Her phone started ringing again. Gigi threw back the bed sheets, reached for a robe, and padded to the living room to answer it. “Hello?”
She nearly dropped the phone when it was Julia, Gio’s wife. “Gigi, you can tell us to come back later, but Gio and I arrived early, and we wanted to take you out for breakfast.”
Gigi sat on one of the chairs in shock. “Arrived? You’re in Edinburgh already?” With everything that had happened, Gigi had completely forgotten her brother and sister-in-law had said they were coming for a visit.
“We’re downstairs. Gio is grilling your bodyguard. I hope you wanted overprotective brothers, because that’s what you got. Gio’s so excited to see you, too. It’s sweet. I told him you’d be at work by now, and we could wait until tonight to see you, but he called your office and when Annelise said you weren’t coming in today he became worried. You’re not sick, are you?”
“No, I’m fine. I was up late last night and decided to sleep in today. I’m still pretty tired. Do you mind if we meet up later today?” Gigi looked behind her at the bedroom door in panic. This wasn’t how she wanted Gio to find out about her and Kane.
“See, Gio. I told you she’s okay, just tired.” Gio said something to Julia Gigi didn’t catch, and Julia answered, “No, she does not have a man up there. And even if she did, it’s none of your business. She’s twenty-five.”
Gigi cringed when she heard Gio’s answer. “It is my business. She’s my sister.”
Julia sighed. “Oh boy, Gigi. Do you have anyone up there?”
Gigi lied under the pressure. “No; like I said, I’m just tired.”
“Gio, she’s alone. You’re getting all worked up over nothing. Gigi, he’s not like this normally. He thinks now you have your inheritance you’re ripe for someone trying to scam you.” Julia had a quiet conversation with her husband that was unintelligible to Gigi before speaking into the phone again. “Are you dressed, because your brother is being paranoid? He thinks your bodyguard looks guilty. Now he’s worried you may be held hostage up there and unable to tell us. Oh, my God, Gio. Stop. Can we come up for a minute, Gigi? Then I promise you, this will never happen again. Right, Gio?”
Gigi stood and started to pace her small living room. “You can’t come up. You have to convince Gio to leave because I do have someone here.”
Julia made a sound of understanding. “Oh, crap. I wish I were a good liar. About what? Gio, I can’t tell you. We’re leaving though, and we’ll see Gigi tonight as we had originally planned. You do still want to see us tonight?”
Gigi closed her eyes briefly and answered quietly, “Yes.”
“See? All is good. Let’s go, Gio.”
After hanging up, Gigi sagged back against the chair in relief. If she wasn’t ready to explain last night to Annelise, she definitely wasn’t prepared to defend it to Gio. She owed Julia a grateful hug the next time she saw her for diffusing what might have been an ugly situation.
A loud knock on the door was followed by Gio’s voice ordering, “Open the door, Gigi.”
Gigi stood, tightened the belt of her robe around her waist and reluctantly opened the door enough so she could see her brother. He looked as angry as his wife was embarrassed.
With a sheepish smile, Julia poked around Gio’s side and said, “I’m sorry, Gigi, I tried. He can be so stubborn sometimes.”
Eyes narrowed with irritation, Gio said, “Rocco wouldn’t look me in the eye when I asked him why you had stayed home. He wouldn’t tell me who was with you, either. He’s gone.”
Good for Rocco! Anger slowly overtook Gigi’s embarrassment. “You can’t fire my bodyguard.”
Gio looked back at her like a king explaining his role. “I can if I hired him.”
“Something you shouldn’t have done because I told you I didn’t need one.”
“Then you won’t miss him.”
Gigi threw up her hands in frustration, and the door swung the rest of the way open as she did. “Gio, I’m your sister, but I’m not a child. I am perfectly capable of—”
“Who’s at the door, Gigi?” Kane asked from behind her. She looked over her shoulder just in time to see Kane walk fully into the living room with a white towel slung around his waist and another towel draped around his neck. She tried to wave him back, but it was too late.
