Free Loving Gigi by Ruth Cardello

Edinburgh, her nervousness fell away. She was once again the confident woman he remembered from their first meeting. There was passion in her voice as she spoke about what she did for a living. Kane could have listened to her speak for hours. Still, something she’d said bothered him. “Your father was a wealthy man. He didn’t leave you anything in his will?” Kane’s temper rose at the thought of how little it would have taken on her father’s part to ensure his mistress and child were taken care of. That was something he’d speak to Gio about the first opportunity he had.
    Gigi tensed again. “I believe he left Mamma the palazzo, but that’s all. I’ve never seen the official paperwork, so I don’t know if it’s legally ours. I don’t like to think about the possibility that it might not be. It would break my mother’s heart if she lost it now.”
    “You’ll never have to worry about money again, Gigi.”
    Gigi’s head snapped around, and her eyes flashed with anger. “I’m not here for a handout.”
    Kane raised one hand in a call for peace. “No one said you were, but your brothers will want to make sure you have what you need.”
    Gigi’s cheeks reddened with temper. “My mother made sure I wanted for nothing, and now I work hard to make sure she has the same. Neither one of us require charity.”
    Her beautiful chin jutting out proudly and her eyes bright with emotion left Kane momentarily speechless. The depth of how much he cared about the outcome of this visit shook him. He’d like to believe the protective feeling he felt for her was because she was Gio’s little sister, but it was unfortunately more complicated than that.
    “Gigi, it’s not charity if you’re family.”
    She pressed her lips angrily together, and he decided to let the topic drop for a while. He looked at his watch. They’d touch down on a private landing strip outside New York City in a couple hours. “You should sleep if you can. It’ll be a long day otherwise.”
    She took a blanket off the seat beside her and tucked it around her legs. “I wanted to book a hotel room, but Julia insisted I stay with them in their new house.”
    There it was again, that uncertainty that made him crave to be her champion. Bringing her back is more than anyone else has been able to do. Let that be enough. “That sounds like Julia. You’ll be fine there.”
    “Will you—will you be there?”
    Even though everything in him wanted to say he would, he couldn’t lie to her. “No. You won’t see me again after today. At least, not during this visit.”
    He caught a glimpse of sadness in her eyes before she nodded, hitched the blanket up higher, and turned to look back out the window. “I didn’t want to come.”
    “I know,” he said gently.
    “But I guess it was time. Thank you, Kane, for not leaving when I tried to slam the door in your face.”
    “Get some sleep, Gigi.”
    Kane picked his laptop up and opened it, but his thoughts were not on the work awaiting him. He didn’t consider himself an emotional man, but when it came to the woman across from him he was all tangled up inside.
    Right and wrong were impossible to distinguish from each other. He hated sounding like he was depositing then deserting her, but that was exactly what he needed to do. He was already beyond being able to be with her and pretend he felt nothing. He ached for Gigi in a gloriously painful way.
    Her closed eyes gave him the opportunity to study her delicate features, the curve of her long neck, and the sweet outline of her breasts where the blanket had fallen away. He doubted she was actually sleeping, but he wouldn’t call her bluff. The less they spoke the better.
    He could already feel himself falling for the one woman he would never allow himself to have.
    Gio’s little sister. Keep telling yourself that, Kane. Gio’s little sister.

Chapter Seven
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    M aybe it was because she had anticipated meeting her brothers for so long that she was an