Page 26 of Heir of Fire
Gianna stopped, feeling the soreness in her calves. She was overdoing her body and if she didn’t stop now, she would nodoubt be entering into injury territory, which was the last thing she needed. Icing her feet and sitting with some cereal sounded like the best way to end her night. Plus, she still needed to do all her date prep for her coffee meet-up tomorrow.
Sure, she was excited, but the date didn’t spark the same thrill that others had in the past and she wasn’t sure why.
You know why.
Nope. She had no idea.
She took off the pointe shoes and the tape from her toes, letting them stretch and breathe. She rolled out her legs briefly, letting out groans from how good the pain felt before she rolled out her foot. The stretches were equally her least favorite and her most favorite part of her routine. She stood up, stretching out her spine in the process, and tugged on a pair of sweatpants over her tights and a pair of fuzzy boots that were more like slippers.
With everything thrown into her bag haphazardly, she hoisted it over her shoulder and walked out of her studio. Her time walking to the car was usually when she caught up on her phone. She refused to let herself get distracted with it during practice, especially if someone decided to send something horrible.
Like Allister texting that their mother was coming back for another visit soon and they would have to go back home to see her.
Gianna stopped walking, her heart halting.
For the life of her, she couldn’t understand why her mother even bothered seeing them once a year or why their father made them show up to the visits. She left them when they were children, abandoning them because she didn’t want to be a mother anymore. She’d only decided on it after she had Gianna, though.
They had been raised by their father and nannies, seeing their mother as often as they saw Santa.
Maybe calling that woman her mother was too strong of a word because that was something she had never been and never would be.
Gianna shoved her phone back into her bag, taking a deep breath as she started walking again. She needed to push it down for now. Bury it deep, deep inside of her where she could pretend that her mother leaving when she was three years old didn’t make her feel like she was the problem.
You are unlovable.
There it was. That nasty voice again. The one that came at the worst times but told her the truth.
She lifted her hand, biting on the skin around her fingers. She hated being alone for this reason. When she was alone, that was when she felt the most abandoned, even if she knew she had a whole network of people at home who supported her.
She would be home soon and then she would find Allister and Blair and Cecilia, maybe even Luna and Valerio and Dante, and then she could rest her mind.
She dropped her hand, going to reach for her phone again. Maybe she could call one of them while she walked. That would ease her mind.
A hand wrapped around her mouth, pulling her against a firm body. She gasped, her body tensing. Then she started to fight, thrashing her body against the unknown assailant, trying to scream for anyone to help her.
“You seriously need to be more aware of your surroundings, princess.”
Her brows furrowed. Why the hell did that voice sound so familiar?
“Look how easily you recognize my voice,” he said, leaning close to her ear. “You know who it is.”
Finn.
He turned her around, still keeping his hand covering her mouth tightly. She desperately tried to ignore the way his arm held her waist, the way he pushed her body up against his.
She was getting distracted.
“I’m going to remove my hand. Don’t scream—or do, I don’t give a shit,” Finn said, a wicked grin on his face.
Gianna frowned, pushing him as soon as he removed his hand, but he didn’t move an inch. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you do something like that? You scared the hell out of me.”
“You’re so careless, you didn’t notice that I have been following you since you left the studio.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Giving you a ride home like the sweet man I am.”
She looked at him skeptically. It was hard to believe a single word that left that beautiful mouth of his. “I have a car waiting for me.”