“Kane?” Gio bellowed as he stepped past Gigi and into her apartment and strode toward Kane.
Julia went to stand beside Gigi. “Maybe it won’t be so bad. They’ve known each other for most of their lives. They’re like brothers. They’ll work it out.”
Gio stood face to face with Kane, his fists clenched at his sides. “I trusted you, Kane.”
“I understand why you’re angry, Gio. I didn’t plan for this to happen. Trust me, I tried to stay away from her.”
“It doesn’t look like you tried fucking hard enough.”
Gigi went to stand beside the two men. “Don’t fight over me.”
Neither one of them acknowledged her. “I met Gigi at your wedding. I walked away from her then, but I never forgot her. When I found out she was your sister, I didn’t want to want her.”
“Tell me this isn’t because Nick married your sister. You wouldn’t do something like this out of spite, would you?”
“You know me better than that.”
“I thought I did.”
Julia went to stand beside Gio. She placed a hand on his arm. “Gio, this isn’t the time to talk about this.”
“You’re right,” Gio growled. “It looks like I waited too long to tell my best friend my sister was off limits.”
“Kane? Gio?” When neither responded, Gigi stuck out her chin defiantly. “Can either of you hear me?”
Kane didn’t back down in the face of Gio’s anger, nor did he spare Gigi a glance. “I understand this is a shock, Gio.”
Gio ran a hand angrily through his hair. “Just tell me you have real feelings for her . . .”
Kane said, “I—”
Gigi raised her voice to an ear-deafening pitch. “Enough.”
Kane and Gio turned to look at her in surprise. She waved finger at both of them. “Gio, you do not get to tell me who I can or can’t be with. And, Kane, don’t you dare say you feel something for me because my brother told you to. I want both of you to leave my apartment—now.”
Julia walked over to the still-open door and pointed to the hallway on the other side. “I agree. I think the two of you need to go cool off. Gigi, I’m sorry. I’ve never seen Gio behave this way.”
“Me?” Gio asked in arrogant surprise.
Julia waved a hand angrily in the air. “Yes, you. I love you, but I’m mortified right now. Please respect your sister’s request and leave.”
“There is no way—” Gio stopped talking when he realized how upset his wife was. “You can’t expect me to pretend to be happy about this.”
Julia shook her head and pointed toward the door again. “No, but I do expect you to listen to what your sister is saying, and she’s asking you to leave.”
Gio took a step toward the door, frowned, assessed his wife’s determination, then began walking again.
“You, too, Kane.”
Kane looked to Gigi in confusion. Gigi folded her arms across her chest. “Thank you, Julia. I’m glad they can hear one of us.”
With his face set in harsh lines, Kane said, “I’m not leaving like this.”
Gio snapped, “You’re not staying.”
Kane and Gio faced off again near the door. “I value our friendship, Gio, but this is something you will have to accept because—”
“Get out,” Gigi yelled. Julia helped them along with a not-so-gentle physical nudge and slammed the door behind them.
“I’m in a towel,” Kane announced as if that would have the two women throwing the door open.
Julia’s eyes filled with amusement, and she raised a hand to her mouth to hide her smile.
Some of Gigi’s anger lessened at the ridiculousness of a h
alf-naked Kane in the hallway with Gio. Gigi met Julia’s eyes and said loudly, “You should have thought of that before you made me too angry to let you back in.”
In a voice that sounded as though he was trying to reason with a child, Kane said, “Gigi, my phone and my wallet are in there. I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to.”
Gigi walked to the floor of the bedroom, picked up Kane’s clothing, and strode to the door. Julia opened the door just wide enough to allow Gigi to throw the clothing out before closing the door again.
In a much more humble tone, Gio asked, “Julia, I’m heading back to the hotel. Are you coming with me?”
“No,” Julia answered firmly. “Gigi and I are going to have a nice quiet breakfast together. We’ll probably go shopping after that. Tonight we’ll have dinner at The Witchery because I’ve been looking forward to eating there. If you and Kane can work out your differences before then, you can both join us. If not, I intend to have a nice meal with my sister-in-law.”
