Page 84 of And Everything In Between

“I think so.”

Even Brooks sat up straighter. “Tonight?”

“Tonight.”

He didn't need another sign. He'd already seen enough. That woman had changed his damn life. There would be no halfway with Paige Bishop. There had never been a stutter step or a misfire. From the night she slid into his car to every moment she’d poured into him after. He didn’t need more time to figure out if she was his to have and hold forever; he neededher.

“Let us know how we can support. Proud of you.”

They’d been all in from the jump, even when they tried to play it cool. He wasn’t a man who believed in signs from the universe, but he believed in what his hands could build and what his heart could feel. And both were telling him the same thing: Paige Bishop was meant to be his wife.

Giovanni stood up, already moving. “Y’all feel like being late to the premiere?”

The men slapped their hands on Giovanni’s back, congratulating him, fully aware that the theme of the night was going to shift tremendously.

He pulled out his phone and made a single call.

“I need a favor, a big one sis.”

#

Paige checked her makeup one last time in her compact mirror, smoothing a finger over her perfectly lined lips. The midnight blue dress hugged her curves, strapless with a high slit that showed enough leg to keep Giovanni's attention where it belonged, on her, not the cameras that would be everywhere tonight.

“You good?” she asked, glancing at him. “We can still turn around if you're not feeling it.”

Giovanni's face was focused, tight, that quiet intensity he got when his mind was working through something. He looked damn good in that tailored black suit, no tie, gold and diamond chains resting against his chest. His eyes flicked to her briefly, a small smile breaking through the seriousness.

“I'm good. We need to make a quick stop before we hit the premiere.”

“A stop? Baby, we're already cutting it close. You hate being late, and I do too now.”

“Paige, this our shit. Trust me, one last time.”

Those words. So simple, but heavy between them. ‘Trust me’ had been the unspoken thread of their relationship from thebeginning, from the moment he asked her to get in his car at the fairgrounds, to when he sat with her father during dialysis, to every time he showed up exactly when she needed him without having to ask.

“Always,” she replied, because it was true.

The car turned off the main road, heading away from the glittering strip of Hollywood where the premiere was being held. Paige raised an eyebrow but didn’t question it. Giovanni’s hand rested on her thigh, squeezing gently before leaning in for a kiss.

“You do this every time. You’re gonna mess up my lip combo.”

“That glossy thing you do with your lips drives me crazy, baby. I'm sorry.”

After fifteen minutes, they pulled up to what looked like a private airfield. Security waved them through without checking ID. In the distance, the sleek outline of a helicopter stood silhouetted against the setting sun, its blades motionless but ready.

“Giovanni,’ she said slowly, “what's happening right now?”

The driver put the car in park but didn't kill the engine right away. He turned to look at her.

“Do you trust me?”

“I already said I did,” she replied, trying to read his expression. “But you're acting weird as hell right now.”

That pulled a smile from him, a wide one.

“I know, and I’m sorry. We're not going to the premiere. Not yet anyway.”

“Then, where are we going that requires a helicopter?”

---