Page 30 of And Everything In Between

The words struck her with physical strength. What did she need?

“I need a shower,” she admitted, the truth surprising her. “Clean clothes. My laptop for work tomorrow. And I need…” She swallowed hard, the words sticking in her throat “I need to know he’s not alone when he wakes up.”

Giovanni nodded, already moving toward the chair beside Perry’s bed and grabbing a magazine from the end table. “Then go. I got him.”

Paige blinked. “It’s that easy?”

“Paige.” He motioned her forward, so he could tell her something privately. “You trusted me with your body last night. Trust me to sit with your father for an hour. Handle yourself. Bye.”

Put that way, it seemed absurd to hesitate. She’d let this man see her at her most vulnerable last night. Why was this different? Because this wasn’t about her. It was about Perry. And no one, no one, had offered to share that burden with her. Not once.

“My car is still at the fairgrounds,” she remembered suddenly.

“Already handled,” Giovanni said, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Texted Ro. He’s bringing it here. Should be in the lot by now.”

Paige blinked, her mouth parting. “When did you…?”

“Told you. Handled.”

He stood, nodding toward the hallway. “Now, do I gotta tell you to go again?”

That look in his eyes said yes, he absolutely would, gladly. And she was starting to believe he meant every bit of it. Paige inhaled deep, walked over to the bed, and leaned down to kiss her father’s forehead. She lingered, for a second.

“I’ll be back soon, Daddy.” She said it low, just for him.

“Okay, baby,” Giovanni said under his breath, teasing.

She straightened, gave him an amused look over her shoulder.

“Nigga, please. But… thank you.”

His eyes met hers and they smiled at each other. From the outside looking in, you'd think they were a couple. Everything between them just... worked.

“You don’t have to thank me for doing what decent people do.”

“Still,” she said. She needed him to feel what she couldn’t quite say.

Giovanni nodded.

She grabbed her purse and hesitated at the door one last time. He was already settling in, legs stretched out, phone in hand, like he’d been sitting beside Perry for years.

“One hour,” she promised, more to herself than to him.

The drive home felt like floating. She cried, dried her eyes, cried again until she made her way through the motions. But when she came out of it, her thoughts split. Half of her was still in that hospital room, watching her father breathe. She was grateful it wasn’t anything serious. The other half was trying tomake sense of the man sitting beside him and the night they’d shared. A night that felt perfect from beginning to end and all bullshit aside he’d earned the daddy moniker.

Giovanni had worked her so damn good last night that the visions of his head between her legs caused her a shiver to run down her spine as she made her way to her apartment. Her apartment greeted her with silent familiarity, everything exactly as she’d left it yesterday. Before everything changed. The half-empty iced coffee on the counter. The work folders spread across the dining table with her dead laptop next to them.

Had it only been twenty-four hours?

Paige moved through her routine on autopilot, shower, clothes laid out, hair wrapped. The hot water washed away the anxiety and worry, but not the memory of Giovanni’s hands on her skin. Something was happening. Something she wasn’t prepared for. Something she’d never expected when she slid into his car yesterday. But what was she to do now? Giovanni wasn’t giving her space to disappear.

She quickly moisturized her skin before throwing on a turquoise workout set. She wanted to be comfortable for her overnight stay at the hospital. She packed her bag, double-checking to make sure she didn’t forget anything.

She was about to head out when her phone rang on the counter, causing her heart to jump to her throat. She relaxed when she realized it was only Brooks.

“You good?” he asked. “I went by to drop off his sugar-free cake at the center, and they told me he was at the hospital.”

She hadn’t thought of calling anyone yet. She knew her mother wouldn’t care. And everyone else was busy. Perry wouldn’t want a bunch of people crowding him and personally she wasn’t in the mood either, but she would keep them posted.

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