Page 38 of Undeniable

He shakes his head. “Night papa.”

“Night buddy.”

Chapter Fourteen

Tasha

It has been a week now since Gio and I decided to give this a go, whatever this is, and what a week it has been. I honestly can’t imagine a better situation at this point. I get to hang out with a great kid all day while making good money and get the best sex of my life after.

I have a nice chunk tucked away for now and Becca even caught me looking at some rental listings online last night. She looked surprised but didn’t comment. She still thinks I am dating some guy named Brayden or whatever. I feel a little guilty for lying to her, but it is so extremely casual between us and really no one else’s business, right?

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out to see who it is. My heart seizes for a minute as my eyes quickly scan over it.

Unknown: Where are you?

Unknown: Are you safe?

Unknown: We need to make new arrangements, fast.

Doing my best to push the anxious feelings inside of me aside, I worry my bottom lip between my teeth before I push my phone back into my pocket. Over the last few weeks, I have definitely allowed a false sense of security to set in. Some days I almost forget that I am constantly in danger. That my life has an expiration date, that I need to be guarding my heart far better than I have been because one day, probably soon, I will be forced to disappear without another word, forever. The thought makes me sick which only adds to my unease.

As much as I don’t want to think about these things, I need to. I need to prepare myself and be ready at all times. I can’t be complacent. I can’t let my guard down.

Alessandro is playing in his room while I am tidying up the kitchen from lunch, doing anything at this point to distract myself from the warring thoughts in my head. Suddenly, my skin prickles with a familiar realization that I am not alone in the kitchen. The air feels heavy, and I can tell that there is someone behind me. I know it isn’t Alessandro either. I learned early on that the kid is about as stealthy as a bull in a pottery barn.

I focus and hear the gentle movement of clothes stepping towards me. It is so faint that most people would miss it, but not me. Forcing myself to keep my movements natural, I casually reach for the knife that I cut Alessandro’s grilled cheese with out of the sink. It isn’t my first choice, but it beats the butter knife and spoon that are also in the sink.

Gripping the handle tightly I slow my breathing until the air shifts just behind me. Quickly, I whip around, knife drawn as I press it up against the throat of the intruder. The tip applies just enough pressure to produce a single bead of red against their skin. I go to apply more pressure when my eyes snag theirs and I let out a startled gasp.

Giovanni’s wide silver eyes hit me with so many emotions. Surprise, confusion and something that almost looks like fear. His arm quickly reaches up to grasp my forearm at the same moment that I let go of the knife entirely, letting it clammer to the ground. I take a large step away from him until my back is plastered against the kitchen counter, my chest heaving with rapid breaths.

Giovanni doesn’t say anything, his eyes never leaving mine as his brows begin to draw in closer and closer together before his hand reaches up and smears the trace of blood across his neck. He pulls his hand down to look at it before he looks back at me.

“I didn’t hear you,” I gasp. “I mean, I heard someone, but I thought someone was breaking in or something. I-I am sorry.”

Surprising the hell out of me, Gio opens up his arms and steps up to me and until he is holding me close to him. I don’t give in for a minute, my adrenaline still rapidly pumping through me.

“I’m sorry, baby. It was the story about Isabelle, right? It has you on edge?” He asks.

I open my mouth to tell him no, but then think better of it as he continues.

“I have learned from my mistakes. I won’t let anyone hurt you or Alessandro. You can trust me.”

I nod into his shoulder as I slowly inhale his scent. My anxiousness fades quickly and soon, I feel relaxed. Well, as relaxed as someone can feel when they almost slit their hookup/bosses throat in the middle of his kitchen.

He pulls away from me and looks down before giving me a sweet kiss on the forehead. His eyes search mine for a moment as if trying to reassure that I am okay. I give him another nod as he kisses my cheek before he calls out Alessandro’s name and bounds up the stairs.

-

A couple of weeks go by that are filled with heavy looks, stolen touches and tens of dozens of orgasms. For obvious reasons we don’t want Alessandro to know that there is something going on between us, mainly because we have chosen not to put a label on whateverthisis. We are just having fun and giving in to this off the charts chemistry we have, but that’s it.

More than likely, one of us will get bored or find someone else that interests us more and we will end things amicably. Besides that, the most likely situation will be that I will have to take off in the middle of the night with no more than a note. It is a sad but harsh truth and as much as I hope that that day doesn’t come, I am not stupid either. I have been living this way for too long, andheseems as driven as ever to find me.

We haven’t talked about the kitchen incident once, and I am not sure if that is a good thing or not. I was expecting him to pull away, to fire me or…something but he did nothing. Instead, he seemed to act like it never happened all together.

Giovanni tells me every day that he is only a phone call away if I need him. I want to tell him that it is okay, that he is not the cause behind my fears. But I think that would only raise questions that I simply can’t answer.

Becca and I haven’t spent much time together lately because I have pretty much been living at Gio’s. I get there early in the morning and leave late at night, if I wasn’t so worried about Alessandro finding out about us, I would gladly sleep wrapped up in Gio’s arms every night than on Becca’s shitty pull out.

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