Page 416 of The Morally Grey Billionaires Boxset

Gio

"Goldie, please?"

I push my back into the door and squeeze my eyes shut.

I can’t do this. I can’t see him. I don’t want to see him.

If I do, it’ll only weaken me, and I can’t let that happen.

Not after how he strung me along. And I thought he had feelings for me.

I was sure I saw the tenderness in his eyes.

Glimpsed affection, perhaps even, a liking…

maybe, love for me. I was sure he’d never hurt me.

I was wrong. Again. I really know how to pick 'em, huh? I had my heart broken and dared to believe in love. And now, I'm paying the price. How am I going to recover from this? How?

"Goldie, give me a chance, please. One chance to make it up to you. That’s all I ask."

I hear the plea in his voice, and something knotted in my chest begins to loosen.

I steel myself against the barrage of feelings that pour through my veins.

I can’t let myself soften toward him, I can’t, no matter that he’s apologizing.

If I did, I’d never forgive myself. I’d never look at myself in the mirror with self-respect again.

And will I forgive myself if I don't give him a chance?

"Goldie?"

A ripple squeezes my insides. He must have placed his palm against the door, for I swear, I can feel the imprint on the small of my back.

"Please?" He lowers his voice to a hush, and my nerve-endings spark.

"You’re not playing fair," I manage to choke out. "If you use that tone of voice, you know I’ll obey you, and I don’t want to. I don’t."

"Then open the door."

"Why should I?"

"I need to see your face. Please, baby."

"Don’t. Don’t call me by any endearments you don’t mean."

"But I do. It’s true I was angry with you. That I was holding onto a grudge against you. That perhaps, a small part of me still holds you responsible for what happened with my sister. But I’m trying, Goldie. I promise, I am."

"Was everything you told me a lie? The way you fucked me—"

"Made love to you," he corrects me.

"Fucked me. You held my gaze as you fucked me, and I thought I glimpsed the truth of us in your eyes—"

"And you did, I promise. I was conflicted about what I was doing. I knew I was falling for you, and I hated myself for it. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. I wasn’t supposed to develop emotions where you were concerned. It was supposed to be an arrangement, that’s all."

I wince. "If you’re trying to sell me on an apology—"

"I’m not. I mean, I’m not trying to sell you. And I’m doing a piss poor job of apologizing to you, too. Gio, open the door, I beg you. Let me look at you while having this conversation, at least."

I shake my head. "You turned your back on me and walked away. And you never told me about your sister. You had the opportunity—"

"I tried to tell you many times, but I knew if I did, it would change everything between us."

"So, you let me believe that you were developing feelings for me?"

"I was! That was the entire problem." He groans, then I hear a thump against the door, and while I can’t see him, I know he’s pushed his forehead into the wood. I turn and place my palm against it, then lean my forehead into the door.

"I don’t believe you," I say softly.

He must hear me, for he growls, "Better believe it. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if I didn’t feel something for you. It’s because I was falling for you, I decided to tell you the truth about Diana. I couldn’t have married you without you knowing the reality. It’s why I had to tell you."

"And I’m asking myself, why you didn’t pretend to marry me and then tell me the truth. Wouldn’t it have hurt me more that way?" Why does it matter? Why am I asking him these questions, when nothing he says is going to change the fact that everything between us was a lie.

"You’re right, and I know it would have hurt you even more if we'd gotten married—"

"Fake married—"

"Married." His voice turns hard. "We're in love, and we are getting married."

"No, we’re not." I shake my head.

"Goldie!" His tone turns glacial enough, if words were weapons, he would have torn down the door with them. "We have to get married. Grams expects it.”

“First your sister, now your grandmother.” I throw up my hands. “Once again, you’re placing responsibility for the health of one of your family members on me. It’s not fair. You can’t do this. You can’t manipulate me into doing something I don’t want to, you—"

As if on cue, my phone rings. I pull it from the pocket in my jacket and look at it. Oh, no, it’s Grams calling. I stare at the screen as her name flashes there. I hold the phone until it stops ringing, only for a buzzing from the other side of the door to start.

"Fuck!" Rick exclaims, but he doesn’t answer the phone, either. The buzzing sound continues, then cuts out.

A few seconds later my phone starts ringing. It's her again. I glance up at the door then at the phone. Then, before I can change my mind, I answer the call, "Hello, Grams!"

"There you are," Grams coughs. "I can’t reach my grandson, but that’s fine. I’d rather talk to you anyway."

"Why are you on the phone, you should be resting."

"Oh phsst"—I can imagine her wave her hand in the air—"I’ll rest when I’m dead."

"Don’t talk about dying, please." I swallow.

"It’s inevitable. We’re all going to die, Giorgina, some of us sooner than others. It’s why I want the two of you to get married right way."

"What?" I burst out.

"The two of you are getting married, aren’t you?" She sounds uncertain. When I don’t answer, I hear her sniff. "Has that fool of my grandson done something to upset you? Are the two of you fighting? Is that why neither of you is answering my phone call?"

I stay quiet. The silence stretches, then I hear Grams swallow over the phone. "Is... is everything okay between the two of you? My Rick can be a little hard-headed, but he has a good heart. I hope you won't hold his stubbornness against him?"

The vulnerability in her voice reaches into me and twists that part of me I’ve tried to protect for as long as I can remember.

I’ve put up barriers against the world, so I wouldn't be hurt. Every time I've let someone through, they’ve only hurt me. I was wise enough not to let my guard down against Dennis. But with Rick, he bulldozed it all without trying. He crawled under my skin and imprinted his scent in my cells. He wrote his name on my heart. And any remaining resistance I might have had was knocked down by the sadness in Grams’ voice.

I never met my grandparents or my father, and my mother wasn’t known for her maternal instincts.

It’s why I learned to be independent at such an early age.

It’s why, when I met Grams, I fell for her as much as I had for Rick.

She’s been more loving to me than my own parents had ever been.

She’s the closest I’ve come to having a family.

It’s why I have to do this. "Sorry we didn’t answer the phone, Grams. Rick is with me. "

I open the door, and his cerulean gaze locks with mine. The helplessness, and the anger, and the frustration I’m feeling is mirrored in his eyes. It convinces me, this is the right thing to do. "As soon as the paperwork is arranged, we’re getting married."