“Oh my gosh, Gabriel, really? Are these real?”
“I’m pretty sure they are.”
She ran to snap it around the dog that was busy sniffing around my room, looking for who knows what. I rolled my eyes when she turned the little furball this way and that like he was getting ready for the runway.
“Come, there’s one more.” I sat on the bed and pulled her down next to me before handing her the box. “This one is very special; I had to go snooping through your sketchpad to find it; I hope you don't mind.” I wasn’t about to tell her that I’d broken into the school to do that, let her think it happened after she moved in here.
I was nervous all of a sudden, not sure what her reaction would be. She opened the box with trembling hands, and when she saw the other box inside, the sound she made I have no name for. When she looked up at me, all I saw were tears clouding those beautiful eyes. I became choked up myself by the emotion I saw in her.
“Why don’t you spray a little.” She did, on her wrist, and the result was instantaneous.
“Mom!” The word was a soft plea followed by the most heart-wrenching sobs I’ve ever seen or heard. I couldn’t take it, not the tears, not her sorrow. I don’t know-how can’t remember doing it. But somehow, she ended up in my lap with my arms wrapped protectively around her.
“Don’t, don’t!” I became tongue-tied for the first time in my life, and when pleading with her didn’t work, I did the one thing I’d promised myself not to. “Gianna, don’t do this.” I cupped her cheek in my palm, and she looked at me then, so forlorn, so broken, so hurt. I lowered my head and kissed her.
The world didn’t stop. Nothing so dramatic. But when she innocently opened her lips beneath mine, something in me, something that should’ve been left alone, opened its wings and took flight, and for a brief moment, there was nothing else in this world but us two.
I imprinted it all to memory. The way her soft lips felt under mine, the slenderness of her shoulders as I embraced her, and the way she clung. I’ll never forget any of it, not for as long as I’m alive.
GIANNA
It’s a dream; it has to be. All this goodness, this joy in one day cannot be real. My heart is full to bursting, and best of all, Gabriel Russo just kissed me is still kissing me, well now he’s gently nibbling my lips, and I don’t know which is better, the deep passionate kiss we shared or the way he’s holding me now as if hating to let go. I feel like I will burst from all the excitement.
The kiss didn’t come to an abrupt end, not the way the hug did earlier. Instead, once he was through tasting my lips, he held me close for a little while longer. I didn’t want to break the spell, but there was so much I wanted to say, so many questions needing answers. “How did you know?”
“I saw the drawing and did some research. I figured because of everything else in the book that it had something to do with your mother. I guess I was right.”
“How can I ever repay you for this? And today? I know you won’t say, but I’m sure whatever happened with Victoria was for my benefit. Thank you.” He blushed at my words and hurried to change the subject.
“What did your grandmother say?”
“Oh, she wants to come see me. She said she spoke to your mom already about the party.” Something of which I’m still confused, but it seems to be the Russo family way to just bulldoze their way through life’s little hiccups.
“You can see her before then if you’d like.”
“Really?” He ran his fingertip down my nose.
“Yes, really. Now let’s take the mutt out for a walk before I have him stuffed and mounted for being a nuisance.”
“Gabriel, that’s not nice.” I grinned up at him knowing he was just a big old softie. His bark is way worse than his bite.
BECKY
I can’t tell them the truth, so why do they keep asking? I paced the cell back and forth as my mind kept drawing a blank. It wasn’t long before one of them, the man I’d first thought was a plainclothes cop but turned out to be a Fed, came to stand outside the bars of the cage they’d put me in.
“We’ve checked with the bank, and you haven’t made that kind of withdrawal. You should know, the secret service is on their way to your home as we speak.”
“The, the, why are they involved?”
“Didn’t you know? It’s why they were formed in the first place back during the time of the civil war.”