Chapter 22

Twenty-Two

Silas

G ia was saying everything I needed to hear. I thought I was going to have to convince her, to make her see the feelings she fought so hard to hide. But instead, she was sharing her feelings with me in front of everyone.

Her eyes shiny, Gia asked, “Are you going to say something?”

I stepped closer to her, needing to be near her, wanting to touch her. I slid my fingers through her hair, then cupped the back of her head. “I love you, Gia. I’ve never loved anyone like I love you. You’re it for me.”

“Wow,” someone said behind us, but I blocked it out.

“And if that’s too much for you, you’re going to have to get used to it because I’m not changing how I feel or tempering it until you get used to it. I’m all in with you, Gia.”

A small smile spread over Gia’s face. “I’m all in too. I realized I’d been hiding from myself for years. I’ve been holding myself back from relationships, too scared to get close to anyone. I thought it was a weakness, but I was wrong. Love is my greatest strength.”

It was hard to believe she was saying all the things I wanted to hear and more. Gia Giovanni was in love with me. “And we didn’t waste any time, baby. This is the story of our journey, and we’re going to look back on it with love.”

“I love you,” Gia said softly, as if she couldn’t stop herself from saying it.

“I love you,” I said as I lowered my head and kissed her.

Cheers erupted around us and brought us back to the moment, where the entire staff of Happily Ever Afters was watching our exchange.

When I finally lifted my head, Gia’s expression was soft. Her eyes were full of love for me. “I can’t believe you came.”

“Harper said you were here, and I couldn’t wait any longer for you to come to me.”

Gia smiled sheepishly. “I would have. I just had to take care of a few things here first.”

“We had to burn the rules,” Harper said from her spot at the fire.

I lifted my head to look around the circle, noticing for the first time most of the women were a little glossy-eyed. “Have you been celebrating?”

Gia smiled. “I created a set of rules, and they no longer applied to us, so we burned them.”

“Do I want to know what these rules are?” I asked Gia, pulling her close to me.

“ Don’t sleep with Gia’s brothers was one of them,” Harper said.

I grinned. “Well, that one was broken. Was there one about me?”

Gia grabbed my hand. “We should get out of here.”

“You don’t want to finish your meeting?” I asked, even as I acknowledged it was the least professional meeting I’d ever seen.

“Nope. We’re all done here. Clean up, ladies,” Gia said as she dragged me around the building to my car.

We stopped at the passenger-side door, facing each other. “Are you sure? I kind of interrupted a thing, and I don’t want to intrude.”

Gia’s hands rested on my biceps. “You already did, and you were very welcome, but now we need to go home. I want to show you how much I love you.”

Distracted by the way her hands were running over my body, I stopped her wrist with my hand. “You’re going to tell me about the rules.”

Her cheeks heated. “Maybe.”

“You will.” I was almost positive there was one about me, and I wanted to know what it was. I waited for her to get inside the car and then drove the short distance to her house.

“I want to go to your house, but it’s too far away,” Gia said.

“We have to talk about that. How is this going to work?” I wasn’t na?ve enough to think we’d solved everything with a declaration of love.

Gia opened the door and climbed out. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Is it that easy?” I asked, following her up the walk to her house.

“Uh-huh.” She fumbled with the key, so I took it from her and slid it inside the lock. “Have you been drinking too?”

“Just one glass. I wanted to talk to you after the meeting. I was planning on going to you.”

“I couldn’t wait any longer.” A thrill shot through me as I shut the door behind us and pressed her against it.

Her lips curled up. “Me either. I’m so glad you showed up.”

I pinned her wrists to the door on either side of her head and nibbled on her neck. She gasped and tipped her head to the side to give me more access.

I lifted my head slightly so I could tug on her earlobe. “Now, about those rules…”

She trembled as I pressed my body against hers. “What about them?”

“I want you to tell me what was in them. What was so embarrassing that you had to burn them?” I sucked on her earlobe.

Gia whimpered. “They weren’t embarrassing.”

“Then why burn them?” I insisted as I ground my cock against her.

She bit her lip and gazed up at me. “They didn’t serve me anymore.”

“Don’t sleep with your brothers. What was the rest?” I prompted her.

“Don’t sleep with the wedding party. Don’t sleep with your coworkers—vendors, musicians, that kind of thing.”

“Why do I have a feeling you’re not telling me the truth?” I asked, lifting myself away so I could see her face. “Why do I have a feeling there’s a rule about me, and you don’t want to tell me?”

When she remained silent, I said, “I think I can convince you once I have you spread out on your bed, leaving you naked and wanting.”

I grabbed her wrist and tugged her to her bedroom, with her laughing. I grinned as we came to a stop in front of the bed. “I want you naked and legs spread on the bed.”

“You’re bossy tonight,” Gia said as she hurried to undress.

“You like it,” I said, already loosening my tie and unbuttoning my shirt.

“You’re hot like this.”

“I’m hot all the time.”

She climbed onto the bed, her weight on her elbows as she raised a brow and spread her legs.

“Fuck. That’s hot.”

She arched a brow. “You said you had some convincing to do.”

I placed one knee on the bed and slid my fingers between her folds. “You’re already wet.”

I moved over her, placing one hand next to her head, keeping my cock away from her pussy, and sucked one nipple into my mouth. She arched against me, and I struggled to keep my distance. I wanted to tease her, to keep her wanting more.

She tugged on the hair at the base of my neck. “Silas.”

“You know what I want.”

“And I’ll tell you if you put your mouth on me.”

“That’s not how this is going to go.” I was going to drive her crazy, and she was going to tell me what I wanted to know before my mouth touched her clit.

