Page 67 of Remember When We
Frankie could come at me with everything, with all his threats and whatever, but through all that I was so glad I had never given up. Never relenting before Gio came back and I definitely wouldn’t ever do it now. Even if the fucking thought crossed my mind, I knew me. I knew myself and knew that I could never hurt Gio like that. I would die first and that was one thing Frankie didn’t know about me.
When I loved, I loved hard and this man had always had my love.
Us like this was pure magic—our love. It stopped being sex, and we were making love. There was a big difference, because it was everything. All the wildness and passion combined with love. It was an experience that had to be felt to be explained fully.
Lost in the rhythm, together we went over the edge and when we came it was with that same passion that exploded where we were joined.
He lowered next to me once he finally stilled and pulled me into his arms.
“I love you.” He whispered into my ear.
I had to look at him, because he’d never told me that before. “What … what did you say?”
“I love you,” he repeated.
In all the years we’d been together before he left, he had never said those words. I’d felt it and seen his love for me. I knew it when he came to the lake house. My ultimatum was to come if you love me and he did. In my young mind I just believed actions were deafening in comparison to words. I had always wanted him to show me he did and he always did.
Hearing him say it though was …
It was like pure undiluted happiness filling my body.
“I love you Lyssa. That was what I should have said to you several times over in the past. But definitely that day when you first said it. This was what I wanted to say …” he eased himself up to sit and stared down at me. “When you told me you loved me. I wanted to say, I love you too. Come with me. Just come with me. I missed it all, because I thought I was doing the right thing for you. If I had been here, I would have taken care of you. I would have been the happiest man alive when you told me you were pregnant.” He lowered to kiss my stomach and lingered there resting his head against my skin the way most men would when their wives or girlfriends were pregnant. “I would have done this every day. It would have been the happiest time of our lives even in a time of grief. It would have been a time to remember when we were us.”
When he lifted his head, I didn’t even realize I was crying. He moved back up to me and held my face.
“We were always us Gio, and I love you too. I never stopped.” It felt like a relief for my soul.
He smiled down at me. “I never stopped either. Next time will be better. I promise.”
I had to laugh. “Next time?”
“Oh yes, and the time after that too.”
“How many kids do we plan to have Gio?”
“Let’s just play that part by ear.” He chuckled.
All of that sounded like the best plan to me.
Chapter 20
Gio
“You sure you don’t need me there?” Claudius asked. His voice came across all staticky on the phone.
I frowned we were at the place. Across the street from the Double Tree entrance, on the roof of the complex’s shops that adorned the street adjacent to the hotel.
We were here ready to strike. Claudius had called me for the fifth time today wanting to know if I needed backup.
“Boss, for fuck’s sake. I’m fine.” I knew he’d want to come, but Ava had just given birth to their son. When I’d called him to round up the boys, he was in the emergency room. It was Luc that had to do the rounding up. The baby was only two days old. His wife, Ava, was still in hospital and Claudius thought he could come to Philly during his break and help me sort shit out here, then get back to Chicago for dinner.
“Gio, don’t screw with me. I could be there in two hours by jet.”
Dante rolled his eyes, because he knew Claudius.
“I have enough people here man.”
We had a team of five of our best guys that included Donny and Lois who were with me, and Saul who was back at the house with River the new kid and Patrick his cousin. Both had just got out of the army.
