Love in the City, an erotic romance novel (31 page)

“Go ahead,” she replied.

She brought out two big glasses of water and set one down in front of Giorgio. He had taken a seat at the far end of her sofa. She sat down at the other end, not looking at him. She took a sip of water. Giorgio did the same.

“How long were you waiting out there?” she asked.

He let out a heavy sigh. “Not too long. I called to see if I could give you a ride home from work. You didn’t answer, so I went home to shower and change. I tried calling you at home a couple more times. I left messages on your
voicemail.”

She glanced over at her home phone and saw the red light flashing. She didn’t say anything.

He continued, “I waited until maybe 7:30, but I still hadn’t heard from you. I was going to call again, but I figured there was no point. You weren’t going to answer.” He ran his fingers through his messy hair. “I planned to settle in for the night, but I just couldn’t stand not talking to you. Telling you what had happened since I last saw you. And giving you the apology you deserved…in person.”

Anabelle took another sip of water and just listened, still avoiding eye contact with him.

“I called Nikolas and…”

“Your brother?” she interrupted. “What does he have to do with any of this?”

“A fair bit. Anyway, I told him where things were at, that you weren’t speaking to me, weren’t returning any of my calls. I told him I was thinking about driving to your place to try to talk to you in person. I asked him if that would make me seem like a stalker and do more harm than good, or if I should just wait and try again tomorrow and the next day if I hadn’t heard back from you.”

“And he said it was ok
ay to come here?” she asked, incredulously.

“Not at first. But I filled him in more on…how things were between us, the way I felt about you…what it would mean if I lost you.” He paused, staring into his water glass. “That changed his mind.”

Anabelle frowned.
What did he mean by that?
she wondered. “Well good,” she said.

He looked up at her, a curious exp
ression on his face.

“That way if I disappear or they find my body floating down the river, someone will know who the last person to see me was.”

He didn’t know whether to laugh or be offended.

She watched him. He had a stunned expression on his face. “I’m just kidding,” she admitted. “I think…” She smirked at him.

“Very funny,” he said, furrowing his brows. He sat in silence for a few moments.

Just then, Jasper jumped up on the couch, meowing.

“Someone wants attention,” Anabelle said, giving him some pets. He meowed again.

“I think he’s trying to med
iate,” Giorgio offered lightly.

Jasper then went to Giorgio for some more pets.

“See,” he said, “what did I tell you?”

Anabelle couldn’t help but smile.

“I think he likes me,” Giorgio said.

“Silly cat,” Anabelle replied. “If he only knew how mean you were to his mom, he’d bite you.”

“I think he can tell how sorry I am for the way I behaved,” he said as he continued to pet Jasper, slowly getting grey fur all over the sleeve of his turquoise sweater. “And how much I care about his mom. How deep my feelings are for her.” Jasper jumped back down. Giorgio glanced up at her. He looked scruffy, more so than she had ever seen him look. His long dark lashes hid some of the hurt his blue eyes revealed.

“You could have fooled me,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. She felt herself tear up. She looked away.

“I know,” he said. “And I’m truly sorry. For everything.”

Anabelle just nodded, then took a sip of water, fighting back the tears.

“You were right, you know.”

“About what?” she asked,
staring at the coffee table.

“About Portia. About how blind I was. How I should have listened to what you were telling me. Trusted you.”

The mention of Portia made her stomach turn. She tightened her grip on her water glass. “Oh?”

“She and Nikolas are getting a divorce. He’s moved out already
, not all his stuff yet obviously, just him. We fired her from Tsar Enterprises, too. We may even sue. We’ve been consulting with our legal team on our options at this point.”

Anabelle was shock
ed. “What?”

Giorgio nodded
. Over the next hour he proceeded to fill her in on the events of the past couple of days. He also told her how Portia had apparently purposely picked a big fight with Nikolas as an excuse to head over to his place under the guise of needing comfort and friendly advice. He had considered leaving out the nudity parts of Portia’s failed come-on so that Anabelle wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable, but he figured he might as well just be one hundred percent honest with her at this point. He really didn’t have anything to lose now.

Anabelle listened, but looked away when he told her about how far Portia went to seduce him. It upset her. She had sensed Portia’s duplicity. She had tried to tell him.

“Anabelle, I know this isn’t easy to hear, but I wanted to be completely truthful with you. Admit how wrong I was about everything. I’ve hardly slept in the last couple of days, this has all bothered me so much.”

She
just nodded. She felt ill.

“If it’s any consolation, just think how Nikolas felt when he found out. He didn’t know either. Didn’t see it coming at all.”

That realization struck Anabelle hard. She vividly remembered how it felt when Aaron betrayed her and they weren’t even married, nor had he cheated on her with a member of her own family. This was worse. Much worse. Her hand went to her heart. “Oh, he must be devastated.”

“He is.”

“That’s terrible,” she said. “So awful. I’m…I wish it hadn’t been true.”

She put her hand to her lips as it dawned on her that Giorgio’s family and business had been torn apart by this. She realized that both of the Tsarkopolis brothers were likely devastated by this turn of even
ts, that they had been maliciously betrayed, personally and professionally, by someone from within their own family…by Nikolas’ own wife.

Anabelle was at once heartbroken for both of them. She looked over at Giorgio, for the first time really seeing him since he arrived tonight. He looked tired and worn and wrecked.

Giorgio’s shoulders were hunched over and he rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Nik spent the night at my place. We stayed up most of the night talking, trying to figure out what to do...about everything.” He put his hand over his forehead to shield his eyes.

Anabelle regarded him for a moment.

