Page 107 of Driftwood Daffodil 2

I hated Gio Mancini.

I hated him for making me like him.

“Fuck you, Gio.” I threw my arms up, slapping his face and clawing at his skin.

He took every strike. “That’s it Gattina, get it out.”

“You ruined everything.” I snarled past the tears streaming down my face.

“I know.”

“Go find Cindy!”

“Fuck Cindy, that bitch can die.”

I wanted him to die. I wanted Gio to go away so things could go back to normal where I didn’t have to care about anything. Because no one saw me. No one looked at me like he did. I wanted to go back to being alone.

My arms flailed as I lashed, I threw everything I had at him until I had nothing left and my limbs fell limp to the floor. My entire body hurt.

My chest was heaving, sweat coated my skin, I was angry and exhausted, and Gio was still there. Staring down at me with those deep jade eyes that haunted my thoughts. Like a goddamn plague I couldn’t escape.

“I hate you.”

He lifted his hand and gently swept the hair off my forehead. “No you don’t.”

No I didn’t.

Our heavy breaths mingles as we lay there watching each other.

Gio’s large form loomed over me. Our legs were tangled in a weird knot of thighs and feet, while one of his elbows was braced by my head. His other hand hovered by my face, as if he wanted to touch me. Confusion tugged at his brows as he stared down at me.

What was he looking for? What did he see when he stared at me like that? What did I see?

I searched the golden flecks in his eyes for an answer, or explanation. Something that would make all of this okay. But none of it was okay.

Gio Mancini was the brother of the man who destroyed everything I loved. Gio didn’t have remorse for Veda or care about what happened to my family. Kato was in prison because of what Atlas did, and I couldn’t stop my body from purring at the feel of his weight pressing down on me. I couldn’t stop watching him watch me.

There weren’t many memories I had of my father, but I remembered how he looked at my mother. Adoration and desire shone bright in his eyes. Just like they were in Gio’s. I didn’t like it. I didn’t want him to look at me like that. I didn’t want to like him looking at me like that, but I did.

“Why can’t I hate you?”

I should. I should want to kill him, not cuddle in closer.

“I don’t know.” Gio’s eyes floated over my face, tracing the angle of my jaw up to my lips. “I’ve been asking myself the same thing.”

Was he searching for the same thing I was? Did he feel the same wrongness I did every time we were together? Was he lost too?

I don’t know why, but I found my head lifting off the ground to press my lips to his.

The kiss was soft and didn’t last long. It was nothing more than a light grazing, but it was enough to shock us both.

Silence hung in the air as Gio stared down at me and I stared back at him.

Then his mouth slammed down on mine.

This wasn’t anything like the kiss I gave him. It was feral and hungry. An angry ball of lust and clattering teeth. I fought it at first. We’d been here before and I couldn’t down that road again. I squirmed and bit his lip, hoping to get away, but the second Gio’s tongue touched mine, my mind was lost.

Everything else faded away until there was nothing left but the angry demand of his mouth. Desire churned in a deep dark pool low in my belly. I don’t know how my fingers got in his hair, or when I arched up into him, but I didn’t care.

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