Page 33 of Our Broken Pieces
“You did when it came to me. That’s why you know I’m the one. You’ve never felt something so strong for someone.” She smiles smugly. “I’m going to get a drink.”
“You’re only allowed one.”
“Don’t worry about that; I’m just getting water. I have to work tomorrow morning. There will be no replay of yesterday.”
She returns to the couch and continues, “Timeline. We date for a couple months, do some dinners with your parents, I can show up to your office and be the doting girlfriend a couple times, then we do an over-the-top proposal. Something to really drive it home, ya know?” She drives her fist into the air in front of her.
“Sounds solid. Will you tell your parents?”
She goes quiet, and her eyes change, their usual sparkle becoming dull. Gigi has never really talked about her family, and I have a feeling I’m about to find out why.
“I guess with the situation we’re in, you should know about my childhood.” She takes a drink of water, swallowing hard. “I don’t know my parents.”
I turn to her in my seat. “What do you mean?”
She looks down at the water bottle in her hands. “When I was four, one of our neighbors had CPS do a well check on my family. When the cops and the social worker showed up, my parents were high as a kite in their bedroom and I was out in the yard by myself. It was forty-one degrees outside, and I was in nothingbut a nightgown. No shoes or anything. My parents didn’t even know I wasn’t in the house.”
“Fucking hell.” I run my hand down my face.
“I stayed in the foster care system until I aged out. I was in a different home every one or two years.”
I process the information. How could families pass up her spirit, her humor? And I bet she was cute as hell as a child. “That couldn’t have been easy, G. Thank you for sharing that with me.”
I see tears forming in her eyes, but she looks away. “It is what it is. Made me who I am now, made me work hard to make sure I’m secure, even if it’s just me.”
“Look at me, princess.” My voice is low and quiet. She turns her head even further from me and wipes her cheeks with her free hand.
“Look at me,” I repeat, slower this time.
She reluctantly brings her eyes to mine. “I never saw them after that day. They never came for me. And no family wanted me to stay. I was either too old or too hard to handle. No one ever wanted me to stay. I was never good enough to keep around.”
Fuck. Her eyes are ripping me apart. She never should have felt that way.
“Can I hug you?”
She nods.
I move closer to her and wrap her in my arms. She shakes against me. “Sorry I’m crying. I hate when people see me cry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Let it out, princess.”
She buries her face in my shirt, and I bring her closer. I bring my hand to her neck, rubbing the warm skin under her hair. I hate that she went through that. I wonder if our situation could leave her feeling the same way all over again. It won’t be permanent.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this whole plan?”
She nods against my chest. “I want to help you, prince.” She moves out of my arms. “I want to get your father off your back and get you what is rightfully yours. You deserve to lead that company, Marcus.”
“We can wait to go over all this stuff if you want.”
She shakes her head, sniffling. “No, let’s get this done. We need to get this show on the road.”
I look down at her, wiping a tear from her face.
“You’re touching me a lot today.” She laughs.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, prince.”
