Corrado nodded. “Good. And, if you want to be here, you don’t have to trick me away, Les.”
“Or you shouldn’t keep falling for it.”
The snickers from the woman on the couch made Corrado narrow his gaze. Alessio’s smirk was back in place, like he enjoyed this.
“What are you two doing?”
“Reading poetry,” Ginevra said, although he couldn’t see her now she’d slid lower on the couch.
“And gaming,” Alessio added, “or she is ... she beat your score, too.”
Corrado glanced at the television.
Ginevra had done that, playing the online version which connected her to his account which he’d been working on back in Vegas.
Dammit.
He worked months for the score.
Oh, well.
He couldn’t be mad.
Right?
4.
Alessio
“Could we chat for a minute?” Corrado asked, stepping closer to the two on the couch as he nodded his head toward the back hallway leading deeper into the penthouse. “If you’re ... not busy here, I mean.”
Alessio might have enjoyed the sight of seeing Corrado confused—but also amused?—but he figured, this was going to happen, too. Them talking, like it would change what needed to be said.
It wouldn’t.
Alessio wasn’t ready for that.
“Why not?” Alessio tossed the book of poems to the couch before standing. Then, to Ginevra, he said, “And it’s still talking about sunlight.”
She grinned but didn’t look away from the TV.
“Probably,” she returned, “but we don’t know for sure, do we?”
He arched a brow, considering those words. She wasn’t wrong, but he thought she also didn’t realize how her words could be applied to a lot of other things in his life currently. Like this, and Corrado. Them, and whatever the hell they were doing.
He was here because he needed to be.
A part of him searching for something.
Another part wanting to fix it.
Yet, he wasn’t sure if those things were possible. Would he find what he was looking for here, and could they fix the mess they were now in? He was going to try for both, but he didn’t know anything for sure.
“Also,” Ginevra said while Alessio rounded the couch, “if you two could just talk, and not ... you know, do what you did before while I sit out here alone, that’d be great. I would appreciate it.”
Alessio passed Corrado a look, smirking a bit at the sight of his lover’s face brightening with his surprise at Ginevra’s frankness. Did he not get that from her a lot? Because Alessio found Ginevra was straightforward when she wanted to be, and he enjoyed that.
More than he should.
“Oh, she’s sassy,” Alessio said, heading for the hallway, “and you know how I like that.”
Corrado’s sigh echoed.
Alessio’s laughter chased behind it.
He took the first door in the hallway, to the master bedroom. Not five seconds later, Corrado followed behind Alessio, although he didn’t close the door. The sheets on the bed had been thrown aside. Rumpled and messy.
Two people slept here.
Fucked there.
“I thought you didn’t want to be in here because I was—”
“It’s not about the sex,” Alessio said, turning fast to face Corrado where he stood just beyond the doorway. “It was never about the fact you wanted to fuck her, Corrado.”
“Yeah, I know.” Corrado stuffed his hands into his pockets as Alessio took a seat in the chair near the far window. There, he could watch Corrado’s reflection, but also enjoy the cloudless sky overhead. “Did you want to be alone with her today—this was purposeful?”
“Yep.”
“Could you try not being an asshole, or make any trouble, because you’re in your feelings right now? This is bigger than us—it’s about her safety, too. That’s why she’s here in the first place, to stay out of sight, and be somewhere safe while Andino Marcello handles her family in New York.”
Alessio’s brow dipped. “Do you think I’m that petty?”
“Pardon?”
He stood from the chair, deciding he could do without comfort while he handled this thing Corrado was dancing around. Closing the space between them with wide strides, Alessio came toe to toe with Corrado, and only then did he speak again.
“Do you think I am so petty I would put her in danger because you like her? Is that the man you believe I am, Corrado? Because if so ... we need to have a different discussion.”
He let that hang between them.
It was Corrado’s move now.
God knew Alessio didn’t come here because he wanted to shout and fight again. They’d done that already—he said enough shit to last them a lifetime. That’s not what this was about, now.
He was trying.
Corrado needed to try, too.
“I know exactly what kind of man you are,” Corrado murmured, holding Alessio’s gaze, and refusing to drop it, “but I also know when you’re hurt, you act out even when you don’t mean to, Les. So, if you’re still working on that ... let me know. Her safety here—not from you, not like that—is a priority for me.”
Alessio made a noise, deep and dark. “And what other priority does she have?”
“See, like that.”
Okay, so Corrado wasn’t wrong.
Alessio put his attitude in check.
“I’m working on it,” Alessio said simply. “It’s the best I can do.”
“All right.”
Alessio broke their stare first, instead finding a spot on the wall to focus on as he said, “I’m here because it’s more than just her right now. It’s us, too. You owe me that—to decide this, and what we’re doing together. You owe it to me, Corrado.”
“I do.”
“That’s all you want to say?”
“That should be all I need to say. Is it confusing and a mess? Yeah, Les, I know. But you’re here, so I can deal with the rest, and we can figure that out as we go. I can’t change the circumstance, and even if I could ... I don’t know if I want to.”
“Right, because you’re happy with what you did. You’re pleased with what you’ve got here right now. A woman you want to keep, and a man you can’t let go of—with you in the middle, huh?”
“And you seem to think that’s easy for me. Like this mess doesn’t keep me up at night wondering what the fuck happened, or why, and you’re wrong. Because I know what I did, but I’m the only one trying to figure it out or fix it right now.”
“No, I’m here. I’m here.”
That should mean something.
Shouldn’t it?
Alessio thought so.
“I just ... want to know why,” Alessio said, shrugging one shoulder and still focusing on that spot on the wall. It was easier than looking at Corrado because when he did that, his emotions came into play, and he couldn’t compartmentalize the anger and sadness and betrayal with the parts of him that didn’t want to feel any of those things at all. “Why her, and why this. But also, why she has you like this ... why you did this now ... after five fucking years, you did this now.”