I take a different approach. “I don’t think you should bad talk your boss, Bryce. He’s the one holding up this company. He can drop you at any time.”
“Actually, he can’t. It’s exactly why I associate with Marcus and not him.”
“What do you mean he can’t? He’s the CEO! What really happened between you two?”
“Nothing happened, it’s just fucking impossible for us to get along. That’s all.”
“Well, you could try to change that.”
“Nahhh. I’ve got better things to do. Besides, I don’t need to do anything for Giulio’s benefit. I’m not the one who decided to marry and have three kids with him…”
“How dare you say such a thing!”
“Oh, come on. Don’t give Giulio the respect he doesn’t merit.”
“He deserves the respect much more than you know! Giulio built this company from the ground up. If you don’t feel fit to work here, then don’t. But don’t you dare drag him down like he’s undeserving of success. He deserves it. He worked hard to be where he is now. He’s a good man.”
Bryce arrogantly scoffs. “Is that why ya got separated? Because he was a good man? Obviously he isn’t because he couldn’t hold his family together. He lost the end of that deal.”
My eyes widen.
Screw him!
The malice laced in Bryce’s voice leads me to one conclusion: perhaps his drunken actions last night were solely to get back at Giulio or some type of payback, even though he’s the one happily breaking every single rule here…could that be it?
“You just don’t get it, do you? You don’t understand how much your words hurt me or my family. You don’t know what either of us have been through, or who I really am.”
“I know that he doesn’t deserve ya. He doesn’t deserve his success, his children, or—”
Bryce’s face jerks to the right. The slap is quick. Hard. My lungs deceive me at my shallow gasp as I recover my assaulting hand and his eyes shut for the briefest of seconds.
Oh my god!
What did I just do?
Bryce’s gaze flickers back to me and I note something’s changed. They’re glazed in speckles of defeat. “I…I deserved that.”
I don’t stay to witness him further.
Racked with emotion, I tightly grip the letters and round the unpredictable man who does nothing but stare. His feet remain planted on the floor, yet that doesn’t guarantee a thing.
I can’t believe I just did that.
Giulio’s office acts like my refuge. I scramble to lock the door and sink into his dark leather chair. His lasting scent shouldn’t calm me…but it does. I’m safe now.
I need to get myself together.
There are two picture frames on Giulio’s desk. The first is of him with the twins and Addilyn a couple of weeks after her birth. I remember taking the photo. Giulio is grinning at the camera, his arms securely holding Addilyn. The twins are seated on either side of them. Oscar is gripping a paper plane, the picture taken seconds before putting it on his father’s hair. Slonne is captured mid-giggle, kissing her baby sister’s forehead as Addilyn’s smiles.
The second photo frame is face down and I know why.
Giulio must still be with Marcus and their client, Tate. I have no reason to call him, but a deep part of me wishes he was here, especially with the harsh knocks on the door, followed by Bryce’s persistent pleas to open the door.
No.
I ignore it and fight the urge to feel any type of sympathy. I’m so used to attending to everybody’s needs…the kids, my students…now I have to block it out for once.
The knocking stops and I make the mistake of turning over the frame.
Our wedding day.
We’re grinning at each other as he has me in a dip, holding the small of my back. Our passion enthralled in heavenly fire. I remember the feeling it brought. Security. Honor. Forever and always.
The memory flickers alive so vividly.
Giulio’s hands slip in mine, distracting me from the marriage officiant’s words.
This will be the greatest moment of my life. Right here. Right now. Standing face to face with Giulio Giannotti. The man I would die for. The man I love more than life itself.
“You look beautiful,” he mouths.
“Thank you.”
My cheeks sting from the smile that hasn’t wiped off my face since last night. That was when everything hit me and it no longer felt surreal. There’s that familiar warmth within Giulio’s eyes. It tells me that we will be inseparable, that this will only the beginning.
Giulio’s hands squeeze mine and all I want to do is kiss him. I need to wait though. We are getting married after all!
I want to take it all in. Every single detail. From his perfectly slicked back hair, to my fluttering heart, to the ocean waves crashing behind us that intensify the excitement bursting inside me. A destination wedding is something we always wanted, especially to escape the December cold in Seattle.
Fiji.
“Valencia?”
I snap back to reality and everybody is looking at me. Giulio is wearing that mind-blowing smirk that I love. The marriage officiant smiles warmly, “Your soon to be husband was about to say his vows…”
“Oh gosh, sorry.”
Guests laugh at my mishap. I smile at the faces of friends and family who have devoted their time to us. My parents catch my eye and then Helena, my maid of honor, tugs at my side. “You’ve got this, girlfriend.”
“She won’t be your girlfriend for too long now.” Giulio winks over at us.
I giggle, followed by the rest of the guests.
Helena smiles at her soon to be brother-in-law, “Oh, really now?”
“Yes. Lencia and I did something about that.”
“That’s right.” I squeeze his hands in mine. “We sure did.”
As the laughter fades, Giulio squeezes back. “Valencia.” He starts over, adoration in his tone. “Before I lost my mother, she told me something. That all good things end and so I should make the most of life. I
