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“Thank you,” I manage to say on a shaky breath, gripping the lapels of his jacket to steady myself. We stand like that, sayingnothing, just being. He breaks our embrace and steps back, running a hand through his hair as he exhales.

“So are you doing okay since Ali has gone?” A little confused at his change of tone, I clear my throat. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s a little weird and quiet, but I’m keeping busy.”

“Do you want to grab some food before you head home?”

I look down at my outfit and back up at him. “I’m a little sweaty and this is all I have.”

“Okay, we’ll get takeout and you can come back to mine.”

“Yes, but I don’t have a change of clothes,” I remind him, gesturing to my body. He grins, his eyes raking over my body.

“You don’t need clothes on at my apartment, Gabriella.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Brad

I’ve barely touched Gabriella, and already she’s worked her way into my mind so much so that I am changing my routine. I should be at the club right now, preparing for opening. Checking the books, briefing the staff before the night ahead, but instead I offered Kate double time if she could cover and I ended up at Gabriella’s Pilates studio, slipping inside when she was dancing and fuck, is she incredible.

She’s so light on her feet, twirling and leaping with such grace that she made it look as easy as breathing. I still don’t fully understand why she hides so many parts of herself. Why she walks around with the weight of so many pressures and not have the confidence to tell people what she wants. I wish she could see what I see when I look at her.

After convincing her to leave her car at the studio and come back to mine for some takeout, we took the short drive to my apartment. She took a shower while I kept myself busy plating up our dinner and fighting every urge to barge in there and claim her in the shower.

No, I know that isn’t what she wants. She just wants me to help her feel more comfortable in her own body, and build her confidence, ready for the next guy. The guy who will get to keep her, and the realization of that is like a dagger to the heart. If this is going to work, I have to remember she isn’t going to be mine at the end of this, and as painful as that outcome may be, it’s for the best. I can’t give her what she wants and what she deserves.

The dining table I’ve had custom-built hasn’t arrive yet, so I set places at my large kitchen island and pour Gabriella some wine and myself my whiskey, neat.

I take my seat on the stool and Gabriella walks in, her long hair tied in a ponytail, hanging over one shoulder, wearing one of my black t-shirts. It hangs mid-thigh, her bronzed toned legs on full display and fuck me, I want to lift her on this counter and have her for dinner instead of this rice dish.

“Mmm, this smells so good.” She moans, sending a direct wake up call to my dick. She takes the seat beside me, the shirt riding up, exposing more of her toned thigh, and I have to clear my throat and look away.

“I’ve put your clothes in the washer. They shouldn’t take long, and then I’ll dry them.”

She picks up her chopsticks and begins digging into her food. “You’re so domesticated, it’s hot. I don’t think my dad knows how to fold a shirt, or my mother, for that matter. They couldn’t understand why I turned down their offer of paying for a housekeeper.”

“What, they wanted to get you a housekeeper? What the hell do your parents do for work? Your dad does something in law, right?”

“Yeah, crazy, right? He’s a judge, and my mom does nothing but lunch. They met at law school so she has her degree, but they married and she never worked. Even when she had me, I always had a nanny. My mom was always with my dad at dinners or functions.”

“I’m sorry,” I say quietly. It seems pointless, but what else could I say?

“It’s fine. They grew up the same way, but when I have a family, I want to be there, you know?”

I nod. “So, you want kids?” I think I knew this, but hearing it just solidifies another reason why we would never work.

“I think so. I see Ria with Lexi and Elle, and I think I’d like that one day. I think I’d like at least one, but I don’t want a child growing up lonely like me, so I don’t know. What about you? Don’t you have like five siblings, right? I bet that was fun growing up.”

I wouldn’t call it fun; the words torturous, abusive, and a nightmare come to mind.

“I’m one of four. My mum had me and my two brothers, one after the other, so she had three under three, and then she had Alessia when my youngest brother was ten,” I say before shoveling more food into my mouth. I hate talking about my family unless it’s about my sister.

“Wow, your mom is a queen,” she says in surprise.

“I don’t really see my family. It’s complicated. I just talk to my sister and my nephew, really.”

“What do your brothers do?”

I still at her words. I want to open up to her, but she doesn’t need to be tainted by the troubles of my family. So I keep it light. “My brother, Dario, is in the Marines. He’s deployed at themoment, has been for the last eighteen months. He’s younger than me, and then my older brother, Matteo, he’s in prison.”