Free Giovanni by Bethany-Kris Page A

one.
    Kimberlynn fucking Abella.
    Gio still couldn’t wrap his head around it. His dick, on the other hand, couldn’t stop thinking about it. Being in the same room with Kim brought up that night all over again. From her back to the wall with shapely legs around his waist, to her body bent over the bed with his hand buried in her hair.
    Cristo , he could still hear the way his name in her mouth sounded. The crazy intense high feeling he experienced whenever she was near hadn’t faded a bit. Gio couldn’t help but look down the table. Kim was looking at him, but she glanced away just as quickly.
    The plate of spaghetti casserole in front of him was nearly gone. Kim could cook, if that earned her any brownie points to make up for the stunt she pulled him.
    It kind of does , his mind whispered.
    He was far too sober to deal with this nonsense today.
    Quiet conversations flowed between the men. Too much talk, in Gio’s opinion. It was a shame to hear some of the discussions going on around him. Business at the dinner table was a no-go. Gio didn’t bother to join in. He did keep an eye on Kim. It was like he had to constantly remind his brain and body she was still there.
    She. Her. Kim .
    The girl who plagued his dreams and thoughts for three months. Gio couldn’t remember when a one-night stand had left him so thoroughly scrambled in the head before.
    Gio tried—God knows he fucking tried —to bleed that girl out of his system. No narcotic matched the high. No opiate, pill, or smoke in his system fit the bill. No drink could daze him quite the same; it only left him hung-over in the morning and not the way she had. As far as women … Gio tried them, too, only to find he couldn’t get it done.
    It was useless or he was.
    The tip of Kim’s thumbnail was between her teeth and her elbow was on the table as she stared blankly at the wall. Unease wrote lines on her face. It bothered the hell out of Gio for reasons he couldn’t explain.
    Franco noticed Kim’s distraction from the guests at the table. Too low for anyone else to hear, Franco whispered something to Kim that had her back straightening and a faint nod answering his words. Her attention was back on the people at the table, but a blankness took hold as she stared right past Gio to the wall behind him.
    That wasn’t the girl from New York Gio met and couldn’t shake. Something was off. How in the hell had she gotten herself mixed up with Franco Sorrento? Gio didn’t give two flying shits if the girl was Nunz Abella’s daughter. Kim was way out of Franco’s league. From the short amount of time he spent with her, Gio gathered she was free-spirited and a little wild under the pretty keeping her wrapped up tight. Hell, the girl was only twenty-one. Why was she marrying herself off before she even finished college?
    Gio was reminded of the stories he heard about Franco and women. Disgust and worry compounded hard in his chest as he thought about Kim falling into that mess. Was that what happened; had she assumed the guy was one thing only to be blindsided by the asshole he really was?
    Shaking his head to clear the thoughts, Gio pushed the empty plate away and turned to Kim’s brother beside him. “How long has Franco been with your sister?”
    Now he was just punishing himself, clearly. Anyone with any sense would not be asking those kinds of questions, certainly not when they didn’t have any business to be asking. Especially now that he knew about the … engagement .
    “About three months,” Cody answered, scrolling through his phone.
    “No, I mean a couple, kid. Not engaged.”
    Cody set down his phone. “Like I said, about three months.”
    Gio’s brow furrowed. Three months? Sure, he had seen fast love like that with Jordyn and Lucian, but Gio was sure they were a special case. “So after my brother’s wedding was when they met?”
    “They met shortly before. The engagement came after.”
    “Huh.”
    At least that got Gio out of some trouble,