Page 71 of Undeniable

It doesn’t seem to work that way though. Gio closes the distance between us in 2 long strides and cups my jaw, tilting my face up to look at him. Tingles begin to spread across my skin at the touch I have craved and dreamed about for months now.

“I want everything from you.”

“Gio, I-”

He brushes his thumb against my lips, almost reverently, wordlessly silencing me. His eyes leisurely trace over my face, focusing on my lips for a few beats before coming to rest on my eyes.

“I want you, Tasha. I need you. I have been about as patient as I can be. I have kept my distance, allowed you to live your life without my interference. But my patience is up. It is time to come home.”

“Home?” I question breathlessly as his thumb continues to trace over my lips gently.

He nods firmly once. “Our home. With me and Alessandro. You belong there, and you can feel it too. You feel like something is missing, can’t you?”

I open my mouth to lie, but no words come out. Of course, I feel it. How could I not? I shake my head, though choosing not to remove myself from his grasp.

“How? How could we possibly get past everything we have been through? How could we possibly move on?”

“One day at a time. It might be hard, there may be days where you curse my name and want to bury me in the backyard. But that is okay. Because at the end of all of our days I will hold you, kiss you and promise to never let go.”

I close my eyes and sink into his touch, wishing that this never had to end. Could it really be that easy?

“I love you,” he says passionately, his breath skating just above my lips.

My eyes open slowly to see his eyes watching me carefully. With my heart wildly beating against my ribcage I take a deep breath and blow it out before tilting my head up higher.

“I love you too.”

As if that cements everything into place, Gio picks me up by the back of the thighs and lifts me up onto the counter. My sweatpants are gone in an instant before Gio is savagely thrusting into me, claiming me. We both let out simultaneous groans as Gio’s head is buried into my neck. He lifts up slightly to look at me, his hand brushing a loose piece of hair out of my face.

“I am going to fuck you good and hard as punishment for you making me wait this long. Then, I am going to take you into the bedroom and make love to you before we pack your things and take you home where you belong.”

My lips tilt up in a smirk as my fingers weave through his hair.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Epilogue

Giovanni

6 years later

I tip my glass back, savoring the warm burn of my drink as it flows down my throat. We are enjoying dinner at the Mariano’s home, a weekly tradition for us all. At the head of the table of course is Luca, with Ashlynn on his right. Little Antonio is on the other side of Luca where he is happily munching on his birthday cake. It is amazing to me that it has already been 6 years since he was born. 6 years since everything happened.

After Tasha and I made up properly, we grabbed her essentials while a few soldiers packed up the rest of her apartment and had it brought over to our home. I couldn’t trust her to not get cold feet, so I had to act fast. Thankfully for me, we haven’t looked back since.

Alessandro was overjoyed when she walked through that door. He would ask for her every night before bed and it killed me to tell him that she couldn’t be with us that night. He would always ask me when, and I found myself wondering the same question.

I did my best to give her space, well, as much space as I could handle. I had her followed everywhere she went, just in case. Most of the time I was the one tracking her every move but when there were times that I absolutely couldn’t, I had several men trailing her. I made sure she got into a nice, safe apartment that was only 5 miles from our home. I hoped she would come around on her own, but after 2 months of fucking torture, I decided enough was enough.

It was hard for Luca and Tasha to be around each other for a while. Though for all intents and purposes they had forgiven each other, things were still tense, and I would be lying if I said that they weren’t occasionally even now. But Tasha and Ashlynn are practically sisters and with the kids all being raised together it makes things easier.

Luca and Ashlynn just recently had another son, which is now only their 3rdchild much to Luca’s dismay. Ashlynn wanted to take a break from having children so that she could focus on her work for a while but finally caved and now has 3-month-old Mateo.

I waited an appropriate amount of time once Tasha and I got back together before I proposed to her. I believe it was about 4 months, which was 4 months too long if you ask me. I closed down the coffee shop that we first met at and had a ring waiting with a coffee cake muffin, black coffee and enough sunflowers to fill an entire field. She didn’t hesitate at saying yes and we decided to get married at Ashlynn and Luca’s vacation home in Italy a few months later. It was just our families and Alec and it was perfect.

Alessandro is now 12 and I can’t even believe it. He has grown so much in the last few years and is really becoming a young man. Tasha and Alessandro are closer than ever and have been ever since I brought her home where she belonged. At the wedding reception Alessandro asked if he could call her mom and let me tell you, there was not a single dry eye in the room that night.

I glance over to see my son whispering something into Seraphina’s ear, who is now 8, causing her to giggle wildly as they send mischievous glances to everyone around the table. Alessandro’s eyes meet mine and I cock an eyebrow in question. He gives me a guilty smile that has his dimples poking out as he shrugs his shoulders. I watch as Seraphina stares at him all star eyed like he hung the moon. We all joke about it, but when I see my son return the look to her, I know that we are going to be in for some trouble with those two.

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