13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Gabo Godoy

I f I thought the farmers market was a great date with Bella, cooking with her is even better. Her soft summer vibes playlist hums through the kitchen speakers. I must admit, it's not terrible and somehow captures the summer vibe I'm leaning toward these days—fun days under the sun, enjoying her company. I wish I could take Monday off and spend more time with her here, but she's beyond excited about the professor coming from Switzerland.

I also need to oversee the completion of a couple of buildings and start researching the other countries where we will be designing warehouses. I need to make sure that every single detail I change in the original design will look flawless against the different terrains.

Getting back to reality, I look at Bella, whose back is turned to me. I need a medal or something because all I want to do right this minute is sit her up on the kitchen counter and spread her legs wide open for me. But, for the sake of starting things with her on the right foot and for being a good friend to Luca, I must wait until we talk. I hope she'll share her fears with me tonight, but we shall see. One thing at a time, and right now, we have to make the pasta.

"Have you made pasta from scratch before?" I ask against her neck, and her skin immediately gets goosebumps.

"Excuse me? I'm Argentinian, che . Of course I have; we make gnocchi every 29th of the month." I smile at her. I love how proud of her roots she is.

"Oh, that's right. My bad." She huffs a breath and turns to face me fully.

"Yeah, Grandpa Bianchi taught us how to make pasta. But tonight, I want to see you in action." The smirk on her face has my dick twitching. I'm about to say, "Fuck dinner, let me have my way with you," when my phone starts vibrating. I wonder who it might be—I gave Dom specific instructions not to bother me with work stuff. A cold chill runs down my spine when I get the phone out of my pocket and see who's calling.

"It's your brother. If I don't get this, he'll be on the next plane to Bologna."

Bella chuckles and pauses her music on her phone.

"Hey, bro. What's up?" I say as I hit accept and put the phone on speaker.

"My man, we're good here. Enjoying winter. How's everything over there?" Luca says, and my sister retorts in the background, "No, we're not enjoying winter. I'm miserable. Being pregnant during winter is no fun."

"I'm sorry, you're what?" I ask Karina, even though Luca is the one who called.

"Surprise! We didn't want to say anything until we passed the first trimester. Then life just got busy, so only Mom and Dad know." I look at Bella to see if she knows, but she's as flabbergasted as I am.

"Fuck, I'm going to be an uncle and I didn't know? You guys suck."

"Yeah, what Gabo said. I'm the only auntie this baby will have, and I didn't know? I need to go tomorrow and buy out the entire Versace baby store for this kid."

Karina is howling in laughter in the background as Luca continues to talk. "So that answers my question. You two are together."

Bella rolls her eyes almost comically, and I have to cough to cover my laugh.

"Yes, brother dearest. I'm with Gabo, my host. What a crazy thought, huh?" Bella retorts, which only makes Karina laugh harder.

"I'm sorry, Isa. I just worry about you. That's all."

"And you know I love you for it, Luca. But you need to chill. I'm an adult who can make her own decisions."

"I know, I know. It's just Gio said maybe he saw something between the two of you. I just wanted to make sure you're not fooling around with each other. You guys know that would be fucked up, right?."

I don't even have time to react as Bella grabs the phone from my hand and shuts off the speaker.

"Enough is enough, Luca Bianchi. I love you. I'm forever grateful for everything you've done for me, but if you ever think, even for a second, that you have a say in who I date or who I fuck, you're sorely mistaken. It's none of your business, or Gio's, or anyone else's if I decide to have a one-night stand, a fling, or whatever with Gabo or any other mortal on this earth. If you think you have a say in my life because you gave me money, I'm sorry to break it to you, but you don't. I'll be depositing your money and Gio's money back into your accounts tomorrow morning. And until you can accept that I'm an adult who can make my own choices, don't contact me again."

Bella hangs up, not waiting for Luca to say anything back. I don't think—I just kiss her. Holy fuck, where has this woman been my entire life? The way she stood up for herself is the hottest thing I've ever seen.

The kiss isn't gentle or measured. It's bruising and passionate and all-consuming. I hold her by her waist and lift her to the kitchen counter, just like I've been dreaming of doing all day long. The way she responds to me, letting me explore her body with my hands while she explores mine, it's like she was made for me.

She must like what she feels because she pulls me flush against her. The moment she starts lifting my shirt, I know we need to stop. I don't want to, my dick for sure doesn't want to, but we still need to talk.