He squeezed his eyes closed and rubbed them with his fingers and thumb. He took a deep breath. “It’s been a difficult time, for Nikolas, for you…I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you.” His deep voice started to crack. “I should have trusted you…the woman I fell in love with.” He pressed his fingers into his eyelids.

His statement knocked the wind out of her. “What did you say?” she whispered. She leaned in closer to him. “Giorgio?”
She placed her hand on his arm.

He couldn’t answer.

She could see he was fighting back tears. Her heart shattered. She didn’t want this, to see him hurting this way. She slid over next to him and put her arm around his broad shoulders. She kissed the side of his head.

He didn’t move. H
e just kept his fingers pressed against his eyelids.

“Giorgio…” she started to say, but then she felt his shoulders shake a bit. She put her other arm around him. “Oh Giorgio, I’m so sorry about what’s happened to your family. It’s heartbreaking. I can’t even imagine what this has been like for you, for your brother.”

Her heart swelled with emotion for the man sitting broken in her arms. She then moved her hand to gently touch his chin, rough with stubble. She lifted his face.

He moved his hand away from his face, but looked down at the floor.

She saw the tears trail down his cheeks. “No, my Adonis, don’t cry, I’m sorry I was so stubborn today. I was just really hurt. I should have talked to you, though.” She leaned over and kissed him, his lips were wet and trembling. She slowly ran her hand back and forth across his back as she kissed him tenderly at first, then with more passion.

He responded in kind. He reached his han
d out to softly stroke her arm.

She paused. “I never wanted any of this to happen,” she said as she pressed her forehead to his. “You mean the world to me.”

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “My beautiful girl, I thought I lost you.”

She shook her head and placed her hands on his waist. “You haven’t lost me. I’m here. With you. If you want.”

He held her tight. “I do, Anabelle, I do.” He pressed his soft lips to her temple and kissed her. He then whispered in her ear, “I am in love with you, Anabelle Parker. I wanted you to know.”

Her heart felt like it would burst out of her chest. “Giorgio, oh my handsome Giorgio…” she stopped as her own tears started to fall. She took a deep breath and said, “I love you, too. So much.”

He pulled away and held her face in his hands, looking deep into her hazel eyes. “Are you sure? You’re not just…”

She pressed a finger to his full
, soft lips. “I’m sure. I think I fell for you the day we met. And from how this has all felt, everything between us…I know now that I am truly, deeply in love with you.” Her tears spilled down her cheeks.

“I want you to be with me…forever,” he whispered as he kissed
her tears away.

“I want that, too,” she said, breathlessly. Her lips found his again, and she kissed him tenderly, searchingly. “You’re my Adonis.”

His voice barely a whisper, he said, “My beautiful girl. I don’t ever want to lose you. I just…I couldn’t bear it…” He blinked back tears.

She shook her head and ran her finger over his lips. “Never,” she said as she pushed him down on the sofa, his head resting on a pillow, and slid over on top of him. “I’m right here.” She kissed him more passionately this time, her tongue finding his. Her body started to writhe on top of him.

Surprised by the sudden, unexpected turn of events, he moaned softly as she pressed herself down between his legs, her body lying against his big frame. “Anabelle,” he started to say, then inhaled deeply as her hand slipped down the side of his hip and started stroking him there. He groaned. “I want to be with you, but are you sure you want to do this right now…it’s just…you know you can get me going in a hot minute.”

“Good,” she said as she continued the suggestive movements. She soon felt his body respond with a distinct firmness between his legs. “I like doing
this to you…very much.”

His lips were parted and his eyes were half-lidded with desire. “You know you can have anything you want from me, any time you want it.” He closed his eyes as
his body hardened.

“Mmmm,” she said,
still writhing on top of him and stroking his hip, “what a wonderful thought.”

He
was breathing heavier now. “There’s just something about you,” he said, his voice deep and low. “I’ve gotten hard just laying in bed thinking about you, how your body looks, how it tastes…”

“Oh? And just what did you do when you got all hard?” she asked, shifting herself to move her hand between his legs, slowly rubbing him, feeling his large bulge harden even more.

He inhaled and let out a long sigh in response her overtly sexual touch. He blushed. He looked at her lips as she continued to rub him, now more firmly, between his legs. She saw him twitch. “What I had to.”

“Ohhh, I see,” she said, as she
then moved to unbuckle his belt.

He looked down at where her hand was. “Anabelle, before you…”

She had it undone. “Yes?” she asked as her fingers moved to his zipper.

He let a low moan. “I-I don’t know…” he stopped as she slowly unzipped his pants.

She was grinning at him like a Cheshire cat. “It’s okay, I’m sure it will come back to you.”

He gave a small laugh. “That’s not what I meant. Before you go any further…” He shuddered as his erection grew. He closed his eyes for a moment. “I need to know what you…want to do with me,” he asked looking up at her, his expression a mix of worry and
blazing hot desire. “I don’t want you to do anything you’re not ready for…I mean, you can have whatever you desire from me. My body’s yours…but I don’t want you to have regrets. Think that we rushed anything…”

She looked down at his bulging manhood, which was stretching the black fabric of his underwear and his denims taut. She slid her fingers into the open front of his pants. His underwear was now sticky and wet
and he was gloriously hard. “Mmmm…such a man, so gorgeous, so well-endowed…” She looked back up at him as she cupped his huge package firmly in her hand.

He let out a long groan, then swallowed hard at her bold and unabashedly sexual
move. His handsome face was flushed with desire, his body so aroused. She had caught him completely off guard.

He was beautiful to her. “You turn me on like no man ever has.” She bent down to kiss him
at the same time as she moved her hand back and forth over his erection. His body hardened as she rubbed him.