I took my time caressing her breasts, tweaking her nipples and sucking them until they were hard.

Whimpers fell from her mouth as her hips gyrated against me.

“Tell me,” I said as I moved between her legs, blowing a breath across her pussy.

Her thighs trembled as she went on her elbows to see me. “I want you, Silas.”

I raised a brow as she chewed her lip. “I had a rule against sleeping with my brothers’ best friend—”

“That’s not all of it.” I knew there was more.

Her gaze slid off my face. “And my enemy.”

I gripped her thighs. “Is that how you see me, as your enemy?”

She shook her head. “Not anymore.”

“Does your enemy love you like this?” I asked as I lowered my head and sucked her clit hard.

She fell back to the bed. “Nooo.”

“Or like this?” I asked as I used two fingers to slide inside her, pumping like I would with my cock in a minute. I wanted to drive her to the edge.

She merely shook her head, so lost in the buildup she couldn’t form any words.

When her muscles tightened, I removed my fingers and kissed my way up her body. “I want you to come on my cock.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” she said as I kissed her, lining my cock up with her entrance.

I wanted to take my time, but I couldn’t. Now that we’d declared our feelings for each other, I had this driving need to make her mine.

I thrust inside in one fluid motion, both of us taking a second to adjust. With her hands on the base of my spine, she urged me to move.

We whispered words of love to each other, lost in the pleasure. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t slow down. All I could do was feel. This woman was it for me, and I wouldn’t let anything or anyone come between us. Never again.

I’d stand by her side and support her in any way that she needed. I’d never take away from her light or overshadow her.

When we tumbled over the edge, we did it together, in each other’s arms. When I finally recovered, I rolled to my side, taking her with me.

There were no words for what just happened. It was an expression of love, of a commitment to this woman.

I held her tightly against me.

Her fingers played with the hair on my chest. “What about everything else?”

I propped my head onto my bent elbow. “You mean, how you live in Annapolis and my resort is an hour away?”

“Yeah, that.” Her expression was pensive.

“We make it work. Some days we’ll need to be in person at our respective jobs, and others, we can work remotely. You still have that couple you’re working with at my resort, and that might turn into a regular thing.”

She smacked my chest lightly. “You can’t hire me as your wedding planner just because we’re seeing each other.”

“You know that’s not what that is. You’re simply the best, and that’s what I hire. But it wouldn’t be an employer-employee relationship. It would be a partnership. Our lawyers can draw up a contract. Not only are you the only one for the position, but it keeps you close to me.”

“What about Hannah?”

“She’ll still work for me but won’t do the higher-end clients.”

“Won’t she be upset?” Gia’s expression was uncertain.

“I have a feeling she’s going out on her own soon anyway. I can see the emails she’s sending through the company server.”

“Wow, and you haven’t already fired her?”

“I’ve kept a close eye on the situation. I’m not one to stand in the way of someone opening a business. As long as she doesn’t screw me over in the process.”

“Spoken like a true businessman.”

“Our relationship might be unconventional, but that’s us. We’re busy people with our respective businesses. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I love that aspect of us.”

It was something I didn’t even know I was looking for, someone who could challenge me in every way.

She fell silent for a few seconds.

I finally said, “I talked to Leo.”

“About us?”

“I explained what happened, and he understood.”

“You’re his best friend. Doesn’t he feel betrayed?”

I was positive she was remembering how she felt when Evie revealed that Harper was dating Leo. “Not when I said I was in love with you. He said Harper predicted we’d hook up.”

Gia lifted to her elbow so she could see my face. “Hook up? She didn’t think it would be anything more?”

“She thought we’d hook up and it wouldn’t work out. That we were too similar to each other. I think she was talking about how we always fought with each other.”

“Yeah, but that’s because we were resisting the pull.”

“No one is like us. Our story doesn’t follow anyone else’s.”

Gia sighed. “I like that.”

“I freaking love that about us. We’re unique.”

“What about Matteo and Carlo?” Gia asked, sounding nervous for the first time.

As strong as she was, she didn’t want her brothers to be upset with her. “Leo said he’d talk to them. I’ll still reach out to them too.”

“Wow. Leo must be telling the truth. He really is okay with us seeing each other.”

I chuckled, content to have Gia in my arms. “I doubt he wants to see me kissing you. But he’s open to the idea of us.”

Gia let out a breath, and I wondered if she was worried about what her family would think.

“I talked to your father too,” I said, and she stiffened under my touch.

Her brow furrowed. “Why would you do that?”

“I didn’t like how he talked to you at dinner the other night.”

Gia frowned. “What did you say to him?”

“That I didn’t like the dynamic between you two, and something needed to change.” When Gia remained silent, I continued. “He said he’s proud of you. That he means to treat you differently but falls into old patterns when you’re around.”

Gia sighed and looked torn, as if she wasn’t sure what to believe.

“I think he doesn’t know how to act around you. You’re so different than what he expected, and he’d like for you to work by his side, but he respects that you don’t.”

Gia bit her lower lip. “I don’t know.”

“Will you talk to him and give him a chance to explain it to you?” I asked her, hoping she would be open to the idea. I didn’t like her being at odds with her parents.

“Do you think it will do any good?” she asked tentatively.

“It can’t hurt.”

She snorted and plopped onto her back on the bed. “We’ll just argue.”

“If that’s your attitude going into it. But what if you were open to seeing what he had to say?” I said as I propped myself up on an elbow.

She smiled up at me. “I’ll try.”

I kissed her, my love for her encompassing everything. “I love you.”

She wrapped her arms around me. “I love you too.”