"Fuck, Bella. You drive me out of my mind. The way you handled your brother was so sexy," I say against her lips, and she bites my lip. Damn . "But we need to make dinner, and then we have to talk. Remember?" I bite the pout that forms on her lips before trying to busy myself by setting out the ingredients to start the pasta.

"I hope I didn't get you in trouble with him. I know you guys are close, but the man is about to become a dad, and he still gives me shit about my life. I just couldn't take it anymore," she says as she starts prepping the produce we bought earlier today to make the sauce.

"As I said, what you did was incredibly sexy. Don't worry about getting me into trouble with him. We're just two adults trying to figure out this pull between us. It doesn't concern anyone else."

She stands behind me and hugs me against her. It's cute to see this petite woman trying to embrace me.

"By the way, any chance you know of a job I can get this summer? Since I'm returning the money, my funds will decrease considerably."

"You don't need to work, I can provide for your every need," I tell her honestly—there's nothing I want more than to spoil her.

"I know you can, but I still want to pay for my things, you know? It's a pride thing now. Besides, without that money, I won't be able to open my gallery as fast as I thought I would. Every little bit of money I can start making now would help."

And this right here is one of the things that attracts me to her the most: she's resilient, determined, and brave.

"I'll tell you what—let's enjoy the rest of the weekend, and on Monday, I'll see if we can create an extra intern position at the design firm. I'm sure we can work around your uni schedule."

"Thank you, G." She spanks my ass as she goes back to her chopping board, and I chuckle at her antics.

After dinner, we decided to eat the coffee gelato directly from the tub instead of making the tiramisu and sit down by the pool in a huge lounge chair that comfortably fits both of us.

"What a beautiful night. The only thing that would make it better would be to have a telescope to see the stars," Bella muses, and I make a mental note to buy a telescope for the next time we're at the villa.

"It is a beautiful night. It's actually perfect for talking." I smile at her as she groans.

"Ugh, I forgot we still have to have this conversation. Okay, what do you want to know?" she asks, squaring her shoulders.

"Well, first of all, why does the idea of a relationship make you want to run away?"

"I see we're starting slow, huh?" Bella chuckles, and it's not lost on me that she takes a fortifying sip of her wine.

"I'm not sure how much you know about my family, but the reason I moved to Chile for college was because our parents decided to check out of our lives. When Grandpa Bianchi passed, they inherited a lot of money, and they changed. Gio was supposed to start college in the US that summer, but our parents decided to go on vacation for almost three months and only told us right before they left. So he stayed local so he could take care of us."

I'm speechless. What kind of parents do that? This makes me understand Gio's quietness on a deeper level. He had to become a responsible adult before he was ready.

"Then, when Luca met Karina, he decided to move to Chile, which would have left me alone in our hometown. I asked if I could move to Santiago. Both my brothers offered for me to move in with them. It was a very tough conversation we had with our parents, but at the end of the day, they chose the money and the life it brought them over us. Ever since I moved to Chile four years ago, they haven't made an attempt to talk to me or check on how I am doing. I even invited them to my graduation but didn't hear back from them." Bella's beautiful azure eyes fill with emotion, and I bring her to my lap. Those assholes are not her parents; they're simply the people who made her.

"They don't deserve your tears, principessa. They lost everything worthy in life the moment they decided to walk away from their kids. I'm even more proud of you now, after knowing that growing up wasn't easy, that you have a void in your heart, and yet you're still thriving in life."

Bella hugs me as her tears flow freely, and I let her—she needs to mourn this loss. I'm not sure if her brothers have let her vent, but I'm incredibly touched that she trusts me enough to bare her heart to me.

"You're right, they don't deserve my sadness. But the fear of becoming them is what's stopping me from being in a relationship."

I look her in the eyes and wipe the tears away from her face. Her skin is blotchy after crying for a while, but she has never looked more beautiful—raw and exposed to me.

"And what makes you think you'll become them? You're nothing like them. You care about your loved ones."

"I know my fear is irrational, but it's how I feel." She shrugs, and I can tell she's winding down; tiredness is evident on her face.

"Let's make a deal. We can start dating casually; no need to talk about the future. We'll focus on the present and see how you feel," I suggest, fully intending to do everything in my power to make her feel everything I feel for her every single day.

"You got yourself a deal," she says as she presses her lips against mine, sealing the promise.