“Julia . . .”
“I’ll see you tonight, Gio.”
Gigi walked over and hugged Julia. She whispered, “You are amazing.”
Julia hugged her back and said softly, “They are both wonderful men, but just like most people, they will only treat you as well as you demand to be treated. You were right to ask them to leave. That was not them at their best, and they know it. Or they will once they’ve had time to think about it.”
* * *
“Why am I out here with you?” Kane asked in irritation as he bent to pick up his clothing off the floor, a move that almost caused him to lose the towel from his waist. He cinched it tighter at his hip.
Gio was shaking his head in shock. “I can’t believe Julia threw me out. She doesn’t get angry like that.”
Kane tucked the clothing beneath one of his arms. “Well, you were ignoring her when she tried to talk to you.”
Gio glared at Kane. “Oh, I’m sorry, I must have been distracted by . . . oh, I don’t know . . . maybe the fact you’re fucking my baby sister.”
“She’s twenty-five, Gio. She’s not a baby. Not even close. And you should talk about her with more respect. She’s not just any woman to me. I have feelings for her.”
“And you think that makes it better?”
“No,” Kane said in frustration. “I know it doesn’t. I remember how I felt when I found out about Nick and Rena. I wanted to wring his neck. Punch me; go ahead. I won’t even block it. I deserve the hit, but that doesn’t change how I feel about Gigi.”
Gio looked his friend over and made a face. “I can’t hit you when you’re standing there in just a towel. Put some damn clothes on.”
“That didn’t stop you back in high school when you thought you caught me with the girl you had a crush on.”
Gio smiled wryly at the memory. He flexed his right hand as if remembering the punch. “I didn’t know she had a twin.” He frowned. “And you were wrong that time, too.”
“You didn’t date her before or after anyway.”
“I couldn’t. You had ruined her for me. All I could picture when I looked at her was you in a Scooby-Doo towel.” Gio shuddered.
“Whatever, man. Ancient history. You’re lucky I saved you from those twins. They wouldn’t have stood up to you the way Julia does. In the end, I did you a favor.”
“I can’t go on a double date tonight with you and my sister.”
“Good, because I don’t want to have dinner with you. As soon as that door opens, Gigi and I are going to have a long talk. I’ll explain to her that you meant well.”
“I don’t need you to explain me to my own sister.”
“Then why are you out here in the hall instead of in there?”
“You’re fucking out here with me.”
“I can’t believe she threw me out. You’d think after the night we had—”
Gio’s face went white with anger. “Say one more word and I have to hit you.”
Kane shrugged. “Sorry, but you know what I mean.”
Between gritted teeth, Gio said, “I know exactly what you mean. That’s the problem.”
The two of them stood in tense silence for several minutes.
Gio finally said, “I don’t think they’re going to open the door.”
Kane looked down at the towel around him. “I should probably get dressed. There must be a public bathroom in this building.”
“I saw one downstairs.”
Kane pressed the button on the elevator across the hall. When the car arrived they both stepped inside. His stomach rumbled loudly. “I need coffee.”
Without softening his harsh expression, Gio said, “There’s a breakfast place at the end of the block. Julia and I were going to take Gigi there.”
Kane assessed his friend with a sideways glance. “Do you want to get something to eat?”
Gio growled, “Only because I’m starving, not because I’m okay with any part of what just happened.”
Finally, something we agree on.
Chapter Sixteen
‡
As Gigi and Julia walked up the cobblestoned Royal Mile toward the famous Witchery restaurant, stopping in the touristy shops along the way, Gigi’s tension rose. Until then, Julia had kept her mind off the morning’s drama. Her sister-in-law was hilarious and very down-to-earth. It was also fun seeing the city through her eyes.
Until a few moments ago, Gigi had been laughing until her sides hurt. Julia had dragged her to Camera Obscura where they had gone floor to floor playing with the illusion exhibits. It was impossible to be in a bad mood while watching Julia stick her head through a special table that made it look as if her head were being served on a platter.
