The CEO, the Puppy and Me

t. She struggled to return to her dream—her nice dream—her sexy dream.

Ric was there in her dreams. He’d been smiling at her, laughing with her, flirting with her and kissing her. She moaned. Where was he now? She searched through the foggy recesses of her dreams—

“Gia?”

Gia grunted. She didn’t want to wake up, she wanted Ric back.

“Gia, I have coffee.”

A whiff of coffee reached her nose. It was a jolt to her sluggish body. That did it. The dream was over. Like Pavlov’s dog, her mouth watered at the thought of coffee. What could she say? She loved the stuff.

And when she opened her eyes, she found the coffee and voice weren’t part of another dream. Bianca stood there holding two steaming mugs of coffee.

“Hey, sleepyhead. I thought you were going to snooze the day away.”

And then everything came rushing back to her—the reason she’d returned to Tuscany early. Now she wished more than anything that she was still sleeping.

“Here.” Bianca held the mug out to her. “Maybe this will help.”

Gia shimmied into a propped-up position and gladly accepted the coffee. She pressed the warm mug to her lips and practically inhaled the creamy brew.

Once she’d swallowed, her gaze returned to her sister—her sister who would soon be a bona fide princess. She was all done up, from her white-and-turquoise-striped skirt and white blouse to her hair, which was twisted at the back of her head and pinned up with loose corkscrew curls to soften the look.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in Patazonia?” Not giving Bianca a chance to respond, Gia asked, “And why do you look so fancy this early in the morning?”

“It’s not early. In fact, it’s almost lunchtime. And I had planned to return later this week to help Sylvie, but then Enzo called last night. And, well, I hopped on the jet and here I am.”

“On your private jet. Must be nice.”

Gia was still wrapping her mind around her sister’s life turning into a real-life fairy tale, including the evil mother-in-law. Okay, maybe evil was too strong. But the woman had certainly not made things easy for Bianca. But the queen didn’t know her sister like Gia did. Bianca never ever gave up on the people she loved. And she loved Leo with all her heart.

“I’m not here to talk about me. I want to know what’s going on with you.”

“I can’t believe Enzo ratted me out.” And then she recalled her run-in with him and Sylvie. “Is there something going on with Enzo and Sylvie?”

“Ah...not that I know of. But I’m not here all that much. Why? What did you see?”

Gia shrugged and then took a sip of coffee. “It’s not what I saw as much as a vibe I was getting. But then again, I was really tired last night. Maybe it was nothing.”

“I don’t know, but what I want to hear about is you and what happened in Lapri.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Gia drank more coffee as she avoided her sister’s narrowed gaze.

“Don’t want to talk about what?” Enzo stood in the doorway of her bedroom.

The gang was all here now, and Gia knew there was no way she’d be able to make it to the shower until she told them everything about her journey to find her biological father. She didn’t blame them for being curious. If she was in their shoes, she’d be dying to know what had happened.

And so, with Bianca settled on the other side of the bed with coffee in hand, and Enzo perched on the end of her bed, Gia drew in a deep breath. She could do this—so long as she didn’t mention Ric or the puppies she missed so dearly.

Gia told them about the dead ends she’d faced trying to find her father. And about Ric’s friend who was able to glean information from the journal that she couldn’t see. Then she came to the tough part of the story—about how her biological father was nothing like she’d imagined. She’d been so wrong about him—about their parents.

“Now I understand why our parents kept the truth from me—from us. They weren’t trying to keep us apart, they were trying to shield me from a very selfish man. I don’t know if I’d have made the same decision as them, but I hope I never have to find out.”

“They loved you.” Bianca leaned over and hugged her.

Enzo placed a hand on her lower leg. “We love you, sis. And we’ll always be here for you. No matter what. We’re Bartolinis, and Bartolinis stick together—through thick and thin.”

Tears of love and gratefulness rolled onto Gia’s cheeks. “Thanks, guys. You two are the best.”