree? How sad we became when you decided you no longer needed good-night stories? You must have been ten or eleven.”

“Eleven.”

“There you go. All these memories you can take with you anywhere you go.”

“You’re making me cry.” Just when she’d vowed not to lose it in front of her mother.

“It’s okay. Come here.” Her mother wrapped her in a hug. “Now, tell me, are those two things related—the man who broke your heart and the business? Did he try to take your business from you, or save it?”

Crap. Mom had read enough Agatha Christie mystery novels back in the day to see right through bullshit. She cleared her throat. She should have felt triumphant at saving the business, keeping everything afloat. But having Marco leave her had the opposite effect. Her mother propped her to sit straight, and looked into her eyes.

“You’re going to tell me everything.”

…

“I’m here to see Mr. Giordano,” Lily said to the receptionist. “Mr. Nicola Giordano,” she said, this time to herself.

“Of course. Just a moment,” the woman said as she pressed a finger on the tiny earpiece.

Lily had called Nicola’s assistant about an hour before, requesting a meeting with him. She’d expected to wait a lot longer, but Marco’s brother had agreed on seeing her immediately.

Telling her mother the truth a day earlier hadn’t been easy. But now she knew why saving the salon weighed so heavily on her shoulders. She’d used her body to save her business. She’d ended up compromising her heart, as well, but it didn’t feel right. Marco no longer contacted her, and despite how he’d acted, she knew their time together had been more than a business transaction for him. He just wasn’t willing to accept it.

As the receptionist gave her a badge and gave her instructions, Lily simply nodded. She hadn’t eaten much lately, and unlike the first time she went to his office, today she had no intention of seducing Marco. Fresh faced and with her hair in a ponytail, she exited the elevator on the top floor and nodded when Nico’s assistant instructed her to enter his office.

Apprehension settled in her stomach. What if she ran into Marco? God, that’d be beyond awkward.

“Nico. Hi,” she said as she strode into his office.

He stood from his chair. “Nice to see you, Lily. Please have a seat,” he said, gesturing at the leather chair in front of him.

She walked through his enormous space until she found the chair and then sat. Only then did he sit. He grabbed a pen from a holder and clicked it. “I have to say, I’m curious about your visit. What brings you here?”

She crossed her legs then uncrossed them. In her head, she had played how this would roll a few times on her drive over there. Now her stomach churned with nervousness. “You know the beauty shop I own? The one you and your brother needed so badly to build a garage?”

Nico’s green eyes studied her. “Yes, of course.”

She stared at him in silence. Those Giordano guys certainly didn’t make it easy for the New York women. Nico was just as dashingly handsome as Marco, though he didn’t provoke in her the same reactions his brother did. She took a deep, long breath and said, “When your brother first talked to me, he really needed my space. I didn’t want to sell, but I’ve changed my mind.”

“You have?” He leaned closer, his brows furrowing. “Are you upping your price?”

“No. I’d like to sell it and donate the proceedings to a cancer foundation in my father’s name,” she said, her shoulders dropping a notch. Her arms relaxed, and she felt good about her decision to let go of the past and focus on the future. She’d accused Marco of being a coward, but was she any different, clinging to her old way of life instead of making room for the new?

Nico scratched the back of his neck, his expression a tad skeptical. As a businessman, she imagined he wouldn’t understand why she’d sell after everything she’d gained, and without asking for higher value. “Why the sudden change of heart?”

“Because I have a hard time letting go of things, and this is my first lesson.”

“Why contact me?”

“Because you need the location. I admit, it’s not like you’ll use it for anything exciting, but that’s not my problem.”

“Have you told my brother about it?”

“No.” She didn’t want to face Marco again, not after the abrupt way they ended things. She surged to her feet and continued, “You don’t have to tell him about my visit. You can tell him whatever you want. Have your people contact me with a price. I’ll give them the information for where they can donate the money. We can deal with signing the contract, etcetera, then you transfer the funds to the charity. I am going to need evidence the transfer was made.”

He stood as well. “No problem.”

“Thanks. That’s all,” she said, nodding. She’d have to move forward to a life without the salon, and without Marco. Somehow, saying goodbye to the shop seemed a lot easier than knowing she’d never get to kiss Marco Giordano again.