The easy part of the day was over, though. Julia led Gigi into one last store, then it was off to meet the men for dinner. Gigi voiced her concern. “What happens if they don’t come?”
Julia put the Loch Ness T-shirt she’d been looking at back on the shelf and answered confidently, “They will.”
Gigi absently felt the material of a display kilt. “I know Gio will because you’re there, but Kane?”
Julia turned toward Gigi and put a hand on her arm. “You can tell me I’m overstepping, but I have to say something. Everything I know about you, your mother, and how you were raised away from your brothers makes me admire you more. You didn’t have it easy, but look what you did with your life. You’re amazing even without any of us. Don’t forget that. Gio will come to dinner just as much for you as he will for me. He loves you unconditionally. And you deserve to be loved like that, even if you don’t believe it yet. I don’t know if Kane does or doesn’t have deep feelings for you, but you are amazing without him, too. Don’t forget that. If he doesn’t see that yet, show him. Don’t make everything so easy for him that he doesn’t see the value in you.”
Gigi wasn’t sure how to take Julia’s advice. “Are you telling me to play harder to get?”
Julia picked the Loch Ness shirt back up and laid it over her arm. “No, I’m telling you to remember that you are a beautiful, intelligent woman, and he needs to respect that if he’s going to be with you. When you deal with men who spend their days in command of their financial empires, they can forget to turn that off when they come home. A good man will wake up when given a gentle reminder. Don’t settle for less than a good man, Gigi. No matter who he is.”
They walked to the register to buy the black shirt with a wanted poster for the infamous lake monster. Gigi was still digesting what Julia had said, so she focused on a lighter topic. “Who is the that for?”
“Gio,” Julia said with a smirk.
“Really? I can’t picture him wearing it.”
“Me either, which is why it’ll be a hoot to tell him I think it’s sexy.”
“You are so bad, Julia,” Gigi said with a laugh.
Julia accepted the bag from the vendor with a smile and walked out onto the street with Gigi. “Marriage is work, Gigi, but it’s also supposed to be fun. Life is too sho
rt and often too sad to take everything so seriously. I’m looking at that castle and thinking about what it must have been like back then. If I were a maiden back then and some knight wanted to win my favor, I would have given him a quest.”
“Like slaying a dragon for you?”
Julia’s eyes rounded. “Slay? Never. Tame? Yes. Anyone can kill something. I’d want a knight who could bring me a dragon I could ride.”
As they approached The Witchery, Gigi spotted Gio near the door of the restaurant with a bouquet of pink roses in his hand. Beside him were several people, holding similar bouquets. “Are all of those for you?”
Julia let out a happy sigh. “Oh, he does know what I love.”
Gigi gave Julia a quick hug because she was happy her brother had married such an amazing woman. “Thank you for today, Julia.” She glanced around. “I don’t see Kane.”
Julia hugged her back. “He’ll be here, Gigi.”
Gigi scanned the area around the restaurant and squared her shoulders when there was no sign of him. She had thrown him out of her place in just a towel that morning. Maybe she deserved to be stood up. Julia stepped away to greet Gio. He gave his wife a tender kiss that brought tears to Gigi’s eyes. He didn’t care that people stopped and stared because he was in the middle of all those flowers. All Gio cared about was Julia. What would it be like to be loved like that?
Gigi didn’t doubt for a second that Gio would tame a dragon for Julia if she ever asked him to. That realization was both beautiful and depressing at the same time. Beautiful because Julia was a warmhearted, kind woman who deserved a man like that.
Depressing because Gigi had never known that kind of love, nor had her mother. Gigi thought how quickly she’d slept with Kane, how little she’d expected from him. Is Julia right? Did I let myself be swept away by the sex because I don’t think I’m worthy of more?
Kane stepped out of the restaurant, and Gigi’s breath caught in her throat. He just kept getting better looking. Immaculately dressed in a dark suit that complemented his broad shoulders well, Gigi knew she wasn’t the only woman who found it difficult not to openly stare at the perfection of him. His dark good looks, along with the confident way he held himself, made even a few men stop and wonder who he was.